Could The Resident’s Morris Chestnut Return As Cain After The Season 5 Premiere? Here’s What The Producer Says

Morris Chestnut as Dr. Barrett Cain in The Resident.

Season 5 of Fox's medical drama The Resident is finally here and the premiere was packed with emotions and twists and turns at every corner. While Conrad and the staff at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital tried their best to deal with a ransomware attack, there was one doctor who was notably absent from the hospital: Dr. Cain. While in the show Cain took a job offer elsewhere, actor Morris Chestnut plays the lead in new Fox series Our Kind of People. Could he still return? Here’s what co-showrunner and executive producer Andrew Chapman says.

Earlier this year it was announced that Morris Chestnut had landed a role in the Fox series Our Kind of People, and the Season 4 finale of The Resident mentioned a job offer for Cain to set up why he might not be around so much in the future. Although Cain is a villain on The Resident, fans and the characters tend to have a love-hate relationship with him. Andrew Chapman told TV Insider what's on the horizon for Chestnut on the medical drama:

That is under discussion. In fact, just before I got on the phone with you, he called me to have a conversation about that. We love him. We love Morris, he’s the nicest guy in the world. And also we love Cain. His character is a villain you can redeem and such a brilliant surgeon. The thing I will say is you will see Cain again. If it’s not this season, it’ll be next season. We’re trying to work it out. He’s a great addition to the show, and we don’t want to lose him forever.

It looks like fans don't have to fret just yet about the lack of Cain, insofar as he won't be gone forever! Meanwhile, The Resident is looking a little short-staffed this season, as on top of Morris Chestnut’s new role, Emily VanCamp exited the series ahead of Season 5. The season premiere seemed to have set up VanCamp’s exit as nurse practitioner Nic Nevin. In the episode, Nic went on a spa trip, leaving Conrad to tend to their daughter GiGi by himself for a few days.

Nic is supposed to be coming home soon, but in a Season 4 promo, Conrad, while holding his daughter, opened the door to two cops, indicating it is likely not good news. A likely cause for Nic’s departure? A car crash that will inevitably leave GiGi motherless, and Conrad without the love of his life. I’m not ready for what’s to come, if that's the case.

Even if we don’t get Morris Chestnut in Season 5, fans can still see him on Our Kind of People, which is paired with The Resident on Tuesday nights on Fox! Check out CinemaBlend’s 2021 fall TV schedule to see what other shows, new and returning, to look forward to!

Megan Behnke
Freelance TV News Writer

Passionate writer. Obsessed with anything and everything entertainment, specifically movies and television. Can get easily attached to fictional characters.