WEDNESDAY

CHICAGO MED

Will the staff warm to interim Emergency Department chief Dean Archer (Steven Weber)?

He’s been in the position for two months when Season 7 starts, subbing while Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) recovers after being shot by an ex-patient. The former Navy officer is demanding and believes he’s always right, so expect conflict. Though exec producer Diane Frolov notes, “For all Archer’s emotional issues, he is still a dedicated and resourceful doctor.”

How do the exits of Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) and Nurse April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta) affect the dynamic?

An unexpected bond has formed between Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) and Crockett Marcel (Dominic Rains), two docs who disliked each other because they both loved Natalie. “Their shared loss [after her departure] will bring them closer together as friends,” says fellow EP Andrew Schneider. Among the nurses getting additional screen time: no-nonsense Maggie Campbell (Marlyne Barrett), who “will be involved in more medicine this season,” Schneider says. Expect “a particularly wild case involving identical twins” in the premiere, he adds.

Who are the new doctors, Stevie Hammer (Kristen Hager, Condor) and Dylan Scott (Guy Lockard)?

Frolov describes Stevie as “funny, opinionated and scrappy,” which could explain why her nickname in medical school was “The Hammer.” A difficult childhood fuels her compassion. Dylan is a pediatric specialist—and a’s finest. Says Schneider, “He will often be caught between his old life of law enforcement and his new life of medicine, which sometimes have very different priorities.”   NBC