The Big Criticism Chicago Med Fans Have About The Early Seasons
As the ripped-from-the-headlines-with-heart-still-beating medical drama entry in producer Dick Wolf's three-tiered "One Chicago" slate of shows, "Chicago Med" has been sewing up big ratings for NBC ever since its fictional Gaffney Chicago Medical Center opened for business back in 2015. With over 140 episodes and counting at the time of writing (per IMDb), it's hardly shocking that the series occasionally introduces a character or storyline that fans find subpar or worse. It's also understandable that fans might discover more to gripe about as the writers work to find their footing in a show's early going.
Take the critical drubbing given to the debut of "Parks & Recreation," for instance. As noted in a Deadline article titled "Problems With NBC's 'Parks & Recreation," the new Amy Poehler show was supposed to be a can't-miss hit, coming as it did from the talents behind "The Office." But, as Deadline quoted from the show's "Consumer And Market Intelligence Research Summary," the rough cut of the new series premiere was found to be unoriginal and predictable, and perhaps most damning of all, "lacking in character development, even for a pilot." With this kind of potential pitfall in mind, what criticism did fans level at the early episodes of "Chicago Med"?
Fans faulted character development in early Chicago Med outings
As noted above, early series episodes can sometimes have quality control issues. And, as with the "Parks & Recreation" debut, character development during the initial seasons of "Chicago Med" was a definite issue.
Speaking out in the discussion "Character development who??" on the show's subreddit, original poster u/Gynaneo wrote, "I'm nearly at the end of season 2 and i'm wondering if there will be any character development like.. at all?" They then complain that most of the characters are utterly unchanging and "...are so stuck in their ways its [sic] getting annoying... Somehow, you hope they get better, but they just dont [sic] seem to." Redditor u/polopony915 wrote that there actually was development in those early seasons but, "Unfortunately, most develop in the wrong direction," while Chi-hard viewer u/Ella D08 feels that Oliver Platt's Dr. Daniel Charles does go through a perceptible change, but not until later in Season 4.
These fans' thoughts on the subject were echoed by The Wrap writer Mekeisha Madden Toby in her review of the "Chicago Med" 2015 premiere installment, where she wondered, "for how many episodes can these characters stay in boxes of predictability before the show flatlines?" As it turns out, however, "Chicago Med" remains alive and healthy as it preps for its upcoming season on NBC, predictable or not.