Why Chicago Med Fans Shouldn't Expect Dr. Mitch Ripley To Fill Will's Shoes, But He 'Checks The Boxes' For Season 9
Warning: spoilers ahead for the Season 9 premiere of Chicago Med, called "Row Row Row Your Boat on a Rocky Sea."
The doctors and nurses of Chicago Med hit the ground running in the 2024 TV schedule with the Season 9 premiere, with a mass casualty event that involved using OR 2.0 to save a young life, a patient who died after OB/GYN Hannah pitched in outside of her specialty, Archer feeling conflicted about his upcoming kidney transplant, Maggie hiding that Ben wants a divorce, and more. This is the first season without Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead, but the ED brought in Dr. Mitch Ripley (played by Luke Mitchell) over the time jump. According to the showrunners, fans shouldn't expect Mitch to fill Will's shoes.
Mitch got off to a glowing start in the Season 9 premiere, to the point that I for one barely noticed that Will was nowhere to be seen. He was confident, competent, and seemed to get along well with the rest of the ED, which can't be said for everybody who has ever joined the staff! I can't be the only one who remembers the issues with Dr. Archer after he first arrived, right? There was more to the newcomer than almost anybody knew, however. He came to Med with a history with Dr. Charles, causing some complications in his very first episode, which wasn't quite the case with Will back in the day.
When I spoke with Chicago Med's co-showrunners, Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov, I asked how the newcomer fits into the ED and whether he fills Wills shoes. Schneider explained:
Well, first of all, he isn't filling those shoes. He's a different character with a different dynamic. What's interesting about Mitch Ripley is that he has a fraught old relationship with Dr. Charles going back to when he was an adolescent, a rough Chicago kid, and it will cause resentment towards Charles and it will also cause Charles to do some soul searching about how he treated patients in the past.
The Season 9 premiere revealed that Dr. Charles had treated Mitch twenty years earlier when he was a kid, and the ED newcomer believes that Charles overmedicated him and then abandoned him. The psychiatrist said that his rotation had probably just ended and that's why he moved on, and he complimented Mitch on how far he's come from when he was violent as a youth, but it's clear that Med isn't finished exploring their history.
Diane Frolov went on to share what they were looking for in the actor to play the new character and why S.H.I.E.L.D. alum Luke Mitchell was the right fit:
He has tremendous range. Oliver [Platt] is a great actor, right? And so you want an actor that can stand up there to him and who can do that. He did a great audition for us and we've of course been watching him and he can be charming and funny and warm. So I mean, he checks all the boxes.
Coming across as "charming and funny and warm" certainly comes in handy for hiding his history with Charles from the rest of the ED. Andrew Schneider confirmed that his backstory is currently a secret from everybody else, saying:
Nobody in the ED knows about his relationship with Charles except Charles. And to everyone else, he's this charming, warm, new guy. Good looking. But he and Charles have a difficult past which will continue to play out.
Stay tuned for more between Dr. Charles and Dr. Mitch Ripley! I'm not saying that I won't miss Will after his ER-esque departure to reunite with Natalie, and that Season 8 finale is worth revisiting with a Peacock Premium subscription. But I'm already invested in this story between the two doctors, and I'm glad to hear that more is on the way. The showrunners also already confirmed more between Dr. Charles and Liliana, so it sounds like Oliver Platt's character will have a lot going on. As for what's happening next week, check out the promo:
For more Chicago Med, keep tuning in to NBC on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET. You can enjoy a full night of One Chicago action, with Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. All three are expected to run for thirteen episodes, so you won't want to miss a single one if you're a fan!
