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This Is Why Dr. Bishop Isn't on Transplant in Season 3
We explained what happened to John Hannah's character, and whether or not he'll be back.
Transplant Season 3 is finally here, premiering on Thursday, October 12 at 9/8c. And with its return you'll notice some familiar faces — shoutout to our leading man Hamza Haq (Dr. Bashir "Bash" Hamed) — and possibly a couple of new ones. But you'll also realize that one of York Memorial Hospital's most prominent figures, Dr. Jed Bishop (John Hannah) is no longer on your screen practicing medicine amongst his student doctors.
Below we explain what exactly happened to Bishop and whether or not he's coming back.
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What happened to Dr. Bishop in Transplant in Season 2?
Some may remember the drama that started it all in Season 2, Episode 7's "Control". When the powerful Dr. Ray Grisholm is unhappy with how Bash, Bishop, and Mags' treated his daughter — who had ALS and ended up having to be intubated — he sued them. As the season continued on the malpractice suit proved to be nearly an impossible hurdle, with the case uncovering that Bash did not have his proper transcripts from Syria. This further threatened the status of his residency at York.
Finally in the Season 2 finale "Free for What", Bishop decided to resign as chief of emergency medicine so Bash could keep his job.
"I've thought about it from every angle, and there's only one option," he said during the episode. "Ray wants a sacrificial lamb. I'm the best one he can get. My leaving means he has no cause to go after you. It's done Bashir. His lawyers are drawing up the paperwork."
Showrunner and creator Joseph Kay explained to NBC Insider why he and the writers decided to have Bishop's exit revolve around Bash.
"We were always interested in the way that those two develop a sort of a father-son surrogate kind of relationship," Kay says. "And it goes back to the way the show started in this car accident where Bash saved Bishop's life. And over the two seasons that they're in the show together, in a way, they're kind of taking turns trying to save each other. And so, you know, Bash feels like this need to protect him, and Bishop feels the need to protect Bash."
Kay adds, "And who better to sacrifice himself in that regard than Dr. Bishop, who really wouldn't be alive unless Bash had been where he was as the show started.
Why did John Hannah leave Transplant?
According to Kay, it all came down to creative choices in the writers' room.
He told us that the minds behind Transplant had created a world where Bash as the main character needed to be challenged, but Bishop was still always there to support him and have his back. But the longer this cycle continued between the character, Kay says, "We're gonna eventually start feeling the lack of stakes."
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He continued, "To make things dangerous and more volatile for Bash again, writing Bishop off the show for Season 3 was what we felt was the right decision. Even though we love the character in him, and we love John... And then we'd also been telling this two seasons story about Bash's inability to get his medical transcripts out of his home country, which is a real thing. And we wanted some way for that story to be put to bed in a way that felt real and in a way that Bash could see his own future. You know, if he feels that that issue is safe for him, then he thinks it's not gonna stand in his way."
Will John Hannah return to Transplant as Dr. Bishop?
Right now there are no plans for the O.G. chief to return, with Dr. Neeta Devi (Rekha Sharma) taking his place in Season 3. But we'll keep you updated right here on NBC Insider in case of any surprise appearances.
