One thing is clear in Chicago Med Season 10: Dr. Archer (Steven Weber) is not a fan of his co-chief in the ED, Dr. Lenox (Sarah Ramos). And that’s even more true now than it was when they first met.
That tension comes to a head in the November 13 episode, which also has to pick up where last week’s left off when it comes to Goodwin’s (S. Epatha Merkerson) stalker. Below, Weber talks about those storylines and more.
To say there’s tension between Archer and Lenox would be an understatement. That’s been the case since she was introduced, but what does he respect about her and the way that she works?
Steven Weber: She’s clearly adept and a brilliant technician. I’m pretty sure with few exceptions, that he thinks that about all the people that are working there. But what she poses is kind of almost an existential threat because he’s a territorial man and a broken man. And so he’s still depending on that kind of toxic macho, I’m king of the castle, kind of attitude that she not only threatens but utterly deflates because she is the same way in many respects. And as future episodes will reveal, she has a backstory that makes her more accessible, not dissimilar from how accessible Dean Archer became after some episodes where they showed that he’s not just a dickhead. And so he clearly respects her, but her ability is not the thing that he’s concerned with. It’s his place in the hospital.
Talk about playing that with Sarah.
She’s amazing. She had kind of a hard job coming into this show. It’s a train that’s already in motion and playing a rather strong, almost explosively unlikeable character in a way. It’s like somebody coming into the family den and who is this person? But she immediately overcame that. She’s concentrated and she’s specific and she’s facile in the best sense, and she is really filling out her character moment by moment. So it’s great working with her. We have a good time. And look, I guess I’m speaking for myself. I couldn’t get around the idea that, oh God, maybe I, Steven Weber, am about to be replaced. Maybe that’s what that represents. That’s the narcissism and vanity of an actor. Then I had to calm my dumb ass down and realize, no, no, no. It’s just drama. It’s just a dramatic conflict. Good for the show. But she’s great to work with.
George Burns Jr/NBC
The logline for this week’s episode teases that the tension comes to a head between these two characters, and we saw at the end of last week’s episode, he was not happy about the push that she made for that surgery.
He wasn’t happy, was he?
What can you preview about this week’s? From the promo also looks like Goodwin’s going to be kind of stuck in the middle, maybe getting involved.
I will have to say that the upcoming Mike Tyson Jake Paul fight has nothing on this that’s going to be a peewee fight compared to—not really. [Laughs] Yeah, they definitely come to a head, but there’s so much going on in this particular episode that as powerful as that is, that’s the least of what people will respond to. This week’s episode is going to be pretty, I’ll use the word again, explosive.
Goodwin’s been going through it with her stalker. The end of the last episode, it seemed like he was maybe caught, but never know how that’s going to turn out. So how much is that going to be starting to spill into the ED and maybe be something that Archer has to deal with?
What an awful question, because it’s so probing and leading and I couldn’t possibly answer that except to say that your instincts are pretty sound, Meredith Jacobs, TV Insider. This show doesn’t drop a lot of red herrings if herrings can be dropped, I don’t know, placed on a plate, I suppose, or on a cracker. And so that was done at the end of last week’s episode to absolutely get people fired up for what’s going to happen this week. All I can tell you is that when I told my mom what the episode was, she screamed. And I’m telling you the audience is going to lose their s**t.
RelatedSarah Ramos Previews Lenox’s Backstory, Continued Tension With Archer on ‘Chicago Med’
What else is coming up for Archer? Are we going to hear more about stuff with his son? Because the ups and downs of that relationship…
What I’ve been told is that they’re actually going to do a bit of a deeper dive into his personal life, that there’s a possibility that we might see him at home, which would be interesting to find out more about this guy. I know he’s a doctor, a successful doctor at a hospital, and he makes a decent amount of money, I guess, but he’s not a sport. He’s not a guy that prizes fun in his life or relaxation. So that will be interesting to explore. And I’ve been told that that’s a possibility. There’s more things to be navigated with Lenox.
Are there any characters you have significant scenes coming up with that we haven’t seen you with for a while?
Yes. In fact, there are some good things coming up with Kai [Devin Kawaoka]. And so that’s an interesting pairing because he’s got an interesting kind of a snarky appeal as well that we’d almost be fun to watch these two guys spar a little bit. There’s some interesting stuff with Dean and Dr. Charles [Oliver Platt].
Those scenes are always so good.
Oh, thanks. They’re fun to play. We love playing them. We just have a great chemistry that predates this show. I mean, we were friends in the freaking ‘80s for crying out loud. So it’s fun to be able to hang out and play with him. And there’s some great stuff coming up with Epatha who is heaven to work with. Talk about in love. I mean, everybody’s in love with her on the set.
What would surprise the Archer that we first met about who he is now the most?
That he’s learned to not act on his impulses and to just take a minute and what would surprise him is how empathetic he’s become and how he’s able to express himself. I wouldn’t say that he’s completely zen and woke or whatever term you want to use, but he’s trying. He’s trying to connect to people in more than just healing them like objects that need to be repaired.
Chicago Med, Wednesdays, 8/7c, NBC
More Headlines:
‘Chicago Med’: Steven Weber Talks Archer-Lenox Tension & ‘Explosive’ Episode‘The Price is Right’ Player Wins New Car Despite Fan Critique of his Gameplay (VIDEO)‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Debate ‘Unfair’ Tiebreaker Rule That Baffled Many Viewers‘Poker Face’ Season 2: Everything We Know So Far‘Euphoria’ Season 3 to Begin Filming in 2025 & Everything Else We Know So Far
