Dr. Dean Archer and Hannah Asher are preparing to co-parent a baby on Chicago Med.
News travels fast at Gaffney, and all anyone can talk about is Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) and Dr. Dean Archer’s (Steven Weber) baby on Season 11 of Chicago Med.
Ever since the Gaffney friends decided to co-parent the child, all eyes are on how Archer and Hannah navigate this next chapter. As Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) returned to Gaffney in Med’s “A Game of Inches,” he was shocked to discover he wasn’t the only one with exciting pregnancy news to share, congratulating Hannah on the happy update.
Halstead did admit that he never had Archer and Hannah hooking up on his bingo card, and it’s safe to say he’s not alone. After the cat got let out of the bag, several Gaffney doctors and nurses have voiced their opinions on Hannah and Archer’s pregnancy, and it’s safe to say many of them are a tad shocked.
Gaffney gossip queen Nurse Doris (Lorena Diaz) wasn’t surprised, smugly telling Hannah that she’d been rooting for “Dasher” — Hannah and Archer’s “ship name” — for a while. Meanwhile, Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) was quick to tease Archer about his little “May/December thing” with Hannah, congratulating him for starting a parenting journey so late in life.
But Hannah was keen to confirm to Doris that there would be no wedding bells on the horizon; she and Archer planned on co-parenting as friends. Hannah has some concerns about the practicality of the pairing.
What is Hannah Asher and Dean Archer’s age gap on Chicago Med?
While the exact ages of their characters aren’t confirmed, we know Schram is 39 years old in real life, while Weber is 64. This would mean their fictional counterparts could be a little over 20 years apart.
Steven Weber breaks down Dasher’s age gap on Chicago Med
During a chat with NBC Insider, Weber admitted that the age discrepancy between Hannah and Archer “tweaked” him a bit after first reading the script, but it’s proven to be a fun challenge to play.
“It has to do with vanity, but for the most part, the fun of the show is not transgressing, but going deeper than your vanity and shattering it…” Weber explained before breaking down Archer’s headspace in Season 11 of Med. Now that Archer and Hannah’s secret is out, they’re feeling the pressure.
“He’s conflicted. Because both he and Hannah have worked to develop something that is rare for both of them, which is a safe, trusting relationship where they can be vulnerable with each other,” Weber explained. “They both have a degree of trauma in their lives, and it’s hard to trust love. And this situation is arguably the greatest expression of that love, and it’s a huge challenge to them.”
“It’s also a challenge to him physically, as I alluded to earlier about his vanity and about the fact that at this age, it’s really hard,” Weber added. “I know idiots my age, guys who’ve had kids, and while it’s incredibly revivifying and beautiful to have a kid like that, they basically say: ‘No, Papa cannot have a catch with you. Go outside. I’m going to sit. I’ll watch.'”
It’s not like Hannah and Archer are none the wiser to their situation. Hannah communicated her fears about raising a child with someone several decades her senior during Season 11’s premiere, when Archer felt like Hannah was too ashamed to reveal the baby’s father and accept their situation. Now that Hannah and Archer have established their game plan, the Gaffney staff can’t stop talking about the baby on the way — sharing all their mixed reactions about Hannah and Archer’s unlikely rendezvous.
“I think, to Allen’s credit and the writers, they address these challenges in a way that’s realistic and kind of answers directly and indirectly the concerns of the audience,” Weber told NBC Insider. “How are they gonna work this out? How are they gonna do it? It’s certainly not sentimental, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no room for real feeling, real love.”
Watch Chicago Med on Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
