Chicago Med Galvanizes For Colin Donnell’s Return With Rhodes’ Best Story Trick

Published Oct 29, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Laura Hurley has been writing about the entertainment industry for more than twelve years, after a decade as a content producer and editor at CinemaBlend after writing for WhatCulture and Examiner. Attending events like SCAD TVfest and San Diego Comic-Con over the course of her career, she has been immersed in the world of network, streaming, and cable TV. 

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Warning: this article contains spoilers for Chicago Med season 12, episode 4, "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow."Chicago Med started season 12 with major changes at Gaffney, and the latest episode showcased how those changes are affecting the ED's status quo. The first three episodes already delved into how Goodwin would have to take extreme measures to take control of the hospital back from Miranda, whose motives kept getting shadier in "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow." While that storyline will probably end sooner rather than later for Goodwin, a new plot has cropped up, perfectly timed for the upcoming return of Colin Donnell as Dr. Connor Rhodes.

Connor will return to the halls of Gaffney Med before the end of NBC's fall TV schedule, for the first time since the beginning of season 5. Even though the medical drama has changed a lot over the past seven years, "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" introduced a plot that worked quite well back in Connor's day. While the way his exit was handled may remain divisive for as long as Dick Wolf's TV universe continues, two characters have been set up to repeat one of his best Chicago Med arcs.

Long before Connor's story ended in a bloody mess with Ava, Chicago Med established a compelling rivalry between the two as competing cardiothoracic surgeons. It's unlikely One Chicago will follow the same course with its new rivals in season 12, but episode 4 shows Chicago Med is heading in the right direction with Dr. Frost and Dr. Wu in the ED.

Chicago Med Is Due For Another Good Rivalry

George Burns Jr/NBC

Chicago Med hasn't entirely avoided rivalries in the years since Connor and Ava first began to clash. Dr. Lenox and Dr. Archer needed most of a season to come to terms with each other, and the story would have ended with Archer quitting altogether if Goodwin hadn't had a timely near-death experience. That said, two more junior doctors battling it out for their superiors' approval worked well for Connor and Ava, and Med is poised to do itagain with Frost and Wu.

The plot started when Ripley discovered that Frost was coasting through the final year of his residency without applying himself to land an attending position at Gaffney, and he encouraged his roommate to pursue the chief resident position. Frost decided to give it a shot, before he heard from Dr. Wu, his fellow resident, that most of the responsibilities involved paperwork and administrative duties. That would have been the end of the story, if not for what Frost overheard.

Dr. Heart, who was responsible for appointing the new chief resident, congratulated Wu on her upcoming promotion. Wu won the role unopposed, thanks to her successful sabotage of Frost. That was enough to motivate Frost to submit his own application, shortly before the deadline. Dr. Heart was pleased to see him showing initiative, then dropped the bombshell about who would ultimately become chief resident:

Since there are two candidates now, the ED attendings will be making the final decision. Looks like we've got ourselves a race.

Wu already had a head start on Frost after she went out of her way to take credit for his idea while talking to Dr. Archer. She's also new to Gaffney in season 12, so the rest of the doctors in the ED don't know about any baggage in her past as they do for Frost. It's not clear whether Dr. Charles would have a say, but the ED attendings include Lenox, Archer, Hannah, and Ripley.

Ripley obviously approves of Frost as a friend, but it remains to be seen how objective he'll be when tasked with deciding on chief resident. Hannah has no reason to dislike Frost as a doctor, but she's also coming off maternity leave, so she hadn't seen him in action for several months before season 12.

Dr. Lenox presumably won't have much time to evaluate the two head-to-head. Sarah Ramos won't return as Lenox until episode 6, and Chicago Med likely won't drag out the race untilspring. Archer is more of a wild card, but he was impressed by Wu in "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" when she took credit for a procedure. The story isn't a carbon copy of the medical drama's Connor-and-Avarivalry, but it's similar enough that Med feels like it's on the right track ahead of Connor's return.

When Connor Is Coming Back

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Connor had one of the most abrupt exits for any major Chicago Med character over the years, but also one that made sense for the character. Ava, who had been growing more and more unstable over the course of season 4, killed Connor's dad with an overdose of insulin. Of course, that didn't win Connor back as she'd hoped, and she killed herself in front of him with a scalpel. Understandably, the murder of his father, followed by Ava's grisly suicide within the walls of Gaffney, prompted Connor to leave the hospital.

Fortunately, he didn't actually leave for good. Colin Donnell will reprise his role as Dr. Connor Rhodes for two episodes of season 12, starting with the fall finale on December 9. So, he'll be back for the first time since the season 5 premiere in just over a month.

Scratch & Peek

Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible.

It should be interesting to see if he witnesses the rivalry between Frost and Wu and is reminded of his whole ordeal with Ava. A lot has happened since the beginning of season 5, including a new showrunner, Allen MacDonald, taking over. For now, new episodes of Chicago Med will continue airing on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

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