Chicago Med interview: EPs tease April, Ethan struggle, Crockett’s past
In terms of characters, this is an episode that will have some conflict play out between Ethan and April — they’ve gone through a lot already, but the change in position for Ethan comes with more hard choices. Meanwhile, this is also an installment that will expose more on Crockett’s past — it’s fascinating to dive into his world and what makes him tick.
In order to better set the stage for what lies ahead, and also the continued struggles of shooting during a pandemic, we spoke recently with two people who know this show better then anyone: Showrunners Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov. Check out some of what they had to say below, and come back after Wednesday’s episode for part two of our interview!
CarterMatt – I know how challenging it must have been starting production, but how challenging has it been to maintain it these past several months?
Frolov – You never know what’s going to happen day to day. Luckily everyone is getting tested regularly — after this [filming] break we don’t know. We’re just hoping for the best.
Schneider – We were concerned after Thanksgiving that we might have too many positive cases and we’d have to shut down, but everyone was able to keep going. We did shoot two episodes between Thanksgiving and our [holiday] break. We’re slated to start shooting episode 7 [this week]. LA is delaying shooting because of the pandemic; we’re in Chicago, and we haven’t heard anything about a production shutdown for us.
Frolov – But that could change.
Schneider – You never know. If there are too many positive cases, we could have to shut down.
In the past I know the two of you would be around set for at least One Chicago Day and some other occasions, and I’m assuming that’s something you’re not able to do this year. Is the process of doing the show different now because of it?
Frolov – Tremendously. We have not been to the set. No writer has been to the set. There’s not even a video village anymore. What we do is that they stream it and we can see what the cameras are seeing, but we don’t have that interaction.
Schneider – And we can’t get together with our writing staff. All of those are Zoom meetings and that’s difficult creatively. You miss the spontaneity and the personal interaction. Luckily most of the stuff has been there a long time; we have a certain familiarity. I can’t imagine if you were doing this and had a staff of people you didn’t know. That would be really tough.
The promo for episode 3 shows Ethan telling April to go back down to the ED, which she is resistant to do. How does this play into their relationship?
Frolov – She continues to resent him.
Schneider – She’s very resentful. She had found such purpose and had identified with these patients. It gave her a mission and it’s taken away. Yet, because she is who she is, she invests herself totally in a young woman who comes in during the episode.
The relationship between Ethan and April will be fraught throughout the season. There’s another episode coming up that features her brother Noah, and that causes more conflict between them. For Ethan, it’s really tough because he has this tremendous sense of duty, and he doesn’t want his personal relationships to interfere with his command. But, he’s torn. He has these personal feelings and this obligation to run the ED in the best way he can.
Dr. Marcel is confronted by his past in this episode. What can viewers expect to learn about his character over the course of it?
Frolov – You’ll certainly learn more about his emotional state.
Schneider – You’ll learn about his psychology and how he tries not to take himself vulnerable. He’s experienced a lot of pain in his life.
Related News – Be sure to get some additional Chicago Med updates
What do you want to see when it comes to Wednesday’s big Chicago Med?
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