Chicago Med season 11 might be long over, but the events of the season finale are still very much stuck in our brains. Leading up to the season 12 premiere on NBC this fall, all of us fans can't help but make predictions on what we think might happen and also compile a wish list of what we hope will happen. Naturally, we need a resolution to one of season 11's biggest storylines.
Honestly, the continued thoughts about Chicago Med season 11 extend even beyond the finale and include pretty much the entire season as a whole. After all, Asher and Archer's pregnancy and relationship storyline began the second we watched Asher knock on Archer's door in the season 10 finale. While their baby was born in the season 11 finale, their trajectory is still unclear.
That's what we need more resolution on in Chicago Med season 12. Even after Asher and Archer share a kiss after his love confession, we're fuzzy on exactly what Asher's thinking after giving birth to Mabel and where her heart stands. Instead of more fits and starts in their relationship storyline, what we need is an actual resolution and step forward as they begin parenthood.
And that's not advocating in either direction, whether it's Asher and Archer diving headfirst into an actual romantic relationship or remaining platonic as they co-parent their daughter. We just need something, any kind of forward movement. If season 11 laid the foundation for them to realize and admit their feelings, then season 12 should be the logical next step with an actual decision.
The Chicago Med season 11 finale mostly left their future open-ended. Some viewers might have taken Asher thanking Archer for telling her he loves her and kissing him as the beginning of a relationship, that she's on the same page. But for this viewer, their status is still vague as Asher seemed to communicate her gratitude but she'd rather talk about love outside of the hospital.
In that regard, we can't blame Chicago Med for that bit of reality. Asher's pregnancy ended without incident, which had been one of the major sources of stress for her, Archer, and the audience all season. We expected doom due to foreshadowing and Asher's nagging sense of dread. But all of us, Asher included, were blissfully thrilled to be on the other side with mother and child healthy.
For Asher to also have the headspace to agree to a new relationship, mere hours (maybe even minutes) after giving birth was probably too much to ask. And in that moment, they are feeling a heightened sense of love that probably shouldn't be acted upon if the Friends season 8 finale and season 9 premiere are anything to go by (if you know, you know).
But continuing to drag this will-they-or-won't-they storyline on for another season would be a mistake. Asher and Archer will be unavoidably butting heads thanks to sleepless nights as new parents, but regardless, a decision needs to be made about what they want to be as a family and as a pair, no matter if it lasts for one, two, or 20 episodes. We just need some resolution.
Chicago Med showrunner hints we've seen the last of one of the show's most disliked characters
The final episodes of Chicago Med season 11 took an unexpectedly darker turn for Dr. John Frost as the season revisited his traumatic experiences growing up as a child actor and his rocky relationship with his parents, who failed to protect him. It all began when Frost’s parents, James and Celeste, showed up in town hoping to reconnect with their understandably estranged son.
Frost would eventually agree to meet with his parents, and he came to learn that his father’s health was in decline due to his MS diagnosis. As the season progressed, Frost would come to learn that his father was not suffering from MS, but rather he had a tumor on his spine which was causing MS-like symptoms. He’d also come to learn that his dad knew about the tumor but didn’t explore treatment out of fear.
By the time Frost found out the truth, his father was no longer eligible for a medical trial which could provide treatment designed to shrink the tumor. Despite their fractured relationship, Frost didn’t want to give up on his dad and agreed to sign on for a Nick of Time reboot series in order to make the money needed to pay for his father’s expensive treatment.
It was clear from the start that Frost did not want to return to acting, but it was a means to an end to make the money needed for his father’s treatment. He was all set to proceed with the project until the reboot’s producer surprised him at lunch with the news that Ainsley, the woman who played his mom on the show and took advantage of Frost as a teen, had been added to the cast.
Upon learning the news, Frost chose to walk away from the reboot which was when he’d come to find out that his father knew about his relationship with Ainsley and never stepped in to protect him. Instead, he turned a blind eye. This led to another fallout between Frost and his father, one that was short-lived as Frost would learn in the penultimate episode of the season that his dad’s treatments were not working and he’d been moved to hospice care.
The season finale saw Frost make peace with his father as he stayed with him through his final hours and remained at his side until his father passed as the finale came to a close.
Jessalyn Gilsig not expected to return for Chicago Med season 12
Needless to say, the back half of the season was particularly trying for Frost in many ways, but it was one that allowed the show to close the book on the past as the show focuses on how Frost will move forward. With the closing of this book, Chicago Med showrunner Allen MacDonald seemed to indicate that we’ve seen the last of a character that quickly became one of the show’s most disliked characters: Ainsley.
While you can truly never say never in the world of television, MacDonald appears to have all but confirmed we’ve seen the last of Ainsley on Chicago Med. In speaking with Parade following the finale, MacDonald noted that while they’ll always make reference to Frost’s past and to Nick of Time and Ainsley, specifically, they’ve closed the book on that—seeming to hint that while Ainsley might come up in conversation, she won’t be popping back up on the show directly.
“There’s a weight lifted off his shoulders. I think the past has always been something he’s run away from, that he thought he didn’t need to deal with it but it was actually weighing him down more because he wasn’t. We’ve spent the last two seasons with him slowly confronting the past and growing from the processing of it, and now I believe next season he’s going to move on,” MacDonald revealed. “There will be other challenges next season for Dr. John Frost, but as far as the past and Nick of Time and Ainsley, those are things we’ll always make reference to, but I feel like we’re closing the book on that, on the past, and now he’s going to move forward.”
As much as we love Jessalyn Gilsig, who was phenomenal in the role of Ainsley, it does make sense for her appearance in season 11, episode 19, “Exit Strategies," to serve as her final episode on the show.
Frost will surely continue to unpack the events of his past in the new season as he works on his relationship with his mom following his father’s death, but we don’t need to see Ainsley back again as it’s time the show began to allow Frost to reclaim his future and move forward. Thankfully, that seems to be the plan, and we’re certainly eager to see what season 12 will bring for Frost as he begins this new chapter in his story!
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