Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the Season 10 finale of Chicago MedSeason 10 ofChicago Medwrapped upwith a season finalethat saw dramatic conflicts, healing, and bombshells that certainly have us on the edge of our seats for Season 11. Amidst the chaos, one story almost gets overlooked, as Dr. Lenox (Sarah Ramos) tells her brother that he’s free of the markers of Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker that took the life of their mother. However, she keeps the fact that she does have the gene hidden from him and everyone else. It’s not unexpected, but it’s a letdown. Dr. Lenox deserves better, and here’s why.
Dr. Lenox Starts To Grow in ‘Chicago Med’s Season 10
Chicago Med’s Season 10 premiere, “Sink or Swim,” sees the addition of two new doctors:Darren Barnet’s Dr. Frost and Ramos’ Dr. Lenox. The two are inherited from Jackson Monroe Hospital, which was closed down at the end of the previous season, with Sharon (S. Epatha Merkerson) bringing in Lenox to co-head the Emergency Department with Dr. Archer (Steven Weber). Lenox is revealed to be extremely strict about rules and regulations, and is obsessed with efficiency, something that puts her at immediate odds not only with Archer but with the entirety of Med. However, these traits serve her well in that leadership capacity, making Lenox a tough, capable leader that’s unshakable in a crisis.
It also makes her good at educating those working under her, and it’s on that basis, with Dr. Howard (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) telling Sharon that Lenox “was the best teacher she could ever have,” which prompts Sharon inEpisode 7to promote Lenox as sole head of the Emergency Department. Archer is sent back to an attending physician position, and althoughit looked to threaten Archer’s departure, he stays at Chicago Med.
The first time we see Lenox as someone more is during the events of the season’s fifth episode, “Bad Habits.” A pregnant woman is admitted, who has brought along her autistic son. Lenox didn’t want Asher (Jessy Schram) to admit her into the pre-natal clinic, given it was Halloween, and they were short-staffed, but she did anyway. So when the boy wanders off and has a meltdown in the middle of the hospital, a sharp dressing-down was all but assured. Only when Maggie (Marlyne Barrett) can’t get the boy to calm down,Lenox steps in and lays down next to him, speaking softly and calmly about how scary it must be in the hospital, and that he could stay on the floor as long as he wanted to. The boy’s mother asks the doctors to thank Lenox on her behalf, but Lenox is almost embarrassed at the praise. It’s too late, though: Lenox just proved she had a heart beneath that cold exterior, and a character that was largely derided to that point became engaging in an instant.
‘Chicago Med’ Gave Sarah Ramos' Dr. Lenox a Heartbreaking Twist
Slowly but surely, Lenox grows. InSeason 10, Episode 14, “Acid Test,” Lenox and Frost tend to a young boy whose brother accidentally shot him. Frost uncovers that it was the mother that shot him accidentally, but if she tells the truth, then her husband, a city councilman, will get custody, and he’s been abusing the family for years.Lenox refuses to break regulations despite Frost’s pleas to do so— even if it means that the councilman’s abuses are exposed — but finds a way to expose the years of abuse and still abide by the rules, showing she has a heart for justice.
She joins her workmates at a party. She opens up to Archer about her fear of having the GSS gene that took her mom. She accepts Dr. Hayes' (Brendan Hines) offer for a weekend in Myrtle Beach, and promptly drops it after learning about his harassment of Naomi. Lenox is the one that told Sharon about Hayes' harassment despite Naomi’s objections — not just because it’s the right thing to do, which speaks to that sense of justice —but because he’s hurt someone that’s become close to her. No one would have seen that coming after meeting her back at the start of the season.
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“I think Hannah needs to process this in one way or another.”
That growth is remarkable for any character, but it’s extra impressive for Lenox. The way her character changed at such a carefully orchestrated pace is amazing. There’s no one incident that turned the tide on public opinion of Lenox; it was a series of them. And now, with the reveal that Lenox has GSS, it’s like the show has taken this character — the one they took such care to build up over the season — and are making her take steps back. She’s rightfully devastated by the news,but it feels like she’s being punished for having allowed herself to open up. It’s an insult to the character, to be honest, burdening her with the tired trope of “character with x diagnosis keeps it quiet until it’s too late.” Ramos is more than capable of pulling off this tragic turn in a storyline, but she shouldn’t have to.
‘Chicago Med’ Season 11 Needs To Embrace Dr. Lenox
It all adds up to the fact thatLenox deserves a better storyline in Season 11 ofChicago Med, something more than just shutting herself off again until she’s laid up in a hospital bed. The tease of a romantic storyline for Lenox was warmly welcomed, something that she had earned in the eyes of viewers after having finally turned the tide of negative popular opinion. She was bright, she was smiling. Smiling! Lenox deserves a storyline that rewards that time spent on building up her character. Lenox should continue smiling, and that playful side shouldn’t be put away anytime soon.
At this point, they’re committed to the GSS angle,butChicago Medhas the chance to do something with Lenox that’s different. Maybe having her open up the way she did in Season 10 pays off with a commitment by her workmates-turned-friends to find a solution. Maybe she embraces this as a chance to open up more, sharing her pain instead of internalizing it. There are ways to do it, and as the only character who literally grew before our eyes, Lenox deserves —at the very least — the effort.
Chicago Med
The city’s most highly skilled medical team saves lives, while navigating their unique interpersonal relationships.
