Chicago Med’s Fall Finale Ended On A Dangerous Cliffhanger For One Doctor, But I’m Disappointed After How It Was Promoted

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Be warned: this article contains spoilers from the season 11 finale of Chicago Med, titled “Double Down.” You can watch it the day after it airs with a Peacock subscription.

The TV schedule for fall 2025 already includes information about Chicago Med, with its fall finale marking the last new episodes of the One Chicago series until early 2026. I was really looking forward to the finale, “Double Down,” because Med had the best fall finale of all the One Chicago shows last year. The preview after the previous episode promised a lot of drama: a hospital-wide blackout, complications with Hannah’s pregnancy, and Lenox continuing to make questionable choices after her recent diagnosis.

Although ‘Double Down’ wasn’t a terrible episode, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations, especially after the exciting promo and the season 10 finale, which ended with a cliffhanger – Goodwin being stabbed and a powerful reaction from Steven Weber, who plays Archer.

What I Expected From “Double Down”

If you watched last week’s Chicago Med, you might remember Ripley acting particularly spiteful. The episode starts with Lenox taking a chance while treating a patient with an electrical injury, but those initial scenes felt typical for the show – like many other cases we’ve seen.

The preview hinted at a dramatic moment involving Hannah’s pregnancy, showing her looking upset and Archer asking what was wrong. Combined with a scene of a power outage during Archer’s surgery, I expected a problem with the pregnancy to occur while Archer was unable to help. Here’s a closer look:

Perhaps I shouldn’t have expected a big, dramatic storyline for Hannah and Archer, especially considering the writers likely didn’t plan the promotional material to suggest it. I’ve already seen quite a bit of their story this season, and Hannah’s pregnancy has provided enough drama on its own. It was a clever change of pace for the show to reveal her distress and Archer’s reaction were actually happening in a dream.

The fall finale preview reminded me of a memorable episode of ER, specifically the twist involving Abby (Maura Tierney) and Luka (Goran Visnjic) when Abby was pregnant. That similarity isn’t a reflection on the One Chicago show at all. I also appreciated the parallels between Will leaving Med and Carol’s departure from ER. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed echoes of that classic medical drama while watching Med. I’ve actually done this with The Good Doctor and ER before – ER is just a fantastic show.

Whether it was misleading or not, the preview made me think Hannah and Archer would be central to the main plot, but the fall finale didn’t deliver on that expectation.

What I Got From “Double Down”

The episode description NBC released before the fall finale was different from the promotional trailer. Unlike the trailer, which focused on one main plot, the description covered multiple storylines. This is what viewers had to understand the episode would be about before it aired.

Charles begins to distrust a coworker’s motives. Lenox goes too far to help a patient. Meanwhile, Hannah and Archer care for a man about to become a father who is fighting cancer.

The season ended on a tense cliffhanger stemming from the story involving Lenox. Jack Falahee reprised his role as Devin Carter, an abusive husband who originally appeared in Season 11, Episode 4 with his wife, Faye (played by Olivia Nikkanen). Earlier, Lenox had urged Faye to report Devin and leave him for her own safety, but Faye wasn’t ready. Devin then took Faye home, but not before hinting to Lenox that he was watching her.

Trouble began when Devin showed up at the hospital with a small injury, but Faye was missing. Ripley and Lenox became worried about her safety because of Devin’s strange behavior, and their fears grew when they learned he had taken Faye’s phone, preventing them from reaching her.

Worried a simple welfare check wouldn’t be sufficient, Lenox drove through the storm to Faye’s house. She had to force her way inside, but her gut feeling was right – she found Faye at the bottom of the basement stairs, injured and in pain. Lenox helped Faye sit up, and she cried out in relief.

With a few minutes remaining in the episode, it was clear Lenox still had trouble ahead. Unable to get a signal for an emergency call in the basement, she carefully went upstairs to check out a noise and find better reception. Just when she breathed a sigh of relief, realizing the banging was only the screen door, Devin unexpectedly appeared and attacked her from behind.

Roll the credits!

The Verdict On “Double Down”

The fall finale, titled “Double Down,” means viewers will have to wait until Chicago Med returns to NBC on Wednesday, January 7th at 8 p.m. ET to find out what happens next. Hopefully, the show will pick up right where it left off, similar to how last season’s fall finale transitioned into the winter premiere.

I’m really eager to see how Lenox reacts when he first meets Devin, and there are still a few storylines from the episode that need to be resolved. I’d also love it if Sean Archer returned for the winter premiere to talk with Hannah – his conversation with his father about having a new sibling at 39 was a highlight of the episode for me.

As a big fan, I found the dynamic between Lenox and Archer really intriguing – learning Lenox was an Army veteran and seeing that play out against Archer’s Navy background was a cool touch. It definitely makes sense that her Army training would come in handy given where things left off in fall 2025, though I’m eager to see how it all unfolds. I’m glad NBC isn’t making One Chicago fans wait too long to find out what happens next!

You can rewatch the episode where Lenox clashes with Devin on Peacock. While the danger wasn’t as intense as when Goodwin was attacked last year, Med still gave us the first big cliffhanger of the fall finales. It wasn’t a poor way to end the episode, and I expect I’ll appreciate it more once I’ve had time to process that the finale didn’t unfold as I anticipated. Plus, I don’t think the promotional material was misleading on purpose, so any false impressions likely weren’t the writers’ intention.

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2025-11-13 05:10