Warning: spoilers are ahead for the winter premiere of Chicago Med Season 11, called "Triple Threat" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.
Chicago Med was the first of NBC's One Chicago shows to return in the 2026 TV schedule, and therefore the first to pay off on its pretty scary cliffhanger from back in the fall. As showrunner Allen MacDonald previewed, the winter premiere didn't pick up exactly where the fall finale left off, and the aftermath of Lenox's cliffhanger didn't prevent Dr. Charles from getting a juicy storyline of his own. I was just expecting something entirely different from "Triple Threat" after how the winter premiere had been promoted.
How Chicago Med's Winter Premiere Was Originally Promoted
This actually isn't the first time that a Med episode was promoted to include a big storyline for Hannah and Archer, only for that storyline to not be fully explored. The same happened with the fall finale, and the winter premiere promo had me expecting that Lenox's cliffhanger resolution would happen along with the arrival of Hannah's dad. Take a look at the clip that aired at the end of the fall finale last year:
At the time, I'd assumed that Hannah welcoming her dad to the ED was just the winter premiere storyline that could be previewed without any spoilers, but Hannah and Archer actually had a much more subdued subplot in "Triple Threat," in which she opened up about her nightmares and they learned they were expecting a little girl.
None of this is to say that the winter premiere needed to be all about the Asher family, and a more recent preview did accurately tease what to expect from the episode. Still, that original promo didn't at all reflect what fans were getting in the winter premiere, which threw me a bit for a loop when I tuned in on January 7.
Luckily, Oliver Platt's performance easily has me all-in on his new storyline... but also a bit scared for Dr. Charles.
Why Oliver Platt Has Me Worried About Dr. Charles
While Lenox was busy covering for Faye's act of killing her abusive husband and Archer was concerned with the condition of a man whose surgery was interrupted by the blackout, Dr. Charles faced the challenge of deciding whether an available heart should go to a woman who desperately needed it, but had attempted to end her own life.
The next person on the transplant list was an otherwise healthy husband and father, but it was a heavy decision for the psychiatrist to make, and he blew up at his colleague's attitude about it. Then, he nearly collapsed in the elevator, clutching his chest and bleeding from his nose.
And that would have been troubling enough, but a decent chunk of the episode was more or less narrated by Dr. Charles, who admitted to his new therapist that he was considering retirement. After some avoidance, he finally told her:
I might have left something out about something that happened around my little confrontation with Dr. Morris. I haven't had a panic attack since medical school, and I have never ever, no matter what kind of moron, talked to a colleague that way. I think there's something really wrong with me, and I don't know what it is. I'm scared.
I'll admit that my first fear when he started to double over in the elevator was that he was having a heart attack, and I'm uneasy about what the bloody nose means for the rest of Season 11. I certainly don't want to lose Dr. Charles from the show or Oliver Platt from the cast, with one of his fellow stars describing him as "a consummate professional." The storyline with his family in Season 10 was a great showcase for the actor and didn't end with Dr. Charles exiting; hopefully the same will be true this time around.
Whatever the future holds for Dr. Charles, I'd say that the storyline is off to a intriguing start in the new year. The hints that he was considering retirement from back in the fall are seemingly building up, and I'm definitely invested in what comes next. All in all, Chicago Med came back strong in 2026.
Presumably, the rest of 2026 will also involve the introduction of Hannah's dad, as teased in that preview from early November! Keep tuning in to NBC on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes of Chicago Med, followed by Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
