Sumith Prasad
The eighth season of NBC’s medical series ‘Chicago Med’ follows an intriguing phase of Maggie Lockwood’s professional and personal lives. Due to the shortage of necessary resources, Maggie struggles hard to keep her ED running. Her daughter Vanessa Taylor’s bond with her biological father Grant Young affects Maggie’s life. In the sixth episode of the show, Vanessa makes a startling decision concerning her future, which impacts Maggie as well. Meanwhile, certain developments in the personal life of Marlyne Barrett, who plays Maggie, have alarmed the viewers concerning the actress’ commitment to the show. If you are fearing whether we will see the last of Barrett in the medical drama anytime soon, here’s everything you need to know!
What Happened to Maggie?
Maggie faces several challenges in the eighth season of the show, starting with the lack of medications and other resources in the hospital. To further complicate her life, Grant Young becomes an integral part of Vanessa’s life, which makes him a constant presence in her life as well. In the sixth episode of the season, Vanessa decides to leave Gaffney Chicago Medical Center to join a medical clinic in the Philippines for her to combine her career and passion for adventure. In the seventh episode of the season, her partner Ben Campbell gets offended at her upon meeting Grant.
Maggie is in a position where she could use a break from her professional life to take care of her personal concerns. In addition, Marlyne Barrett announced that she is battling uterine and ovarian cancer upon getting diagnosed with the same in July 2022. The viewers must be wondering whether Barrett will leave the show for her treatment obligations. The challenges Maggie faces in her life must have been increasing the concerns of the admirers of the show. So, is Barrett going to leave the medical drama? Let’s find out.
Is Marlyne Barrett Leaving Chicago Med?
As of now, neither NBC nor Marlyne Barrett has released a statement concerning the actress’ supposed departure from ‘Chicago Med,’ indicating that Barrett most likely will not be leaving the show imminently. Although the actress is under treatment, Barrett has been an integral part of the eighth season of the show. In fact, working at the show has been a positive experience for the actress as she deals with a troubling phase of her life. “[…] work brings me a lot of joy right now,” Barrett told People. “It brings me a lot of reprieve to think about something other than, ‘When is my next chemo shift?’ and ‘How am I going to hug my children?'” she added.
Barrett has been making adjustments to handle her professional obligations and ongoing treatment. She has been napping in between schedules and taking occasional days off to maintain her energy as well. As far as her physical appearance is concerned, the medical drama’s costume department has been helping Barrett immensely. “[…] because of the mass, my mid-range is a different size, so the costume department does an incredible job. Interestingly enough, my character on the show already wears a wig!” she added in the same People interview.
Barrett’s fellow cast and crew members at ‘Chicago Med’ have been an incredible support system for the actress. “I’ve had people shave their heads on set to support me,” Barrett added about them. Considering the actress’ words, it is safe to say that Barrett is commendably managing her commitments to the show and her treatment together. Even if she had to take a break from acting to focus on her treatment, Barrett may only leave the show temporarily, possibly for a very few episodes. Considering that she signed a new multi-year deal to remain in the series in July 2022, we may not need to worry about Barrett leaving the medical drama for good anytime soon.
Read More: Why and When is Brian Tee’s Dr. Ethan Choi leaving Chicago Med?
