Welcome to the world, Gigi Hawkins! Conrad and Nic’s baby girl made her grand entrance in The Resident’s season 4 finale. Billie’s long-lost son also showed up on her doorstep, while Cain and AJ formed a truce after Cain saved AJ’s mother.
HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with EP and co-showrunner Peter Elkoff about the plans for season 5. He revealed that Cain isn’t done with Chastain just yet, even though Morris Chestnut has been cast on another show. Peter also teased a possible “love triangle” for AJ after Mina’s departure and more Leela in season 5. Read our Q&A below:
The finale featured the highly anticipated arrival of Conrad and Nic’s baby girl. Obviously, Georgia’s going to change their lives. How will Georgia impact Conrad and Nic’s life at the hospital moving forward into season 5?
Peter Elkoff: Well, to be perfectly honest, we haven’t even started on season 5 yet, but the baby will create the same kind of ups and downs, great love and emotion, and also the craziness that babies inflict on everybody. They are two working parents with an infant, so it will be just as you imagine. It will be complicated, sometimes funny, and always emotional.
Cain’s future was left open-ended in the season 4 finale. When this episode was filmed, did you know Morris [Chestnut] was going to be joining a new show? Or did it all fall into place perfectly?
Peter Elkoff: It just fell into place. We didn’t know about the new show. But we’re going to have him back. We don’t know how much, but we’re going to sort of share him with the other show. In some way, we’ll continue or finish his story on the show in season 5. It’s still not yet clear.
I was thinking in that final scene between Cain and AJ that a bridge has been built between them for the first time.
Peter Elkoff: Yes. That was really, aside from the after-effects of the pandemic and the Conrad/Nic pregnancy, and all the trials and tribulations of that, the other real emotional spine of the season was the long story between AJ and Cain starting with their argument and going nose to nose in the first and second episodes over Cain’s self-interest. It’s really been a big part of the season that we were very proud of, and we all worked really hard on that. I think it came to a great conclusion. It’s still open-ended, but it was just a real emotional arc that came full circle in a big way.
The biggest shocker of the night was Billie’s son showing up. Do you anticipate him having a major presence in season 5? How will he shake up Billie’s world? Because this arrival is on another level.
Peter Elkoff: It is on another level, and it is going to shake up her world. It’s going to shake up the world in a way that I can’t quite give away yet because there’d be a bit of a spoiler. So just know that there’s going to be some really, really cool stuff with that story going forward.
Do you anticipate Conrad Ricamora returning for season 5?
Peter Elkoff: Yes, we imagine he will be returning in the same sort of recurring kind of role that he’s had. That’s the plan. But you never know.
I’ve been waiting for a big moment between Leela and Devon. It finally happened in the finale. Has he found his Nic?
Peter Elkoff: Well, I think that there are certain things, again, that I can’t give away this second about the fifth season. But it’s going to be a big story in season 5.
Everyone was super bummed about Mina leaving. Going forward, do you have plans to bring in a new love interest for AJ? Or is he just going to be focusing on his mother?
Peter Elkoff: He will focus on his mother, but we have fledgling plans — they’re not carved in stone — for him to be part of an interesting love triangle, but we haven’t fully developed it yet. So I’m not going to say anything more than that. But he will have lots of good story, and we will try to give him great medical cases, as well as a thorny love match.
Kit’s had to make some big decisions this season. At the end of the season, she was doubting herself, but Bell told her that she put Chastain in the black. What do you have in store for Kit next season? When it comes to this show, there are always strings attached with any decision.
Peter Elkoff: There are always strings attached. She will find herself in a storyline that we will do in season 5 that will play into that very thing that we all love about the show, which is the fact that it really does shine the light, sometimes under the slightly less heroic parts of the medical industry. She will continue to figure out how to run this hospital and face some very significant obstacles in season 5.
What about Bell? He’s had one of the most amazing arcs over the last 4 seasons.
Peter Elkoff: He will have a nice, very unexpected story in season 5. He will be part of the adventure for Kit in terms of how to navigate the darker sides of the medical-industrial complex. He will be at her side as that story unfolds.