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Dr. Archer’s Finally Set to Get a Kidney on Chicago Med, But He Doesn’t Want It
Sean Archer is cleared to donate a kidney to his father on Chicago Med, but Dr. Dean Archer reveals he's having second thoughts.
It finally looked as though there'd be a light at the end of the tunnel for Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber) and his health issues as Chicago Med returned for Season 9 — but not so fast.
In the season premiere, viewers learned that although Archer’s kidney failure has gotten worse since Season 8 and his son is cleared to donate a kidney to him, Archer doesn't seem to want it.
Fans will remember from Season 8 that Dr. Archer's son Sean (Luigi Sottile), an addict, was set to give his dad a kidney, but a relapse made him ineligible to donate the organ until he remained sober for six months.
In the Season 9 premiere, Dr. Archer is still undergoing dialysis for kidney disease and the opening moments of the episode reveal how it's all going.
What's the status of Dr. Dean Archer's health in the Chicago Med Season 9 premiere?
“You’re a wreck,” Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) says to Archer as she walks into the emergency department at the start of the episode. “Are you septic again?” He responds with a simple, "No."
The question of when Archer might get his life-saving kidney transplant is also immediately answered. “It’s a good thing you’re getting a kidney tomorrow,” Hannah adds. “Dialysis is hard on that old body of yours.” Archer is not amused, responding sarcastically, "It's good to see you too."
As the doctors at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center's emergency department get to work attending to patients in a multi-car wreck, Hannah eventually gets a moment to ask Archer if he got son Sean's text that he'd been admitted to pre-op for the next day's surgery.
Archer replies, "Ah, no," and then has to be encouraged by Hannah to "go up and see him."
Archer reluctantly agrees to visit his son, arriving in time to hear Dr. Mark Cameron (Walter Coppage) confirm that Sean’s bloodwork and imaging are all "perfect," and that he’s good to go for transplant surgery.
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But Archer seems to be having second thoughts, telling his son, “You don’t have to do this, you know?”
“What are you talking about? I want to do this,” Sean, who spent some time in prison, replies. "I’m just sorry it hasn’t happened sooner. I’m sorry about a lot of things.”
Archer insists Sean shouldn’t be the one who is sorry, saying: “You’re sorry? What are you sorry about? If there’s anybody who’s got something to do be sorry for, it’s me.”
Sean responds with, "Dad, please stop," then tells his father a story about how, as a child, he helped an upset neighbor out by finding her missing cat. He makes it clear how much he wants to help his father, revealing of the cat incident, “It was the best day of my life — until now."
Dr. Archer suggests that his son Sean's kidney go to someone else
But somehow, Archer still doesn't seem convinced that he should get Sean's kidney — as is made clear when he and Hannah treat a girl from the car wreck who also happens to be a recent kidney recipient.
The girl is in pain when doctors press on her, and lab test results reveal that her new kidney was not doing well even before the accident.
Dr. Cameron adds, “The CAT scans show what we call an ‘active blush,’ which means the kidney is bleeding. It’s not working at all now.”
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Once they exit the girl's hospital room, Archer goes to Dr. Cameron with a startling question.
“Mark, by any chance, is Sean a match for Kayla? Could Sean donate his kidney to Kayla?,” he wonders, as Dr. Cameron seems taken aback.
“Sean is donating his kidney to you," Dr. Cameron says. "Why would you even ask that? No, he’s not a match.”
Hannah, who overheard the conversation, angrily confronts Archer with: "What the hell? You’d have Sean give his kidney to Kayla?!” Archer tells her it's not her business.
“Not my business? Okay, that’s pretty cold, Dean, even for you,” Hannah responds. “All this time, I thought you were worried about Sean giving up his kidney, but that’s not it at all. What really bothers you is that he’s giving it up to you.”
“Yeah, well, maybe because there’s a 13-year-old girl out there who needs a kidney,” Archer replies. But Hannah isn't having it, saying: "And you don’t? Look at you.”
Why doesn't Dr. Archer want son Sean to donate a kidney to him?
Getting emotional, Archer eventually admits to Hannah, “This is my son. And he wants to sacrifice a piece of himself for me? ... I don’t deserve it. Alright? I was a terrible father. Do you get that?”
In Season 8, Archer apologized to his son for not being there for him when he was struggling with problems growing up.
Hannah, who is also a recovering addict like Sean, tells Archer she understands his feelings of unworthiness.
“I’m an addict, okay? I know what it feels like to be unworthy,” Hannah says. “So does Sean. And he knows about loneliness and about being cut off from everybody. And take it from me, drugs are a great way to fill that ... Your son doesn’t want drugs anymore. He wants connection, and he wants it with his father. His father, whom he loves. You feel unworthy. But if you deny Sean this, you will destroy him.”
Will Archer go through with getting the kidney donation from his son? Watch all-new episodes of Chicago Med on Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC and streaming the next day on Peacock.
