Spoilers ahead for the January 15 episode of Chicago Med, called "The Ground Shifts Beneath Us."
Chicago Med set up a love triangle in the first half of Season 5 involving what had seemingly been one of the most solid couples of the series: Ethan and April. Newcomer Dr. Crockett Marcel lived up to the promises that he would disrupt relationships by catching April's eye just when she and Ethan hit a rough patch, and April agreeing to marry Ethan in the winter premiere doesn't mean the triangle is finished.
Showrunners Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov weighed in on April's feelings moving into the second half of Chicago Med Season 5, saying this when asked if the winter premiere was the end of April and Crockett:
Andrew Schneider: No. April still has feelings for Crockett that she can't resolve. She wishes she didn't have them, but it isn't the end because there's still that shoe to drop.Diane Frolov: The difference between them is that Crockett looks at the situation in a much lighter way. It was a fun flirt at that party and then he does not want to go into any deep relationship. He does not want to blow the Ethan/April relationship.
April may love Ethan and want to have a child with him, but those stirrings she felt for Crockett didn't just go away because of a guilty conscience and the ring on her finger. To her credit, April wishes she didn't have feelings toward him, and she and Crockett have seemed to conflict more than agree in the aftermath of the big kiss. In fact, Crockett even brought it up when he spotted her engagement ring in "The Ground Shifts Beneath Us."
That said, there's no denying that the stakes are lower for Crockett than for April, and the truth eventually coming out might impact him a lot less than her. As Med showrunners Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov noted to CinemaBlend, Crockett is looking at their staus quo in "a much lighter way," and "The Ground Shifts Beneath Us" proved even further that Crockett prefers to avoid making messes of relationships.
Crockett even refused to out Dr. Abrams' young wife when it seemed like she was pulling the plug on him to collect on his life insurance. He also has fewer deep connections to the Med regulars, so any aftermath of the truth coming out might not affect him too much. Andrew Schneider shared that the Med team went the extra mile to avoid making Crockett come across as the villain after the winter premiere:
We actually tried very hard to make it a balanced thing. Crockett by his very nature is a kind of disruptor, but he doesn't have any evil intent. He's not looking to blow things up. In fact, when he saw that he may be doing just that, he tried to calm the waters.
The question is whether the situation will blow up despite Crockett's best efforts. April's guilty conscience may not let her keep the secret forever, and Ethan proved at the end of "The Ground Shifts Between Us" that he's suspicious of Crockett and not one to let things go. If he keeps picking at Crockett, and April walks in on a brewing confrontation like she did at the end of this episode, then the whole situation could get very messy.
On the upside, maybe a mess would help resolve April's pesky feelings! On the downside... well, maybe Manstead won't be the only big Med relationship potentially ruined for good. And hey, this isn't the weirdest Med love triangle that could have happened! See what happens next when new episodes of Chicago Med air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC as the first hour of the One Chicago block, followed by Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET in the winter TV lineup.
