Chicago Med still has a couple of months left before returning from hiatus for Season 8, and now fans have some reassuring news for the rest of the wait. Marlyne Barrett, who has played Maggie Lockwood from the very beginning, has signed on to remain at the hit NBC medical drama for the foreseeable future. After the news broke, the actress spread the word and celebrated.
Marlyne Barrett signed a new multi-year deal that will keep her on Chicago Med for Season 8 and beyond, according to Deadline. The medical drama will reach the end of its three-season renewal from 2020 with Season 8, but the three shows of One Chicago are such consistent winners for NBC that the future looks bright for Med as well as Fire and P.D. The actress took to Instagram with a message about her return:
Here we go! ITS OFFICIAL. More to come for Maggie - Love the Wolf Pack! Looking forward to Season 8.
Season 7 was intense for Maggie as her relationship with Vanessa only deepened. She had a few hours of excitement when she believed that she was pregnant, which was then followed by a health scare. She ultimately turned out to be as healthy as ever since she entered remission, but things became complicated again when Vanessa wanted to meet her birth father. Despite some fears about sparks flying with her ex again, Maggie introduced them anyway. (You can revisit Season 7 streaming now with a Peacock subscription.)
Even though Maggie wasn’t part of the huge cliffhanger that left Will and Dylan trapped in a burning apartment building, Season 7 definitely didn’t end with a shortage of storylines for Med to pursue in Season 8 and beyond for her character. If Vanessa remains in her life and also builds a relationship with her biological father, then Maggie may have to deal with her ex on an ongoing basis, which might be bad news for her marriage with Ben.
The good news is for fans with the confirmation that Maggie isn’t going anywhere. Marlyne Barrett’s new deal makes her the last of the original cast members to sign on for multiple future seasons. Nick Gehlfuss, Brian Tee, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Oliver Platt signed new multi-year deals in 2021 ahead of Season 7. Barrett’s contract didn’t expire until this year, so she wasn’t part of that group at the time.
With her renewal, fans may be able to expect less cast turnover in Season 8 than the previous couple of seasons. The show was shaken up at the end of Season 6 with the farewells to two original stars. Yaya DaCosta, who played April, left Med to star in Fox’s Our Kind of People. (Fox has since cancelled the series after one season.) Torrey DeVitto also left ahead of Season 7, with Natalie’s departure seemingly putting an end to Manstead for good.
Another series regular left in Season 7 when newcomer Kristen Hager departed as Dr. Stevie Hammer, who had come to the ED to help fill in the holes left by DaCosta and DeVitto. She was part of the cast for less than a full season, and her departure opened the door for Jessy Schram to return as Dr. Hannah Asher. Now, all of the remaining original stars will be back, and I think it’s safe to say that Marlyne Barrett isn’t the only one celebrating the news that there’s plenty more of Maggie on the way.
Chicago Med returns to NBC with the Season 8 premiere on Wednesday, September 21 at 8 p.m. ET to open up a night of One Chicago action, with Chicago Fire’s Season 11 premiere at 9 p.m. and Chicago P.D.’s Season 10 premiere at 10 p.m. For some viewing options for the remaining months before Maggie and Co. are back on the small screen, check out our 2022 TV premiere schedule.
