The Resident recently released its Season 5 trailer, which ended on an ominous note for Nicolette 'Nic' Levin (played by Emily VanCamp) as police visit her husband Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry) to tell him some bad news.
Though VanCamp does briefly appear in the 30-second trailer released onto The Resident's Twitter page, news broke shortly after it was released that she would be leaving the show in Season 5.
This comes after Nic and Conrad welcomed their first child in the Season 4 finale, suggesting the show is set to start its fifth season by breaking up the new family.
Why Is Emily VanCamp Leaving The Resident?
Multiple factors are at play when it comes to Nic's exit – though there is some good news for fans who want her to return at some point.
Literally speaking, she is leaving the show because she asked to be released from her contract in May, around the time of the Season 4 finale (per Deadline).
At that time, though she didn't publicly reveal it, she was several months pregnant. The announcement of VanCamp's departure comes four days after she said on Instagram that she had given birth to a girl named Iris with husband Josh Bowman.
The trailer seems to hint that the show will kill off Nic, based on the police activity mentioned above, but also because of a scene in which Conrad comes in to comfort the baby alone.
The Season 5 poster also hints at tragedy for Conrad. It shows him with his back to the camera under somber lighting, with the caption reading, "healing starts within."
However, the Deadline piece that announced the news suggests that Nic is possibly still alive in the world of the show. The article reveals that there is hope within the show that VanCamp will guest star on the show in the future – though of course this could be as a flashback or as a figment of another's character's imagination (as The Good Doctor recently did with Nicholas Gonzalez's Neil Melendez).
VanCamp is the second Resident cast member to leave the show this year. In April, Mina Okafor actor Shaunette Renée Wilson exited the show, writing on Instagram that she too asked the producers to allow her to terminate her contract. In Season 5, Barret Cain actor Morris Chestnut will also be appearing on the show in a limited capacity after joining new show Our Kind of People.
VanCamp's departure also comes after The Falcon and The Winter Soldier hinted at a larger role going forward for her character in that show, in which she plays Sharon Carter. At the end of the Disney+ show (spoilers ahead), she was revealed to be the mysterious Power Broker, an all-powerful arms dealer. And with the final episode ending with her getting a job at the CIA and promising her clients "full access" to agency arsenals, this is unlikely to be the last time we see Carter in the MCU.
The Resident Season 5 starts Tuesday, September 21, at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on Fox.
