After the fourth season of The Resident ended on a finale that was surprisingly short on tragedies and cliffhangers considering its status as a medical drama, the show is losing a major star in what could be a very tragic way for her character. Emily VanCamp, who has played Nic Nevin on The Resident from the very first episode, has exited the show before the fifth season.
Emily VanCamp's departure comes ahead of Season 5, according to TVLine, which means that Season 5 will somehow have to start without Nic barring a surprise appearance to tie off loose ends, and fans will know well that the Season 4 finale definitely didn't set up VanCamp leaving. News of her exit comes as a particularly big surprise considering the events of Season 4 leading up the finale, which gave no indication that Conrad and Nic were in for anything other than a future raising their daughter together.
It was particularly uplifting after their wedding came on the heels of the pandemic ending (in the universe of The Resident), and nice to have a season end on a note that wasn't especially stressful. Heck, the biggest cliffhanger was pretty much the question of how much Morris Chestnut would be able to appear in Season 5, considering his new commitment to another Fox show. So, how will The Resident write out Emily VanCamp's Nic, and what does it mean for Conrad?
Probably nothing good! Based on a new promo for the upcoming fifth season, it's not looking like The Resident is going to say goodbye to Nic by Conrad explaining that she's on a sabbatical or took a trip to another hospital or quit the hospital and is conveniently off screen whenever anybody drops by to visit. Take a look:
Even without the news of Emily VanCamp's departure, the absence of any clearly new footage of Nic might have been enough to get fans asking questions. Then there's the shot of just Conrad standing over their daughter's crib, with the baby already standing. Then, most foreboding of all, the final shot shows a pair of somber-looking police officers knocking on the door, where a very serious-looking Conrad opens the door with his daughter in his arms.
It certainly appears that Conrad is in for a tragedy, and he might want to call up Max over on New Amsterdam for some advice about working at a busy hospital after losing a spouse, if the worst show happen to Nic! ! At the time of writing, Emily VanCamp hasn't announced her reason for departing the series, but her big return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was very open-ended, and it's not hard to imagine the MCU taking her out of the Fox series. Plus, VanVamp recently gave birth to a daughter in real life.
Find out how The Resident says goodbye to Nic with the Season 5 premiere on Tuesday, September 21 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox, followed by Morris Chestnut's new show. A big new villain is on the way to Season 5, but the description doesn't indicate that the new baddie is the kind who would have anything to do with something happening to Nick.
