Spoilers ahead for Episode 4 of Chicago Med Season 7, called “Status Quo, aka The Mess We’re In,” and light spoilers for next week’s “Change Is A Tough Pill To Swallow.”
Chicago Med raised the stakes with Will’s undercover mission for Goodwin in “Status Quo, aka The Mess We’re In,” as well as showed the first signs that Crockett is going to seriously consider pursuing a specialty rather than remain a general surgeon. Fortunately, nothing happened between him and Vanessa, and viewers got some more backstory from Dylan via his interactions with Dr. Charles. It was an intriguing episode, but the promo that aired afterward may be what has a lot of people talking thanks to the reveal of Suits alum Sarah Rafferty.
Sarah Rafferty played Donna Paulsen for all nine seasons of Suits as an essential member of the legal team, even though Donna wasn’t a lawyer herself. Based on the promo, Chicago Med will be taking her in a very different direction from who she played on Suits. In fact, also in a very different direction from who she played on Grey’s Anatomy! Take a look:
Well, technically Sarah Rafferty has played a character who has toyed with breaching ethics before thanks to some Suits storylines, but never in this way! Based on the promo, Rafferty will be playing a surgeon whose daughter has been in some kind of accident that has her in rough enough shape that she’ll need an operation. Crockett clearly doesn’t want to give her the case, and Goodwin at least has a lecture in store, but will Rafferty's character still perform the surgery?
There are no details available just yet, but I find myself wondering if Sarah Rafferty is playing a surgeon of higher rank than Crockett. That would explain how she’s at least somewhat getting away with pulling the case from him, and why Goodwin might not go as far to stop her as she would somebody lower on the ladder. But she could also just be a particularly strong-willed and unflappable surgeon, who might not be quite as unflappable when she finds her daughter on the operating table.
Sarah Rafferty wasn’t announced as a new regular or recurring member of the Chicago Med cast, so fans may not want to count on seeing more of her beyond “Change Is A Tough Pill To Swallow.” Still, we can only wait and see what happens next. What we can be confident of is seeing Rafferty stretching her acting muscles in different ways than she did on Suits, and bringing her talents back to network television.
See Sarah Rafferty on Chicago Med with the next new episode, airing on Wednesday, October 20 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Med is flourishing in the ratings as part of the One Chicago block also including Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., so keep on tuning in.
