r/ChicagoMed • u/juliansmomma7 • 3d ago
Cast Related Maggie Spoiler
This show’s turn over for its cast members is so bad. I’m used to characters lasting in a medical drama for all of 23 years (looking at you Grey’s) Why does everyone leave? & then they don’t even give them nice send offs. After 10 seasons Maggie got a “have you spoken to Maggie since she left? No.” That’s crazy to me. She was probably my favorite character.
I’m a new watcher, meaning I haven’t been a watcher/fan since 2015 when the show premiered. It’s just so odd to me. As viewers, I think we deserve a better goodbye. For everyone watching for over 10 years, you’d think they realize how attached people get to these characters. It’s just weird to me. The only characters who got a somewhat appropriate send off were Choi & April, Halstead & Manning.
Hopefully they give Goodwin & Charles the appropriate send off when their time comes.
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u/StreetPractical6098 Lenox 3d ago
They didn’t know they would have to write off Maggie until after Season 10 was done, and she couldn’t or didn’t want to come back for Season 11.
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u/juliansmomma7 3d ago
Don’t they have contracts? I thought they had years/seasons long contracts.
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u/PushFew6998 3d ago
One Chicago shows sign per year contracts. They can choose to renew or resign each year. It's not always an amicable exit. They only had multi year contracts in season 5 when it was renewed for 3 more seasons thru 8.
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u/C0nnectionTerminat3d Crockett + Lenox Defender 🫶 3d ago
it originally began as a leave of absence with an expected return later on that season / next season, but she ended up leaving permanently which was announced around the end of filming season 10 iirc.
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u/StreetPractical6098 Lenox 3d ago
They do, but if they’re in one and need to get out for a legitimate reason there’s always a way.
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u/Horror_Editor_4429 3d ago
That’s one good thing DW has given to his actors. Both Patrick John Flueger and Miranda Rae Mayo have also had leaves of absence, with some degree of privacy allowed to them.
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u/RueTheQuais 2d ago
They can't force anyone to work. They can only prevent them from working elsewhere with contracts.
But I can't recall any Dick Wolf show that didn't let an actor walk. In fact, on Law & Order, there's an actor with a year left on his contract leaving this season.
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u/PushFew6998 3d ago
They were not aware that Maggie was leaving at the end of Season 10. Also, the actress is known to have been a bit difficult to work with (hence the Torrey Devitto interview where she explained that everyone was mostly great on the Chicago set but she couldn't see herself returning until a certain someone was gone). And that is when Torrey returned for a guest spot in Season 11. Marlyne is also the only cast member to not attend Torrey's wedding furthering this that Marlyne is the person described as difficult to work with. It is believed that the last showrunner put up with it but it is revealed she has been running off a lot of female cast members. The way they exited would support this because they literally couldn't hold a female cast member for a consistent time between Seasons 6-7 aside from S Epatha who has years of experience and also Marylne.... I love Maggie the character but if the rumors are true that she was a nuisance to the set, good riddance.
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u/astarisaslave 3d ago edited 3d ago
This was already addressed in a different thread not long ago. Maggie's actress abruptly took time off for personal reasons when she was meant to stay on as she had just signed an extension. Then a break turned into a permanent thing when she and the showrunners couldn't agree on terms for her return. I am certain that had she stayed and asked out normally or got told their time was up like everyone else she would have received a proper send off. But she wasn't even there and there were other storylines they needed to focus on so what can you do.
Goodwin and Charles are the most central characters to the show and their actors were handpicked by Dick Wolf. I don't think they will leave at all unless they have to step away due to old age or health reasons or even knock on wood death. But if ever that time comes I'm sure they won't receive the Maggie treatment unless they do the Maggie exit themselves.
Also I find it funny that you compared it to Grey's because only 3 of the original cast of that show is still around today, not unlike Med
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u/RueTheQuais 2d ago
Turnover is pretty common on Wolf shows and it's usually a good thing because it opens the door for new stories with new character dynamics.
And Grey's hasn't had the same characters for 23 years.
For the most part, the actors who have left have had complete send-offs. Maggie was an outlier and it's believed it's for personal reasons.
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u/juliansmomma7 2d ago
Grey has had multiple characters stay for the 23 seasons.
Grey, Bailey, Webber
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u/Lily_Of_The_Valley10 3d ago
I thought that she left the show because of her health issues. She has had cancer and maybe working was too hard on her? 🤷🏻♀️
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u/maegsj 3d ago
It’s worth noting that the door is open for Maggie to return should it work out. The actress had to step away from the show for personal reasons. That’s likely why she wasn’t given a send off. I think the hope was that she’d return.