Steven Weber is well aware of the looks his Chicago Med character, Dr. Dean Archer, is getting after being revealed as the father of Dr. Hannah Asher’s baby — but he likes the “gutsy” plot twist.
Warning: Spoilers below from Chicago Med season 11, episode 1.
During the Wednesday, October 1, episode, fans discovered that Hannah (Jessy Schram) is not pregnant with ex-boyfriend Dr. Mitch Ripley’s (Luke Mitchell) baby, like many viewers assumed.
Instead, Hannah told her longtime BFF Dr. Archer (Weber) that she is pregnant with his child after a hookup that transpired off camera.
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“I guess it makes sense. I warned you those Crunch Berries could be an indulgence,” Archer teased during the season 11 premiere, referring to a night when the pair shared cereal while Hannah was reeling from her split with Ripley.
Once Hannah confirmed that she was “definitely” having the baby, Archer replied, “Whatever you need, I’m in.”
The pair went in for an awkward hug and Hannah mumbled under her breath, “Just two friends having a baby.”
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As the episode unfolded, viewers learned that Hannah is three months along in her pregnancy but didn’t want to tell anyone at the hospital just yet. Archer briefly got upset with Hannah for seemingly being ashamed that he is the father, but she assured him she was only keeping it quiet because she was scared to become a mom.
Archer teased that he was OK keeping it under wraps, joking, “It’ll be a lot more fun watching people slowly try and figure it out.”
Ripley, however, heard from a nurse that Hannah was pregnant and for a few hours thought it was his. He was shocked to discover that Archer was the father, telling Hannah, “Well, I didn’t see that coming.”
“Dr. Ripley is a hothead and he’s immediately triggered, I would say, but he’s also a smart, sensitive guy, so he finds a way to deal with it eventually,” Weber, 64, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, September 25, teasing how Ripley will deal with the pregnancy as the season goes on.
The actor noted that Ripley’s surprise is something that is commonplace among the Chicago doctors and nurses, partly because Archer is so much older than Hannah.
“In the hospital, people react much like fans have been reacting in recent months or maybe even seasons [past], is that all they see is an age gap,” Weber explained. “They see a guy with a white beard and this young blonde girl, and so that’s all it is to them, right? [And] the show acknowledges that.”
Weber shared that the series then goes “deeper” into the relationship between Hannah and Archer, and fans hear their “actual thoughts and concerns” about this next chapter.
“It’s a fairly original and kind of gutsy thing to do for a TV show. And this show doesn’t take the easy route. It doesn’t take the sentimental route,” he said. “Once in a while it does, because we love seeing good-looking people getting together on any TV show, and that happens occasionally. But I think they really went out on a limb with Hannah and Dean here, and they explore it.”
Showrunner Allen MacDonald exclusively told Us on Thursday that the age difference is a “non-issue” because “Hannah has been through a lot” and both she and Archer are “old souls in a way that really connect.”
He added that since there isn’t a romantic element to their relationship, their friendship will continue to help them as coparents.
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However, as the season progresses, Weber confessed that the baby news will “throw a wrench into their personal lives as friends and as coworkers.”
The actor told Us and Give Me My Remote in September that Archer and Hannah “both have lots of doubts about love, about relationships and about trust.”
Weber concluded, “This is hard for them, and I think that’s very smart [to show]. That’s sort of what we have to look forward to, that folded into the other stories that are also developing at breakneck speed as well.”
Chicago Med airs on NBC Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
