At the end of Chicago Med season 10, the medical drama introduced a cliffhanger revolving around the news that Dr. Hannah Asher was pregnant. Since then, the show's fans have learned several fascinating facts about that storyline. For example, it has been revealed that the show almost introduced a crazy twist about the possibility that Dr. Will Halstead could have been the dad. If that wasn't surprising enough, Chicago Med's boss revealed that viewers shouldn't assume that Hannah will have the baby.
During Chicago Med's season 11 premiere, viewers learned that Dr. Dean Archer is the father of Hannah's baby, which answered the biggest mystery revolving around the storyline. Still, it is remarkable that the show's fans haven't seen the hookup that led to the pregnancy. Recently, Chicago Med's boss revealed why the show didn't depict the hookup and fans shouldn't expect that to see a flashback
Chicago Med's boss explained why Archer and Asher's hookup wasn't shown
At the end of Chicago Med season 10, episode 17, "The Book of Archer," Dr, Hannah Asher arrived at Dr. Dean Archer's home at a moment of emotional turmoil for him. At the time, fans believed that the two characters' relationship may have gone beyond friendship during that visit, but viewers didn't see any kind of intimate encounter. Since then, the revelation that Hannah is carrying Dean's baby has confirmed what many viewers long suspected.
In October 2025, Chicago Med's showrunner, Allen MacDonald, spoke to Variety about Dean and Hannah's relationship. During that discussion, MacDonald stated that the character's hookup originally happened off-camera to maintain the mystery around who the father of Hannah's baby is. MacDonald also admitted that he would have liked to have depicted their hookup if it wasn't for that factor.
"The reason that it was off-camera is because we wanted to preserve the surprise. As a fan, I’m not gonna lie. I would have wanted to see that, but it just seemed that the surprise when she shows up at his door, and the surprise of the confirmation in the premiere was the way to go."
Even though MacDonald stated that he would have wanted to see the hookup play out onscreen, he also expressed how happy he was with how Archer and Asher's relationship was depicted. According to the medical drama's showrunner, the characters deciding to stay friends after their hookup was depicted through Jessy Schram and Steven Weber's performances.
"Jessy and Steven both beautifully played the aftermath of that. It’s like The Sixth Sense. You can go back and watch, and you can see it. It’s right there on screen; you just weren’t looking for it. They slept together, then decided to continue to be friends, and were doing fine with that."
With that quote in mind, it shoudn't surprise anyone that Variety's article based on Allen's comments stated that the hookup wouldn't be shown in a flashback. Finally, Allen spoke to Variety about how the decision to only be friends while they have a baby together will affect Asher and Archer's relationship going forward.
"Now she’s pregnant. How is that going to affect their relationship? Moving forward, will they remain friends? Are they even going to get along? Is it going to be an issue between them? How does it affect their feelings? But one way or another, it’s going to shake things up between them."
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.