Spoilers ahead for Episode 4 of Chicago Med Season 11, called "Found Family" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.
Chicago Med is moving on from the crisis that brought both Will (Nick Gehlfuss) and Natalie (Torrey DeVitto) back to the Windy City, just in time to embrace the spookiest time of the year with a Halloween-themed episode in the fall 2025 TV schedule. Details about the episode indicate that an unexpected conflict between two doctors is on the way, but I'm burning to know the full story behind Ripley seemingly embracing all things Winnie the Pooh for the holiday.
A Scary Night At Gaffney Med
This won't be the first time that Chicago Med embraced the Halloween spirit for at least part of an episode, and the promo for the ep – called "What's Hiding In the Dark" – hypes "HOSPITAL HORROR NIGHT." Considering how horrifying some cases in the ED can be during normal episodes, I'm already curious about what NBC's medical drama has cooking. The episode description sheds a little light, including a clue that conflict is coming for Hannah and Dean:
A personal clash between Asher and Archer reaches a breaking point. Charles and Ripley uncover a rare neurological disorder in a patient. Goodwin’s personal life is put to the test.
Some kind of conflict between Hannah and Archer was probably inevitable; plans to co-parent don't mean that their relationship magically becomes perfect. They clashed as friends and colleagues before Hannah had a bun in the oven, and were in fact at odds for a decent chunk of what I now refer to as the "Captain Crunch episode" that produced the pregnancy. That said, this issue will apparently be personal rather than professional.
The relationship couldn't go too swimmingly for too long with all the complications! Honestly, I've been expecting some tension to boil over between the duo ever since Hannah witnessed Archer and Ripley going at each other, and I wouldn't blame Hannah if her fuse is a little shorter than normal after being confronted by Natalie over her former romance with Will in the 201st episode.
Unfortunately, the promo doesn't give much away about the specific storylines, but it certainly sets a foreboding tone. Take a look:
I think it's a safe bet that the entire episode won't play into Halloween-worthy scares, however, and that's due to some early looks at how Ripley is getting into the spooky spirit.
Ripley Is Tigger The Tiger
For Halloween 2024, Ripley dressed up as Just Ken to match with then-girlfriend Hannah as Barbie. For Halloween 2025, he's once again matching his love interest, and I'm guessing he had about as much input this time around as he did when he went full Barbie for Hannah. Take a look:
The bare bones of the story behind the costume are pretty easy to imagine. He seems to be out trick-or-treating with Sadie and Emelia, dressed as the Tigger to Sadie's Piglet and Emelia's Winnie the Pooh. It's a big leap from how Sadie needed to be talked into reintroducing him to her daughter in the Season 11 premiere, but Ripley dropped the news on Dr. Frost in the latest episode that he's been spending most nights at Sadie's.
But it's fun to picture how the conversation might have gone when Sadie and Emelia recruited him into their Winnie the Pooh crew. He seems to be doing quite well now that he's come to terms with Hannah and Archer expecting a baby together. I'm not sure we'll get any commentary on how it came about that Ripley is dressed as Tigger, but if this is the start of an annual tradition of Ripley being dressed up in a costume that he probably didn't pick, consider me on board!
See what goes down with Ripley as Tigger and whatever brings the horror to the hospital with the "What’s Hiding in the Dark" episode, airing on Wednesday, October 29 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. You can also revisit earlier episodes of Chicago Med streaming on Peacock now.
