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What's Happened to Oliver Platt's Character Dr. Daniel Charles on Chicago Med?
Gaffney's Head of Psychiatry, played by Oliver Platt, is the beating heart of the One Chicago medical series.
Stressful surgeries and bloody injuries may be an everyday occurrence on Chicago Med, but when patients need mental health resources, it's Gaffney Medical Center's passionate Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) who saves the day.
Dr. Charles treats every case with utmost care, understanding the relationship between physical and mental health better than anyone. As one of Chicago Med's O.G. characters, Dr. Charles has weighed in on the medical madness since Season 1 of the NBC nail-biter, while also appearing in several episodes of Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire.
RELATED: What Happened to Dr. Charles in Season 8 of Chicago Med?
And, when it comes to battling his own inner demons, Dr. Charles is one of Chicago's most exemplary first responders.
Who is Dr. Daniel Charles on Chicago Med?
Dr. Charles is the Head of Psychiatry at the fictional Gaffney Medical Center on Chicago Med.
He was part of the show's original cast, and is considered respectful, considerate, and curious, all traits that elevate his therapeutic capabilities.
He's been married four times to three different women, and had two daughters over the course of his marriages. In addition, his brother passed away from a drug overdose and he was, until Season 4, estranged from his elderly mother.
Dr. Charles has been diagnosed with depression, though he's long availed himself of the appropriate treatment for his condition.
Who is Dr. Daniel Charles' girlfriend Liliana Wapniarsk on Chicago Med?
Dr. Charles has been dating Liliana Wapniarsk (Alet Taylor), a custodian at Gaffney, since Season 8.
The couple first met in Season 8, Episode 9 (“This Could Be the Start of Something New") when he recognized her from her singing gig at a bar nearby and asked her out on a date. After a few fantastic dates, they became a couple and moved in together at the end of the season.
Liliana's brother, Pawel (Kristof Konrad) — over whom they'd already argued — caused tension between the couple in Season 9, Episode 8 ("A Penny For Your Thoughts, Dollar For Your Dreams"). Pawel showed up at the house complaining of a shoulder problem and asking for drugs, but Dr. Charles passed on writing Pawel a prescription and insisted he go to the hospital instead. At Gaffney, Dr. Mitch Ripley (Luke Mitchell) popped Pawel's dislocated shoulder back into place, but Pawel then complained that he could no longer make a fist.
Pawel ended up suing Ripley for malpractice. This angered Dr. Charles, who told Pawel he'd do everything in his power to make sure he would get busted for insurance fraud. Liliana walked in on her brother and boyfriend arguing, upsetting her and straining her relationship with Dr. Charles. Gaffney Med's lawyers eventually pressured Ripley to settle.
The tension between Dr. Charles and his girlfriend's family reached a fever pitch during the Season 9 finale when Pawel was admitted to the ER after being attacked by a masked assailant. Pawel alleged that Ripley was responsible, claiming it was revenge for losing the malpractice suit. When Dr. Charles attempted to de-escalate the situation, Liliana accused him of always taking Ripley's side.
The couple ended the season in a rough patch.
What's happened between Dr. Daniel Charles and Dr. Mitch Ripley on Chicago Med?
Dr. Charles was introduced to Dr. Mitch Ripley in Season 9 as a new attending physician but soon realized they had met under different circumstances.
RELATED: Why Dr. Ripley Has Issues with Dr. Charles on Chicago Med
After digging through his files, Dr. Charles realized Ripley had been a troubled teenager with an impulse control disorder whom he'd treated at an inpatient clinic in a juvenile detention center. While there, Ripley was heavily sedated and overly restrained, leading him to resent Dr. Charles — who'd simply left his patient once his rotation ended.
Their complicated history set the stage for a rivalrous relationship in Season 9 as Ripley set out to prove to his former doctor that he'd improved drastically since childhood. Meanwhile, Dr. Charles went out of his way to show Ripley that he was no longer the cold, absent-minded physician he remembered.
Dr. Charles eventually apologized to Ripley for the way he contributed to his childhood neglect, and after a season of push and pull, the doctors grew closer as colleagues.
Who was Dr. Charles' first (and fourth) wife, CeCe Charles, on Chicago Med?
Dr. Charles married Caroline "Cece" Charles (Paula Newsome) when the two were relatively young. His parents objected to the relationship because Cece was Black, and it caused Dr. Charles to be estranged from his mother until Season 4. (His father died in the interim.)
The two had a daughter, Robin (Mekia Cox), but ultimately divorced long before the show began, after which Cece and Robin moved to St. Louis.
RELATED: Revisit the Most Heartbreaking Deaths on Chicago Med
The two lovebirds ultimately got back together in Season 4 of Chicago Med, after Cece visited Gaffney seeking experimental treatments for her terminal cancer in Season 4, Episode 15 ("We Hold These Truths").
Dr. Charles was a tremendous support to his ex-wife during her treatment and her time in Chicago resulted in the two rekindling their romance. They were remarried in Season 4, Episode 22 ("With a Brave Heart") in an impromptu Hawaiian-style ceremony on the banks of the Chicago River.
Cece passed away in Season 5, Episode 9 ("I Can't Imagine the Future").
What happened to Dr. Daniel Charles' daughter, Robin Charles, on Chicago Med?
Dr. Charles ended up working with Robin after she became an epidemiologist at Gaffney in Season 2. The two had not been close in the years since her parents' divorce, but ultimately began to reconnect.
Unfortunately, Robin began exhibiting symptoms of psychosis in Episode 19 ("Ctrl+Alt"), which both her then-boyfriend, Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell) and Dr. Charles soon noticed. The two at first disagreed on her course of treatment but, after it was revealed that her behavior was due to a benign mediastinal teratoma, the two men in her life buried the hatchet.
Robin had surgery to remove the tumor, but had a difficult road to her recovery. Wishing to be with her mother in St. Louis to fully recover, she moved away from Chicago and her then-boyfriend, Dr. Rhodes.
She returned to the show in Seasons 4 and 5 during her mother's treatment, having clearly maintained a relationship with Dr. Charles in the interim.
Who was Dr. Daniel Charles' second wife Susan on Chicago Med?
Dr. Charles married his second wife, Susan Charles (Jill Abramovitz), sometime after his divorce with Cece. They had a daughter, Anna, but also later divorced.
While Anna appeared briefly in Season 2, Episode 1 ("Soul Care"), viewers first met Susan in Season 5, Episode 18 (“The Ghosts of the Past”). That is when she revealed that she'd moved with Anna (Hannah Riley) to Milwaukee following the divorce, but returned at some point in Season 4. She then berated Dr. Charles for failing to spend enough time with his younger daughter during Cece's terminal illness.
During Season 6, Dr. Charles discovered that Susan planned to move to Phoenix and take Anna, a plan to which Anna objected and he fought and lost in court. Ultimately, however, Susan left Anna with Dr. Charles in Chicago and moved without their daughter.
Who is Dr. Daniel Charles' daughter Anna on Chicago Med?
Anna Charles, played Hannah Riley starting in Season 5, is the daughter of Dr. Charles and his second wife, Susan.
She and her mom lived together in Milwaukee prior to Season 4, when she moved back amid her father's remarriage to Cece and her then-stepmother's death. They began reconnecting in Season 5, even as she began a period of teenage rebellion.
In Season 6, Episode 2 ("Those Things Hidden in Plain Sight"), Anna called her father because her mother was ill, leading Dr. Charles to discover that Susan planned to move to Phoenix. The exes fought over custody as father and daughter became closer. After Susan won in court, Anna expressed an interest in remaining in Chicago with her dad and her mother, disappointed they were not closer, ceded custody to Dr. Charles.
As a result, Dr. Charles and his daughter suddenly began living under the same roof again. In Season 8 of Chicago Med, Dr. Charles and Anna combined brains on which colleges she should tour when he expressed his hope that Anna would choose a school close to Chicago.
Who was Dr. Daniel Charles' third wife on Chicago Med?
Dr. Charles' third wife remains unseen and unnamed in the series, with viewers only knowing she was from Spain and enjoyed the 20th century Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.
RELATED: A Breakdown of the Current Chicago Med Cast
Out of his three ex-wives, Dr. Charles' third marriage is easily the most mysterious.
What happened between Dr. Daniel Charles and his therapist Lonnie Richardson on Chicago Med?
Lonnie Richardson (Nora Dunn) appeared as Dr. Charles's therapist in Seasons 1 and 2, and he reached out to her for treatment again in Season 7.
However, she was standoffish and ultimately admitted she no longer wished to be his therapist because she had developed romantic feelings for him.
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Dr. Charles was taken aback but flattered, and so they began cautiously dating after he sought psychiatric treatment elsewhere. However, he ultimately felt too vulnerable about his partner knowing that much about his psyche and broke things off by the end of the season.
Who was Dr. Daniel Charles' first mentee, Sarah Reese, on Chicago Med?
One of Dr. Charles' most unforgettable bonds was with Sarah Reese (Rachel DiPillo), who began as a medical student in the Emergency Department in Season 1 and accepted a residency in the Psychiatric Department working under Dr. Charles in Seasons 2 and 3.
Despite their bond, they had two major conflicts.
First, after Dr. Charles was shot the Season 2 finale (“Love Hurts”) by his patient Jack Kellogg (Scott Morehead), Reese testified for the prosecution in Season 3 that Kellogg was legally sane, despite Dr. Charles' testimony that his attacker was not responsible for his actions.
That season, Sarah also reconnected with her estranged father, Robert Haywood (Michel Gill), after he was admitted for a heart transplant and needed personal and financial assistance from Sarah.
Dr. Charles realized over the course of the season that Haywood was a serial killer of young women and confronted him in the Season 3 Finale ("The Tipping Point"). In shock, Haywood had a heart attack, and Sarah saw her mentor hesitate before administering chest compressions.
Despite helping prove her father's guilt, Sarah told Dr. Charles in the Season 4 premiere ("Be My Better Half") that she was ending her residency at Gaffney because of his moment of hesitation.
Find out what happens to Dr. Charles next by watching Chicago Med on Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
Originally published May 1, 2024.