In the episodes broadcast this Wednesday evening on TF1, Emily VanCamp, who plays nurse Nic Nevin, will bid farewell to “The Resident”. For the occasion, the actress returned to the reasons for her departure.
Attention, the following paragraphs contain spoilers on the first episodes of season 5 of The Resident. If you don’t want to know anything, go your way!
Episode 3 of season 5 of The Resident, broadcast this Wednesday evening from 10:50 p.m. on TF1, marks a turning point in the history of the medical series, since it is the scene of the shock death of nurse Nicolette “Nic” Nevin, camped since launch by Emily VanCamp.
In August 2021, at the dawn of the broadcast of season 5 of The Resident in the United States, she had indeed announced that she would not be back in the next episodes of the series, the actress having decided to s away from film sets in order to take care of her baby.
The writers therefore had the heavy task of offering this central character a satisfactory way out that could satisfy the fans, while allowing the characters of the series to evolve.
The first two episodes of season 5, offered this evening from 9:10 p.m. on TF1, are therefore marked by the absence of Nic, who has decided to treat himself to a relaxing stay in a spa. It is in episode 3 of season 5 that an answer is finally given as to the fate of the character played by Emily VanCamp.
In this pivotal episode, viewers discover that the nurse was the victim of a car accident. Despite attempts by Conrad (Matt Czuchry), Billie (Jessica Lucas), and all the staff at Chastain Hospital to save her, she dies of her injuries, leaving her husband, Conrad, alone with their young daughter. A heartbreaking event that will have serious consequences for the rest of season 5.
A departure wanted by the actress
Emily VanCamp had told the screenwriters of her desire to leave The Resident in order to focus on her family, after the birth of her first child in August 2021. She had thus explained to the American site Deadline that this happy event had changed his priorities.
“I think there comes a time in the life of every woman, and every person, where work becomes less essential than family, and that’s what happened to me during the filming of the series”, she confided to our colleagues..
“Shoot as many episodes in a different city [de celle où l’on vit], and then add on top of that the Covid, it’s difficult, most of us did not see our family for a year. It really reinforced my belief that my family is what’s important to me right now.”.
Emily VanCamp had all the same made a point of specifying that her departure was not linked to tensions on the film set or to any dissatisfaction with the intrigues of her character.
“I loved shooting The Resident for four years“, confessed the actress. “Sometimes you hear that a person left a show because something happened behind the scenes or because there was tension. In my case, it’s the exact opposite. There’s nothing but love and respect on set, and this decision wasn’t easy to make. But I know it was the right one“.
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Nic’s death was the only solution for the writers
Asked by TVLine, showrunner Peter Elkoff explained why it was inconceivable for him to simply send the character to another hospital or another city: “How could she have gone to another hospital without taking her child with her?
“If we had wanted to keep the character alive in this fictional universe, it would simply have created immense logic problems. It wouldn’t have made any sense. She was a devoted mother and nurse. Why would she leave the hospital? Left Conrad? Abandoned his daughter?“.
The authors therefore wanted to offer the character of Nic a narrative continuity that would be consistent with what they had been able to create previously. They also had in mind to strike a blow and thus open up interesting prospects for Conrad: “Conrad who would become divorced and a part-time father? It would have been sad. But Conrad as a single father, raising his daughter alone, is heartbreaking but also fascinating to watch.“.
The next episodes of The Resident, which are broadcast every Wednesday evening from 9:10 p.m. on TF1, will therefore allow us to follow Conrad’s new life as a single father, but also the slow reconstruction of the character following this tragedy.