‘Chicago Med’ Boss Unpacks That Leak Confession and Hannah & Archer’s Relationship Status

Chicago Med kicks off its 12th season by adding a new wrinkle to Sharon’s (S. Epatha Merkerson) bid to get her job back. We now know who leaked Theo’s (Manish Dayal) medical files that Miranda (Orlagh Cassidy) claims Sharon did … right? Well, TV Insider spoke with showrunner Allen MacDonald about that and much more. Warning: Spoilers for the Chicago Med Season 12 premiere ahead!

Sharon’s facing a possible trial if she doesn’t take a deal offered to her, leaving her wondering just why Miranda wants her gone so badly. She even asks if it’s because of her age or that she’s Black. Miranda doesn’t answer. Meanwhile, no one knows quite what’s going on because Sharon’s not talking to anyone, including her best friend Charles (Oliver Platt). But in the episode’s finale moments, Doris (Lorena Diaz) goes to Sharon to plead with her not to take the deal because she leaked the file.

Elsewhere in the episode, Hannah (Jessy Schram) decides she’s ready to return to work from maternity leave after getting pulled in to help a patient while visiting Archer (Steven Weber) — their relationship status still unclear — with baby Mabel. And Lenox (Sarah Ramos) is on a three-month leave for a prion drug trial, and she and Ripley (Luke Mitchell) are making a long-distance relationship work.

Below, showrunner Allen MacDonald unpacks the premiere and teases what’s next.

Why did it have to be Doris who leaked Theo’s medical file? And how is Sharon going to be handling that? Sharon is always going to want to protect her people.

Allen MacDonald: Well, I mean, we don’t know everything even at the end of the first episode, so there’s possibly some twists and turns that come with that. But what that tells you at the end is that Goodwin, A, didn’t do it, and B, didn’t necessarily know who did it, if Doris indeed did it. And I think the thing that is interesting there is this is part of the reason why Goodwin has been so resistant to engaging with Dr. Charles is because she herself doesn’t know the full story and she wants to find that out before she turns around and starts talking to him because he’s like a dog with a bone and he will not stop asking her questions until he finds out everything he wants to know to help her because he cares about her and he loves her — friend love, platonic love. Just want to make that clear. So she’s basically shut him out for her own good and his, until she can get the lay of the land and figure out what’s happening.

Related

'Chicago Med': Jessy Schram Talks Hannah & Archer Romance and Sharon's Job in Season 12

Yeah, I was going to ask about that because that disconnect between the show’s best besties, that hurts to see those two not talking to each other. So you explained what’s going on there, but why did you want to have them separated at the beginning of the season? And what can you say about the aftermath and when she is ready to talk to him? Because he doesn’t know what’s going on.

He doesn’t, and that’s very frustrating for him. Dr. Charles doesn’t know what to do when someone’s not willing to talk to him. That’s his whole trade. That’s his talent is talking to people. And she knows how hard that is for him, but she thinks it’s the best thing for her and him at the moment.

I wanted to bring them apart because generally over the seasons, I think they’ve gotten along way too well, and I just always have a desire not to destroy that, but to shake it up a lot. And that’s why in “The Book of Charles” last year, they had a huge knockdown drag-out fight because I wanted to show that that happens sometimes between friends that really care about each other. On a more simplistic note, the last two season premieres that I’ve written have had them laughing and talking, being the best of friends while drinking coffee, and I just had had enough of that, so it was time for them to barely be able to talk to each other in an elevator.

Lenox is away on the drug trial. How often will we be getting updates, and what does that trial mean for her in the long run?

I mean, I think emotionally it means that she’s accepted that she’s sick and she’s not in denial about it anymore and she’s willing, especially now she has Ripley in her life, to take steps to manage it and control it and not just shut it out of her mind. And I think that her commitment to doing that has just only deepened the relationship between her and Ripley.

Yeah, I was going to say I like what we got between them in the premiere. So there’s no concern about them being long distance and what that means for their relationship now, right?

Yeah. I think that it’s good for their relationship. I think they really miss each other, but I think also at the same time, he’s just so happy she’s doing something about it, and he wants her to do a trial. I think he misses her. I think that’s part of why he is in such a bummer mood in the premiere, that and just dealing with a lot of death that he’s seen lately. But no, it’s all positive, I think.

Hannah says she and Archer are co-parenting, and she doesn’t have energy for any benefits. Is it just that they haven’t had a chance to figure out who they are to each other separate from Mabel? What can you say about their relationship and the possibility of them being together or at least talking about that on screen?

You just answered your own question better than I would’ve. I mean, they have several things going on is that they’re living together, they’re co-parenting, they have this child together, and they’ve kind of ventured out of the friend zone into the romantic zone, but there’s not a lot going on between them either because they’re up all night with the baby. So I think that they have not quite figured out who they are to each other, if they’re going to have a relationship, and how Hannah feels because she didn’t say I love you back at the end of last season, which doesn’t mean she doesn’t love them, but something’s holding her back. And I think that right now it’s a real convenient thing for them that they have the excuse of this baby as a way of not talking about what’s going on between them. But believe you, me, they’re going to talk about it.

George Burns Jr/NBC

Ripley talks at one point about it getting harder to shake the loss he sees, and then there’s Wu suggesting that he enjoyed seeing the shooter in pain and to own it. What can you say about Ripley’s arc this season, and which part of that might play a bigger role or will it be evenly split between both those things?

I think Ripley’s just in a funk because Lenox is gone, and he’s been doing this job for a long time. I don’t necessarily think his mindset in the premiere is going to be his mindset for the whole season or that’s his long-term arc, but he is not quite right. And I think it’s because he and Lenox had become puzzle pieces that have finally figured out how to fit together. Lenox had to figuratively cut herself so they would fit because she didn’t really fit with anybody.

Wu’s comment — is it just that maybe she was just picking up on the fact that he’s going through this stuff, but she doesn’t know him well enough to really understand why he may be acting the way he is?

I think that line is more about Wu being evasive by counterattacking than it is about anything that’s actually going on with Ripley. I don’t think that Ripley enjoyed the fact that that guy was in pain, even though I don’t think he feels too bad about that guy. But I think that in that moment, Wu was exploiting the fact that she could tell something was off with him and that he’s kind of in a dark place. And so when he confronted her, she just kind of poked at that.

It’s deflection.

Exactly. Yeah.

What can you say about a big three-show crossover? Because One Chicago does them so, so well.

We love doing it. We say this every year, and it’s true. Not every year means that there’s going to be a crossover, but it’s something that we enjoy doing, and I would not rule it out, but it’s more conversational.

Chicago Med, Wednesdays, 8/7c, NBC