Spoiler Alert: The following reveals major plot points from tonight’s Season 11 premiere of NBC‘s Chicago Med.
Chicago Med returned tonight with its 11th season, and there were a lot of surprises, including the return of Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut as Dr. Naomi Howard. The character first appeared in Season 9 of the hit NBC medical drama and was last seen in the penultimate episode of Season 10.
Series showrunner Allen MacDonald spoke to Deadline this week about Season 11, revealing he was surprised to hear fans thought Naomi had been written off.
“I understand the misunderstanding of that. We love Ashlei Sharpe Chesnut; she’s phenomenal. We never intended to write her out. We always knew she was going to be back this season. But with everything that happened with Dr. Hayes and her leaving the hospital, I don’t blame the audience for thinking she was gone,” MacDonald shared.
He added, “I saw in a lot of the articles that I definitely don’t read every night that they thought she had left for good, but that was never the intention. And as you know, she’s back, and for the season.”
When Naomi reappears in the episode “We All Fall Down,” she looks happy and ready to jump back into the chaos of Gaffney Chicago Medical Center’s ED. She approaches Archer (Steven Weber) and Frost (Darren Barnet), checking if they could use her help on their critical case. Frost had a surprised look on his face and a cheeky smile, making it extremely obvious that he was happy to see Naomi again.
Frost’s voice drops an octave when he greets Naomi with a “hi,’ his face glowing. He reveals he knew she was returning as a General Surgery Resident, following her stint as a Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident at Gaffney, so what surprised him was how soon she would start. In their conversation, Naomi tells him it’s only her first week back so far, and that her return after some time off for herself was thanks to Dr. Lenox (Sarah Ramos), who made her the slot as a general surgery resident if she wanted it.
If this scene made something abundantly clear, it’s that Frost is smitten with Naomi. In Season 10, she tried to vibe with Frost, but he was having none of it. However, it’s worth noting that last season was a rollercoaster for Frost, who, out of the blue, was confronted by the older woman who groomed him during his years as a teen superstar on the popular TV series Nick of Time.
“There is definitely an attraction to Frost that we will be exploring as the season goes on,” confirmed MacDonald.
While on the topic of Frost and the mother figure in Nick of Time, who took advantage of his trust, MacDonald confirmed they “aren’t done telling that story.” “Those years were formative for him, in good and bad ways,” MacDonald added.
Pivoting back a bit to Lenox’s invitation, hopefully, this means there’s no bad blood between the women due to Dr. Hayes. It was revealed last season that Hayes was sexually assaulting female residents, including Naomi. When she let Lenox know about what Hayes had been doing to her, Lenox told Sharon Goodwin (S. Epahtha Merkerson), leaving Naomi to feel her mentor had broken her trust.
Naomi’s reappearance arrives at a time when Lenox could use some support, as the latter recently tested positive for Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS). This rare and genetic prion disease claimed her mother’s life when Lenox and her brother Kip (Logan Miller) were very young.
New episodes of Chicago Med air on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
