For most of Chicago Med's fall finale to close out the 2024 TV schedule, Dean Archer fully intended to resign from the hospital at the end of the day after being demoted from co-ED Chief. It seems like a safe bet that the bloody cliffhanger of the episode changed his plan, however! As the wait for One Chicago in the 2025 TV schedule continues, I looked back at what Weber said about Archer's strongest relationships. While I wasn't surprised by who he picked as #1, I did get a bit more of a shock out of one of his other picks.
I spoke with Steven Weber as part of NBC's One Chicago junket, when he opened up about how things "are getting gritty" with new showrunner Allen MacDonald and what's difficult not to take personally about fan reactions. Archer of course took a professional blow toward the end of the fall half of Season 10 with Goodwin's decision to demote him.
Ahead of the fall finale (which is streaming now with a Peacock subscription), I asked Weber who he thinks Archer's strongest ally is, and his first of three answers was delightful but not surprising after their shared moment toward the end of the most recent episode. He shared:
I have to say Hannah, of course. Hannah's always been there. I love working with Jessy, and I think the characters of Dean and Hannah have found a kind of refuge in each other after both having experienced a lot of personal disappointment, some trauma as well. In an unlikely pairing, they've connected, so she's really his chief ally.
Hannah and Dean's friendship has felt "unlikely" from the start, with Jessy Schram telling us back in Season 8 that she and Steven Weber hadn't seen it coming either! For his part, showrunner Allen McDonald praised their "very hard-to-define relationship" that has them on "equal footing" now. Hannah and Archer have been one of my favorite Med duos for years now, and it was really not out of the blue that Weber named her as his character's strongest relationship.
What did surprise me was his second choice when naming Archer's allies, in light of how frustrated he was when Goodwin brought in Lenox to become his co-ED Chief in early Season 10. Weber explained why S. Epatha Merkerson's character is important to Archer, saying:
I think he's found an ally in Ms. Goodwin, S. Epatha Merkerson, who is incredibly respectful of his ability, but also is trying to help him navigate waters that she understands too, which are difficult to sometimes learn [for] how to use your talents and skills as a healer, but also as an emotional healer. You have to have some bedside manner, you have to be able to empathize, to connect with these people. They're not just objects to fix, and so she's an ally.
I'd spoken with Steven Weber before seeing the Chicago Med fall finale cliffhanger with Archer as Goodwin's only hope, although he did confirm how far ahead he'd filmed in Season 10. His reasoning for picking Goodwin is actually quite sweet, and makes me excited to see how he reacts to her being stabbed when the show returns in the new year.
Weber had a third pick for Archer's top allies on Chicago Med as well. While this one wasn't quite as surprising to me as Goodwin after she had demoted him, I also didn't see it coming. The actor said:
Also, I have to say that Daniel Charles, Ollie Platt, is kind of a grudging ally, and they're both around the same age, and the bond seems to be that they both have experienced life, and a lot of it has been turmoil, and that's been something that's brought them together. I still think that Archer can be flinty and can be off-putting, but he's learning to be less so, because he's starting to open up and become more vulnerable.
Based on the promo for the winter premiere, he's definitely going to be showing some vulnerability at the discovery that Goodwin has been attacked and in his race to save her. While I'm of course not happy that Sharon Goodwin of all people has been hurt – especially after S. Epatha Merkerson's powerhouse performance in the fall finale – a silver lining could be if seeing her in that state makes him decide to stay. Take a look:
Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, January 8 at 8 p.m. ET for the winter premiere of Chicago Med Season 10, followed by the returns of Chicago Fire Season 13 at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. Season 12 at 10 p.m. ET. As always, you can revisit earlier episodes of One Chicago streaming on Peacock, including the game-changing fall finale.
