We haven’t seen much of Chicago Med’s Dr. Tanaka Reed in Season 10, but that’s about to change.
Tanaka-Reed joined Medicine as a first-year resident during Season 8 of Chicago Med. Chance shines in season 10 of Chicago Med.
We had the chance to catch up with Devin Kawaoka, who plays Reed Tanaka, and he had exciting news to share about his character and the future of the show as a whole.
Chicago Med’s Dr. Tanaka Reed will play a major role in Sharon’s attack storyline
Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 8 ends on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger: Sharon fights for her life after being attacked in her office by a woman who blames her for his wife’s death.
Everyone was on edge, eager to know if Sharon was alive or dead.
So far, there’s no word on that – of course, there won’t be, as that would defeat the purpose of creating a cliffhanger that encourages everyone to tune in when Chicago Med returns.
While Kawoaka didn’t spoil anything for us, he did let us know that Chicago Med’s Dr. Tanaka-Reed will play a big role.
“As you can imagine, when we come back to see if we can save Goodwin’s life, there’s going to be a very complicated process,” he said, adding, “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Judging from Kawaoka’s comments, it’s clear that Tanaka Aoi will play a role in this complex program.
Since he is still a resident, he must work with the attending physician to treat Sharon.
Hopefully it will be better than The Good Doctor with a similar storyline.
While Dr. Tanaka Reed of Chicago Medical Center may be arrogant, I can’t imagine him overriding the order of his attending physician to perform a different procedure.
I definitely don’t think Sharon would be angry with her doctor if the choice of surgery left her temporarily paralyzed.
Regardless, taking partial responsibility for Sharon’s care will challenge Tanaka-Reed in new and exciting ways.
Chicago Med’s Dr. Tanaka Reed faces different types of challenges with Marcel’s departure
Over the past few years, Dr. Tanaka-Reed has worked primarily with Dr. Marcel (Dominic Raines). So when Marcel leaves Chicago Med, Tanaka Reed loses his mentor, which hasn’t even played out on screen yet.
However, Reed Tanaka must find a new mentor, and it sounds like that may happen soon.
“It will be interesting to see who Kai is in the hospital. [Tanaka-Reed] Chosen as his mentor,” Kawaoka mused, adding that both Archer and Abrams were interesting people for his alter ego.
Of course, in Archer’s case, that’s assuming he doesn’t go through with his plan to resign from the hospital, but if TV history is any guide, Archer will likely change after dealing with Goodwin’s situation This idea.
Abrams is one of Kawaoka’s favorite characters to share scenes with
Abrams would be an interesting choice for Dr. Reed Tanaka of Chicago Medical School. They both have arrogant personalities (although Abrams may have the biggest ego of any doctor in medicine), which would make for an interesting dynamic.
Kawaoka noted that all surgeons must have a little ego to succeed in high-stakes work, adding that it would be particularly interesting to revisit the Abrams/Tanaka-Reed relationship since the two ended up in Scenes shared on Chicago Med Season 8.
“The last time we saw them was in the first episode of Season 8 of Kai, they were definitely spending some time together.
So I would love to see more of that because now that Kai has more medical experience, maybe he can actually play alongside Abrams,” he explained.
Kavoca on the evolution of Dr. Tanaka Reed: ‘When he first came on, he didn’t know how to relate to other people’
Chicago Medical School’s Dr. Tanaka Reed has grown from an arrogant attitude that made others at the hospital hate working with him to a strong member of the team, able to assist Goodwin in complex surgeries. According to Kawaoka:
Kai always wanted to be the best, he still wants to be the best, but when he got on the court I think he was so focused on being the best that he didn’t know how to play well with other people… Ch. Season 9 is about him learning to work with others and always putting medicine first.
Kawaoka was also instrumental in the mentor/mentee relationship that Dr. Tanaka Reed of Chicago Medical School established with Dr. Marcel.
He pinpointed the moment Kai Makes Crucial Change: On Chicago Med Season 9 Episode 10, Marcel Micromanaged Him Because He Was Afraid of Making the Same Mistake and Zola, who had just been fired.
The most important scene for Kai, from Kawaoka’s perspective, occurs in this episode, when Marcel apologizes for getting mad at his neck earlier.
Kawoaka explained that Marcel telling Kai that he didn’t have to be perfect and that he was good at what he did was, “such a gift for Dr. Marcel to give Kai, because Kai is like… ‘I can let go a little Bit.
“I can start breathing and start playing with other people and not worry so much about whether I’m doing it right.”
What new direction does Kawaoka hope Chicago Medical Center’s Dr. Tanaka Reed takes?
Kawaoka said Tanaka-Reed will have to deal with “a tougher personality” later in the season, which could mean Abrams, Archer or someone we haven’t seen yet.
However, one direction he wants to take in the future has yet to materialize.
“I would love to see him more outside the hospital, either hanging out, playing darts at Molly’s house, or at the scene of the accident,” Kawaoka shared.
This is a good point. Many of the doctors hang out at Molly’s clinic or have personal storylines that allow viewers to get to know them better.
Tanaka Reed isn’t there yet, but maybe he will be in the future, allowing us to get to know him on a different level.
Additionally, Kawaoka is excited about what will happen when his alter ego decides to specialize.
As a third-year resident, Chicago Medical Center’s Dr. Tanaka Reed will soon be asked to decide what he wants to do with his career, he explained. “In about a year, he’s going to announce this and say, this is what I want to do,” he said. “This is what I want to be an expert at. So it’s going to be very exciting.
Kawaoka enthuses about new showrunner Alan Macdonald – ‘He lets the fun things in’
Like many of the cast members of “Chicago Med,” Kawaoka is ecstatic about the new direction showrunner Allen MacDonald is taking the medical drama. He particularly praised the fall finale’s cliffhanger, which he said was “an exciting moment.”
His favorite part of the new direction, however, is the humor Macdonald injects into the show, which makes the show’s current overall vibe “lighter.”
He loved the little moments, like when Archer asks Charles for dating advice and Charles points him to the younger, more dating-app-friendly Hannah.
“These little moments are key to us learning more about these characters,” he enthuses.
While Kawaoka will return as Chicago Med’s Dr. Reed Tanaka in January, he will also appear in Apple TV’s Shrinking Season 2. Two episodes out on Apple, coming to TV soon
In the meantime, let us hear your thoughts. Are you looking forward to Dr. Tanaka Reed’s next appearance? What excites you most about his character?
Please write in the comments with your reaction to Kawaoka’s take on Dr. Tanaka Reed.
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC and Thursdays on Peacock. Winter premiere will be January 8, 2024.
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