Chicago Med’s showrunner promised fans they wouldn’t have to wait long to find out the identity of Asher’s baby, and he certainly fulfilled that promise!
Season 11 of NBC’s hit medical drama opened up moments after the season 10 finale, which saw Asher at Archer’s doorstep, telling him she needed to talk after finding out about her pregnancy. It was quickly revealed to fans that Archer is the father of her baby, resolving the season 10 mystery minutes into the episode. She’s going to have the baby, but she makes it clear to Archer that she doesn’t expect anything from him. He tells her he wants to have a role in the baby’s life, but he needs to know she’s absolutely certain that this is what she wants, to which she confirms she wants to have the baby and be a mother.
From there, we jump ahead a few weeks. Hannah is now three months pregnant, but she’s keeping her pregnancy under wraps at work and hasn’t told anyone – not even Ripley.
Unfortunately for Asher, Nurse Trini overhears her conversation with Archer and jumps to the conclusion that the baby is clearly Ripley’s. It’s a fair jump to make given the pair were romantically involved for a large part of the last season.
Excited by the discovery, Trini congratulates Ripley on the baby, and he’s understandably confused. This is because Hannah never said anything to him about the pregnancy.
Upon learning the news, Ripley confronts Asher about the pregnancy, asking her how she could keep the news from him. Sure, they might not get back together, but he deserved to know. That’s when she has to break the news to him that the baby is not his, it’s Archer’s. She assures him that they were already broken up based on how far along she is, and reveals that she’s going to co-parent the child with Archer.
Ripley is not mad at her for not telling him and admits it’s none of his business, but he does confess that for a few hours he thought he was going to be a father and was surprised by just how much that meant to him.
Later, Asher finds Archer packing up his things after the end of the shift, and he tells her how he heard a rumor she and Ripley were having a baby. Asher explains that Trini had overheard their conversation earlier in the day and that Ripley knows the truth about everything now. Archer questions whether Asher is perhaps embarrassed he’s the father, and questions why she put off telling everyone.
She reveals to him that she’s terrified. She’s afraid of losing her status, she’s afraid that her sister will never stop hating her for becoming a mother when she’s unable to, and of being a mother in general. Asher is worried about how it’ll work with them raising a kid and Archer admits he has concerns too. She assures him that she didn’t tell others because telling them made it real, to which he sweetly responds that while it is real, they don’t have to tell anyone until she’s ready.
As for Ripley, it seems the hours thinking he was a father inspire him to want to take his relationship with Sadie – the woman he saved in the well last season – to the next level. As the episode comes to a close, he goes to see Sadie and tells her he’s ready to be more than just casual and that he’s all in.
Elsewhere in the premiere…
Dr. Howard makes an unexpected return in the Chicago Med season 11 premiere
When Dr. Howard handed in her resignation from Gaffney Chicago Medical Center in season 10, it seemed that we were bidding farewell to the character. Perhaps that’s why Frost wasn’t the only one caught by surprise when Howard made a surprise return in the season 11 premiere.
As we learn, after she handed in her resignation and took a step away from cardiothoracics, she took some time to herself to figure out what she wanted to do next. When Lenox called to offer her a position at Med as a general surgery resident, Howard accepted the position and decided to return to the hospital.
So it seems we’ll be seeing more of Howard in the season ahead and it seems perhaps we’ll get to explore whether there might be a romantic relationship budding between her and Frost.
Lenox is spiraling after her diagnosis
After learning she has Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease in the season finale, Lenox is understandably struggling with the diagnosis. It becomes clear over the course of the episode that Lenox is not willing to confront her fears and is quickly heading into a dangerous spiral, one that is very similar to the one we saw Ripley fall into in season 10.
She’s refusing to speak to anyone and open up about her feelings, and she’s letting her own diagnosis get in the way of treating her patients. While she gets a positive outcome in treating a pair of injured sisters in the premiere, we’re worried about the path she’s walking down this season.
Maggie has left Chicago Med, but the details of her exit remain unclear
The final big thread in the season 11 premiere of Chicago Med is that Maggie has indeed left Chicago Med and is no longer working at the hospital. Maggie’s departure is connected to Marlyne Barrett’s need to take a leave of absence from the show for personal reasons.
In the season premiere, we learn that Maggie has left the hospital but the show avoids giving too many details surrounding her departure. Early in the episode, Charles asks Goodwin if she’s heard from Maggie since she left, to which she replies that she’s not heard a peep. The conversation helped to explain why Maggie isn’t in the episode by informing us she’s left, but the mystery of why she left is unclear with no real details.
Later in the episode, it is seemingly confirmed that the hope is Maggie’s absence will not be permanent when Doris makes a comment about keeping Maggie’s shoes warm until she gets back. This seems to hint that the show is keeping the door open for Maggie to return when Barrett is ready to return to the series.