Chicago Med continues to make changes ahead of season 8. The medical drama announced that Luke Campbell will be added to the cast as Dr. Mitch Ripley, and during a conversation at a 2023 Hallmark party, Jessy Schram revealed that the season will not picking up where season 8 left off.
In fact, season 9 will be breaking form and making a sizable time jump so that fans will be unsure of what all the characters are up. “I know that we’re going to be coming in on a different beat,” she explained. “We’re not picking up exactly where we left off, so there’s a bit of that’s gone [by].”It’s a fascinating choice for a show that follows a generally linear path, but it also makes sense given all the things that have been happening at Gaffney Medical Center. Season 8 saw a handful of characters leave, in addition to turnover in ownership (which we’re glad is worked out now). It’s a lot to deal with, but it also left the remaining characters at a bit of an impasse.
The decision to jump forward in time with the season 9 premiere allows the writers to develop new stories, and cleverly allude to the outcome of character arcs that were being worked out a year before. It forces the viewer to become more active and play catch up, and it also allows for instances of subverting expectations.One of these instances, according to Schram, is the dynamic between her character, Dr. Hannah Asher, and Steven Weber’s character, Dr. Dean Archer. The two of them got surprisingly close in season 8, and some fans theorized that a romance was in the cards. Schram promises that the show will expand upon the Asher/Archer dynamic, but not in ways the fans might expect.
“I think it’ll be really interesting to see what happens with Archer and where that friendship and relationship is going,” she told TV Line. “I’d love to see what’s developed at the hospital in terms of the women care for Hannah, and then of course see where she is in her recovery. And I don’t know, maybe there’s some love interests along the way?”A love interest, even if its not Archer, seems like the logical next step for Asher. She went from a supporting character in early seasons to one of Med’s central figures in season 8, and given that Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) and Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) are gone, it’s safe to assume the trend will continue in 2024.