'Chicago Med' season 5: What can we expect for Dr. Charles with Dr Reese no longer by his side?
Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) had a significant role as a teacher in seasons 2 and 3. When Sarah Reese decided she wants to stick around dealing with patients and not go to the pathology department, Dr. Charles suggested that she join the psychiatry department. Together, Dr. Charles and Dr. Reese had some interesting storylines until Sarah's father came into the picture. In Season 3, we learn that Sarah's father was a sociopath, and at the end of the season dies of a heart attack. Due to him being a serial killer, Dr. Charles did not want to save him and this prompts Dr. Reese to leave the hospital.
With Dr. Reese gone, we saw an end to Dr. Charles's role as a teacher and a mentor and we see him deal with this loss, albeit for a short period, at the beginning of Season 4. Professionally, we see Dr. Charles offering his input to the patients that come and go out of the Emergency Department (ED) but we don't see as much a developed plotline as when he served as Sarah's mentor.
On the personal front, his ex-wife (and Robin's mother) Caroline (Paula Newsome) comes back to get into a new clinical trial for her cancer. Through the season, we see Dr. Charles falling in love with her again and in the season finale, the two get remarried after she reveals that her cancer was getting worse. But this prompts us to think, what were the reasons they split up in the first place and will those issues come back to haunt the couple? There's also the matter of Caroline's worsening health and this could clearly form a big part of Charles's story going forward.
In the first two episodes of the new season, so far, we have not seen Caroline's cancer mentioned but we do see her. Dr. Charles diagnosed a young patient with schizophrenia in the second episode but that's as much as we got to see him in Season 5. We also know that Maggie has been diagnosed with cancer and though she is currently seeking treatment at a different hospital so that her colleagues don't find out, we know eventually they will -- and this includes Dr. Charles. This could give us the chance for the two to have meaningful interactions and the show to explore character dynamics they have not before.
It is clear, however, that with an actor like Platt, the writers need to put in more effort to give the character a reason to stick around. If it were any other actor, we are sure the character would have been written off ages ago. If the writers want to keep using Platt and his talents long term, they have to give him material that is worthy of him.
'Chicago Med' airs on Wednesday nights on NBC.