Why Dr. Pamela Blake From Chicago Med Looks So Familiar

Back in October, it was announced that Sarah Rafferty would be joining the cast of NBC's "Chicago Med" in a recurring role. Since her first appearance in Season 7, Episode 5 ("Change is a Tough Pill to Swallow"), Rafferty has appeared in every new "Chicago Med" episode, last popping in on Season 7, Episode 9 ("Secret Santa Has a Gift For You"), the final entry of the series set to air in 2021. 

On "Chicago Med," Rafferty plays Dr. Pamela Blake, a gifted transplant surgeon, but if you've been watching television for any significant amount of time, you'll probably recognize her from any number of previous roles the gifted actress has appeared in over the course of her career. Since 1998, Rafferty has been credited as an actress in more than 30 different productions (via IMDb). While most of her credits have so far involved single-episode guest spots, she has had one particularly memorable role on a USA Network series and a handful of other jobs that you may have seen.

No stranger to medical procedurals like "Chicago Med," Sarah Rafferty previously appeared as a recurring character in Season 16 of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." Rafferty first appears as a patient named Suzanne Britland in Season 16, Episode 11 ("A Hard Pill to Swallow").

In her first scene on the series, she sits in a hospital bed, surrounded by family members a whole three days after undergoing an operation to remove her appendix. Sadly, Suzanne lost her husband in the prior year and her children are terrified to leave her bedside. What should be a routine procedure, however, is complicated by a fever and a high white blood cell count that doctors are unable to explain. In order to closer examine her condition, doctors conduct a CT scan of her abdomen. Unfortunately, Suzanne suddenly codes in the middle of the scan and doctors are forced to perform an emergency pericardiocentesis in order to remove fluid building up around her heart. Sadly, the doctors are unable to discover what is wrong with Suzanne before the end of the episode.

Suzanne returns for two additional episodes in Season 16, Episode 13 ("Save the Last Dance for Me") and Season 16, Episode 14 ("A Diagnosis"). After much research and worry, the doctors are finally able to diagnose Suzanne with Still's disease, a condition which actually predated her appendectomy. They prescribe Suzanne a set of steroids and refer her to a rheumatologist for long-term care, but her overall prognosis is very positive.

Easily Sarah Rafferty's most memorable role yet is her job on USA Network's "Suits," in which she played secretary (later Chief Operating Officer) Donna Paulsen. By the time "Suits" ended in 2019, Rafferty had appeared in every episode of the nine-season drama, tying fellow stars Gabriel Macht and Rick Hoffman for the most episodes of any actor on the series (via IMDb).

In the pilot episode, Donna allows Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) to enter the interview that led him to fraudulently become an associate at Pearson Hardman, under the tutelage of Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht). Beyond introducing the two most important characters on the series to each other, Donna plays an integral role through all nine seasons (and even a few episodes of a web-series). She is well known around the office for her seemingly infinite levels of loyalty to Harvey and her equally infinite levels of wisdom (including one secret act involving a can opener). Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) makes ample use of Donna's wisdom throughout her time on the series and the two become close friends. This is true both on and off screen. In fact, Rafferty is one of a handful of "Suits" cast and crew who were invited to Markle's wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.

Though fans rooted for Donna and Harvey to get together since the beginning of the series, it takes until the final episode of the penultimate season for the two loyal friends to finally declare their love for each other. In the series finale, the two character get married and move to Seattle.

For the uninitiated, "Tremors" is a franchise that essentially assumes that the giant worms in "Dune" have magically been transported to the planet Earth and are only capable of being destroyed by vast quantities of dynamite. While this may be a minor simplification, it is just the gist of the franchise. Since 1990, a total of seven "Tremors" films have been released (via tvbd) and the series remains popular. Sadly, in 2018, Syfy passed on a pilot that would have brought Kevin Bacon back to the property for the first time since the release of the first film (via TVLine). Fortunately for fans of the franchise (and Sarah Rafferty), Syfy released another similarly plotted "Tremors" series in 2003.

Based as a continuation of the film franchise of the same name, the series starred Victor Browne, Gladise Jimenez, Marcia Strassman, Lela Lee, Dean Norris, and Michael Goss in series regular roles (via IMDb). Additionally, the short-lived series also had a talented set of recurring performers, including a 31-year-old Sarah Rafferty. Rafferty appeared in a total of three episodes as Dr. Casey Matthews.

In Episode 5 ("Flora or Fauna"), Rafferty makes her debut appearance in the show. She later returns for Episodes 9 ("Graboid Rights") and 12 ("Water Hazard"). During her second appearance on the series, Rafferty shares scenes with a character named Dr. Cletus Poffenberger. Poffenberger is played by actor Christopher Lloyd of "Back to the Future" fame (via IMDb). Sadly, Syfy canceled the series after only one season.

One of Rafferty's first television appearances came in "CSI: Miami" Season 1, Episode 7 ("Breathless") (via IMDb). In the first moments of the episode, Rafferty is seen hosting a party at a mansion. While it appears that Melissa Starr (Sarah Rafferty) is having a good time during the party, the morning discovery of a dead body makes for a rather unfortunate end to things (both for the party and the dead man). When Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and the rest of his team arrive to investigate, they are forced to interview each and every possible witness. Third on Caine's list is Melissa, who he finds cleaning up after her guests. During their first, short meeting, Melissa explains the idea behind a cupcake party. According to Urban Dictionary, a cupcake party is "a party hosted by many women where only one man is invited (often times a hired stripper) with the sole purpose of ganging up on him and humiliating him sexually..."

"Don't you think that there's something freeing about just stimulating your senses and leaving it at that?" Melissa asks. Caine responds, "Sure, that's possible. But, when people get stimulated, they get territorial. That's human nature and that can be dangerous. Does your party have rules?"

Melissa laughs and says, "That's the great thing about cupcake. There are no rules."

At the end of the episode, Caine returns to talk with Melissa and reveals that he discovered more than 100 phone calls between her and the murder victim within the last month. He further reveals that he knows that Melissa added nicotine and insecticide to a condom used by the murder victim in order to kill him. Though viewers are not shown Melissa's arrest, it is safe to assume that she is arrested shortly after her meeting with Caine.