Chicago Med went through some big changes in the second half of Season 6, especially with the finale saying goodbye to two stars who had been around from the beginning, as well as sending another main character into recovery that would take him out of the ED. Now, Med has not only promoted Season 6 newcomer Steven Weber for Season 7, but added two new stars as series regulars to fill the void left by Torrey DeVitto's Natalie Manning and Yaya DaCosta's April Sexton.
Steven Weber recurred throughout the second half of Season 6 as former Navy surgeon Dean Archer, whose history with Ethan Choi seemingly made him a natural fit for the Med ED before revealing that the situation was more complicated than it originally seemed, especially with Ethan as ED Chief. Now, Deadline reports that Weber has been promoted to series regular status for Season 7. The promotion isn't altogether shocking, as Season 6 ended with Sharon Goodwin making Archer the temporary chief while Ethan was off recovering from being shot.
That does raise the question of whether or not a time jump is in store and if Ethan will still be out of commission for a while when Chicago Med returns in September, but at least the hospital shouldn't be entirely short-staffed if he's gone on top of the losses of April and Natalie, with two new doctors in the mix. Chicago Med has cast The Village and The Blacklist actor Guy Lockard and Condor's Kristen Hager as new doctors for Season 7, each bringing something different to the hospital.
Guy Lockard is on board to play a former Chicago police officer who left the force to become a doctor, named Dr. Dylan Scott. Since he has evidently had enough time since leaving CPD to become a doctor, it's possible that he's been away from the police force for long enough that he doesn't have ties to the younger characters on Chicago P.D., but only time will tell. For his sake, I hope he doesn't have the kind of history with Voight that a lot of others seem to, especially in light of Voight's actions at the end of Chicago P.D. Season 8! For now, there is no confirmation one way or the other if Dylan Scott has any P.D. ties.
For her part, Kristen Hager is coming to Med to play Dr. Stevie Hammer, who will be helping fill the void specifically in the ED as an emergency room attending, who is a brilliant doctor with scrappy sensibilities. She doesn't seem to be a direct replacement for Natalie, as Nat specialized in pediatrics, but another female doctor is on the way! It should definitely be interesting to see how she fits into the ED with so many changes, especially since it seems she'll be spending a lot of time in the ED with Steven Weber's Dean Archer and the rest, almost certainly including Will Halstead despite that Season 6 finale cliffhanger.
The only unfortunate thing out of all of this casting news is that the wait for Chicago Med to return isn't over year. Med will return for Season 7 on Wednesday, September 22 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, ahead of Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. For more of what's on the way when the weather starts to cool, check out our 2021 fall TV premiere schedule, and let us know in the poll below which character you're most excited to see in Season 7!
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