You could certainly say Ripley is down bad for Lenox as their Gaffney romance heats up.
Season 11 of Chicago Med continues to deliver the heat as the romance between Dr. Caitlin Lenox (Sarah Ramos) and Dr. Mitch Ripley (Luke Mitchell) reaches a fever pitch.
At the top of Med’s “Our So-Called Lives,” it seemed like business as usual in the Gaffney E.D. as Ripley and Lenox bickered over the best steps in treating a patient. After a frustrated Ripley requested to speak with Lenox privately, viewers cut to the hospital parking lot, where Lenox and Ripley wrapped up their heated exchange with a quick hook up in Ripley’s car. But while Ripley seems to be on his way towards being head over heels, Lenox remains committed to keeping her walls up after receiving a terminal diagnosis that’s turned her entire life upside down. How will this romance work with so many secrets?
“The writers in the writers’ room and I got very excited about the possibilities of how [Ripley and Lenox] would get along,” showrunner Allen MacDonald told NBC Insider while chatting about Med’s latest couple. “And how they would work together, and how they would kind of push each other to be better doctors.”
Ripley and Lenox can’t stop hooking up on Chicago Med
Toward the end of Lenox and Ripley’s parking lot rendezvous, Ripley decided to address the elephant in the vehicle: their previous agreement not to hook up again. As the pair continued kissing, Ripley pulled away with concern.
“I thought we agreed to stop this,” Ripley said breathlessly.
“I changed my mind,” Lenox quipped.
“You know, I’m not some puppy for you to play with,” Ripley said unconvincingly.
“Agree to disagree, but you can say no at any point,” Lenox said, waiting for Ripley to ask her to back off. But Ripley remained, letting out a playful “ruff” instead of taking the bait.
“Oh my gosh,” Lenox said before Ripley told her he had somewhere to be. Before he could go, Lenox made sure they made the most of the last 10 minutes of her break.
Ripley was encouraged to pursue Lenox by a close friend
The post-coital bliss led Ripley to be a tad late for his plans, which were meeting up with his longtime friend, Lynne (Hope Lauren), the widow of his late best friend, Sully (Daniel Dorr), for a special occasion. It had been exactly a year since Sully lost his battle to cancer, so Ripley and Lynne set out to memorialize Sully and spread the ashes of their Cubs-loving friend with a Wrigley Field break-in.
During the stadium break-in, Lynne correctly guessed that Ripley was late due to a hang up with a girl. After coming clean about his recent fling with Lenox, Lynne suspected that Ripley “really” liked her. Ripley shrugged this off, saying that he and Lenox were simply “drunk off” each other at the moment. But ultimately, Ripley felt like they were like oil and water, a “bad idea” he needed to avoid. But Lynne felt otherwise.
“Sully was the best bad idea I’ve ever had,” Lynn said, encouraging Ripley to explore the relationship further rather than run away from such a good thing. “This kind of chemistry is rare.”
Ripley wants to see where things lead with Lenox
Later that night at Molly’s, Ripley ran into Lenox. Not one to waste time at this point in her life, Lenox asked if Ripley wanted to get out of there. This sultry pitch was an offer that Ripley wasn’t going to refuse, but he sought to heed the advice he got earlier.
“I do, but can we talk first?” Ripley asked, heeding the advice from earlier.
“Oh no,” Lenox said with the utmost dread. “What’s up?”
Ripley pressed onward. “I keep flirting with this idea of stopping…” Ripley said, referencing their previous agreement to snuff their connection. “What if we didn’t?”
“What does that mean exactly?” Lenox asked.
Ripley suggested that they both see “where this leads,” a notion that didn’t provide much clarity to Lenox.
“Yeah, can it lead to us getting out of here now?” Lenox asked, avoiding the core of Ripley’s suggestion: His developing feelings for her. Not wanting to push her too far, Ripley leaned down and whispered a heartwarming bark into her ear, showing her that he’s willing to follow her wherever she wants to go.
See where Lenox and Ripley head next by watching Season 11 of Chicago Med on Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
