While "Code Black" was renewed for season 2, fans who got attached to the characters in the first season won't be completely happy about the next installment.
When the show returns on air, Christa (Bonnie Somerville) and Neal (Raza Jaffrey) will no longer be on duty at Angeles Memorial. Instead, fans will be seeing more of Will Campbell (Boris Kodjoe), who joined the show in the middle of the season.
Apart from Kodjoe, Heather (Jillian Murray) will also be a greater presence in "Code Black" season 2. Up to now, CBS offered no explanation as to why Somerville and Jaffrey had to go.
When asked why, "Code Black" season 2 creator Michael Seitzman emphasized that, just like fans, he did not like the change in "Code Black" season 2 at all, but it just had to be done.
"No answer I give will be satisfying. It sucks. Nobody — nobody — enjoyed this. Decisions like this aren't easy and are very complex," Seitzman told TV Line.
In a statement obtained by Deadline, Seitzman simply said, "Bonnie Somerville and Raza Jaffrey are beloved by the audience, as well as the rest of the cast and crew. Their departure is painful for us, is no reflection on the extraordinary work they both did on the show.
Fans surmise that Jaffrey and Somerville's absence from "Code Black" season 2 was due to budget cuts. Viewers hope that they will get a clear explanation about their shocking exits.
Also part of the cast shake-up in "Code Black" season 2 is the addition of a "heroic, blunt, irreverent [and] rule-breaking" character named Colonel Davis, a one-time combat doctor who's been in Afghanistan through three tours.
Davis, who is yet to be cast, is described via TV Line as "possessed with a roguish charm, gallows humor and willingness to take risks." He also puts his patients above anything else and is "sexy to women and compelling to men."
"Code Black" season 2 premieres on CBS on Sept. 21.
