Chicago Med set up a season 9 love triangle (and it might not work)

Chicago Med has had a relatively mild season 9. The other two shows in the One Chicago franchise, Chicago Fire and Chicago PD, has taken up most of the spotlight due to the fact that both have huge cast departures (and weddings).

Med, meanwhile, has had the difficult task of filling in cast departures from the previous season with new characters. It's always harder to rebuild than it is to say goodbye, but we're starting to grow weary of the direction that season 9 is growing. It's looking familiar, and perhaps too much so.

Archer and Asher have already done love triangle

The medical drama has established romantic tension between Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) and Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber), even if nothing ever happened between them in season 8. The show also has a newcomer in the form of Dr. Mitch Ripley (Luke Mitchell), who has shown flashes of interest in Asher himself.

There's nothing wrong with love triangles. In fact, Chicago Med has derived lots of dramatic fun from them in the past. The thing is, the entanglement of these three characters feels like retreading old territory, even with a newcomer in the mix.

Asher and Archer have already done the awkward, love triangle thing with the latter's son, Sean (Luigi Sottile). Part of its appeal was its unexpectedness, especially on the heels of fans processing Archer being interested in someone at work (!).

Ripley would be following Halstead's arc

Then there's the Ripley of it all. The character is still finding his footing, but Med is in a tricky place with him, given that he effectively fills the role left by de facto lead and fan favorite Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss).

The two men are not identical by any means, and Mitchell has done a good job of distinguishing his character from his predecessor, but Halstead's complicated romantic past with Asher means that the character would be inadvertently tracing steps.

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There's some respite in the fact that Archer is going to have a romantic subplot with another new character in season 9, as confirmed by showrunners Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider.

This is a relief, frankly, because what's been set up so far has got us a bit concerned about the dramatic thrust of season 9's second half. We want to feel like Med is maintaining its freshness as it gears up to cross the decade mark!