The departure of Torrey DeVitto as Natalie Manning continues to affect the doctors of Chicago Med, even though Season 7 hasn’t spent too much time dwelling on her absence beyond some moments in the premiere. Now, Crockett is going to be "questioning his future" after his relationship with Natalie ended when it seemed to be going so well, and change is on the way. So what exactly does that mean for him? Showrunners Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider dropped some details.
Crockett has already made some changes in Season 7 after losing Natalie, not the least of which was agreeing to mentor Vanessa (which may or may not backfire on him). That’s not the end of what’s in store for him, as Chicago Med co-showrunner Diane Frolov previewed his outlook to TVLine, saying:
[Crockett is] questioning what his future is. Does he want to specialize? What is the future after Natalie? So we really will see him contemplating that and, essentially, making a change.
Crockett has been a key part of Chicago Med as a trauma surgeon following the dramatic departure of Connor, but evidently he’s going to put some serious thought into specializing as a surgeon. That does raise the question of whether he’d need to spend more time up on the surgical floors and less time saving lives down in the ED, but Dean Archer is a trauma surgeon as well, so the ED wouldn’t necessarily be left in the lurch. Not that Dean Archer is the #1 doctor to trust to make decisions!
There’s also the question of what kind of specialty he would pursue that he hasn’t necessarily put all of his focus on yet. It would be interesting if he pursued pediatrics, given the loss of his daughter, and potentially showing the lasting influence of Natalie, but he has shown his talent in pretty much all areas. It should be interesting to see where Med takes him next professionally. But what about his personal goals as a character? Co-showrunner Andrew Schneider shared:
He’s going to be a much more grounded character now. He’s going to be looking to really set down roots in Chicago and build another kind of career in medicine.
Andrew Schneider went on to tease that Crockett will “find a very interesting new romance” in Season 7, which could be a good thing for him moving on from Natalie… or a bad thing, depending on whether or not Vanessa is involved. A romance with Vanessa seems like a pretty terrible idea for him, in my book, especially if he’s becoming more grounded and looking to “set down roots.” Will it be a newcomer who hasn’t debuted yet, or a familiar face?
As somebody who never would have guessed that Natalie and Crockett would be dropping L-bombs on each other after he started his stint on Med building a love triangle with April and Ethan, I won’t rule any existing character out. Stevie could be a possibility as a newcomer, but her interactions have been primarily with Will or Dylan (who has had some strong storylines of his own) so far. Whatever happens, change is on the way for Crockett, for better or worse.
Find out with new episodes of Chicago Med on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Med is doing quite well in the ratings so far in the 2021-2022 TV season, although there have also been some surprises with how it has compared to Chicago P.D.. One thing that is certain: One Chicago (with Chicago Fire in the mix as well) is crushing for NBC.
