Chicago Med and the rest of the shows in the One Chicago universe return on October 7, so we’re officially less than a month out. Each season brings some new changes, but Chicago Med Season 12 remains relatively untouched. All the series regulars will return, and so will the showrunner and some recurring guest stars. There have been no episode reductions this season, so viewers can enjoy the full range of storylines without worrying that some will be left behind. But when the season kicks off next month, some time will have passed in the ED.
Chicago Med’s showrunner Allen McDonald previewed the new season for TV Line and teased one major arc. This arc has been simmering in the background but was forced to the foreground after a life-changing development. The slow burn between Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) and Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber) has been an interesting arc that has completely bypassed typical romance tropes. By the end of Season 11, Hannah gave birth to her and Dean’s child, and Dean admitted his feelings for her. Their relationship is one of the main arcs to be explored, especially in the season premiere.
McDonald revealed a three-month time jump, which sets up Hannah’s storyline. She still hasn’t told Dean how she feels about him, partly because of the baby. The duo is cohabiting to care for Mabel, but the situation is still complicated. Season 11 also saw Hannah reluctant to leave her job, to the point of her water breaking while she was on duty. Maternity leave is not treating her well, and she is feeling isolated. A visit to the ED in the premiere episode worsens those feelings. Interestingly, McDonald did not reveal when or if Hannah will return, or whether she and Dean will get together.
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan Show Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
10
When it’s over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan’s characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
Life Imitates Art in ‘Chicago Med’ Season 12
Meanwhile, viewers will also not see Dr. Caitlin Lennox (Sarah Ramos) in the first five episodes of the season. This is because Ramos also has a newborn and is on leave. The showrunner hasn’t revealed how the show will explain her absence, but given her decision to finally tell her brother Kip (Logan Miller) the truth about her diagnosis, it’s easy to see why she would need a break. Still, she’ll be felt around the hospital because the Gaffney rumor mill is in full operation, and her relationship with Ripley (Luke Mitchell) is the fodder.
Catch the Chicago Med Season 12 premiere on NBC on Wednesday, October 7 at 8 pm ET. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date
November 17, 2015
Showrunner
Michael Brandt
Directors
Michael Waxman, Michael Pressman, Charles S. Carroll, Milena Govich, Anna Dokoza, Bethany Rooney, Fred Berner, Tess Malone, Mykelti Williamson, SJ Main Muñoz, Donald Petrie, Martha Mitchell, Vincent Misiano, Timothy Busfield, Jonathan Brown, John Polson, Stephen Cragg, Anthony Nardolillo, Michael Berry, David Rodriguez, Afia Nathaniel, Oz Scott, Valerie Weiss, Gonzalo Amat
Writers
Joseph Sousa, Lily Dahl, Natalie Drayer, Darin Goldberg, Shelley Meals, Melissa R. Byer, Treena Hancock, Mary Leah Sutton, Simran Baidwan, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Jason Cho, Will Pascoe, Liz Brixius
