“Chicago Med” starts its tenth season with new doctors who have to deal with a huge event

To prepare for his new job, Allen MacDonald sat down and watched 176 episodes of television.

MacDonald takes on the role of showrunner at Chicago Medwhich is now entering its tenth season.

“I always wanted to do a medical drama because in this setting it's naturally about life and death and you get to know the characters through the way they do their work,” he explains.

He says it was really “super fun” watching all of those episodes because “I got really into the world and the characters really quickly. The previous showrunners created this wonderful world and I'm glad I can now step in and continue working on what I think is a unique style of emotional storytelling.”

MacDonald says he has always been a big fan of medical dramas. “I have St. Elsewhere in the 80s, and I saw HE in the 90s, and they're just phenomenal shows that made me cry and laugh at the same time. And that's something I want to achieve with this show.”

However, he wants to make it clear that “nobody should worry, we're not going to change it too much and turn it into jokes, jokes, jokes or anything like that. What we're showing is humor that comes from humanity, the kind that you laugh at because you can identify with it and because it just hurts too much if you don't laugh.”

In addition to MacDonald behind the camera, several new doctors will also be seen on screen this season.

MacDonald gives an insight into the newcomers and says: “First we have Dr. Caitlin Lenox, played by Sarah Ramos. Dr. Lenox is brought to the emergency room by [hospital administrator Sharon] Goodwin is to help make the hospital more efficient after the closure of a nearby hospital. Due to the closure, the overflow of that hospital will be handled by [Chicago Med’s E.D.]and things will get much more hectic in our emergency room.”

According to MacDonald, Lenox is “not a cuddly teddy bear at all. She used to be in the military and believes very much in discipline and efficiency. But she's not a cold-hearted doctor. She cares deeply about her patients. She's also a bit of an enigma to everyone, like she doesn't want to hang out with anyone or get to know them. She just wants to do her job. But as the season goes on, we get these little glimpses of why she is the way she is.”

The other new member of the staff is Dr. John Frost, played by Darren Barnet.

“Dr. Frost is very good-looking and very charming,” says MacDonald. “And he cares deeply about children. And he's a firm believer that children should know what their medical problems are. He believes that they should be involved in conversations about their treatment, and that puts him in direct conflict with some parents, because parents generally want to protect their children from scary conversations. Frost's sense of protecting children has a background that we'll learn more about later in the season.”

MacDonald gives a taste of what will happen in the season opener, revealing that the hour will have a “very fast pace” and that a major incident is imminent.

“It's been a while since the workforce has been confronted with a mass accident. Now we are dealing with a commuter ship colliding with a smaller ship, causing many injuries and some deaths. This is a huge burden on our people.”

Whether someone has seen every episode, only seen a few episodes, or never tuned in Chicago Med MacDonald says it's always a good time to look into it or start doing so, as he shares a personal story: “I recently had an experience with my stepfather in the emergency room and I realized that it makes a huge difference when you have a family member in the hospital, that there's a team of people there that really care about you. They don't spend all day with you, but they take the time to really listen and make sure your loved one is OK and on the road to recovery, and that's very important.

He adds: “And I really believe that's what we show on our show and that the best reason to watch it is to see these people who pretend they're just doing their job when in reality they're real heroes who help people every day.”

The tenth season of “Chicago Med” starts on Wednesday, September 25th^th at 8/7c on NBC. Episodes can be streamed the next day on Peacock.