Chicago Med’s Sarah Ramos loves fans’ passion.
However, she has a different take on her character, Caitlin Lenox, than some of the audience, and she hopes eventually they’ll side with her even though right now, Lenox is not a character that most fans want to hang out with.
TV Fanatic had a chance to catch up with Ramos to discuss all things Caitlin Lenox and get her unique perspective on her character as a smart young doctor who is doing a difficult job to the best of her ability.
Chicago Med’s Sarah Ramos Sees Lenox As Disrupting The Status Quo
From the moment Lenox entered Chicago Med, she’s shaken things up. She fired Zach, an affable but seemingly incompetent resident, shadowed the doctors, and butted heads with Archer at every opportunity.
The new hospital director who aggravates everyone by trying to change the way the hospital is run can be a tired TV trope, but Chicago Med’s Sarah Ramos has a different perspective on her character.
“She’s been tasked with this really hard thing of making sure the ED is run as efficiently as possible, saving as much money as possible while also saving as many lives as possible, while also dealing with these social dynamics behind the scenes,” Ramos explained, “and these emotional doctors that get upset every time you ask them a question.”
This is a different perspective than many fans have, as a large portion of the audience seems to side with Archer and other doctors who find Lenox annoying.
However, Ramos’ point makes sense. While the other doctors at Gaffney seem to take her questions and ideas personally (especially a certain Dr. Archer!), she’s doing what she’s been hired to do.
Ramos Sees Archer’s Treatment of Her As Disrespectful
Chicago Med’s Sarah Ramos emphasized that the conflict between Archer and Ramos is strong because both sides have strong feelings about the issues they disagree about.
However, Archer’s behavior toward her is usually disrespectful. Ramos pointed out that Lenox is doing well, considering the way she’s being treated by the person she’s supposed to co-run the ED with.
We’re only three episodes in, and there are lots of examples of what Ramos was talking about here.
I don’t like the way Archer treats her either, and his decision on Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 2 to assign her all trauma cases while he took medical was ridiculous.
It seemed like a serious version of the gag from the classic TV sitcom I Love Lucy, in which Lucy divided the living room in half to try to contain Ricky’s mess.
That’s far from the worst thing that Archer has done. He tends to bristle at the idea of having to do anything other people’s way, which has been an issue with him since he was introduced during Season 6.
Although Ramos pointed out that “if Lenox acted the way Archer acts, she’d be straight up fired,” she also sees this as Archer’s character flaw.
She would love for Archer to get over it so that he and Lenox could work together more effectively.
Chicago Med’s Sarah Ramos Sees Lenox And Archer As Two People Doing The Best They Can
Although Archer and Lenox are adversaries, Ramos doesn’t see either of them as anything other than human, with flaws that get in the way of them being their best selves.
From her perspective, the reason Lenox ruffles Archer’s feathers so much is that she’s committed to getting things out in the open.
However, the types of hard conversations she wants to have are difficult for Archer, as they would be for anyone who isn’t ready to deal with uncomfortable subjects.
However, she doesn’t see Archer as the villain or that Lenox is always right.
She explains that while Lenox is good at her job and cares more about that than being liked, she’s working on herself and trying to change things she doesn’t like about herself, which is not necessarily easy.
“She does receive the feedback that she gets from people that she made them feel a certain way,” Ramos explained, “and I relate to that thing where you’re like, I’m trying to change that about myself, but I keep doing it anyway.”
This will also tie into Lenox’s backstory, which we haven’t learned a lot about yet. Chicago Med’s Sarah Ramos promised a “juicy backstory” for Lenox.
I’m curious to know what it is, what plot twists it may drive, and whether it will make Lenox more relatable for more people.
One Upcoming Story Will Demonstrate Lenox’s Perspective Versus The Doctors’
Ramos shared that Lenox will soon be instituting case studies in which doctors examine what went right and what could have been improved when considering a particular case’s outcome.
This is something that happens in real hospitals that will be fun to experience on Med, though Ramos pointed out that the doctors Lenox works with won’t be able to hear the feedback they get at this type of meeting very easily.
“All they seem to hear is ‘what did you do wrong?’,” she explained, “when I really said, ‘What did you do right?’ and ‘What did you do wrong?”
Chicago Med’s Sarah Ramos’ Real-Life Job Transition Went Far More Smoothly
When chatting briefly about her experience joining Med after it had been established for a decade, Ramos shared that everything went smoothly backstage.
She added that both she and new showrunner Allen MacDonald arrived at the same time and received the same warm welcome.
Her hope is that, eventually, fans will come to see Lenox the way she does and direct their passion for the show toward the character rather than finding her annoying or abrasive.
Chicago Med’s Sarah Ramos is a passionate fan of all three One Chicago shows herself, so she gets it.
However, she hopes that fans will avoid making snap judgments about whether they like Lenox, who she sees as someone who “is doing the best she can, including with her people skills… [and] sometimes comes up short, but she is always trying.”
Over to you, Chicago Med fanatics.
How do you feel about Caitlin Lenox? What do you think about Chicago Med’s Sarah Ramos’ take on her character?
Hit the comments and let us know.
Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8/7c and on Peacock on Thursdays.
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