You can never say that the One Chicago shows don't keep us on our toes. Each episode of the franchise brings surprises and twists we didn't see coming that change the direction of the characters' lives in an instant. Sometimes the surprises are as simple as a character missing an episode after a big twist, like with this week's episode of Chicago Med.
While fans were concentrated on the 300th episode of Chicago Fire and the emotional farewell to Joe Cruz, Chicago Med delivered an incredibly moving episode of its own. The team at the Gaffney emergency department teamed up when a young boy and three burn victims came in. Before long, the doctors realized that the cases were connected and even dated back to Platt's cold case.
However, there was a particularly important doctor missing from Chicago Med season 12 episode 5 beyond Lenox's continued leave of absence. Following the unexpected romantic ending of episode 4 between Asher and Archer, Asher was absent from the latest episode and didn't assist the team with the heartbreaking bunker tragedy. The episode was so gripping we nearly didn't notice.
Asher was absent in Chicago Med season 12 episode 5 after her big romantic moment with Archer
Chicago Med threw us right into the truly harrowing story of three women who had been kidnapped as children and kept underground for the totality of their adult lives. Aside from the case of the week that anchored the storyline, the episode mostly focused on getting to know Wu more than we have in previous episodes as she and Frost faced off for the chief resident position.
Throughout the episode, Wu continued to put her rough exterior on display both with Frost and while caring for patients, forcing Ripley to ask her to leave the room. But we ultimately learn that there's something dark from her past, possible abuse, that she related to with these patients. Frost gives her the chance to open up, but she's not ready yet. She also doesn't even want chief resident.
The series appears to be pushing Wu and Frost together in some kind of way, but we can't help but feel that Asher could have been a safe and understanding shoulder for Wu to lean on this week. Chicago Med didn't explain why Asher wasn't working this shift, opting for the casual absence of a main character that's common for the medical drama from time to time.
Still, we weren't anticipating that Asher wouldn't have been in this episode, especially since the end of the previous episode relied so heavily on moving her storyline with Archer forward. Asher struggled with a patient losing her unborn child and continuing to feel the loss due to her short term memory being impacted. Asher took the case particularly hard as a new mother.
Archer was there for her as a colleague, friend, and coparent. When Asher returned home after her shift to find Archer putting Mabel to sleep, she gave him a kiss, hinting that she's finally ready to address the romantic feelings between them and take a step forward. It's a big step, but after the kiss, the series didn't offer any further updates on the state of Asher and Archer's relationship.
The trailer for Chicago Med season 12 episode 6 revealed that Asher will in fact be back and taking on a new case, but we shouldn't get too excited for an Asher-Archer update yet as Archer isn't seen in the promo. That doesn't mean that he won't be in the episode, but you never know the tricks this show has up its sleeve. We'll have to keep our fingers crossed for the pair to take the next step!
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