Mekia Cox
Mekia Cox has left the NBC series “Chicago Med.” Pictured: The actress attending the Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! Entertainment Golden Globes after party sponsored by Chrysler in Beverly Hills, California on Jan. 8, 2017. Photo by Loreen Sarkis/Getty Images

Ahead of “Chicago Med” Season 3, episode 6’s airing last week, the NBC show was teasing about someone at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center getting suspended. The teasers and synopsis strongly hinted at the idea that Dr. Sarah Reese (Rachel DiPillo) will be relieved of her duties. And when it did happen on the show, fans thought that DiPillo would be exiting the medical series. But as it turns out, it was cast member Mekia Cox who actually bid the NBC show goodbye.

In last week’s installment, fans saw Dr. Reese getting in trouble for using pepper spray on an aggressive patient. The act was actually more of an consequence from what had taken place earlier in the series. The psychiatric resident has apparently been traumatized really badly by the shooting of Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) in Season 2’s finale. So her paranoia got the best of her in Season 3, episode 6.

Although Dr. Reese’s suspension was understandable, her act of spraying the chemical against the patient did the latter more good than bad. When Gaffney officials decided to subject the patient to several tests for liability issues, they found out that the man’s behavior was actually a manifestation of a chronic condition. Still, the end does not justify the means. Hospital administrator Dr. Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) made Dr. Reese surrender her hospital pass.

Fortunately for Dr. Reese’s fans, the character is going nowhere far. DiPillo is still part of future episodes of the series, with TVOverMind reporting that fans will still see Dr. Reese’s journey this season. It’s possible that the young doctor could regain her position at Gaffney, but for now she needs to seek treatment for her PTSD.

“Chicago Med” co-showrunner Andrew Schneider has said in the past that one character is leaving the show this season, and it’s clear now that it’s none other than epidemiologist Robin Charles. After getting diagnosed with benign mediastinal teratoma, the daughter of Daniel’s has never been the same. Things also turned for the worst in episode 6 when she stole some things from Dr. Connor Rhodes’ (Colin Donnell) father. Out of humiliation, Robin decides to flee to be with her mother.

While the reason that Robin left Gaffney is personal, Cox’s is more of a professional type. The 36-year-old actress has been promoted to series regular over on “Once Upon A Time.” The writers of the fantasy series have decided to expand her character Tiana’s (“The Princess and the Frog”) story arc, so she’ll be staying in Vancouver — where the ABC series is being filmed — for some time. “Chicago Med” is being shot in the Near West Side, so it would be difficult for Cox to do the two shows together, as pointed out by CarterMatt.

Meanwhile, Schneider has already confirmed that while one character is exiting the series this season, a new one is going to be introduced in the finale. “We very likely will have a new character introduced at the end of the season,” he said without giving hints about the actor or actress who will be giving life to the new character.

“Chicago Med” airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST on NBC.

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