Chicago Med’s Winter Premiere Features Time Jump and Tensions Between Hannah and Archer

Chicago Med concluded its season 11 fall finale with a dark and suspenseful twist, leaving the fate of Dr. Caitlin Lenox still a mystery.

Showrunner Allen MacDonald was elusive about whether viewers should be “worried” for Lenox (Sarah Ramos) surviving, telling Us Weekly that the team aimed to “maintain a complete mystery” following her dramatic cliffhanger.

“I can confirm that we do a time jump. We won’t just pick up where we left off. We’ll jump ahead two days,” MacDonald disclosed ahead of the show’s winter premiere on Wednesday, January 7.

In the fall finale of Chicago Med in November 2025, Lenox followed her instincts and visited former patient Faye’s home during a severe storm, discovering her beaten and bleeding in the basement. While Lenox attempted to assist Faye (Olivia Nikkanen), her colleague Dr. Mitch Ripley (Luke Mitchell) worked to keep Faye’s abusive partner, Devin (Jack Falahee), at the hospital after he arrived with a purported hockey injury.

The gripping conclusion of the episode depicted Lenox striving for phone reception to call for help just before Devin returned home and knocked her out.

MacDonald explained that the domestic violence storyline is “not new,” yet often goes “unchecked,” which drives Lenox’s determination to aid her patient — even at the potential cost of her own safety.

“It’s something that infuriates her that he would do this to her. It also frustrates [Lenox] that when we first encountered them, she tried to offer Faye an exit, but Faye didn’t take it,” MacDonald elaborated. “This is part of the maddening cycle of abuse. It created the impatience and raw anger that Lenox experienced in the fall finale and compelled her to seek out their house.”

While the showrunner wouldn’t confirm if Lenox escaped safely, he hinted that fans have much to look forward to when the show returns — including the dynamics between pregnant Dr. Hannah Archer (Jessy Schram) and her so-called platonic baby daddy, Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber).

“They are two friends having a baby. That’s sort of the agreement they made in the first scene of the season, and I think they’re both trying to adhere to that,” MacDonald remarked to Us about the friends and coworkers. “However, I believe they both harbor feelings they can’t completely control or articulate, and don’t always admit they possess.”

He mentioned that the unresolved feelings between Hannah and Archer will introduce “some complications in the future” and they will have to “confront” those issues.

MacDonald hinted that Dr. Jennifer Kingston (Merrin Dungey) displaying “some interest” in Archer during the fall finale will escalate tension between him and Hannah as she carries their baby.

“That’s going to progress a bit and raise some questions for Hannah,” the showrunner confirmed.

Season 11 of Chicago Med returns on NBC on Wednesday, January 7, at 8 p.m. ET.