The suspense surrounding Dr. Archer’s resignation from Chicago Medical School has many concerned.
There’s a good chance he won’t actually leave the medical drama, but still. Although he assured Hannah that he would reconsider, he submitted the letter.
The good news is this isn’t the first medical drama and This storyline. Years ago, ER had a similar story with Gregory Pratt (Mekhi Feiffer), so is it possible to look into that for clues as to what’s going to happen next?
How ER Stories Are Similar to Dr. Archer’s Chicago Med Resignation Suspense
In ER Season 14 Episode 11, Pratt had a similar experience with Archer. Pratt, for his part, was passed over for the emergency room director position he believed he deserved and went to Skye Wexler.
Skye is a new young female doctor and Pratt feels disrespected. So, he considered submitting a letter of resignation.
Meanwhile, in Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 8, at another hospital in Chicago, Archer pretended not to be upset about being demoted from ER director to attending physician after he appeared to be in a relationship with Caitlin ·Caitlin Lenox doesn’t get along.
Eventually, Archer admitted to Hannah that he could no longer serve as emergency room director and that he saw no point in his continued presence at Gaffney Medical Center.
So, despite Hannah’s pleas to reconsider, he wrote a letter of resignation and went to Goodwin’s office to submit it.
Obviously, the two stories are not exactly the same, but…
This isn’t to say that Archer’s resignation cliffhanger in “Chicago Med” is a rip-off of “ER,” because that’s clearly not the case.
In ER, Platt decides not to quit his job after meeting PA Jeanine Boulet, who helps him find his purpose while they work on a difficult case together.
However, the character is somewhat similar to Hannah’s; she tries to remind Archer that his friendship with her is valuable, even if he doesn’t see the point in staying in Gaffney.
Additionally, Pratt was offended that he was passed over for the ER director position, while Archer had been the ER director but had been demoted, making the situation different.
These differences are important. No one wants to see the same story twice!
Still, the ending of Pratt’s story could give us clues as to how the cliffhanger of Dr. Archer’s resignation at Chicago Med might play out.
Like Archer, Pratt felt he didn’t have enough purpose in his current job and that he was being neglected in favor of a young man who didn’t have the right ideas about hospitals.
For Platt’s part, the reason for his decision not to resign was, after all, the case he was working on with Bright, not meeting with her.
Boulet’s son was seriously ill after a head injury, and when Pratt discovered that her son had an AIDS-related brain tumor, Boulet was horrified, as she herself is HIV-positive. So, through working on this case, Platt rediscovered his sense of purpose.
Furthermore, he realizes that life is too short.
The patient’s serious illness reminds him that his time on earth is short and he shouldn’t waste any irritation because he didn’t get the promotion he wanted.
So instead of resigning, Platt stayed at the hospital and later tried again to become emergency room director.
In Archer’s case, it’s surprising that he gave up completely.
Archer has never been the most outspoken character, often doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, so it would make more sense for him to pretend to be okay with being demoted while plotting his reinstatement.
Like Platt, Archer needs to rediscover his sense of purpose, although it may come from a different source.
The cliffhanger of Archer’s resignation from Chicago Med isn’t the only jaw-dropping finale scene.
After delivering the letter, Archer heard a knock on the glass door that separated the executive offices from the elevator lobby and turned to see Goodwin trying to fight off the man who was attacking her with a knife.
So Archer could be part of the effort to save Goodwin when Chicago Med returns from its midseason hiatus.
It might give him the sense of purpose he needs to reconsider his decision to resign.
Hopefully he’ll be able to save Goodwin’s life, both during the crisis and later when she needs medical care.
If Goodwin dies or is seriously injured, Archer may become even more convinced that he needs to escape the hospital.
Plus, this would be a hell of a depressing ending for Goodwin’s character, so we don’t need that.
We also don’t need a repeat of Dr. Lin’s paralysis in The Good Doctor, spending the entire season yelling at Sean about his choices in the operating room instead of being grateful that he saved her life.
That’s not Chicago Med’s style, so hopefully it avoids any of those negative paths.
Dr. Archer’s Chicago Med resignation suspense may be fake anyway
Even if there are no similarities to ER, this storyline is probably fake.
There is no word yet on Steven Weber (Archer) leaving Chicago Med. In fact, the actor has been vocal about how great he thinks the new writing team is.
Additionally, he plays a crucial role in rescuing Goodwin.
So, Chicago Med fanatics, what do you think? Is Archer really resigning, or will it be a similar storyline to Pratt’s ER storyline?
Hit the comments with your thoughts.
Watch Chicago Med online
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC. The show will return with new episodes on January 8, 2024.
