Warning: This story contains spoilers form the Chicago Med season 5 premiere.
Saying goodbye. The Chicago Med premiere was an emotional ride for many reasons. At the end of season 4, the news broke that Colin Donnell and Norma Kuhling would not be returning, leaving their story lines in question. However, Donnell’s Conner Rhodes and Kuhling’s Ava Bekker appeared for one last time in the Wednesday, September 25, premiere.
During the episode, both were accused of killing Connor’s dad. However, after finding out that the insulin that killed him was, in fact, traceable, Ava took her own life, slicing her throat in front on Connor. Obviously distraught by everything that had happened in the last few months, Connor decided to leave the hospital.
“I was happy for the conclusion, to get some clarity to how season 4 had ended,” Donnell, 36, tells Us Weekly exclusively of his reaction to the premiere. “I think it’s always emotional when a character dies. It’s always tough on a set because we’re saying goodbye to this person in a very real way. I loved working with Norma. She’s amazing. She did a wonderful job navigating what was a very layered and troubled character.”
He was also happy with the way Conner exited the series. “He left on his own terms, which I thought was really lovely for the character and for me personally,” the former Affair star says, adding that he’s thrilled the ending was open-ended.
“It’s one of the greatest things about about for Dick Wolf and [producers] Andy Schneider and Diane Frolov. One of the best working experiences of my life was being a part of Med and that was, in large part, due to the leadership at the top,” he adds. “I would love to go back. I would love to pop in here and there, and I sort of have a history of doing that now on shows! It probably won’t be as wild of ways as I do on Arrow, but I’m really very happy and thankful to them that they gave me the exit that they did so that the door is open for the future.”
As for his return on the finale, Donnell admits he cried “a lot of tears” while on set because both he and wife Patti Murin were so close with the cast and crew. “It was such a big family all the time.”
While the Anything Goes star was surprised by the news that he’d be leaving the show, he understands how the industry works. “I can’t say anything negative. They let me know that they were going to move in a new direction and I went, ‘Thanks for an awesome four years,'” Donnell tells Us. “A couple days later, I was starting rehearsals for the workshop for Almost Famous so it was like, onto the next, this is cool. It’s sort of like living the gypsy life that I’m used to it.”
Chicago Med airs on NBC Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
