Chicago Med: Why Brian Tee & Colin Donnell Reunited In A BTS Season 9 Photo

Brian Tee's exit from "Chicago Med" during Season 8 was warm and sweet, as his character, Ethan Choi, united in marital bliss with April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta) and left Chicago Gaffney Medical Center a happy man. The actor's already back on the drama's set for Season 9 — but don't expect to see him onscreen, as he'll be directing an episode.  And it turns out his second effort behind the camera drew another familiar face to the set for a mini-"Med" reunion.

Per a post to Tee's Instagram account made on March 23, Colin Donnell, who left "Chicago Med" after five seasons as Connor Rhodes, popped by to see Tee ply his trade. "So I'm directing my Ep of #ChicagoMed and guess who made a surprise visit... the @colindonnell Great to see you old friend. The #OG Docs," Tee captioned the image of the two actors smiling cheek to cheek on the set.

Brian Tee had previously stated that his work on "Chicago Med" had helped him prepare for his directing career, and it's clear that leaning on the set has helped the actor formulate a style. But even when he's not commandeering a bullhorn, he's got a lot on his plate. Aside from helming two "Chicago Med" episodes, he's kept himself quite busy with other ventures since leaving his perch as a regular on the show, and so has Colin Donnell.

Colin Donnell has been a busy fellow since leaving "Chicago Med" at the foot of Season 5. After his "Chicago Med" stint, he became a regular on "Arrow," where he played Tommy Merlyn for 31 Episodes. Once the CW series wrapped up, Donnell surfaced in two Hallmark films, "Love on Iceland" and "To Catch a Spy." Most recently, he led Peacock's "Irreverent" as Mack, an American ex-con who assumes the identity of a priest in a small Australian hamlet.

Brian Tee, meanwhile, has kept many irons in the fire after leaving "Chicago Med." Aside from appearing on Prime Video's "Expats," which he filmed while he was still working as a regular on "Chicago Med," Tee is set to appear in Season 3 of "Reacher" as Quinn, one of Jack Reacher's (Alan Ritchson) former cases, who stands accused of selling state secrets 10 years prior.

Tee is also set to produce a new limited anthology series entitled "The Scapegoat," the first season of which is slated to demythologize the story of Tokyo Rose. The pilot was being shopped around as of October 2023.

While returning to the "Chicago Med" set as a director definitely seems to feel like a homecoming for Tee, it's clear both he and Donnell have also excelled at spreading their wings and taking on other projects. Hopefully, they'll continue checking back into Chicago Gaffney Medical Center while also taking on fresh stories of their own.