Chicago P.D. is coming back to NBC later this year on the 2026 TV schedule along with the other One Chicago shows, meaning there will be a lot to look forward to... even with a major cast member exiting. Following the One Chicago crossover earlier this year, it’s possible we’ll be able to look forward to more crossovers next season, whether big or small. But I actually just found out a connection that Chicago P.D. has with another NBC series, Hill Street Blues.

Of course, Chicago P.D. is connected to the One Chicago Universe, also consisting of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and the short-lived Chicago Justice. It is also connected to fellow Dick Wolf NBC franchise Law & Order through some crossovers with SVU. But that’s not all. TVLine pointed out that there’s yet another connection to a much older NBC series that many people may not have noticed.

P.D.’s 21^st District is the same building used for the precinct in Hill Street Blues, which ran for seven seasons from 1981 to 1987 on the Peacock network. In reality, the building used in both shows is the Maxwell Street Police Station on Chicago’s Near West Side that was built in 1888. While interior scenes were mostly shot on soundstages in LA for Hill Street Blues and Chicago for Chicago P.D., the building is a staple on the cop shows for external shots.

This is far from the first time that shows have used the same sets or buildings, and it definitely won’t be the last. I just love that this one building connects shows set and filmed decades apart, especially since Hill Street Blues never actually names what city it’s set in. I have also been to the Maxwell Street Police Station to see where the 21^st District is, and now knowing that I saw the building used in not just one but two iconic NBC procedurals is pretty awesome.

Coincidentally, the same police station is not all that Hill Street Blues and Chicago P.D. have in common. Dick Wolf got his start writing for Hill Street Blues, writing for eight episodes and earning an Emmy nomination in 1986. Who knew that a show that ended in 1987 and one that premiered in 2014 had so much in common?

While Hill Street Blues isn’t streaming anywhere, at least for now, fans can watch Chicago P.D. with a Peacock subscription and at least imagine the 21^st District standing in as a different police station in the ‘80s. The series is coming back for Season 14 on Wednesday, October 7, at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day on Peacock. Chicago Med and Chicago Fire will also be back for new seasons on October 7.

Chicago P.D. has been renewed for Season 14, which will air this fall on the 2026 TV schedule. But it will look a tad different when it returns. The NBC procedural has seen some changes over the years when it comes to the cast, most recently during Season 13 when Toya Turner departed and Arienne Mandi joined. Original cast member LaRoyce Hawkins is the latest to exit, and he’s looking back at his big Chicago P.D. break before officially saying goodbye.

Hawkins has been on P.D. as Officer Kevin Atwater since the very beginning and has appeared on the other One Chicago shows through crossovers. He’s been a fan favorite for a while, with people hoping he’d be able to add Detective to his resume. Unfortunately, those dreams were dashed when it was recently reported that Hawkins will be leaving at the start of Season 14. According to Variety, details surrounding his exit are being kept under wraps, but sources say it will be at the beginning of the upcoming season.

Chicago P.D. has seen a handful of tough exits over the years, so it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to Hawkins and Kevin. At the very least, fans have 13 seasons with Kevin, and even though it still might not be enough, it’s more than anyone could have imagined. Before Hawkins bids adieu to Chicago P.D., he appeared on the official One Chicago Podcast, hosted by longtime P.D. producer Brian Luce, and recalled landing the role that changed everything:

Even if you feel an audition is going well, you still never know how it will turn out... especially if hundreds of people are trying out for the same role. Of course, someone else playing Kevin Atwater is hard to imagine, and it sounds like Hawkins had the same thought. The way he knew that something big was going to happen right before getting the call is pretty incredible, and it came at a time where he was doing anything and everything to keep busy and people entertained:

While Hawkins made his acting debut in 2008, his big break came with Chicago P.D. in 2014. He has since appeared in other projects over the years while still doing P.D., such as South Side and Ironheart, but he’s stuck with the procedural all this time. As a fan of Chicago P.D., I cannot imagine how things are going to be without him, but I’m curious to see how they wrap up Kevin’s story.

Since Chicago P.D. still seems to mean a lot to Hawkins, it’s possible that he’ll return at some point in the future, in whatever capacity that is. Fans got to see Upstead once again when Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos returned for the One Chicago crossover earlier this year, so who knows what’s in store for Kevin Atwater. We’ll just have to wait for Chicago P.D. to return for Season 14, which premieres on Wednesday, October 7 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day with a Peacock subscription.

For years now, I’ve been covering Fire Country. I’ve been with it since it was one hit fire show led by a former SEAL Team star, and I’ve watched it turn into a dominant franchise that’s part of CBS’s 2025-2026 lineup. Now, as Season 4 of the Max Thieriot-led series and Season 1 of its spinoff, Sheriff Country, prepare for their finales on the 2026 TV schedule, there’s speculation that the franchise could expand again. And with that news, I’ve realized that the Eye Network is seemingly trying to turn these shows into its own version of One Chicago.

Of course, there are plenty of franchises on network TV right now. In fact, much like NBC dedicates a full night to Chicago Med, Fire and P.D., a full night of CBS’s schedule is given to NCIS, NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney. However, that’s different from One Chicago, seeing as those shows don’t follow the fire department, police department and hospital of a given city. But CBS could have a night of programming like that if it decides to One Chicago-ify Fire Country.

It seems like that’s up for consideration, too. In April, it was reported that CBS is looking into expanding the Fire Country world with a medical spinoff. Apparently, this third series is in very early stages of development, per Deadline. The report stated that the show, which is nicknamed Med Country for now, has not been pitched to CBS or CBS Studios.

If this is happening, it’s assumed that the lead of a medical spinoff would be introduced in Sheriff Country first. This would make sense considering the fact that Morena Baccarin’s Sheriff Mickey was introduced during Season 2, Episode 6 of Fire Country, which aired about a year and a half before her show, Sheriff Country, premiered in late 2025.

All this makes sense to me, especially considering the success NBC has found with One Chicago. I mean, Chicago Fire premiered in 2012, P.D. came in 2014, and Med followed in 2015, and they’ve all been renewed for the '26-’27 season. People love this night of TV, and they clearly love the Country universe in the same way, so an expansion with a medical drama feels natural.

However, I do see one hurdle The Eye Network will have to jump. Right now, Sheriff Country and Fire Country make up two of the three hours of CBS’s Friday night. The third hour is Boston Blue's, which is a spinoff of Blue Bloods. That series was renewed for Season 2 very early in its run, and it shows no signs of slowing down, especially when you see its early Season 1 numbers and consider that its predecessor ran for 14 seasons. But I’m sure the schedule could be shifted around somehow.

Then, Fire Country, Sheriff Country and a medical drama (Med Country, Hospital Country, ER Country…we can workshop the name) could own Fridays on CBS, just like One Chicago owns Wednesdays on NBC.

For now, though, it will continue with its two shows, as Sheriff Country and Fire Country finish out their seasons on CBS by airing on Fridays at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET and streaming for those with a Paramount+ subscription on Saturdays.

NBC’s usual One Chicago lineup may not have aired new episodes this Wednesday in the 2026 TV schedule, but that doesn’t mean the week is ending without any good news about the Windy City dramas. The network has renewed all three shows for the 2026-2027 TV season, as well as delivered a confirmation of when they’ll be back. It’s not too surprising after the three-part crossover event scored huge ratings, which reminds me of what the Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. showrunners shared about finding the “right storyline.”

First things first!

One Chicago Is Coming Back

The trio of dramas have been guaranteed for the 2026-2027 TV season by NBC, with all three returning to primetime in the fall as usual. They’ll likely keep the same order of Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday nights, although that’s not official just yet.

What is official is that the renewals guaranteed Med through Season 12, Fire through Season 15, and P.D. through Season 14. That’ll be enough to get Fire to the 300-episode milestone in the fall, while P.D. will reach 275. Med hit the 200-episode milestone early in Season 11 with the return of a former series regular.

According to NBC, One Chicago is currently the most dominant scripted franchise across television, which is certainly saying something after CBS countered One Chicago Wednesdays with NCIS Tuesdays. All in all, fans can at least rest easy about the doctors, first responders, and cops of the Windy City dramas coming back in the fall. It does remain to be seen if there will be more cast changes on the way.

The latest episode of Chicago Fire seemed like it could be setting up an exit for Brandon Larracuente’s Vasquez, and Oliver Platt’s Dr. Charles has been toying with retirement over on Med. The P.D. squad seems pretty solid, although there’s still no news about how LaRoyce Hawkins’ Atwater will geographically handle fatherhood.

A Hit Crossover Event With ‘The Right Storyline’

The latest One Chicago three-parter brought the three shows back from their Olympics hiatus in a massive way, and not just because fan favorites Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos returned as guests. The cast filmed during a polar vortex with an actual airplane, and the finished product genuinely felt more like a movie than three separate episodes tied together.

The result was that each show hit their season high in total viewers on the night, making the crossover a huge win when it comes to viewership. Social video views were also up by 75% for the 2026 crossover compared to the 2025 crossover. I personally attribute a good part of the social media activity to the returns of Soffer and Spiridakos as Halstead and Upton, but there was plenty packed into those three hours to get people chatting online.

Ahead of the crossover, the One Chicago showrunners spoke with CinemaBlend about what went into this year’s three-parter. Chicago P.D. boss Gwen Sigan shared that it “was pretty shocking when we found out” that they got an actual airplane to shoot on. Chicago Fire’s Andrea Newman described the experience as “death defying, literally,” with the cast and crew working in sub freezing temperatures to make it happen.

Chicago Med's Allen MacDonald also addressed how they raise the stakes for the events:

Part of finding the “right storyline” seems to come from shuffling the order of the shows, as the crossovers frequently swap Chicago Fire to air at 8 p.m. and Chicago Med to air at 9 p.m., with only Chicago P.D. hanging on to its usual time slot. The plots tend to get off to strong starts with the Firehouse 51 heroes on the scene of a crisis. MacDonald went on:

While the crossovers require a lot of work from everybody involved, and filming epic sequences outdoors in Chicago can be troublesome in the winter, clearly the work pays off. Hopefully the renewals mean that fans can look forward to another three-parter around the same time next year.

For now, you can still get fixes of One Chicago on NBC’s Wednesday nights with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also revisit earlier episodes streaming with a Peacock subscription.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 14 of Chicago P.D. Season 13 in the 2026 TV schedule, called “Meant to Be” and available streaming with a Peacock subscription.

One Chicago was back to tackling separate cases in the wake of the massive three-part crossover event, but fans of Chicago P.D. still had something big to celebrate even though the reunion with Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos was brief. Patrick John Flueger returned from his leave of absence in "Meant to Be" with Ruzek’s first on-screen appearance since a key Atwater episode in 2025. This meant Burzek finally appearing on screen together, and their story was solid enough to make it a little less sad that he missed the reunion.

That’s not to say I won’t be at least a little bit bummed for the foreseeable future that Ruzek wasn’t on hand to reunite with Halstead and Upton. The two former P.D. stars technically got more screentime in the crossover than most of the current P.D. stars, but each of the long-timers got at least a couple of moments with the returnees. In fact, Halstead acknowledging Burgess’ promotion by pointedly calling her “Detective” was one of my favorite small moments from the entire death-defying crossover.

Of the three One Chicago shows, P.D. has held onto the same core group for the longest without expanding to as large an ensemble as Chicago Fire and Chicago Med, so it would have been nice to get Ruzek along with Burgess, Atwater, Voight, and even Torres for the Upstead reunion. (Torres is a newer addition to the show compared to the others other than Imani.)

Still, it was great to get Ruzek back just one week after the crossover, and I really loved that P.D. didn’t acknowledge his absence other than establishing that he’s been busy off-screen with his dad. The good ship Burzek has been sailing just fine even while Burgess was the only one working cases with the Intelligence Unit. With as much as these two characters have been through together and separately, it was a relief that his absence and return weren’t treated as huge, dramatic events.

The story could focus on their little family unit instead of anybody making amends, which was particularly welcome after part of the crossover had to dedicate time to redeeming Halstead for his actions after Jesse Lee Soffer stepped away. Sure, the payoff was great with the ending Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos wanted, but Upstead's downfall on P.D. was pretty painful at the time. Burzek avoiding anything along those lines was what they deserved.

Ruzek’s unceremonious return was perfect for Burzek, as far as I’m concerned, because I was far more interested in getting glimpses of their home life and the hurdles they’re encountering as Makayla’s parents than I would have been in any relationship drama. Besides, the promo for the next case indicates that we’re going to get a lot more action out of Ruzek in his second episode back. Take a look:

Welcome back, Patrick John Flueger! Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, March 18 at 10 p.m. ET for the next new episode of Chicago P.D., following Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET. You can also revisit any and all earlier episodes streaming on Peacock.

Warning: major spoilers are ahead for NBC's latest One Chicago crossover in the 2026 TV schedule, called "Reckoning" and available streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

One Chicago always raises the stakes for crossover events, which has meant uniting the heroes of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med for a possible city-wide infection, an explosion so big that it freaked out the locals in real life, and – as of 2026 – a passenger jet bringing a deadly chemical to the Windy City and the clock ticking until many more people would die.

That said, the twist that might keep fans talking this year was the return of Upton and Halstead years after they exited Chicago P.D., and P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan opened up about why the pitch to actors Tracy Spiridakos and Jesse Lee Soffer was "easy." But first things first!

How The Crossover Ended Upstead's Story

While some fans were likely holding out for a romantic reunion for the pair, Halstead had a lot of explaining to do about what he did (or didn't do) by abandoning Upton for her last two seasons of Chicago P.D. Jesse Lee Soffer left in early Season 10 with a decision so divisive that I had to ask the showrunner if he needed to be redeemed in the crossover. Tracy Spiridakos stuck around through to the end of Season 11, and Upton suffered for a lot in those last two seasons after how Halstead left.

To his credit, Jay did try several times in the crossover to start a conversation with her that wasn't just about the case, with Hailey understandably refusing to engage for the majority of the death-defying three-parter. He finally got his chance at the very end, approaching her just as she was packing up to leave the precinct. After establishing that her flight wasn't until the next morning, he admitted that he only stayed on the crossover's case because she was there, and she acknowledged that she was only there because he was.

But time was running out, there was still one big thing he needed to do, and... he did it! In one fell swoop, Halstead apologized for how he left Chicago, how he'd lost himself in the job with the Intelligence Unit, and for losing her. It was a heartfelt enough apology that Upton said she was sorry as well, then asked when his flight was leaving. He smiled and said that he didn't care, and the Upstead saga ended on screen with the two heading out for a drink together

What Gwen Sigan Told Us About Pitching The Actors On It

Upton and Halstead didn't exactly ride off into the sunset, but their ending was true to the circumstances of their original exits. Upton was understandably reluctant to open herself up again after what she went through, and Halstead at least trying to make amends felt like a return to form for his character rather than a reboot. Besides, getting a drink together has always been the thing that works for the duo. Who knows what the future holds for them?

I for one was perfectly happy with that ending, and perusing social media in the day since the crossover aired tells me that plenty of people agree. But what about Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos, who hadn't returned since their respective exits in Season 10 and Season 11? When I spoke with the One Chicago showrunners about the crossover event, P.D.'s Gwen Sigan explained how the two actors were pitched on that ending for their characters:

Sigan had previously shared that one of the goals in bringing the two former stars back was to deliver some scenes that originally "would have felt really cathartic" but weren't possible due to the actors leaving in different seasons, and the "Reckoning" crossover was a way to feel "like they were completing some sort of story they had together."

So, was this really the end of Upton and/or Halstead's story in One Chicago? They were both alive and on good terms with all of their former fellow first responders, and the crossover didn't actually establish what Jay would be doing next after his cover was blown. Nothing has been confirmed at this point, but fans can always hope that they'll be back as guest stars every once in a while. Soffer's FBI: International ended last year, while Spiridakos' new show is set to premiere later in 2026.

For now, you can always keep on tuning into NBC's Windy City action on Wednesdays, starting at 8 p.m. ET with Chicago Med, continuing at 9 p.m. ET on Chicago Fire, and wrapping with Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also revisit the crossover streaming on Peacock, and I highly recommend watching it with limited commercial breaks to feel more like a One Chicago movie event.

The time has finally come for One Chicago fans who have been on the edges of their seats for the past month: Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med’s crossover has arrived in the 2026 TV schedule. A three-hour event one showrunner described as the “toughest” crossover yet (involving a literal airplane), it’s also bringing back two former P.D. fan favorites with Tracy Spiridakos reprising her role as Hailey Upton and Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead.

There’s a reason why this crisis will require the efforts of the heroes of three different shows across one night, and it’s not that Halstead needs three hours to be redeemed. So, whether you’re watching live on NBC with me tonight or streaming later with a Peacock subscription, follow along for a spoiler-filled live blog of the 2026 One Chicago crossover!

Note that entries will appear from Most Recent to Oldest as the episode is still airing live, and the order will flip from Oldest to Most Recent once the watchalong has concluded

What To Expect From One Chicago’s 2026 Crossover

The March 4 three-parter will be the first time Fire, P.D., and Med all came together for one extravaganza since the Avengers-esque special last year, and the order is once again being switched around for Fire to air at 8 p.m. ET instead of Med. Per NBC, this is the description for the episode that starts it all: "Firehouse 51 is called to an airfield when a passenger jet suddenly goes silent mid-air, triggering a high-stakes emergency. Their discovery cracks open a bigger and deadlier mystery — one with consequences that could put countless lives in jeopardy."

Now, NBC has managed to keep a pretty tight lid on spoilers for what goes down in the crossover other than that an airplane brings a problem to the Windy City, two former P.D. stars will be in the mix, and each episode is titled "Reckoning." So, it's not a shock that the logline for the Med episode doesn’t shed too much more light beyond what Fire's did: "The doctors at Gaffney are thrust into a race against time as they work to unravel a baffling medical mystery linked to the passenger jet, while lives hang in the balance."

The same is more or less true for the P.D. episode, although the description does indicate that Upton could have a major role as an FBI agent. Upstead fans are surely going to be hoping there’s also time for the two former spouses to come back together. It reads: "An airfield emergency triggers a deeper mystery involving a passenger plane, propelling the Intelligence Unit into a high‑stakes pursuit of the culprit, all under the sharp eye of the FBI."

With loglines that are relatively sparse on details, why am I talking about Chicago Med’s Dr. Archer panicking and Fire’s Stella Kidd teaming up with Kelly Severide as well as the Upstead update? Well, the latest promo for the crossover shows Archer more or less freaking out while wearing protective gear in the hospital, and the good ship Stellaride are having a chat about what needs to be done in the face of crisis. Take a look:

There’s also reason to worry about Lizzie Novak based on that promo, as the EMT seems to be hyperventilating in the back of an ambulance. For her sake, we can always hope that she’s struggling because she’s upset and not because anything is physically wrong with her, but we shouldn’t rule anything out when it comes to One Chicago crossovers.

Now, buckle up and get ready for a ride through the world of Dick Wolf’s Chicago!

Meet Special Agent Upton, FBI

The One Chicago crossover didn't waste any time in reintroducing Tracy Spiridakos as Hailey Upton for the first time since the character's exit in the Season 11 finale, and Upton clearly didn't lose a step when she traded her CPD shield for an FBI badge. It's fitting that she became a federal agent after she crossed over to FBI back in the day, but also a bit odd that she was the first major character to appear in the Chicago Fire leg of the crossover.

Locker Room Awkwardness At Firehouse 51

Over fourteen seasons of Chicago Fire, I wonder how many conversations about ill-advised (or well-advised) secret hookups have happened in that locker room. It's practically a 51 rite of passage.

Yes, That Is A Real Airplane

In case you thought the restrictions of a TV budget and a TV schedule (as well as a good old-fashioned Windy City polar vortex) meant NBC couldn't get an actual airplane for the One Chicago crossover, you would be wrong! According to Chicago P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan, the jet "was something we weren't sure we could pull off" but "everyone was able to" and it was "pretty shocking."

And yes, it was as cold as it looks. Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman confirmed that they were filming in a literal "polar vortex."

This Isn't Regular Old Chicago Fire Anymore

In case it wasn't clear from the crossover opening on a plane going silent and the FBI marching onto the scene, a jet full of nearly 200 casualties is certainly proof that One Chicago has gone well above and way beyond the usual Wednesday night fare. Just look at the expressions on the firefighters' faces after boarding that plane! Cruz has seen a lot over the past decade, but never something like this. Good luck sleeping at night to good old Joe!

From First Responder Drama To Horror Movie

I don't know how much Severide gets paid in the One Chicago world, but after this horror show of a search through the plane for survivors, I'm confident that he doesn't get paid enough. Talk about a nightmare scenario! I do have to give an A+ to all the set designers and props teams who made this jet interior so grisly, because it's as impressive as it is horrifying. I just hope Taylor Kinney isn't claustrophobic.

The Lone Survivor Is Pregnant

As if the stakes weren't high enough, the only survivor of whatever happened on that plane is a pregnant woman. If she's lucky, maybe she'll live long enough for OB extraordinaire Hannah Asher to save her life (and her baby's life) at Med. But since this is the first hour of a three-hour crossover... well, I don't blame Novak for looking so freaked out in the back of that ambulance with the possibility of a nerve agent.

Meet Hailey's Boss For This Case

I respect Agent Conway's attempt to throw his weight around and take control of the crime scene, but Upton spent the better part of a decade dealing with Hank "Tell Me The Truth So I Can Lie For You" Voight in the Intelligence Unit. She doesn't intimidate easily, even if she does have to technically follow Conway's orders.

Dr. Archer's Not-So-Soothing Words Of Wisdom

Dr. Archer may be a great ED doctor and a good enough man to step up for Hannah with her pregnancy, but I'm not going to vote for him to do any hospital-wide pep talks. Saying "Let's hope it's sarin!" about a nerve agent possibly spreading throughout the city didn't seem terribly reassuring to his colleagues.

Welcome Back, Jesse Lee Soffer

I spy the second Halstead brother to return to their old Windy City stomping grounds this season! Fans have had every reason to be excited to see him again, but Upton finding a photo of her ex-husband at the home of a possible mass murderer isn't exactly setting up a (re)meet-cute. That said, it's certainly an interesting note that she didn't hesitate to lie about recognizing him in that photo.

Upton Is Already An MVP

Since Halstead hasn't yet turned up in the flesh to potentially redeem himself, I have to say that Upton going to all this effort to help him after he left and then ghosted her is pretty incredible. I wouldn't have judged her in the slightest if she spent the whole crossover being at least a little bit petty about anything and everything Halstead-related after what she went through in P.D.'s tenth and eleventh seasons. I love Upstead when the two are at their best, but I'm Team Upton since Halstead has been at his worst.

Dean Archer: Overprotective Or Justified?

I'm usually on Team Hannah when it comes to Archer getting pushy about her pregnancy, but I think him being nervous about her going into a confined space and possibly exposing herself to a deadly toxin is fair. Let's just hope he continues to be reasonable as the crossover continues!

(I don't think he's going to continue being reasonable.)

Good News And Bad News

Is it really, really, REALLY terrible for all the civilians down in that morgue that their ranks were infiltrated by a criminal who then set the room on fire before leaving them behind to burn? It sure is. But they could hardly be luckier about who they were stuck in that room with.

Kelly Severide, CFD's Squad 3 lieutenant? A #1 guy to have by your side in a fire that's getting out of control. Dr. Lenox? A combat physician who can treat victims on the fly. FBI Agent Upton? She's chasing down that bad guy even if she does have to do it while wearing the lower half of a bulky HAZMAT suit.

If you're going to be in mortal danger, doing it by the sides of Severide and Lenox with Upton hunting down the perp is a lucky way to do it.

Holy Head Trauma, Batman!

Do I love that the culmination of Upton's chase led her to reunite with Halstead, and the first sign that Zombie Jay from his last few episodes has been replaced by Classic Jay, who was heroic and loved his wife? Sure. Do I think Upton belongs in a hospital after getting whacked in the head by a plank, and then smacked other the other side of her head by a wall? Yes! But nobody in One Chicago goes to the doctor when recommended, so my hopes aren't high to see her getting properly treated.

In all seriousness, though, I have to give an A+ to Tracy Spiridakos for her portrayal of Upton trying and failing to jump right back up and chasing down the bad guy. The actress nailed it, and Hailey stumbling from the head injury helps justify why there was no way Jay was leaving her side to catch the bad guy with two hours still left in the crossover.

Welcome Back, Jay Halstead

Admittedly, it's early to be 100% on board with this version of Jay vs. Season 10 Jay, but so far he's bringing the right combination of caring and professionalism that made him such a popular character in the first place. Plus, Upton's unimpressed reactions to him saying "It's nice to see you" and then promising to bring her to the hospital if she shows signs of concussion are enough to show that not all has been forgiven with the passage of time. If the crossover is holding him accountable for how he left, then I don't have to!

Cruz And Capp Are In Trouble

Whatever this chemical weapon is, it was already scary enough when it left 187 passengers dead on an airplane. Now that it's affecting Capp and Cruz? I'm officially unnerved. Cruz is a big enough character that I don't necessarily see One Chicago killing him off, but Capp seems like he could be a casualty if the crossover is going to kill off somebody fans care about.

The Nurses Are Crushing It

Chicago Med doesn't always take the time to showcase the nurses and everything they do for the ED, but I loved seeing Doris and the rest getting everything in order for the coming crisis. Throw in Archer basically throwing a tantrum about Hannah going into the ambulance, and they were the picture of professionalism. I love when it happens on The Pitt, and now I love that it happened on Chicago Med.

Stellaride Are Going Strong

While this crossover seems more like Upstead: The Movie than a showcase for other couples in the One Chicago world, it's great to see Stella and Severide leaning on each other. Plus, compared Archer freaking out over Hannah and the Upstead awkwardness at the moment, I love to watch Stellaride fully trusting each other and their abilities.

Some Things Never Change For Jay Halstead

Not only is this version of Halstead feeling more like the classic version of the character that fans loved, but he's also back chasing bad guys through the streets of Chicago. It really wouldn't have felt right if the One Chicago crew went to the effort of recruiting Jesse Lee Soffer to return without also planning on making him run.

Chicago Med Is Going Full Chicago P.D.

Even more than "Reckoning, Part 1" as the Chicago Fire hour of the crossover, this Chicago Med episode really feels like a combination of the three shows. Upton and Halstead using questionable methods to interview a suspect is old school P.D., while these hospital scenes are unquestionably Med. These are the two shows that I generally think don't mix as well with each other as they do with Fire, so the cohesion of the 2026 event really does feel cinematic.

It's Not All Action

As much as One Chicago crossovers are usually too action-packed to dedicate much time to every actor on every show, the cast members have been making the absolute most of their screentime. Miranda Rae Mayo was heartbreaking in Stella's reaction to the death of her Girls on Fire graduate opposite Oliver Platt, and I see why Med showrunner Allen MacDonald shared that he loved seeing Kidd interacting with Dr. Charles.

All's Not Quiet On The Dasher Front

As much as Hannah likely had hopes of a stress-free a pregnancy, I do appreciate it from a story perspective that Dean is being completely true to character in how he's expressing his fears by getting mad and getting loud. He's out of line and Hannah definitely doesn't deserve it, but she wasn't signing up for a fairy tale when she decided to have a baby with him, and Jessy Schram is eating up the material.

One Chicago, Circa 2001

The confirmation that the big bad is Thomas Marr, a survivor of the Heart of Chicago Fire from 25 years ago, pulled Voight, Pascal, and Goodwin into the story. A flashback showed how the then-young boy was so badly burned, with a young Voight rescuing him from the building, encountering a young Pascal outside with the CFD, with a young Sharon Goodwin on the scene to help treat the victims.

While I'm guessing opinions will be mixed on the crossover de-aging the actors, I particularly loved seeing Goodwin in action as a nurse. She's been an administrator going back to the very beginning of Med, but she was a nurse for a long time.

The Explosion One Chicago Has Been Hyping For Weeks

The One Chicago crossover previews have been hyping an explosion rocking a building in Chicago, but the actual event made fans wait more than two hours to see the context. Hailey and the other FBI agents were breaking into Thomas Marr's apartment when the explosion went off, and it looks serious enough that I won't even make the "Boom goes the dynamite!" joke I was planning on.

It'll obviously be awful if Upton adds more injuries to her head wounds, but I love Halstead getting the opportunity for a grand gesture to prove once again that he's not the same Jay from early Season 10.

Heidi Novak Is NOT Played By Jocelyn Hudon's Real-Life Sister

If you're anything like me, you took one look at Novak's sister in the protective suit and immediately wondered if the actress was actually the real-life sister of Chicago Fire's Jocelyn Hudon. As it turns out, they're not related at all. Brazilian-American model actor Tatiana Ringsby plays Heidi. While the crossover wasn't her Fire debut, I think it was the suit covering most of her hair that really made me realize how much she resembled Jocelyn Hudon. The more you know!

Ruzek Should Be Here

The crossover is jam-packed with enough characters that I honestly didn't clock that Ruzek still wasn't back in the Intelligence Unit at first, with Patrick John Flueger not yet returned from his leave of absence. It wasn't until I saw the rest of the unit, plus Upton and Halstead, all together that I wished he could have at least showed up for a moment or two.

Some Background For Anybody Who Hasn't Been Watching Chicago Fire:

Back before the three shows took a break for the Olympics, Fire reunited Chief Pascal with Chief Cranston, a former friend at the CFD. Their relationship had gotten frosty (to say the least) over a span of years after the death of a woman due to a call went wrong. Just when it seemed possible that they could become friends again, Cranston seemingly suffered a heart attack and died. As a result, first responders across Chicago are coming out to commemorate Cranston.

And now it's clear that he didn't die of natural causes after all, but due to Thomas Marr and a stolen chemical.

Chicago P.D. Tag Team

Voight could be a pretty terrible influence on both Upton and Halstead back in the day, but there's no denying they could be pretty efficient as a unit. Assuming we're about fifteen minutes away from losing Tracy Spiridakos and Jesse Lee Soffer again, seeing Voight distract the perp, followed by Upton tackling him, and then Halstead jumping on the vial of chemicals in time to save everybody was some great teamwork to close out their case together.

The Main Characters All Live!

I'll admit that I wasn't terribly worried about Novak or Cruz's odds of survival, and Hannah's health issues seemed due to Archer stressing her out more than anything tied to the chemicals. I was, on the other hand, very worried about Capp after the tragic loss of Stella protégé, so it's a relief that the doctors could put together an antidote in time to save everybody else. We'll see you back on Squad 3, Capp!

Voight Comes Clean

Voight isn't always forthcoming about cases that he was involved in earlier in his career, so it packs more of a punch in this crossover for him to open up about delaying the fire code inspection that could have saved so many lives, all to maybe crack a meth case circa 2001.

It should be interesting to see if it comes back to bite him that Upton and Imani had to give the journalist some dirty details about what he did, since he was past the point of caring about himself while so many lives were at stake. I'm always on board for Voight facing some consequences for his actions, and he doesn't seem to intend to avoid these ones.

Upton And Halstead Got The Ending They Deserved

Whether or not you were a fan of Upstead, I think all P.D. fans can probably agree that neither of them got a terribly triumphant exit or a happy ending the first time around. Showrunner Gwen Sigan shared that the goal in bringing back Upton and Halstead was because they originally "didn't get to leave together" or have "scenes on screen that I think would have felt really cathartic." The aim was for "completing some sort of story they had together."

The ending really worked, as far as I'm concerned. Halstead apologized for what he'd put Upton through, and Upton didn't immediately swoon into his arms. She really moved into the next stage of her life when she left the city, so it's true to that Season 11 exit that she's in a good enough place to open the door again without necessarily committing to anything beyond a drink. I'll happily take an open ending in the world of One Chicago, especially compared to Upstead's original endings.

And that's the end of One Chicago's 2026 crossover event! The shows will return to their normal time slots moving forward on Wednesdays, with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

The three shows of One Chicago have been on a break since before the Olympics, but NBC is bringing the franchise back in the 2026 TV schedule with a massive crossover. The heroes of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med are joining forces for a three-hour event on March 4 that involves an in-flight emergency, some sky-high stakes, and an update on what's up with Upstead, a.k.a. former P.D. fan favorites Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) and Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer).

Showrunners Andrea Newman (Fire), Gwen Sigan (P.D.), and Allen MacDonald (Med) spoke with CinemaBlend about the "toughest" crossover yet. After the Chicago P.D. EP addressed whether Halstead needs to be redeemed with his return after how he left, the trio hyped what's "literally" death-defying with the three-parter.

An Airplane Comes To One Chicago

In case you saw the previews for the 2026 crossover and thought that the One Chicago teams surely must have used special effects TV magic to make it look like there was an airplane, that's not the case at all. NBC's production used a real-life jet to make the magic happen, on top of recruiting two former fan favorites back into the action.

When I asked the showrunners how complicated it was to pull together factors like an airplane and Upstead coming back for one event, P.D.'s Gwen Sigan shared:

The airplane is how the Firehouse 51 crew enters the story after a passenger jet goes silent mid-air, and early looks at the crossover reveal that Upton – now FBI Special Agent Hailey Upton – will be in the mix with the firefighters. And apparently, the cast and crew experienced a full Windy City winter event while filming.

Filming In "Death-Defying" Conditions

After the Chicago P.D. boss addressed the complications of the airplane and the lucky timing of Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos being available, Chicago Fire's Andrea Newman joked that it was "no biggie" for the shows to film "in a polar vortex." When I noted that it seemed nerve-wracking to film a massive TV production outdoors in a Chicago winter, Newman explained:

If anybody knows anything about pulling off "death-defying" moves in primetime, it would be the Chicago Fire crew! It's good to hear that even if the weather conditions weren't ideal, the casts of the three shows enjoyed working together. The characters rarely all interact outside of city-threatening crises once per year, but it sounds like the actors are all-in on sharing scenes with their fellow One Chicago stars.

The "Toughest" Crossover So Far

This of course isn't the first time that the shows have come together, although there was a long break between the "Infection" three-parter of 2019 and the first post-COVID crossover last year that was described as Avengers-esque. Speaking with CinemaBlend, the showrunners agreed that having experience with combining the shows doesn't necessarily make it any easier to do again. Andrea Newman shared that the 2026 event "was the toughest," and Gwen Sigan responded:

Allen MacDonald, for whom this event is only his second big One Chicago crossover after he joined Chicago Med as new showrunner for Season 10, went on to specifically credit the various writers who brought the story together:

Andrea Newman added that the writers had been putting their heads together "for months and months," so suffice it to say that this TV event is the product of a lot of work both behind the scenes and in front of the camera, polar vortex and all. Fortunately, the wait is nearly over to see it.

The three-part One Chicago crossover begins on Wednesday, March 4 at 8 p.m. ET, with Chicago Fire switching slots with Chicago Med to kick things off. The medical drama will keep the action going at 9 p.m. ET, before Chicago P.D. wraps everything up starting at 10 p.m. ET, all on NBC. You'll also have the option of streaming all three episodes next day with a Peacock subscription.

The three shows of NBC's One Chicago world are finally returning in the 2026 TV schedule, and the crossover looks even bigger and more harrowing than all previous three-parters. Not only is there a literal airplane involved in the latest crisis for the first responders of the Windy City, but Chicago P.D. vets Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos will be back. Yet after how Halstead left in 2022, does the crossover need to redeem him? I asked showrunner/executive producer Gwen Sigan that very question, and she previewed the perks of having him back for a multi-part event.

The very earliest promotion of the crossover was hyping the returns of Halstead and Upton, so anticipation has been high going back to early February to see Soffer and Spiridakos again. While it remains to be seen what brings the ex-spouses together again after Upton joined the FBI and Halstead went radio silent on his wife, P.D. fans for better or worse likely remember how Jay tried to justify his decision to her in Season 10 and into Season 11.

When I spoke with the three One Chicago showrunners ahead of the crossover on March 4 (which will also be available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription), P.D.'s Gwen Sigan weighed in on whether the writers felt Halstead needed to be redeemed after how he exited the show (and his marriage):

Bringing Jesse Lee Soffer's Jay Halstead back for his first on-screen project since the end of FBI: International wasn't expressly for the purposes of redeeming his character for his actions the last time he was on P.D., with the exit becoming even more painful as Tracy Spiridakos remained in the cast and portrayed Upton's grief. The crossover will evidently give them what they deserved: "completing" their story on screen "together."

Fortunately, with how Upton seemed to recover by the time she left and what appears to be an action-packed three hours of television, the crossover should have the time to give them some solid scenes in addition to the Fire, Med, and other P.D. characters. Still, fans don't have to worry that Jesse Lee Soffer or Tracy Spiridakos will be back for just a quick cameo a la Elias Koteas as Olinsky back in Season 11. Gwen Sigan went on about handling Jay's return:

Viewers got to see Upton changing on screen in the aftermath of Halstead's exit, leading up to her decision to leave Chicago. Now, the crossover can show how Halstead has changed off-screen since early Season 10. Whether or not the exes will have a happy reunion is a bigger question, but at least the actors were all smiles back on set (despite Spiridakos sporting an in-character head wound):

Of course, the crossover isn't going to be three hours of Upstead: The Movie, and there's a reason why the heroes of all three shows are going to need to pitch in. Like what happened with the 2025 crossover, the episodes are airing in a different order than usual, with Chicago Fire kicking things off, followed by Chicago Med and then concluding with Chicago P.D.

All hands will need to be on deck starting with Fire, when Firehouse 51 is called to an airfield after a passenger jet goes silent while still in flight. That normally might be enough for a full hour of the founding One Chicago drama, but the jet is only the beginning with the doctors and nurses of Med as well as the cops of P.D. brought into the mix. Plus, FBI Special Agent Hailey Upton and the former Detective Halstead!

Check out a promo for the event:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, March 4 starting at 8 p.m. ET for the latest One Chicago crossover event, but be sure to check back with CinemaBlend first for more from P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan, Fire showrunner Andrea Newman, and Med showrunner Allen MacDonald all about the action that brings the three shows together.

The long wait for CIA to arrive in the 2026 TV schedule is nearly over, with the latest FBI spinoff out of the Wolf Entertainment world arriving on CBS on February 23. The odd couple dynamic between CIA Agent Colin Glass (Lucifer alum Tom Ellis) and FBI Agent Bill Goodman (Chicago Med's Nick Gehlfuss) has been evident since the first look at the series, but what about the Chicago P.D. vet who is coming to CIA as a completely new character? Natalee Linez opened up to CinemaBlend about why she was "ecstatic" about CIA.

Fans of Dick Wolf's expansive TV world were already getting a familiar face with Nick Gehlfuss as a star, with the former One Chicago doctor sharing why he's "on cloud nine" on CIA as a new character. Natalee Linez's casting was announced a bit later, coming over to CIA after three episodes of Chicago P.D. Season 12 as Val Soto.

While that wasn't exactly enough to make her a series regular, her character's relationship with Officer Atwater as well as her job in the Windy City could have set the stage for her to recur well beyond just one season. Instead, Linez is playing Analyst Gina Rojas on CIA, and she said this when asked what interested her about returning to the Dick Wolf world as a new character after P.D.:

It would stand to reason that any actor might be excited to join a Dick Wolf project, given that there are currently no fewer than five Wolf Entertainment shows in primetime that are in double digit seasons. But the spy element of CIA appealed to Natalee Linez when she got the audition.

While the actress may not be playing James Bond on CBS Monday nights, Analyst Gina Rojas aligns with what Linez was dreaming of playing in primetime more than the character she played on Chicago P.D. did. She went on:

A briefly recurring role on Chicago P.D. didn't mean that Linez was offered her CIA role without auditioning, as there was a process before she joined fellow One Chicago alums Jesse Lee Soffer and Nick Gehlfuss in jumping into the FBI end of the Wolf world.

When the audition process was finally done, she was all set to join Tom Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss on CIA... but her character has more in common with one half of the odd couple than the other. Natalee Linez previewed whether Gina aligns more with Ellis' Colin Glass or Gehlfuss' Bill Goodman:

Colin and Bill may be the lead duo of the series, but Linez also shouted out the character played by Necar Zadegan. CIA is Zadegan's return to CBS after starring in the last three seasons of NCIS: New Orleans, and she plays Deputy Chief of Station Nikki Reynard, who will evidently be somebody for Gina to look up to. But what about Bill, even though she's more closely aligned with Colin and Nikki? Linez teased what to expect from the early days of the show:

While there's still nearly a week left before the first episode, the full trailer for CIA not only sheds more light on the characters who will be at the center of the action, but reveals the appearance of an FBI series regular: Jeremy Sisto. Take a look:

It looks like Sisto's appearance as ASAC Jubal Valentine will be for the purpose of assigning Agent Goodman to the new joint FBI/CIA task force, but it remains to be seen just how much of the episode he'll appear in. The guest appearance on CIA does mean a double dose of Jubal on premiere night, as the very first episode of CIA debuts right after the winter premiere of FBI Season 8.

Tune in to CBS on Monday, February 23 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS for the series premiere of CIA after FBI at 9 p.m. ET, or stream next day with a Paramount+ subscription.

Despite the three shows of NBC's One Chicago airing their last episodes for a full month this week, fans of the Windy City franchise have a lot to celebrate while the Winter Olympics take over Wednesdays in the 2026 TV schedule. A promo for the upcoming crossover event was released to tease a whole lot more than just the usual elevated crisis that needs the heroes of all three shows.

Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos are returning as Halstead and Upton years after leaving Chicago P.D., and it means fans could finally see a grave mistake undone… if only P.D. follows the example set by Chicago Med earlier this season

Jesse Lee Soffer And Tracy Spiridakos Are Coming Back

After the crossover promo confirmed that Halstead and Upton will be part of the three-hour event, the Chicago P.D. cast was celebrating on social media. A cute video was posted to show Marina Squerciati and LaRoyce Hawkins interrogating their former co-stars about coming back, with Soffer reposting it via an Instagram Story. Check it out:

Meanwhile, Marina Squerciati used her own Instagram account to post a “date night” photo with Soffer and Spiridakos with “Upsteadgess's BACK!” as her caption. Spiridakos went on to post it on her own Story, with Etta James’ “At Last” playing over it.

If only Patrick John Flueger appeared in any of the posts, it would have felt like the full Intelligence Unit under Voight was back together! He may not have returned from his leave of absence at the time that the crossover was being filmed, so I’m not counting on seeing Ruzek back with Upton and Halstead.

Why Are The Characters Coming Back?

While we may have to wait for the three-parter in March for many details about the returns of Upstead, there are some early answers available. The former spouses will both be back, but they’re not returning as a team. Halstead, who left Chicago in early Season 10 in 2022 to abruptly rejoin the army, turns up after being deeply undercover on a drug case.

Meanwhile, Upton’s open-ending in Season 11 led her to become an FBI agent working out of the Detroit field office, and she returns to Chicago as part of a drug enforcement task force. This will lead her to cross paths with her ex-husband, and based on the promo, she won’t exactly be jumping for joy. Take a look:

Once I got over the jolt of shock not only that Upton and Halstead were both returning in the same episode but also that One Chicago kept it a secret for so long, I remembered why I can’t blame for Upton looking less than thrilled to see Halstead again, and it goes back to what I see as one of P.D.’s worst missteps of the past five or so years.

Chicago P.D.’s Grave Mistake With Upstead

What I see as a major mistake from Chicago P.D. actually happened back in October 2022, with the reveal of what would take Halstead from the Intelligence Unit after the news of Jesse Lee Soffer’s exit. There wasn’t much build to Halstead’s decision to depart, so his choice to rejoin the army and abandon his wife felt painfully abrupt.

At the time, I tried to focus on just being happy that P.D. didn’t kill him off to explain the actor’s absence, but his final scene with Upton still stings to this day. It involved grand but tearful declarations that they were the loves of each other’s lives, and an emotional kiss goodbye to go along with his promise he’d come back to her.

That would have added some sweetness to the bitter of his exit… if only it wasn’t confirmed that Jesse Lee Soffer was leaving the series, so fans knew that Halstead wasn’t going to be keeping any promises to come back.

Leaving their relationship that way was so desperately sad in early Season 10 that it pretty much guaranteed that Upton’s ending would be sad in late Season 11, when Tracy Spiridakos left Chicago P.D. All of Upton's fears and insecurities came back after Halstead left, and then he proceeded to ghost her and extend his service without telling her.

It was impossible – for me, at least – to not be mad at Halstead in absentia while watching what she was going through, and she was still running herself ragged even after signing the divorce papers. Throw in the fact that Upton’s closest relationship in Intelligence became with Voight of all people, and how Halstead’s exit was written just continued to cause negative ripples as the seasons passed. Even Burzek getting married didn’t soothe the sting of how Upstead ended.

But now, One Chicago could fix it.

How To Make Amends, Chicago Med-Style

In case it seems like Upton and Halstead presumably returning just for the crossover doesn’t seem like enough time for them to come back together, I’ll just point you to Chicago Med reuniting Nick Gehlfuss and Torrey DeVitto for one episode back in Manstead’s old stomping grounds as an example of a happy ending being set up and then delivered within the course of an hour.

The episode, which is available streaming with a Peacock subscription now, started with Owen circling the drain after being shot and ended with Will happily agreeing to adopt Owen as his own while Natalie was heavily pregnant with their baby. Their ending was still nearly as open as when he made his first surprise visit to Seattle, but a happy kind of open.

And Jay Halstead would do well to follow his brother’s example! Considering that there’s a whole crisis to drive the crossover and the series regular casts of three shows to balance, I’m not really expecting Upton and Halstead to have all that much screentime until the Chicago P.D. hour of the three-parter, so there’s not going to be much time for them to hash out all of their issues stemming from how he left her back in 2022.

But I don’t need everything to happen on screen, as long as the crossover makes me let go of my grudge against Halstead for what he did in abandoning Upton and gives Upstead some kind of happy ending. Surely there’s no reason not to give them a happy ending now that they’re not series regulars anymore, right?

An open ending on good terms is all I’m asking for, and it could be enough to finally add some sweet to the bitterness of how the good ship Upstead floundered and sank. And if Chicago Med could deliver what Manstead fans were waiting for in just one episode, why can't P.D. do the same for Upstead fans and the crossover?

Whether you’re an Upstead fan or not, there are still several weeks to wait before finding out what One Chicago has in store for them as guest stars. The crossover event with Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos back in the mix will air on NBC after the end of the 2026 Winter Olympics, on Wednesday, March 4 at 8 p.m. ET. In the meantime, you can always revisit earlier episodes of the franchise streaming on Peacock.

One Chicago fans were in for some bad news by the end of the night on February 4, with Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med going on a mini hiatus for the rest of the month in the 2026 TV schedule. Then, the promo for the upcoming three-part crossover aired after the newest episode of the medical drama, and officially confirmed two former P.D. fan favorites who are coming back. Prepare to welcome Jay Halstead and Hailey Upton back to NBC's Windy City!

Yes, Jesse Lee Soffer is returning as Halstead for the first time since early Season 10 and Tracy Spiridakos will be back for the first time since Upton's exit at the end of Season 11. Check out the promo that already has fans talking:

I won't lie: after recently going on about how I was missing Halstead and Upton on Chicago P.D., I initially thought the promo had just cut in footage from old episodes, but I'm happy to be wrong! Kudos to the One Chicago team for keeping a lid on the news for this long; just as when Tracy Spiridakos' crossover to FBI wasn't announced way ahead of time, fans can enjoy the surprise while facing a mini hiatus.

The crossover kicks off when Chicago Fire's Firehouse 51 is called to an airfield after a passenger jet goes silent mid-air, and their discovery has consequences that could extend beyond the runway and put a lot of people in mortal danger.

The two former cops will come into the mix in a different way. Halstead left the Windy City back in the fall of 2022, abruptly rejoining the army to work a drug mission... in Bolivia. He then ghosted his wife despite their heartfelt farewell, and the closest he came to returning in the years since was Jesse Lee Soffer directing a few episodes.

As for Upton, she went through the emotional wringer from early Season 10 to the very end of Season 11, with showrunner Gwen Sigan telling CinemaBlend at the time why her exit came without hard answers about the former detective's future.

Well, now we have some answers! TVLine reports that Upton will appear in the three-part crossover as an FBI Special Agent working out of the Detroit field office, brought back to Chicago as part of a drug enforcement task force case. This will put her back in contact with Halstead, as her ex-husband has been deep undercover on a job that leads him to her drug case.

While it's much too soon to say how much screentime the duo will get and whether they'll appear in all three episodes of the crossover, fans in the Instagram comment section are buzzing about seeing Halstead and Upton again. Take a look at just a handful, including Chicago Fire series regular Jocelyn Hudon:

• @jocelynhudon: "👏👏👏👏👏👏👏"
• @eloquenceoffelicities: "Halstead and Upton return! I am seated!"
• @mr.tran_khuong: "Halstead and Upton are back and it feels so good"
• @kellbell315: "THE WAY I SCREAMED!!! IS IT MARCH 4TH YET?!"
• @ceverett1214: "Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh I spotted a Halstead brother!!!!!!!❤️"

Jesse Lee Soffer's return officially makes the second return of a Halstead brother in the 2025-2026 TV schedule, after Nick Gehlfuss reprised his role as Dr. Will Halstead early in Chicago Med's eleventh season. (You can see his arc streaming now with a Peacock subscription.) This is also his return to the small screen as an actor for the first time since the cancellation of FBI: International on CBS. As for Tracy Spiridakos, she evidently made the time for her guest appearance despite filming for her new USA series.

The crossover between Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. will hit the airwaves on Wednesday, March 4 starting at 8 p.m. ET with Fire at a special time. If all goes well, the event will be a particular treat for Upstead fans who are still bitter about how their relationship ended. In the meantime, you can revisit earlier episodes of all three shows streaming on Peacock.

One Chicago Wednesdays have been a staple of NBC's lineup for years up to their return in the 2026 TV schedule, but Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. are heading into a mini hiatus in February. Like the case with Happy's Place's break and Law & Order: SVU disappearing from primetime, One Chicago being bumped starting next week isn't a sign that the franchise is in trouble. Read on for why the three Windy City dramas will be missing from the next several Wednesdays, and the big way that they'll return.

What's Happening With One Chicago In February

The new episodes of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. on February 4 will be the last for the entire month of February on NBC (and streaming next day with a Peacock subscription). They'll also be the last new episodes of any main NBC drama for the majority of February for one key reason: the 2026 Winter Olympics.

As usual for the Winter Olympics, coverage of the events is broadcast by NBC, which generally means that most of the network's biggest shows are off the air in February. The Opening Ceremony will occupy primetime on Friday, February 6 from Milan, but NBC's Olympic takeover starts on Thursday, February 5 in Law & Order's usual time slot.

The Closing Ceremony is on Sunday, February 22, but NBC isn't bringing One Chicago back for that first post-Olympics Wednesday. The network is bringing them back for a major event, however, that could be worth the wait.

When And How One Chicago Will Return

You can expect Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. back on NBC with new episodes on Wednesday, March 4, but not all at their usual times. Med and Fire will be switching time slots, with Chicago Fire at 8 p.m. ET, Chicago Med at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. This won't be a permanent change, and it's happening for an exciting reason.

The next mega three-part One Chicago crossover is coming to NBC on March 4, with a plane crash crisis on Fire to start the night followed by Med with any subsequent medical emergencies and then wrapped by P.D. to close the case on the cause. It remains to be seen if it will outdo the Avengers-esque 2025 event with a gas explosion in the Windy City, but it presumably will be pretty different from the "Infection" three-parter in 2019.

For now, tune in to NBC on Wednesday, February 4 for the last new episodes before the month-long break, with Med at 8 p.m. ET and Fire at 9 p.m. ET, followed by P.D. at 10 p.m. ET as usual. The time slot switcheroo won't happen until the crossover on March 4, and the shows will then return to their normal slots as March continues. If you're in the mood for some One Chicago action before that March 4 return, you can revisit some earlier episodes streaming on Peacock.

Spoilers are ahead for Episode 11 of Chicago P.D. Season 13 in the 2026 TV schedule, called “On The Way” and available streaming with a Peacock subscription.

Big news came for Kevin Atwater at the end of the latest Chicago P.D. episode, and it came from an unlikely source: Tasha Fox, last seen charming the Intelligence Officer back in October. Atwater had Tasha on his mind (and her name open in his phone) throughout the episode before finally reaching out, and she made the journey from Miami. The reunion wasn’t quite the love connection he was picturing, though, as she dropped a bombshell on him: she was pregnant after their night together.

There was just enough time for him to start smiling before the credits rolled on “On The Way,” leaving the impression that the twist was a long time coming for Atwater, but presents an uncertain future for actor LaRoyce Hawkins.

Why The Pregnancy News Was A Long Timing Coming

I was admittedly as surprised as any Chicago P.D. fan to see Atwater pining over a woman who hasn’t been on the show (or in the Windy City) since last fall, but I was enjoying that it led to some banter with Burgess and a few touches on his personal life. We don’t often get a glimpse into his personal life, and he's the only longtime officer working under Voight who hasn't gotten a main romance plot at any point. Even seeing a shot of a photo of Jordan and Vanessa felt like a treat.

And then, Tasha Fox comes back with big news! She told him:

Kevin Atwater, longtime family man, gets to expand his family! Atwater just getting a major plotline that takes us into his personal life has been a very long time coming, and the pregnancy gives me hope that Chicago P.D. will revisit the development regularly rather than just in Atwater-centric episodes.

I love Burzek, am intrigued by Torres’ tendency to drown himself in guilt, and getting used to having Imani around, but I’m always up for more Atwater, and this could do the trick. While he may not get a cool new sports car if he needs room for a car seat, that’s a small price to pay for what could be a very big storyline.

Why I’m Nervous For LaRoyce Hawkins

Look, I’ve been waiting years in the hopes that Atwater will make detective. Him becoming a dad is a great alternate storyline to give him some spotlight, since Chicago P.D. isn’t likely to repeat the detective storyline so soon after Burgess went through it. I love when the show gives Atwater a big twist. But I can’t help but feel a bit nervous when that big twist could require him to spend a lot of time in Miami.

The episode ended without confirming if Tasha would be returning to Chicago, the duo will take a long-distance approach, or Atwater will travel down to Florida now that she’s pregnant with his child. I’m hoping that the storyline will be used to either bring her back to the Windy City or explain away why Atwater might be gone for a few episodes. The worst case scenario would be for this storyline to be included for the purpose of writing LaRoyce Hawkins out as a regular.

I certainly hope that’s not the case, especially since the Intelligence Unit has already been down an officer recently due to Patrick John Flueger’s leave of absence. I don't truly think we're going to lose him, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that fans should just lean into the excitement of Atwater getting a meaty storyline rather than have to worry about an exit for the character after thirteen years.

There is definitely some excitement to count on in the not-too-distant future regardless of Atwater’s pregnancy storyline. A mega crossover between Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, and Chicago Med is on the way in March, as the first One Chicago episodes after a break. For now, plan on tuning in to NBC on Wednesday, February 4 at 10 p.m. ET for the final episode of P.D. before the mini hiatus for the Olympics.

Chicago P.D. had a pair of ongoing arcs through the first half of Season 13, with the ongoing pursuit of Raymond Bell leading to the fall finale cliffhanger (and a ticking clock in the winter premiere) and Voight chasing down leads about his blackmailer. The sergeant finally discovered that none other than Internal Affairs District Commander Devlin was behind the blackmail, but it didn't come out of nowhere after Voight's actions early in the season.

It remains to be seen if Devlin is going to strike back again in the 2026 TV schedule or if we should start waiting for the next internal threat for the Intelligence Unit from within the CPD. Whatever the case may be, I still love that Voight made Devlin a problem for himself who was – to quote showrunner Gwen Sigan – ”such a different threat.” What goes around does sometimes come around, even for Hank Voight.

District Commander Devlin Was The Blackmailer

Devlin was introduced in the Season 13 premiere, refusing Voight’s requests to reinstate the Intelligence Unit when he tried to go through proper channels. When that didn’t work, Voight did what he does best and switched to a shadier approach: use leverage against Devlin to get his way. At the time, it seemed like Devlin might be a one-off character just used as a temporary roadblock to the unit getting back together, but that certainly wasn’t the case. He instead began blackmailing Voight from the shadows, confounding the sergeant for weeks.

As much as the Intelligence Unit is made up of main characters who fans have been watching and rooting for over many years, I like when Voight faces his comeuppance from time to time. The storyline with him, Upton, and eventually Halstead after Voight disposed of a body is still one of my favorites of the Upstead era before Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos left the series, and that was a problem of his own making. Devlin would have had no reason to go after Voight if he hadn’t started it.

What The Showrunner Shared About Devlin Vs. Voight

Hank “Tell Me The Truth So I Can Lie For You” Voight taking the first shot doesn’t make it right for Devlin to abuse his authority right back, of course, and I loved what the showrunner told CinemaBlend ahead of the winter premiere about Devlin using blackmail against Voight compared to Deputy Chief Reid’s more direct methods. Gwen Sigan shared:

Voight was private about the fact that he was being blackmailed at all, not even giving Platt any more information than the bare minimum he could get away with. Admittedly, the rest of the unit had problems of their own to deal with. Torres was once again drowning himself in guilt, Imani was adjusting to working with a team, Burzek faced hurdles as parents before Patrick John Flueger’s leave of absence, and Atwater pondered a future beyond the Windy City. The showrunner continued:

As fans would learn in the winter premiere, Devlin took those actions in retaliation for what Voight did to him in the first episode of Season 13. He obviously was no saint of an officer in his career if there was dirt for Voight to find on him, but the Intelligence sergeant made an enemy immediately in the new season.

It’s practically tradition at this point for the unit to face an antagonist either within CPD or within the bureaucracy of Chicago, and I wasn’t sure the NBC cop drama would be able to top Shawn Hatosy as Deputy Chief Reid. The character of course died a bloody death in the Season 12 finale, requiring a new shady figure for Voight and Co. to face off against.

Devlin definitely isn’t Voight 2.0, and the fallout of his interference hasn’t been quite as scary as Chief O’Neal being survived by his son, played chillingly by Jefferson White. Devlin may even no longer be a threat after the winter premiere, in which Voight confronted him, clarified that the “dirt” he thought he had on his dad was actually nothing, and made a pretty clear threat against him.

If that was indeed the end of Devlin as a threat, it opens the door for what comes next.

Who Is The Next Villain?

Technically, we can’t rule out a return from Devlin. Voight’s threat at the end of the winter premiere seemed to do the trick in getting the superior officer to back off from blackmailing, but who’s to say that will stick? There’s an element of mutually assured destruction with both men having leverage on the other, and time will tell if that will be enough to keep Devlin out of Intelligence’s operations.

Chicago P.D. closed two chapters early in the new year with Voight confronting Devlin and the unit putting an end to Raymond Bell’s murder spree. Even the Morgan case has been wrapped up, thanks to Torres and Imani joining forces. The show is largely procedural, but usually has a big bad within the CPD and/or a twisted criminal to chase. We haven’t seen one arise just yet in 2026, and I’m curious if that will happen before the upcoming One Chicago crossover… if at all.

Admittedly, the latest episode with Ruzek’s continued absence had me missing long-gone characters like Halstead and Upton more than keeping my eyes peeled for a new big bad or two. There’s still time before the break in February for the Winter Olympics, however, and the next episode is set up as a big one for Atwater. Take a look at the promo:

The bad news? Ruzek still appears to be MIA, so the wait continues for Patrick John Flueger’s return. The good news? Atwater is getting the spotlight! The logline from NBC for the episode, called “On The Way,” reveals that he “pushes his personal life aside as he goes undercover in the flashy high-stakes world of carjacking.” While that’s unfortunate news for Atwater, it does bode well for fans getting a window into his personal life.

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, January 28 for the “On The Way” episode of Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. It’s the second-to-last episode before One Chicago goes on a break for the bulk of February for Olympics coverage to take over NBC, so be sure to keep tuning in and/or streaming via a Peacock subscription.

Tracy Spiridakos is on her way back to the small screen in the 2026 TV schedule, but not to return to One Chicago as Detective Hailey Upton. The former Chicago P.D. star is moving over to USA Network to star as the titular character in Anna Pigeon. She'll be playing a law enforcement officer again, but she's a park ranger in rural Washington this time around. While Anna will have some demons in her past, Spiridakos' description of a more "light-hearted" show make me think this could be what Upton deserved to end her story on P.D.

Upton had a rough last couple of seasons on Chicago P.D. (all of which are available streaming with a Peacock subscription now). After having to process the abrupt departure of her husband (played by Jesse Lee Soffer), she latched on to her shifty sergeant as her new confidant. While Upton got to leave her unit on her own terms in the Season 12 finale, fans never really got to see her truly happy again from Season 10 onward.

Anna Pigeon, on the other hand, features a much more light-hearted character for Tracy Spiridakos to play, as she told Deadline:

As if that's not enough of what Upton deserved after leaving all of her heartache behind in the Windy City, the Anna Pigeon teaser even includes Spiridakos saying "Out here you can leave your past behind" and "I like new places." Upton seemed open to continuing law enforcement after CPD; why can't we imagine that she found peace in the middle of the Washington state wilderness?

That's not to say that Anna is without her demons, with Spiridakos describing her new character dealing with "loss and trying to find her footing again in who she is" and find her "identity again after such a big loss." She went on to describe the format of Anna Pigeon, which seems to balance the crime-solving with some "levity." She said:

Honestly, this sounds like a fun follow-up to Chicago P.D. for Spiridakos, even if Anna's life in Washington isn't what Upton got after her depressing final seasons of One Chicago. Anna Pigeon even led her to a new love of horses. I do get a kick out of the actress' reveal that "Anna’s on and off again" relationship is with a character named Jesse, after she spent much of her screen time opposite Jesse Lee Soffer as Detective Halstead in One Chicago. Check out the teaser for the upcoming series:

The USA series is based on a book series by Nevada Barr, so it remains to be seen how accurate the show is to the source material vs. going its own direction. Tracy Spiridakos shared that she could "absolutely see myself playing her for a long time," so perhaps Anna Pigeon will be similar to Will Trent in taking the spirit of the original while delving into new kinds of cases for the show.

USA Network hasn't announced a premiere date for Anna Pigeon just yet at the time of writing, but the series will arrive at some point in 2026. In the meantime, you can always revisit Tracy Spiridakos' time on Chicago P.D. streaming on Peacock. You can even avoid some of Upton's most depressing final arcs on the streamer, if you so wish!

Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 10 of Chicago P.D. Season 13 in the 2026 TV schedule, called "Faith" and available streaming with a Peacock subscription.

After Chicago P.D. put the spotlight on Amy Morton and Sgt. Platt, "Faith" shifted back to the Morgan case that has been haunting Torres since the first half of Season 13. This time, he joined forces with Imani to heat up the cold case. Even though he was initially reluctant to accept her help, their perseverance brought the case to a close by the end. They were a solid duo who I'd be interested in seeing more of... with the downside that they were so solid that they made me nostalgic for past partnerships and characters that I'm missing, including Ruzek as his absence continues.

Imani shared most of her one-on-one scenes in the first half of Season 13 with Voight, while Torres was struggling with the burden of guilt that he hadn't really been sharing with anybody. They're also the two newest additions to the Intelligence Unit, despite this being Benjamin Levy Aguilar's fourth full season in the One Chicago world on NBC. They made sense as a duo, with the added perk that Aguilar and Arienne Mandi were friends before she was added to the ensemble in 2025.

But seeing Torres teaming up with Imani for such a key episode to his character had me flashing back to his former screen partners and some of my overall favorite partnerships of the last five years.

Kiana Cook unfortunately wasn't around long enough for them to form a particularly powerful bond, but I haven't forgotten that Torres' first connection to the Intelligence Unit was when Halstead was his mentor back in the day. Atwater was a different kind of mentor in Torres' first full season, and they do still join forces as a duo from time to time, but less so now than in Season 10.

Thinking back on Halstead in Season 9 then sent me on a blast to the past of his partnership with Hailey Upton, which lasted professionally for years before turning romantic. Upstead fell apart when Jesse Lee Soffer left the series, followed by Tracy Spiridakos the next season, officially marking the end of my frequent questions of what's up with Upstead. (R.I.P. Upstead.)

The Upstead nostalgia sent me on a Burzek tangent, with Burgess operating on the job without Ruzek for several episodes now. There is good news for this duo, however, thanks to showrunner Gwen Sigan's comments on the pairing. It's just a matter of time before Patrick John Flueger returns to Chicago P.D. after his leave of absence.

Alas, short of bringing Elias Koteas back for another surprise cameo, we won't be seeing any kind of reunion between Olinsky and Voight after the former was killed in Season 5. It was nice seeing Voight supporting Platt in the previous episode, but he's never had a friendship at the CPD quite like he did with Olinsky.

There is of course still hope for some of these duos, even if I have had to give up on my dream of seeing Upton and Rojas together again. Ruzek is coming back, and Chicago P.D. does go back to pair up Atwater and Torres from time to time. Their bond hasn't remained as strong as Burgess and Atwater's did after those two were split up more often, but it happens.

None of this is to say that I spent every minute of "Faith" wishing that Torres and/or Imani could be replaced by other characters, and it's a compliment to both characters that their interactions reminded me of some of the dynamics I loved so much in their day. That's what commercial breaks are for when you watch live, right?

Find out if the two officers will share the spotlight again in Season 13 with new episodes of Chicago P.D. on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. The cast of the One Chicago cop drama will be interacting with heroes from Chicago Fire and Chicago Med in just over a month, thanks to the announcement of the next One Chicago crossover event.

Multi-episode crossover events were once an annual tradition for the One Chicago world on NBC, but that changed for a few years due to production complications. After a three-parter in 2025 that was Avengers-esque in the scale of the massive Windy City's gas line explosion that needed heroes from all three shows to contain, the next event in the 2026 TV schedule could be the deadliest yet for Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med. And not too many episodes are left before the crossover!

What To Expect From The 2026 Crossover

After the two most recent three-parters involved a gas line explosion last year and (somewhat ironically with the timing) a city-wide contagion in late 2019, TVLine reports that the 2026 movie-length production will kick off with Chicago Fire at a special time, when Firehouse 51 is called to the scene of an airfield in response to a passenger jet going silent while mid-air. According to the logline, their discoveries will crack open "a bigger and deadlier mystery — one with consequences that could ripple far beyond the runway and put countless lives in jeopardy."

Like years past, the three shows will be slightly rearranged for the crossover with Chicago Fire airing at 8 p.m. ET, Chicago Med at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. It's to be expected that P.D. stays in the latest slot of the night, as the cop drama is generally much darker than Fire and Med, and finishing the investigations into emergencies usually happens at the very end of a three-hour extravaganza. Fans can plan on watching the event on Wednesday, March 4 on NBC.

While March 4 isn't exactly as soon as next Wednesday, it's worth noting that the three shows will presumably be off for the majority of February due to the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics, which will take place in Milan and Cortina in Italy and kick off with the Opening Ceremony on Friday, February 6.

The games will run through to the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, February 22, with coverage airing on NBC as usual. New One Chicago episodes are scheduled through February 4, with the shows expected to return with the crossover on March 4. So, even though fans have more than a month to wait, there aren't many episodes left coming any sooner than the three-parter in early March.

Why This Could Be The Deadliest Crossover To Date

It's a tall order to suspect this early that any one crossover could be deadlier than others, because One Chicago's crossover crises tend to vary greatly from year to year. The explosion that rocked Wolf Entertainment's version of Chicago in 2025 was very different from the "Infection" three-parter in 2019, and more than one key character had a brush with death before ultimately surviving. Late January is still too early to start guessing about who among the mains will be in the most danger, but a passenger flight going silent could signal a hefty death toll.

For one, Chicago's O'Hare airport is one of the busiest in the entire country, and Midway isn't exactly a tiny regional airport either. That's not to say that I expect One Chicago's crossover to take over one of the real-life airports, but the Windy City is certainly a good place to form a story around a flight emergency. But even normal passenger flights can have around 100 people on board. If the plane crashes, then that would presumably mean the deaths of most people on board, as well as potentially some people on the ground.

Now, I might be getting ahead of myself, since there are surely plenty of reasons why a plane might go silent that don't involve crashing, and a plane crash in Chicago might require the attention of more agencies than CFD, CPD, and local hospitals. Still, if the worst-case scenario of a plane crash happens, the 2026 crossover could become the franchise's deadliest in one fell swoop. And since we have a month of Olympics to watch without seeing Lt. Kidd, Dr. Frost, Officer Atwater, and all the rest back on our screens, we can speculate about the toll as much as we want through the month of February.

For now, though, there are still a few episodes left before the best athletes in the world take over NBC. As always until the March 4 crossover, Chicago Med airs at 8 p.m. ET, Chicago Fire airs at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. airs at 10 p.m. ET on NBC's Wednesdays. You can also stream the latest episodes with a Peacock subscription.

Spoilers ahead for the winter premiere of Chicago P.D. Season 13, called "Born Screaming" and available streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago P.D. returned in the 2026 TV schedule to pick up right after the fall finale left off on a "To Be Continued" with Imani in danger in the Bell house. As showrunner/executive producer Gwen Sigan had promised, the clock was ticking for the Intelligence Unit and Voight needed all hands on deck. While Ruzek was not back in the mix to join in, Burgess did finally deliver a specific update on where he was, and the EP opened up about what's on deck for Burzek in the new year.

Voight needed to summon the rest of the team late at night, which meant calling the Burzek household and asking Burgess for her and Ruzek to meet him at the Bell house. Kim scrambled to get out of bed, but told the sergeant this about her husband: "Adam had an emergency with Bob, so he's at the facility." Finally, we had Ruzek acknowledged and his absence explained!

Ruzek has been off-camera from the action since the latter half of the fall season after actor Patrick John Flueger took a leave of absence, but the One Chicago crime drama never explained why the character was MIA. It makes sense that he was busy with his dad after Bob's health struggles last season, and nice to get a mention of Adam. When I spoke with Gwen Sigan about Chicago P.D.'s return, she said this about how the show is handling his absence in the new year:

Kim mentioning that he was with his dad wasn't a huge update, but it's certainly a start! The Burzek family unit was at the center of the story during the memorable third episode of Season 13, when they realized that the life they'd built might not be the best in the long term.

Contrary to earlier seasons, the couple's relationship has been solid while they face external challenges together. When I asked the executive producer about writing for the little family when they've settled into such a unit together, she said:

Gwen Sigan went on to specifically name Episode 3, called "Canaryville," as one that she "loved." It ended with Burzek considering whether they needed to make a big change to their lives for Makayla's sake, after the dust settled on their wedding.

It remains to be seen how Burgess and Ruzek will handle those decisions as Season 13 continues, but Patrick John Flueger was back on set with his co-stars in December, and he was all smiles in a behind-the-scenes Instagram video. The showrunner went on to praise what she finds "beautiful" about the Burzek family:

While there seems to be some Burzek goodness on the way, the next episode will shift the focus over to Platt. Actress Amy Morton definitely seems to be in a lot more of the action than usual in the promo for next week's case. Take a look:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, January 14 at 10 p.m. ET for the next episode of Chicago P.D., following Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET. You can also find episodes of all three One Chicago series streaming on Peacock now.

Months after Chicago P.D. ended the first half of Season 13 on a major cliffhanger for the newest member of the Intelligence Unit, the One Chicago cop drama is returning in the 2026 TV schedule to pick off where the fall finale left off. According to showrunner Gwen Sigan, the way NBC's winter premiere picks up is something that they "rarely" do on the show, and this could be an interesting showcase for Voight to kick off the new year.

Chicago P.D.'s winter premiere is somewhat forebodingly titled "Born Screaming," and will feature Voight and the rest of the team working to close out the Bell case after more bodies started dropping in the fall finale and a young girl's fate was left in question. P.D. ended on "To Be Continued" in 2025 after Imani broke into the Bell house to try and protect Julie, but the little girl was nowhere to be seen and the credits rolled with the implication that the dangerous Raymond Bell had arrived.

When I spoke with showrunner Gwen Sigan ahead of the winter premiere on January 7 (which will be streaming next day with a Peacock subscription), she opened up about how "Born Screaming" will resolve the "To Be Continued" cliffhanger:

Chicago P.D. can be the most procedural of the three One Chicago shows, with Season 13 not explaining Ruzek's absence with any kind of storyline. So, a "To Be Continued" is a rarity, especially in the middle of a season rather than at the very end. Fans can look forward to Imani in action, as teased by the preview, rather than the episode skipping over the aftermath of her break-in to find Julie.

The showrunner went on to explain why Imani was the Intelligence Unit officer who let got caught up in the Bell case to the point that she ended 2025 alone and in danger:

Gwen Sigan had previously shared that Imani was "designed to in many ways become a bit like a partner for Voight," which created a dynamic for Voight that was arguably the most complicated since he started teaming up with Upon more frequently. So, how will Voight react to Imani chasing her impulses, when he's not exactly innocent of doing the same thing himself?

According to the showrunner, we're not going to see them taking entirely different paths, but more "parallel" approaches. Gwen Sigan elaborated:

I always enjoy seeing Hank "Tell Me The Truth So I Can Lie For You" Voight have to take the higher road when his officers need to be reined in, and that seems to be the case with Imani in Season 13. Sigan went on to describe the conflict between the sergeant and the Intelligence Unit newcomer:

It should be interesting to see just how action-packed the premiere is when it comes to consequences for Imani not waiting for an official go-ahead. If the crisis is moving at a furious pace, perhaps there won't be time for a slap on the wrist. If there's a stall in the search for Julie... well, that could certainly lead to some of the conflict that the showrunner previewed. Check out the preview for the winter premiere:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, January 7 at 10 p.m. ET for the winter premiere of Chicago P.D. Season 13, following the Chicago Fire premiere with some "heartache" at 9 p.m. ET and the Chicago Med returns with a curious time jump at 8 p.m. ET. You can also revisit earlier episodes via Peacock.

Another year of television is ending with the final days of the 2025 TV schedule, so the time is right to look back at the highs and lows of what the networks delivered over the past twelve months. For the part of my job that involves primetime, I ultimately ended up watching 13 crime procedurals. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat for all of them, and didn’t catch every one live on a weekly basis, but I've realized on looking back that my favorites are the ones that weren’t part of a franchise.

The stage is set for the 2026 TV schedule but let's first look back at the procedural crimes of 2025.

My 2025 Crime Procedurals

Once I got over my slight existential crisis at how many scripted crime shows I watched over the past year, I realized that my choices weren’t limited to just my two most-covered networks: NBC and CBS. Check out my full list:

1. The Rookie - ABC (streaming with a Hulu subscription)
2. Will Trent - ABC (streaming on Hulu)
3. FBI - CBS (streaming with a Paramount+ subscription)
4. FBI: International - CBS (streaming on Paramount+)
5. FBI: Most Wanted - CBS (streaming on Paramount+)
6. Elsbeth - CBS (streaming on Paramount+)
7. Murder in a Small Town - Fox (streaming on Hulu)
8. Law & Order - NBC (streaming with a Peacock subscription)
9. Law & Order: SVU - NBC (streaming on Peacock)
10. Law & Order: Organized Crime - NBC (streaming on Peacock)
11. Chicago P.D. - NBC (streaming on Peacock)
12. The Hunting Party - NBC (streaming on Peacock)
13. Found - NBC (streaming on Peacock)

I’d be lying unless I admitted that I’m a devoted watcher of the Law & Order shows, and Chicago P.D. is technically the only police drama within the One Chicago world. I mourned as much as any fan at the shocking cancellations of FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International. The franchises admittedly do have a lot going for them.

The Appeal Of Franchises (And What Doesn't Always Work)

Can I cite moments from SVU going back decades, and do I enjoy regularly joking about why Hudson University is the worst place to be in the Law & Order world? Sure. Does every crime on Chicago Med and Chicago Fire leave my eyes peeled for a Chicago P.D. cameo? Of course. Was I entertained whenever a crossover could happen between FBI and its very different spinoffs? Naturally.

I love my shared-universe TV shows. I get as excited as a Bensler shipper (although I’m not one myself) when Christopher Meloni rejoins Mariska Hargitay in primetime. I’m still frustrated that FBI: International didn’t get nearly as good of an ending as FBI: Most Wanted. I’d need a pretty elaborate flow chart on my wall to keep track of how some of these shows are connected, and that’s impressive.

Despite all of this, I have to say that sometimes it’s more fun to watch TV without needing an elaborate flow chart. Sometimes I don’t want to have to wonder if something is an Easter egg, or if a familiar face is just one actor playing two different characters. (It happens more often than you’d think in the Law & Order franchise.) I don't always need everything to be connected. And that brings us to…

My Non-Franchise Crime Shows Of 2025

While I didn’t necessarily cover the non-franchise crime series as much as the Law & Orders and the FBIs, I did enjoy my breaks TV universes full of very similar shows. Admittedly, The Rookie isn’t quite as franchised as most of the other entries on my list, but it did have a short-lived spinoff starring Niecy Nash, and another spinoff is in the works with Jay Ellis in the leading role. So, these are the standalones I’m counting from the past year:

1. Will Trent
2. Elsbeth
3. Murder in a Small Town
4. The Hunting Party
5. Found

These are five very different shows, with Will Trent based on a series of novels by Karin Slaughter. Murder in a Small Town splits its focus between a leading man playing a police chief and a leading woman who plays a librarian-turned-politician. Elsbeth didn’t even start out as a comedy before making the switch this fall. Found wove a serialized story very closely with the case of the week, and the same is true for The Hunting Party.

And I could enjoy all of them without needing to consult any notes or use commercial breaks to wrack my brain for Easter eggs or do any deep dives on why actors seem so familiar. The mysteries and the chases were fun to focus on without keeping an eye out for crossover openings.

These are also relatively easy shows to jump into. For as much as I'm an SVU loyalist, diving into a show that's 27 seasons in is pretty intimidating, especially when longtime fans are always excited to talk about ties back to the golden years. There's a lot to enjoy in non-franchise options without needing to do any homework, and I'd recommend at least trying any of them. One stands out as my favorite, though.

My Favorite Crime Show Of The Year: Elsbeth

If you’re surprised that I’d rank the funniest of the crime procedurals as my favorite, you still couldn’t be more surprised than I was! In fact, Elsbeth is so different from The Good Wife and The Good Fight that even a returning star wasn’t enough for me to disqualify it from my non-franchise list. Upon looking back, the CBS drama-turned-comedy was the crime procedural I looked forward to the most per week.

Admittedly, a lot of that goes back to the celebrity guest stars, since Elsbeth has a knack for recruiting stars to play killers or, like Stephen Colbert in the Season 3 premiere, murder victims. I’ll still cite the Season 2 premiere with a murderous Nathan Lane as one of my favorite episodes of 2024, and it’s hard to believe how many stars were willing to come back for an episode with Chicago-esque musical numbers. The Conners’ Laurie Metcalf and Will and Grace’s Eric McCormack even showed off some skills that they never got to us on their famous sitcoms.

That’s not to say that there aren’t dramatic moments between celebrities killing off characters in outlandish ways, and it wasn’t hard to buy Elsbeth as a drama before it was changed to a comedy for the current awards season. Leading lady Carrie Preston has easily carried the show between both genres, and Michael Emerson (a.k.a. Preston’s real-life husband) didn’t just make a cameo for some laughs.

All of this is to say that while I love my crime shows set within franchises, Elsbeth is a breath of fresh air. I don’t have to keep my eyes peeled for possible crossover hints, I can laugh throughout an episode, and – as promised ahead of Elsbeth’s premiere – I can enjoy it without needing to know The Good Wife and The Good Fight. I’m excited to see the returns of my procedurals that haven’t been cancelled (R.I.P. FBI: International, FBI: Most Wanted, and Found) for a fictionally crime-filled new year.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for the Season 13 fall finale of Chicago P.D., called "Impulse Control" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

The first portion of Chicago P.D.'s thirteenth season has come to an end in the fall 2025 TV schedule, and fans have weeks to wait before finding out what's next for the Intelligence Unit in the 2026 TV schedule. While I'm still undecided about how the criminal who seems to be the Season 13 big bad compares to Shawn Hatosy's wonderful despicable Chief Reid from last season, Raymond Bell's return in "Impulse Control" led to the kind of cliffhanger I've been missing this fall.

That said, I'm also missing Adam Ruzek, and I have questions about how P.D. is handling Patrick John Flueger's absence.

Chicago P.D.'s Fall Finale Is "To Be Continued"

There was a lot going on in "Impulse Control." Voight proved that he and Imani haven't just been baselessly paranoid about Bell since his debut in Episode 4. A violent break-in led them back to his doorstep, and Imani formed a connection with his granddaughter could be key to whatever comes next for the Intelligence Unit.

At the same time, "Impulse Control" was arguably the best showcase to date of how showrunner Gwen Sigan described Imani as someone who "thinks she knows the answers" and "doesn't necessarily play well with others." I was keeping an eye on the clock as Imani kept getting shut down from chasing leads, waiting for the climax so that everything would wrap up more or less neatly by 11 p.m. ET, as usual.

But that didn't happen! The episode ended shortly after Imani broke into the Bell house, trying to find Julie after getting a worrisome call from the little girl. (It didn't end quite as badly for the CPD officer as it did for the character who did a little breaking and entering elsewhere in One Chicago earlier on fall finale night.) Imani went up to Julie's room to find it empty of any people but a phone left behind, then heard the slamming of a door and some footsteps that definitely sound like they come from an adult behind her. The episode then ended on a "TO BE CONTINUED..." card, which I didn't realize I missed until I saw it.

All three One Chicago shows are generally procedural, aside from some character storylines that resurface from week to week. While P.D. is generally the most procedural, I'd also argue that it's easily the best at consistently delivering two-parters with cliffhangers in between the halves. The fall finales of Chicago Med and Chicago Fire both delivered cliffhangers, but a good old-fashioned "TO BE CONTINUED" is a fun way to nudge fans closer to the edges of their seats over hiatus.

Of course, Ray Bell was only one of the complications this week. Torres has Odell Morgan on his mind after the bloody conclusion of that case, Voight is clearly still on the outs with ASA Chapman after how Season 12 ended, the latest mysterious envelope that Voight received came from Commander Devlin (introduced in the Season 13 premiere), and Adam Ruzek is still MIA. We have the behind-the-scenes reason for one of those complications, but I'm looking for an in-universe reason.

Where's Ruzek?

Ruzek's absence in Season 13 was confirmed well before the fall finale aired on November 12. News broke in late October that actor Patrick John Flueger was stepping away from Chicago P.D. for an undetermined (but not permanent) amount of time for personal reasons. Based on him missing the sixth and seventh episodes of Season 13, the Atwater-centric Episode 5 on October 29 might be the last that we see of him for a while.

While I hope that the actor is getting everything he needs from his leave of absence (up to and including privacy), I had hoped that Chicago P.D. would provide an in-universe reason for why Ruzek is nowhere to be seen. It's not unusual for any One Chicago actor to miss an episode here and there after the renewal deal terms earlier this year, but two in a row for Ruzek and the expectation that he won't be back as soon as that "TO BE CONTINUED" is... well, continued really makes me wish that the show would answer the questions of where he is and what he's doing.

The answers really could be as simple as Ruzek off-screen deciding to take some time off to spend with Makayla after his discussions with Burgess about their daughter earlier this season. Or perhaps Bob needs some face-to-face time with his son, warranting the time away from the Intelligence Unit. Or maybe Ruzek could just be temporarily working with another unit or undercover? Any kind of reason would be welcome, especially since Burgess is carrying on as if everything is normal.

If Chicago P.D. does answer any questions about Ruzek, it won't happen for a while. The One Chicago cop drama will be on winter hiatus until Wednesday, January 7, at which point it will return to its usual 10 p.m. ET time slot on NBC after Chicago Fire. In the meantime, fans can always revisit earlier episodes streaming on Peacock.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 6 of Chicago P.D. Season 13, called "Send Me" and available to stream next day with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago P.D. has been putting poor Torres through the wringer since Season 12 at this point, with Benjamin Levy Aguilar having few reasons to smile on screen in the late 2025 TV schedule so far. With the fall finale coming up soon, that may not change before the start of the 2026 TV schedule, but "Send Me" might finally have him back on the right track after a grim ordeal. The ordeal was a winner rather than grim for me, however, since none other than The Walking Dead vet Chad L. Coleman was a guest star!

Admittedly, I wasn't a Walking Dead devotee until the very end (nor was Coleman), but his performance as Tyreese was one of my favorites back in the day, to the point that the end of his story hit pretty hard. So, it was nice to see him again on Chicago P.D., even if his One Chicago character is a one-and-done.

And the reason that Odell Morgan is bound to be a one-and-done is that despite all of Torres' efforts to help him clear his name (and despite him originally taking Torres as a hostage on wheels), he died. Although their time together started when a car crash enabled Morgan to escape from a prisoner transport, Torres heard him out about being wrongfully convicted for his wife's murder after his brother, Carter, lied on the stand.

With Torres now on board with helping while the rest of the Intelligence Unit was hot on the trail, Morgan learned that his brother had framed him for the murder to save his own family. Alas, Morgan then succumbed to his injuries from the crash and died. As if that wasn't enough, Carter was then shot to death before he could reveal more about the conspiracy, ending the episode with a lot of unanswered questions.

Torres plans to do something about that, however, as he ended "Send Me" by paying Morgan's daughter a visit to tell her that they suspected her dad wasn't guilty of killing her mom after all, and she invited him in, presumably so that he can get more information on the case. He followed his instincts this week, and it paid off in a strong episode and new motivation.

It was a long-awaited twist, as far as I'm concerned, considering that Torres has arguably been in a bad place emotionally going back to when the Gloria mess came to a head (and wasn't exactly helped when the late, not-so-lamented Deputy Chief Reid used that mess as leverage against Intelligence). When Morgan died, I initially thought that Torres might spiral even further.

It boded well when the episode ended with a fire seemingly lit under him to get justice for the wrongfully convicted man. I also can't help but notice that he's looking a lot cleaner in images from the upcoming fall finale. Check out "Send Me" Torres on the left and fall finale Torres on the right:

I'm not saying that Benjamin Levy Aguilar has looked bad for all these weeks of playing Torres in his bad emotional place, but Torres' in-universe scruffier appearance has clearly been tied to him not taking care of himself while drowning in guilt. He's apparently all cleaned up in time for the last episode of 2025, and it's good to see the character looking healthier.

That said, Torres doesn't seem to be the one in the spotlight in the fall finale, called "Impulse Control," with the promo showing a whole lot of Voight. See for yourself:

The Season 13 fall finale of Chicago P.D. will air on Wednesday, November 12 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following the Season 14 fall finale of Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and the Season 11 fall finale of Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET. The seasons are ending for the year a little earlier than usual, as the fall finales are typically Episode 8 or Episode 9 and air closer to the end of November, so fans will need to prepare to say their temporary goodbye to the One Chicago characters sooner rather than later.

One easy way to avoid the crippling heat outside is to keep track of all the new Netflix shows, upcoming horror series, returning network dramas, new DC projects and more, and then just watch it all inside somewhere air-conditioned and comfortable. (Not official medical advice.) July 2026 is bringing a lot of new and returning shows that make staying inside sound downright brilliant.

Sci-fi fan? New seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Silo and the Big Bang Theory spinoff Stuart Fails to Save the Universe have you covered. True crime? Check out Murder 101. Love animation? X-Men '97 Season 2, King of the Hill Season 15 and the Ghost in the Shell anime debut this month. And get ready to laugh at Will Ferrell's The Hawk and Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham in Ride or Die. Keep reading for more, or click a specific month to jump right to it.

NOTE: New series premieres are listed in ALL CAPS, and all times listed below are in ET/EST.

July 2026 TV Premieres

At long last, Paramount+ revealed that fans can look forward to the fourth genre-mashing season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in July, which also comes peppered with returns from Apple TV's sci-fi fave Silo, the long-running reality series Project Runway, and the final story-concluding feature from Netflix's Heartstopper. By way of new shows, Anya Taylor Joy shows off her skills in Apple's Lucky, and I'm shamelessly intrigued by Tubi's new adult-animated comedy Breaking Bear co-starring Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

August 2026 TV Premieres

August is a huge months for streaming. Ted Lasso is making its long-awaited Season 4 return on Apple TV, and we also have the DCU mystery drama Lanterns, Outer Banks' final season, Lioness' third season, Reacher Season 4, and the Ricky Gervais animated series Alley Cats, to name but a few.

September 2026 TV Premieres

September is always a huge time for NFL fans, but boxing fanatics are also waiting for this year's Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout on Netflix. This month also marks the return of Shemar Moore's Hondo in S.W.A.T. Exiles, premiering on Starz, and Maria Sten's Reacher character Neagley for her self-titled spinoff.

October 2026 TV Premieres

Amidst all of the broadcast network legacy dramas returning in October, arguably the biggest standalone series premiering is the MCU's VIsionQuest, with Paul Bettany reprising his Avengers hero, or something of that nature, for a story that's also bringing James Spader's Ultron back into the mix. But if you're a horror fan, it's hard to argue against the Friday the 13th prequel Crystal Lake or Mike Flanagan's Carrie. (Which technically still doesn't have a locked-down date.)

November 2026 TV Premieres

The November 2026 project i'm most interested in at the moment, outside of NBC's hilarious Monday night comedies, is the debut of Netflix adult animated series Bass x Machina, an action-filled western steampunk starring Brian Tyree Henry and Cree Summer. 'Nuff said, really.

December 2026 TV Premieres

2026 Shows Without Premiere Dates

Quite a few upcoming TV shows are presumed to be starting up in 2026, but without official premiere dates set in stone. Here's a round-up of some of the biggest projects that we can probably expect to see at some point later this year.

• 3 Body Problem Season 2 - Netflix
• BLADE RUNNER 2099 - Prime Video
• CAMP ROCK 3 [TV Movie] - Disney Channel
• COVEN ACADEMY - Disney Channel
• DESCENDANTS: WICKED WONDERLAND [TV Movie] Disney Channel
• The Diplomat Season 4 - Netflix
• The Hunting Wives Season 2 - Netflix
• MONSTER: THE LIZZIE BORDEN STORY - Netflix
• Nobody Wants This Season 3 - Netflix
• Saturday Night Live Season 52 - NBC
• The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 4 - AMC
• The Witcher Season 5 (Final Season) - Netflix
• Yellowjackets Season 4 (Final Season) - Paramount+

Remember to check back for more dates as they're revealed by networks and streaming services in the coming months.

Spoilers ahead for Episode 5 of Chicago P.D. Season 13, called “Miami” and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

After Atwater was absent from Chicago P.D. last week in the 2025 TV schedule, the officer was back in action in “Miami” after a case he caught while on patrol turned out to require almost all hands on deck from the Intelligence Unit. He joined forces with Officer Fox, an old friend who was on the verge of taking a job with the Miami PD far away from the cold of the Windy City. By the end, she asked him to consider what he’d want to do if he left Chicago, and I’m a big fan of the answer he finally had for her.

Fox actually posed him that question early in the episode, but he was spared answering by a massive explosion rocking the street. Over the course of the case, the two worked so well together that I realized I’d love to have her stick around with the Intelligence Unit rather than relocating to Florida… which then made me nervous that she was going to die. She was in fact shot, but wasn’t too shaken up by the bullet to the arm, and her final scene with Atwater back at his place proved that she wasn’t that injured.

He finally gave her that answer, though. He told her:

On the one hand, I’m sure I’m not the only fan of Atwater who’s happy to hear that he doesn’t really feel a drive to leave Chicago, which would presumably mean LaRoyce Hawkins leaving the series. In the span of just a few years, Chicago P.D. lost Jesse Lee Soffer as Halstead and Tracy Spiridakos as Upton, with Patrick John Flueger set to take a temporary leave during Season 13. One more longtime star stepping away would just hurt.

Atwater has been one of the steadiest presences on the show going back to the beginning; it would have been a bummer if he immediately started listing all the places he wanted to go that were far from the city. At the same time, he’s been somewhat stagnant in his career, with LaRoyce Hawkins stating more than once going all the way back to 2021 that Atwater is ready to make detective. It’s healthy for the character to realize that he can take the time to think about what he wants for himself, instead of prioritizing everybody else.

It doesn’t hurt that he provided a handy rundown about all the people in his life earlier in “Miami.” Updating Fox on his siblings, his dad, and his love life, Atwater shared:

Thirteen seasons in, and Atwater remains unlucky in love! Still, without – to quote Fox – a “Mrs. Atwater” and his family no longer relying on him for everything, maybe he’ll be ready to expand his horizons. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Fox again, and she did leave a note inviting him to “come visit Miami any time.”

As long as those visits to Miami would be to explain any absences from upcoming episodes rather than setting up an exit, I’m on board! Atwater will definitely be in the next episode, however, which is good news for Torres. Take a look at the promo to see why:

See what’s next for Atwater and the rest of the Intelligence Unit with new episodes of Chicago P.D. on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following Chicago Fire (which has some interesting ties to P.D. this fall) at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET. You can also find the One Chicago series streaming on Peacock.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for the fifth episode of Chicago Fire Season 14, called "Ghosts" and streaming next dady with a Peacock subscription.

Brandon Larracuente switched shows in the Dick Wolf TV universe in the fall of the 2025 TV schedule following the cancellation of Prime Video's On Call, and Vasquez's story in Chicago Fire is already complicated. After going back and forth on how he wants to approach his dad's efforts to get himself out of jail, a call from Ray Vasquez from the clink to the firehouse motivated Sal to visit his dad and confront him. Unfortunately for the younger Vasquez, his dad dropped a bombshell about a tie between the CFD and CPD. Fortunately for fans, however, I can imagine how it could lead to a crossover.

Sal seemed to finally be standing up for himself against his dad, but that didn't last long in their climactic face-to-face meeting in "Ghosts." It was a great sequence, both for setting up the next stages of the firefighter's story and for really showing that even if Ray isn't a cold-blooded murderer, he's still a pretty bad dad. Motivated by Ray calling the firehouse and talking to Kidd, Sal accused his dad of first "screwing up" his dreams of becoming a cop and now tanking his chances of success as a firefighter. Ray responded:

Am I reading too closely to think that there's potentially a big story behind this mutual friend within CPD? Perhaps, and possibly only fueled by Commander Devlin (introduced in Chicago P.D.'s Season 13 premiere) appearing in the P.D. episode that aired directly after "Ghosts" on October 29. But I think it's notable that Ray claimed that "He's the kind of guy with enough reach to get you into the best firehouse in the city" when Sal asked him to name the man, with his dad going on to claim that he's "just making sure things go well" for him.

Is the mutual friend actually Commander Devlin, a P.D. character who could reach over to Fire in the 2025-2026 TV season, and therefore warrant a two-parter like what used to be an annual tradition for the two original One Chicago shows? We can't 100% rule it out at this point, and it's fun to speculate when there are more questions than answers. I can say that this is the most invested I've been in Vasquez's story all season, which is saying something since "Ghosts" was directly in the wake of Herrmann's tragic loss.

Whatever the future holds for the increasingly complicated Sal/CFD/Ray/CPD storyline, the next episode seems to be veering away from it. Called "Broken Things," Violet and Novak will be stuck in a traffic jam with a patient in their rig, while Severide shadowing Pascal means the return of Dylan McDermott. Kidd will do something for Isaiah as well. Check out the promo below:

New episodes of Chicago Fire will continue airing on NBC Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. All three shows are also available streaming on Peacock, if you need a refresher on Vasquez's storyline so far.

Spoilers ahead for Episode 4 of Chicago P.D. Season 13, called "Root Cause" and available streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago P.D. had a lot of loose ends to tie off with the first few episodes of the fall 2025 TV schedule, starting with Voight needing to get the Intelligence Unit back together, putting Burzek through the emotional wringer as parents, introducing the newest member of the team, and now possibly debuting the big bad of Season 13. That big bad reveal came along with a taste of what might be a pretty tragic backstory for Voight himself, but I'm still thinking about who I really missed from the episode, especially with the upcoming absence of one member of the team.

A New Chicago P.D. Big Bad?

While Chicago P.D. is generally a procedural drama, there is often a big bad over the course of the season for the members of the Intelligence Unit to deal with. The show may be hard pressed to top Shawn Hatosy's Chief Reid from last season when it comes to despicable villains, and I still have a soft spot for the juicy storylines that came from Sean O'Neal as a nemesis for Upton. It's still early to say for sure, but Raymond Bell seems like a possible contender for at least the first half of Season 13 after his introduction in "Root Cause."

Although the killer of the episode was Gary Bell, all signs point towards Raymond Bell as his father as the one who shaped him into what he became. Raymond's lack of reaction to the news of Gary's death wasn't lost on Voight either, so I'd be surprised if we don't see him again this season.

But is he in any way tied to the photograph of a young Hank, which was left on his car? Voight spent most of the episode refusing to elaborate to Imani about the photo, but she ultimately used context clues to piece together that the now-CPD sergeant was the little boy in the photo. The episode ended without revealing how the picture ended up on his car, let alone who left it, and Voight unsurprisingly didn't start opening up with all the details of his childhood.

There are many more questions than answers at this point, and it's possible that Raymond is a red herring and the bigger point of the episode is the introduction of the mystery of the photo. Either way, "Root Cause" was a big episode for Voight, with Imani at his right hand and support from Burgess, Torres, Ruzek, and Platt.

What About Atwater, Ruzek, And The Rest Of Season 13?

You may have noticed that I left a name out of the list of characters who had Voight's back in "Root Cause," and that would be because Atwater was completely absent. It's not unusual for One Chicago actors to miss episodes here and there after initial changes to NBC's Wolf Entertainment shows that were then confirmed again when the three Windy City series were renewed in the spring.

It's not even out of the ordinary for a character to miss an episode without anybody giving an on-screen explanation for why, but dang it, I really missed Atwater in an episode that otherwise had all-hands on deck. That's largely due to the recent news that Patrick John Flueger, who has been playing Ruzek for as long as LaRoyce Hawkins has been playing Atwater for the past thirteen seasons, is taking a temporary leave from Chicago P.D.

It remains to be seen how P.D. handles Ruzek's absence, and I for one am curious to see if the cop drama delivers a twist like how Chicago Fire accommodated Taylor Kinney's leave back in 2023, but the news left me paying closer attention to other members of the Intelligence Unit who may have to step up more this season. What a time for Atwater to be MIA from an episode! Even if I don't get my wish for Atwater to make detective one of these days, I love a good Atwater-centric episode.

Luckily, Chicago P.D. is about to deliver with a big episode for LaRoyce Hawkins. Per NBC, here's what to expect with the next installment, called "Miami," on October 29:

Hopefully Atwater's reunion with his old friend in Season 13 goes a lot better than Ruzek's reunion with his old friend in Season 12! The promo for "Miami" reveals that Atwater will be in his patrol uniform for at least part of the episode, and that's not all:

The "Miami" episode of Chicago P.D. airs on Wednesday, October 29 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET. You can also find all three shows streaming with a subscription to Peacock.

Most of the current Chicago P.D. cast in the fall 2025 TV schedule has been around from the very beginning, but one star will be stepping away from the One Chicago cop drama. Patrick John Flueger, who has been playing Officer Adam Ruzek since the pilot in 2014, is taking a leave of absence, which requires some changes behind the scenes, as well as presumably within the on-screen Intelligence Unit in the current 13th season.

Flueger is taking a break from the One Chicago world for the purpose of dealing with a personal matter, according to Deadline. The news comes in the relatively early days of Season 13, on the heels of a major Burzek episode as Ruzek and Detective Kim Burgess settle into married life as parents. The good news is that Flueger is expected to return from his temporary leave later in the season.

It's not unusual for Chicago P.D. characters to be MIA from time to time since the episode counts for stars were cut in 2023, and that approach was confirmed to continue back in the spring of 2025. That said, the outlet reports that Patrick John Flueger's departure was not expected, requiring scripts to be tweaked to accommodate Ruzek's absence.

It remains to be seen how Chicago P.D. explains Ruzek's absence, since the unexpected nature of the actor taking a leave indicates that there probably wasn't time for a big Ruzek-centric episode to deliver a twist that takes him out of the action for a time.

Chicago Fire also dealt with an actor taking a leave, when Taylor Kinney stepped away in March 2023 and didn't return until January 2024. (It's worth noting that the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike resulted in Chicago Fire not returning for the new season until that January premiere.) Fire simply explained that Severide was expanding his OFI skills off screen and kept the action going otherwise.

It might be trickier on P.D. with Ruzek, considering the cop drama's smaller cast of series regulars compared to Fire and his recent marriage to Burgess. He's also not the only longtime regular to step away from One Chicago this fall, although his return seems far more guaranteed than Marlyne Barrett to Chicago Med.

For now, we can only hope that Patrick John Flueger gets the time that he needs away from the grind of a network TV schedule. Chicago P.D. has certainly survived cast exits in the past with no expectation of their returns, like Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead and Tracy Spiridakos as Hailey Upton, and this isn't expected to be permanent.

It's reportedly just a matter of time, patience, and hopefully privacy for the actor until we see him back in primetime as Adam Ruzek. And if you're missing the Burzek action... well, every episode of Chicago P.D. so far is available streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago P.D. returned in the 2025 TV schedule with plenty of consequences for the members of the Intelligence Unit, including Kiana Cook deciding off-screen to join another squad after the wild Season 12 finale. The Season 13 premiere (available streaming now with a Peacock subscription) introduced her replacement, and showrunner Gwen Sigan opened up about what to expect from Officer Eva Imani, played by Arienne Mandi.

Toya Turner isn't the only One Chicago cast member over the years to be written out over summer hiatus. Chicago Fire did something similar to start Season 14 by giving Damon an off-screen reason to leave 51, and Chicago P.D. even did it years ago with Lisseth Chavez's Officer Vanessa Rojas.

The first episode of Season 13 quickly tested Imani's mettle by teaming her up with Voight while most of his team was off-limits, and she impressed him enough that he offered her a spot in his unit complete with a "long leash." While she only agreed on the condition of being on board "just for a while," showrunner Gwen Sigan shared that big plans are in store for the character.

During the One Chicago press junket attended by CinemaBlend and other outlets, I asked Sigan about Cook's exit and Imani's arrival, and she shared:

Voight is the one P.D. character who never truly has an official partner by virtue of the power dynamics within the Intelligence Unit, although he has leaned more heavily on some than others at times. The last time we saw him in a pseudo-partnership with a member of his team was arguably in Upton's last season; the Season 13 premiere paired with the showrunner's comments indicate that a different kind of dynamic is in store with Voight and the newcomer.

Imani was introduced on Chicago P.D. while undercover and armed, eventually revealing that she worked for the CPD's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. She made it clear early on that while she liked to do things her own way, she was willing to go along with Voight and cross lines for what they see as the greater good. It remains to be seen if that means they'll be positive or negative influences on each other. Sigan went on:

All in all, it sounds like Chicago P.D. has plenty in store for the newest member of the Intelligence Unit, and I'm curious to see how well she gets along with the others. Burgess and Torres hadn't even met her yet in the Season 13 premiere, as it wasn't until the end that they got their badges back. In fact, based on the promo for the next new episode, Torres is going to be right in the center of the story:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, October 8 at 10 p.m. ET for this new episode of Chicago P.D., focusing on Torres and presumably featuring Imani in her first case on the full team. As always, P.D. rounds out the network's night of Windy City action with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET. All three shows also release their newest episodes streaming next day on Peacock.

The One Chicago time of year has come again, and NBC presumably has all kinds of fictional disasters in store for the Windy City with the Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. premieres in the 2025 TV schedule. All three shows had very different endings back in the spring, with Med delivering a shocking twist to Hannah's pregnancy, some happy pregnancy news for Kidd and Severide on Fire, and a wedding tinged with sadness on P.D.

Now, if you're like me, you intend to watch the finished product of these episodes live on NBC rather than wait to tune in streaming via a Peacock subscription. Join me and watch along for any highs, lows, and anything in between with One Chicago's return.

Note that entries will appear from Most Recent to Oldest as the episode is still airing live, and the order will flip from Oldest to Most Recent once the watchalong has concluded.

What To Expect From NBC's One Chicago Premiere Night

As usual, the first One Chicago Wednesday of the fall will air Chicago Med first, at 8 p.m. ET. Called "We All Fall Down," NBC's episode description for the Season 11 premiere sheds some light on what to expect:

Notably, that doesn't give anything away about the cliffhanger of Hannah knocking on Archer's door or what showrunner Allen MacDonald told us about Med's upcoming 200th episode with Nick Gehlfuss' return, but fans can count on getting some answers very quickly in the Season 11 premiere.

Chicago Fire's Season 14 premiere at 9 p.m. ET has some casting changes to explain, although it remains to be seen how much the exits of Carver and Damon will be addressed, since only Daniel Kyri will be back as Ritter to tie off loose ends. NBC's description for the episode, called "Kicking Down Doors," reads:

Well, I suppose it would have been too much to hope for a peaceful transition of Herrmann stepping down as an officer so that Mouch can take his place! I wouldn't want to give up that Firehouse 51 office either.

As for Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET, there are repercussions for how the team went rogue in the final episodes of Season 12 in the spring. Called "Consequences," the Season 13 premiere will feature:

Tune in to see which premiere is the most satisfying, most game-changing, and most memorable!

Hannah's Baby Daddy Revealed!

The showrunner wasn't kidding when he hyped that the big reveal of who the father is and why Hannah was knocking Archer's door would come very early on! I've spent the months since the Season 10 finale going back and forth on what I wanted to happen, but A+ to Archer for his response. Count me in! Plus, I still find my own interpretation of the Crunch Berries line from last season to be pretty hilarious. Talk about being accidentally right about something!

Starting The Season With Some Burns

So far, this woman covered with 90% of her body with thickness burns is the person who I feel the absolutely worst for in NBC's fictional Chicago. One Chicago has the rest of the night to convince me that somebody is more miserable.

Where's Maggie?

Chicago Med didn't waste time either in mentioning Maggie's absence, which fans knew to expect ahead of time after new about Marlyne Barrett stepping away. All we have so far, though? Goodwin told Dr. Charles that she hadn't heard from Maggie since she left. Doris has stepped up as charge nurse.

Never Go To A Rave In One Chicago

I can't say that I'm a rave regular in real life, but I wouldn't definitely avoid the rave scene in One Chicago. Depending on when one takes place, I'd expect 1) a medical crisis, 2) a fire, and/or 3) crimes requiring the attention of the Intelligence Unit.

Welcome Back, Naomi!

I didn't think I was too attached to Naomi Howard until her storyline at the end of Season 10, which was inconveniently when she was on the way out of the ED for a cardiothoracic focus. Welcome back, Naomi! Enjoy the ED... and an overheated OR with Dr. Archer. Can't win 'em all!

Down Goes Archer

I don't blame Archer for passing out with temperatures THAT high while wearing as many layers as he is, but I also want to know the story behind which nurses ended up on "Mop Sweat Off The Doctors' Brows" duties for the day.

Trini Needs A Refresher On How To Gossip On Chicago Med

Trini! If you get hot tea about doctors in the ED, you talk about it with other people before bringing in the subjects of the hot gossip! However Hannah planned on Ripley finding out about the pregnancy, I'm guessing that's not it.

In all seriousness, I find it very interesting that Trini saw Archer and Hannah talking about her being pregnant and it didn't even occur to her that Archer could be the father. I'm now even more excited to see reactions to these two having a baby together.

Doris Is Keeping Maggie's Shoes Warm Until She Gets Back

But where has Maggie gone?!

Hannah Has Big News For Ripley

I was really mostly leaning towards Archer as the father because I didn't want Ripley to be the father of Hannah's babies, and Luke Mitchell's character doesn't seem to be in the right headspace for parenthood.

But I can't help but feel bad for Ripley, since he went from excitedly thinking that he was going to be a dad to learning that his ex was pregnant with another man's child.

I can't help but wonder if Hannah ever had to assure Ripley that he didn't need to worry about her friendship with Archer as well, based on his knee-jerk reaction of wondering how far along she is.

And I know it's not the point of the scene, but I always wonder how many alarms go off in a building's security system whenever a TV character stops an elevator for dramatic purposes.

Oliver Platt Has The Best Reactions In One Chicago

One Chicago has plenty of talented actors across the three shows, but I think Oliver Platt is the best at playing reactions without any dialogue. This storyline with the teen kid wouldn't be nearly as compelling if he wasn't the one having the conversation. As one of the last original Chicago Med stars standing, I hope Platt's not going anywhere any time soon!

Bad News For Dr. Lenox Is Great For Sarah Ramos

Lenox got the worst kind of news at the end of Season 11 when she learned that she carried the same deadly prion disease that killed her mother, but it's a juicy storyline for actress Sarah Ramos... as long as Lenox doesn't start showing symptoms that would take her out of the ED any time soon, anyway. She really needs a win in this episode with the two sisters.

Baby Mama Non-Drama

I'm already loving how mature both Archer and Hannah are being about this pregnancy. A little bit of conflict was inevitable, but dang it, I love seeing these two crazy kids* acknowledging their issues, having a conversation about it, and not leaving the conversation until they resolved it. Thank you, Chicago Med, for being so grounded about this!

(* Archer is definitely not a kid.)

Be Normal, Ripley

I love to see Ripley looking so genuinely happy to see Sadie and Amelia, but I also hope he's not throwing himself into a relationship in any way because of a reaction to Hannah having a baby with Archer. I hope he's being happy in a totally normal way, not a knee-jerk way.

Chicago Fire Time!

Season 13 didn't end last spring with any baby drama so much as very good baby news for the good ship Stellaride. Let's get into Season 14!

A Dirty Trick From Chicago Fire

Look, I'm as used to Chicago Fire starting seasons with major twists on the previous finale as any longtime viewer, but opening with Stella crying over a lost pregnancy after ending Season 13 with Stella (and Severide) joyfully crying over expanding their family feels kind of like a dirty trick. It could lead to a great story for Stella in particular, but it hits now.

Introducing Firefighter Sal Vasquez, Who Definitely Doesn't Have A Sketchy Secret Or Anything*

*Brandon Larracuente's character definitely seems like he has a sketchy secret as the newest addition to Truck 81. If somebody has to call in a favor for a character to even be assigned to a firehouse, there has to be some baggage there.

I Love A Good Chicago Fire Action Sequence

I'm not sure there's any show on network television that can rival what Chicago Fire does to bring emergencies to the small screen, which is especially standout consider the series is nearly 300 episodes. A burning truck isn't the biggest crisis that the heroes of Firehoue 51 have ever faced, but it's a pretty cool visual.

Violet's Not Letting Herself Be 'All Sad' About Carver

It's going to be sad to see Season 14 move forward without Carver, but seeing Violet's sadness in the premiere makes me all the more relieved that Jake Lockett got at least a brief farewell in the Season 13 finale. It wouldn't be the same if Violet had to establish that everything had happened off-screen, like Mouch establishing that Damon transferred within the CFD.

Hi, Agent Monica Reyes! I Mean... Chief of Staff Annette Davis

Look, I was already excited to see Annabeth Gish join the cast of Chicago Fire after she played Agent Monica Reyes on The X-Files, which I loved back in the day when I was probably too young to be watching. She doesn't seem like an ally to Firehouse 51 in Season 14, but I'm invested in seeing where her characters goes. from here.

Chicago Fire Can't Get Through To Chicago P.D.

We still have 25ish minutes until Chicago P.D. premieres Season 13, but seeing the heroes of Firehouse 51 stuck waiting for CPD unit to respond makes me wonder how P.D. is going to handle it, if at all. Could there be cuts to the police department? Could CPD have a hard time get a response from the CFD? Did Fire's EP Andrea Newman and P.D.'s EP Gwen Sigan collaborate on a storyline?

Violet Has A Friend "Over At 911"

Suffice it to say that Violet's friend at 9-1-1 on Chicago Fire is very different from if she had a friend on ABC's 9-1-1! It sounds like CFD (and the rest of NBC's Chicago) is in serious trouble this year if nearly 50% of all calls to the CPD aren't being answered.

Is Ritter Heading To NYC?

A big question since back in the spring has been how Chicago Fire will write out Ritter, since Daniel Kyri was cut from the cast. It appears that his exit may be tied to Dwayne, who joined the NYPD and has now been shot. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't think that'd be enough for Ritter to leave his life in Chicago behind. In the circumstances of Fire cutting Kyri from the cast and needing to write him out somewhere? Consider me a big supporter of Ritter/Dwayne.

Firehouse 51 Is Losing Rigs, And The Hits Keep Coming

Unfortunately, Pascal didn't get good news from Annabeth Gish's character, and major cuts are coming to the CFD, and all three rigs won't be full-time this season. It was awful news for the firefighters to hear, and even Violet and Novak learned that they'd be working a lot harder. To his credit, Pascal did turn it around with a pep talk, but he also didn't come entirely clean to Stella about why they had to keep Vasquez.

Stella And Severide Are Becoming Parents After All?

Stella may not be pregnant in Season 14, but apparently Stellaride may be recruited to foster some older kids who need a home. Fostering is a common way for One Chicago to pursue parenthood without writing in any pregnancies; perhaps these two will be next.

Time For Chicago P.D.

Season 12 came to a bittersweet ending back in the spring with Burgess and Ruzek finally getting to tie the knot, but they didn't quite have a full house at their wedding, and it was following a very difficult episode for the entire unit. And there are going to be consequences in Season 13.

Goodbye To Kiana Cook

In the midst of Voight trying to convince Commander Devlin that he needs to reinstate the Intelligence Unit ASAP, we get the news: Toya Turner's exit is being written into Season 13 as Kiana Cook taking "a permanent spot in the 17th." It's not the most ceremonious exit that a Chicago P.D. series regular has ever gotten, but it beats the unexplained exit of Lisseth Chavez's Vanessa Rojas!

Ruzek Needs To Brush Up On His Lying Skills

Maybe the Intelligence Unit has been disbanded a little bit too long, because this was not Ruzek's smoothest undercover attempt to get information. He also gave up the "I'm police!" a little too quickly for comfort. Good thing that woman is also an undercover cop, with Arienne Mandi playing Eva Imani as Cook's replacement.

Can Burgess Catch A Break Sometime?

Burgess got to celebrate her wedding back in the spring, but I wonder if that'll be the last time we see her smile in a while. The poor woman went from getting the promotion to detective after a lot of time, a lot of work, and a rite of passage, only to be stripped of her badge and stuck at home shortly after. Why can't she have nice things?

Will Atwater Make Detective?

We're 38 minutes into the new season of Chicago P.D., so I guess it's time for my annual request: can Atwater make detective one of these days? He's been deserving it for years now.

Voight Tried To Do It The Right Way

To Voight's credit, he tried to win Commander Devlin over to approving the reinstatement of the Intelligence Unit. When that didn't work, Voight brought out his leverage: proof that Devlin and other CPD brass had covered up the theft of a lot of weapons that shouldn't have been on the street, and had never been reported. So, Vought got the approval to put Intelligence back together again, but he probably guaranteed that Devlin won't want to do any favors in the future.

Eva Imani Joins The Team

Imani managed to unintentionally convince Voight that she should be the next addition to the unit. Although hesitant at first, Voight promising her a "long leash" helped win her over, and she agreed on the condition that it's "just for a while."

The Intelligence Unit Is Back Together

With the exception of Kiana Cook, the entire Intelligence Unit is back on the job by the end of the Season 13 premiere! While Atwater and Ruzek were clearly bored in their beat assignments, I'm happier for Burgess and Torres that they get to come back to the job. Burgess clearly wasn't loving the life of a homebody, and Torres.... well, the suspension from work said his professional life wasn't going well, and the beard indicates that his personal life is still rocky.

As for Eva Imani, I don't think one episode is enough to tell whether or not she'll fit in with the rest of the team. She didn't really go out of her way to endear herself to Atwater or Ruzek when they met, but that was also before any of them knew that they'd be working together in Intelligence. I can see why Voight picked her, but that doesn't mean she'll be the new favorite of the unit.

One Chicago Premiere MVPs

My MVP of the Chicago Med premiere has to be Dean Archer. This wasn’t his most eventful episode of the series, but his reaction to Hannah’s pregnancy – whether he or Ripley was the father – was what I was the most nervous about heading in to Season 11. Fortunately, Med nailed it in three ways: 1) Ripley not being the father, 2) Archer having a mature reaction to the news, and 3) Archer pushing slightly but ultimately supporting her.

I've gone back and forth on the Chicago Fire MVP, and my instinct was to go for either Stella or Severide for the premiere. I think I'll have to give it to Violet, though. She powered through the loss of Carver and was a steady presence throughout the episode. It's been great to see Hanako Greensmith's work as Violet grows as a leader.

Chicago P.D. didn't really give screentime to most of the Intelligence Unit, so MVP will have to go to Voight. I could appreciate that he went all out to try and get his team reinstated, and apparently the unit has an even better close rate than I realized. He at least tried to do things the right way as well, and I think P.D. is more interesting when Voight is more conflicted about how far away he should veer from the straight and narrow.

And that's it for the fall 2025 premieres of One Chicago! If you want to rewatch any or all of the episodes, you'll be able to find them streaming next day via Peacock. You can also catch the next episodes on Wednesday, October 8 starting with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, continuing with Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and concluding with Chicago P.D.a t 10 p.m. ET.

Next week's episode will also be the milestone 200th for Med, with the return of Nick Gehlfuss as Will Halstead, so longtime fans won't want to miss it.

Chicago P.D. ended last season on a surprisingly happy note with Burgess and Ruzek finally getting to tie the knot, but the upcoming Season 13 premiere in the 2025 TV schedule will dig into the consequences of Voight and his team going rogue. While Deputy Chief Reid won’t be a problem for them anymore, showrunner Gwen Sigan and star Jason Beghe opened up about the characters who are facing the worst fallout this fall, with even Sigan admitting that it’s really not fair.

The Season 13 premiere of Chicago P.D. is called “Consequences." Per NBC, the episode will feature Voight teaming “up with an unlikely ally to take a killer off the streets while fighting to bring his Intelligence unit back together.” The “unlikely ally” is presumably Officer Eve Imani, a new character played by Arienne Mandi, but a big question is how hard Voight will have to fight for his former team.

They were disbanded in the penultimate episode of Season 12, and the fall One Chicago trailer shows several members of the team wearing patrol uniforms instead of their usual plain clothes. But who among the group is facing the worst consequences for how the finale ended back in the spring?

I asked Gwen Sigan and Jason Beghe that very question during NBC’s recent One Chicago premiere press junket, with the showrunner responding “I don’t think it’s Voight." The leading man chimed in that “it’s Burgess,” although “Benny [Levy Aguilar]” was named as another candidate. Sigan elaborated:

Torres is the one who broke some major rules in Season 12 via his relationship with a CI, and while he’s not the first Chicago P.D. character to cross that line, he was unfortunately caught. All Burgess did was cover for him, which – according to the showruner – basically means that she "really didn't do anything."

The CPD's punishment of taking her new detective badge doesn’t really seem to fit the crime. Any newlywed bliss after the Burzek wedding may not extend to her professional life! That said, Torres might be the one who’s in the most difficult position after Season 12. Jason Beghe said:

Catholicism has been an important part of Torres’ character ever since Benjamin Levy Aguilar joined the Chicago P.D. cast, so it makes sense that he’ll still be burdened by a guilty conscience when the show returns. Sigan went on:

While I’m not suggesting that Torres deserves to have his life permanently destroyed for his mistakes on the job in Season 12, his actions led to the mess with Chief Reid having leverage over the Intelligence Unit, while Burgess’ transgression was more inaction than action.

Of course, Chief Reid won’t be a problem for the unit in the new season after Voight orchestrated his assassination at the end of last season. Whether or not the full Intelligence Unit comes back together this season may depend on members of the CPD with more integrity than Reid.

Fans will have to tune in to the new premiere for the answers, but the One Chicago promo at least shows members of the team in action. Take a look:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, October 1 at 10 p.m. ET for the Season 13 premiere of Chicago P.D., following the Season 14 premiere of Chicago Fire with some Stellaride developments at 9 p.m. ET and the Season 11 premiere of Chicago Med ahead of the 200th episode at 8 p.m. ET. All three shows will be available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription as well.

CBS' CIA was originally set to join FBI in primetime in fall of the 2025 TV schedule, with FBI: Most Wanted's former executive producer on board as showrunner. The show has since been pushed back to a midseason release, so there are still months left before seeing Tom Ellis in action in his new role. Recently, Chicago Med's Nick Gehlfuss was confirmed as a cast member, and now another One Chicago actor has made the cut and will move from NBC to CBS. It's great news for the star, but perhaps not good for Kevin Atwater over on Chicago P.D.

CIA's Newest Cast Member

Natalee Linez has been cast for CBS' CIA, with Deadline reporting that she'll play a CIA analyst by the name of Gina Rojas. Tom Ellis, the first cast member announced after the show was initially titled FBI: CIA, plays a loose cannon CIA officer opposite Nick Gehlfuss as a by-the-book FBI agent. ER's Michael Michele is on board as the head of the CIA's New York Station, which sounds to me like she's the CIA counterpart FBI's Isobel.

Linez is also the latest actor following the grand tradition of a star leaving one show in the Dick Wolf TV universe and joining another one. Former Law & Order stars Jeremy Sisto and Alana De La Garza play new characters on FBI, Dylan McDermott definitely wasn't his villainous Law & Order: Organized Crime character on FBI: Most Wanted, and Jesse Lee Soffer left Chicago P.D. and landed the lead role on FBI: International's fourth and final season.

Chicago P.D.'s main cast won't be changed going into Season 13 this fall, but Linez did recur across a few episodes in the twelfth season (available streaming now with a Peacock subscription). Even if her absence won't make or break the Intelligence Unit, it could affect the always unlucky-in-love Kevin Atwater.

Is Chicago P.D. Losing Val?

While Chicago P.D. is usually procedural, there's often time for romance for the members of the Intelligence Unit... except for Atwater, that is. LaRoyce Hawkins hasn't gotten many romantic subplots over his twelve seasons and counting as Officer Kevin Atwater, but the future seemed fairly bright for Atwater and Val after Natalee Linez's three episodes. Sure, there was some murder involved in their relationship, but what relationship on Chicago P.D. doesn't have murder intruding on their love story at some point?

Technically, it's not confirmed that Linez landing her new CIA role means that Val has already made her last appearance on Chicago P.D. After all, Nick Gehlfuss is returning to Chicago Med this season while also co-leading CIA. Still, Linez will be filming in the Big Apple rather than the Windy City, with no indication that she'll be working back in One Chicago again in the foreseeable future. Her Instagram post about her casting even notes the big move. She wrote in the caption:

It remains to be seen how Chicago P.D. will handle Atwater's relationship with Val in light of Natalee Linez joining the cast of CIA. It's possible that the romance could continue off-screen, or perhaps the cop drama won't even address her absence if she never turns up again. (No, I'm still not over never getting answers about Rojas.) For his part, LaRoyce Hawkins showed his support, posting this comment on her Instagram:

CIA has not yet received an official premiere date from CBS, but it's expected early in 2026. Watson was originally set to kick off Season 2 in midseason, then was swapped with CIA to arrive this fall. The new series will presumably be paired with FBI when it finally arrives in the new year, although there's no confirmation at this point about how closely connected the two will (or won't) be.

Once upon a time, the return of NBC’s One Chicago block in the fall would mean the Halstead brothers (played by Nick Gehlfuss and Jesse Lee Soffer) coming back to primetime on their respective shows. Both left by the end of the 2022-2023 TV season, however, and Will on Med got much better closure than Jay did on P.D. Now, the latest casting news out of One Chicago in the 2025 TV schedule could mean an update on what’s been up with Jay Halstead… if we’re lucky enough that Med does what Fire did so well several seasons ago, anyway.

The Big One Chicago Casting News

While Chicago Fire is losing several series regulars ahead of Season 14 and Chicago P.D. lost Toya Turner’s Kiana Cook, Chicago Med is bringing back a familiar face for the 2025-2026 TV schedule despite my worries to the contrary. Nick Gehlfuss is returning to Med to reprise his role as Will Halstead for the first time since the Season 8 finale back in 2023.

Gehlfuss is returning as a guest star, so fans won’t see him as often as during the first eight seasons of the show before his big decision to leave Med. My #1 hope for his return is that Will isn’t coming back with any bad news about the little family he was building with Natalie and Owen in Seattle, but the news of a former series regular coming back to One Chicago reminded me of something that happened on Chicago Fire, and that has me hoping for an update about P.D.'s Jay as soon as we see Will again.

Will We Get An Update On Jay?

Longtime Chicago P.D. fans may remember when Antonio Dawson was written out between Season 6 and Season 7, with Jon Seda being cut from the cast. P.D. didn't deliver many details about what Antonio was up to after leaving the Windy City, and the big update came courtesy of Fire, when former series regular Monica Raymund returned to guest star as Gabby Dawson, a.k.a. Antonio's sister

And if Chicago Fire could deliver an update on a former Chicago P.D. main character via their guest-starring sibling in 2019, while couldn’t Chicago Med do the same for Jay with Will returning this season? Even if we never saw much of the Halstead brothers’ relationship during their overlapping seasons of One Chicago, it stands to reason that Will would at least be aware of what’s been happening with Jay after how P.D. ended his story.

Admittedly, it’s not unusual for a One Chicago show to move on quickly from a character after the actor left, but not hearing much about Halstead felt particularly strange back in P.D. Season 10. Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) had a whole storyline about their relationship while he was nowhere to be seen, and never anything to suggest a sympathetic side to his story.

And while Upton is gone from the Windy City as well, I’d still like an update about Jay from Will now that Will is guaranteed to be coming back to Med. Surely somebody could ask him about his brother on screen, and Will could have at least a minor thing or to two say… right? If Chicago Fire could do it for P.D.’s Antonio, surely Chicago Med can do it for P.D.’s Halstead!

I’ll hold out hope for it, anyway. For now, we can all look forward to the return of NBC’s One Chicago Wednesdays on October 1, starting with Med at 8 p.m. ET, continuing with Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and ending with P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also check out earlier seasons of all three shows streaming with a Peacock subscription now.

The temperature may still be hot and the Dick Wolf Entertainment action in the Windy City may still be on repeat, but the weeks are counting down until the returns of NBC’s One Chicago shows in the 2025 TV schedule. The network had been airing reruns of all three shows on Wednesday nights over the summer, and that will continue as the fall season approaches… for one of the shows, anyway. The Wednesday lineup is changing, and only P.D. of the TV trio seems likely to continue getting weekly reruns.

I’m often known to tune in to One Chicago reruns while working on Wednesday nights, and it was a nice touch of consistency to keep that usual primetime lineup going even over summer hiatus. Now that America’s Got Talent has moved into the live show portion of Season 20, however, it’s getting Med’s usual 8 p.m. ET time slot for the results episode for the next several weeks.

Fire reruns are being replaced in the 9 p.m. ET time slot, starting on August 20 with Inside the Worlds of Epic Universe airing instead. At 10 p.m. ET, you can still catch a rerun of Chicago P.D., with the Kiana Cook-centric “Name Image Likeness” episode of Season 12 on August 20. I was a little surprised to see that episode getting a repeat as fall approaches, with Toya Turner not returning as Kiana Cook in Season 13.

Seeing that “Name Image Likeness” is the next rerun, I decided it was time to do some math while looking at the rest of NBC’s summer schedule. That was Episode 19 of Season 12, with just three subsequent episodes before hiatus kicked off back in May. The network schedule has Chicago P.D. off on August 27, which suggests that even the cop drama won’t be getting weekly reruns. Warning: It's all speculation from here on.

Counting August 20, there are five Wednesdays left before the October premiere, and NBC hasn’t released the schedule for the four of them starting in September just yet. If we assume that there will be two Wednesdays without repeats (which seems like a safe bet since AGT will likely get all three hours for its finale on September 24 as usual), then P.D.’s reruns could perfectly align for the Season 12 finale with all the metaphorical wedding bells ringing to be the last repeat of the summer. Nothing has been confirmed, but my hopes are high.

As far as I’m concerned, having a refresher on the finale that close to the premiere would be great. Interestingly, Chicago Fire is four episodes away from repeating its finale compared to P.D.'s three, so that drama may not make it all the way to re-running the Season 13 conclusion before Season 14 starts. Chicago Med did finish its Season 10 series of repeats on August 13 with the tear-jerking Season 10 finale.

This isn’t the first time that Chicago P.D. has gotten more reruns than Med or Fire due to having the 10 p.m. time slot, and it doesn’t suggest that NBC has lost faith in either of the two other shows. Plus, it’s not like it’s hard to rewatch any episode from any of the three for anybody with a Peacock subscription. Still, as someone who watches a lot of TV with a lot of finale stories to keep track of, I’m definitely crossing my fingers that the schedule does align for the P.D. finale rerun to air so close to the premieres.

One Chicago returns this fall on Wednesday, October 1 on NBC, with Med at 8 p.m. ET, Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and P.D. at 10 p.m. ET, as usual. None of the three ended last season on life-or-death cliffhangers like we’ve seen in the past, but that certainly doesn’t mean that they don’t all have big stories to continue this fall.

Tracy Spiridakos was a regular presence in primetime for years as part of the Chicago P.D. cast, but departed at the end of Season 11. NBC's One Chicago cop drama brought in Toya Turner's Kiana Cook to fill the vacancy left by Detective Hailey Upton, but actually, now more turnover is on the way for the start of Season 13 in the fall 2025 TV schedule. Shortly after news of who would be joining the ensemble as Cook's replacement, Spiridakos has landed a new leading role far from the world of the multi-show Dick Wolf TV universe.

Tracy Spiridakos' New Show Is Called Anna Pigeon

Spiridakos stepped away from the small screen for a time after leaving Chicago P.D. in 2024, although that didn't mean stepping away from all of her former co-stars. In fact, her travels with Jesse Lee Soffer (who played her on-screen husband before his own One Chicago departure) led to hopes that she'd appear on FBI: International. Her return to TV brings her to cable as the star of Anna Pigeon, an upcoming series for USA.

Tracy Spiridakos stars in Anna Pigeon as the titular character, with Deadline reporting that the lead becomes a park ranger due to a devastating loss after living the life of a city slicker. Outrunning her demons won't necessarily be as easy as changing locations, and she'll work at solving crimes that are committed on the grounds of national parks. If nothing else, it sounds like Spiridakos might get to film in stunning locations!

The new series is based on a book series by author Nevada Barr, with Rookie Blue and Saving Hope EP Morwyn Brebner on board as showrunner. In a fun twist, Brebner's role as writer, creator, and EP of Rookie Blue means that she spent years working with Missy Peregrym before Peregrym joined the Wolf Entertainment TV universe as the leading lady of CBS' FBI. Spiridakos guest-starred on FBI as P.D.'s Upton back in 2020.

While no details are available at the time of writing about who will join Spiridakos in the cast of Anna Pigeon, the new show is reportedly set to premiere on USA in 2026. So, it seems like a safe bet that Upton won't be turning up again on Chicago P.D. any time soon, but a new character will be joining the fold with Toya Turner's Kiana Cook out ahead of Season 13.

Chicago P.D.'s New Series Regular Is Coming In Fall Of 2025

The newest actor to join Chicago P.D. as a series regular is The Night Agent alum Arienne Mandi, with Deadline reporting that she'll play a CPD officer by the name of Naomi Kerr. The character came to the CPD with history as a soldier and military contractor, making her experienced in dangerous situations but not too inclined to open up. The outlet notes, however, that details could change between the time of her casting announcement in July 2025 and NBC's Season 13 premiere on October 1.

Mandi is likely best known for her role in the second season of Netflix's The Night Agent (which is already set to return for Season 3), but she joins the ranks of actors like Jesse Lee Soffer, Jeremy Sisto, Alana De La Garza and more. What do I mean? She'll be playing more than one character within the Wolf Entertainment universe. Prior to landing her series regular role on Chicago P.D., she was a guest star on CBS' FBI.

It remains to be seen how well Arienne Mandi's new character fits in with the dynamic of the Intelligence Unit. The last series regular to join and then last for more than one season was Benjamin Levy Aguilar as Officer Dante Torres. Find out when Chicago P.D. returns to primetime with the premiere on Wednesday, October 1 at 10 p.m. ET, following the Season 14 premiere of Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Season 11 premiere of Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, all on NBC.

As for Tracy Spiridakos' new show, we'll just have to wait for USA to announce updates for the future of Anna Pigeon. For now, you can always revisit her days as Hailey Upton with Chicago P.D. streaming with a Peacock subscription.

The summer months are usually pretty uneventful for fans of NBC’s One Chicago world as the wait continues for fall premieres, but there are reasons for viewers to keep their eyes peeled for news out of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med even during the summer of the 2025 TV schedule. While all three hit dramas were renewed, changes are on the way, and the recent news of another series regular being cut has me nervous for the medical drama in particular.

So, how worried do we need to be? I have four Med characters in particular whose futures seem most likely to be in jeopardy.

2025 One Chicago Cast Exits

The first exits were announced way back in April, when news broke that Chicago Fire was cutting Daniel Kyri as Ritter and Jake Lockett as Carver ahead of Season 14. The Season 13 finale set up Carver’s reason to leave the Windy City, but the credits rolled without establishing why Ritter will be MIA from Firehouse 51 come fall. The first responder drama has cast On Call’s Brandon Larracuente as a new series regular.

When the three shows’ finales all aired in May without further news of any exits, I’d hoped that earlier reports (via Deadline) of potential One Chicago departures beyond Kyri and Ritter wouldn’t result in P.D. or Med losing anybody after all.

Alas, as of late June, that’s no longer the case. Toya Turner, the newest series regular to join Chicago P.D., will not return as Officer Kiana Cook for Season 13 in the fall. That doesn’t mean the Intelligence Unit will be down to just Burgess, Ruzek, Atwater, and Torres working under Voight, though, as another Deadline report indicates that the show is looking for a new series regular to play a female officer with the ATF Task Force, hailing from a military background.

With two cuts from Fire and now one cut from P.D., the question has to be asked: what about Chicago Med?

Who Is Confirmed For Chicago Med Season 11?

In early June, Deadline confirmed that all three One Chicago shows could guarantee their leads returning for the fall season. For Fire, that means Taylor Kinney (Kelly Severide), Miranda Rae May (Stella Kidd), and Dermot Mulroney (Chief Pascal). For P.D., Jason Beghe is sticking around as Voight. For Med, S. Epatha Merkerson (Sharon Goodwin) and Oliver Platt (Dr. Charles) are guaranteed to be back.

I was glad to get the confirmation about Merkerson and Platt, since Dr. Charles' breakthrough with his daughter was such a showcase for the character that I’d wondered if it was in service of a grand swan song and exit. As for Goodwin, I would have hated to lose the character, but even I wouldn’t have been able to blame her if she decided it was time to retire. I didn’t want to see her leave – especially since Merkerson had me tearing up in the Med finale – but if you get stabbed in your own office, I think you earn a free pass to retire at will. (The finale is available streaming with a Peacock subscription.)

Considering that the finale ended on the pregnant Hannah (Jessy Schram) turning up on Archer’s (Steven Weber) doorstep with the cryptic greeting of “We need to talk,” I think it’s safe to say that Schram and Weber aren’t going anywhere before Season 11 arrives in the fall. That leaves us with four Med regulars whose futures seem less guaranteed in this uncertain time, so let’s look at who they are and who seems the most secure (and least) secure to return in Season 11.

Who Is Not Yet Confirmed

If you watched Season 10, you probably already have an idea of who I’m about to mention: Marlyne Barrett as Maggie Lockwood, Luke Mitchell as Mitch Ripley, Sarah Ramos as Caitlin Lenox, and Darren Barnet as John Frost. In order of longevity, let’s look at which character could reasonably be written out of Med based on how Season 10 ended.

Marlyne Barrett is the only main Med cast member other than Oliver Platt and S. Epatha Merkerson who has been on board from the very beginning, so it’s hard to imagine a future for the medical drama without Maggie as the ED’s charge nurse. She even had a key role in the finale when it came to two sick kids and one available pair of lungs, but there was no big cliffhanger involving Maggie that would require her back for the Season 11 premiere. I hate to even imagine the ED without Maggie, however, and there’s no other nurse main character who could step into her shoes.

Season 10 was Luke Mitchell’s second as Mitch Ripley, but he managed to get even messier in 2025 than he was at the end of Season 9 when he was facing trouble with the law. The finale back in May ended on a peaceful note for him, however, as the woman who he’d risked his own life to save dropped by for some flirting, which could have been to set up a Season 11 relationship storyline. He’s also the top candidate to be named as the father of Hannah’s baby, since I’m not convinced that her arrival on Archer’s door wasn’t a red herring. If he’s wrapped up in the pregnancy storyline, he’s surely here to stay.

Darren Barnett was one of two new series regulars to join Chicago Med in Season 10, and if Toya Turner being written out of Chicago P.D. is any indication, the approach to cutting One Chicago cast members might be that the last one in is the first one out. His big arc of the season was as neatly wrapped up as any fan could hope by the end of a finale, and I’d be inclined to name him as somebody who could be cut if not for Barnett joining P.D.'s Benjamin Levy Aguilar as well as Fire’s Hanako Greensmith and Jocelyn Hudon to represent One Chicago at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival earlier in June (via Instagram).

And that brings us to Sarah Ramos, whose Dr. Caitlin Lenox was causing waves in the ED from the start of Season 10 when Goodwin brought her in to share Chief duties with Archer. By the end of the season, Lenox was working as solo ED Chief and the friction with Archer was at a minimum. Unfortunately, the finale also revealed that she had tested positive for the deadly prion disease that runs in her family.

I’ve been looking forward to seeing how Lenox would handle that reveal while still working in the ED, since she’s not exactly known for opening up to coworkers. But in light of all the variables, Lenox might be the character who would most easily lift out.

Hopefully all of this speculation turns out to be unnecessary and Chicago Med doesn’t have to lose any characters at all like Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., but only time will tell as summer hiatus continues. For now, keep a lookout for One Chicago developments, and feel free to revisit any favorite episodes streaming on Peacock as hiatus continues.

One Chicago has a pretty vast cast of characters across NBC’s three hit shows, and more cast departures have seemed likely after the rumors surrounding the exits of Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett from Chicago Fire. Now, Chicago P.D. is on the verge of losing series regular: New Amsterdam alum Toya Turner has been cut as Officer Kiana Cook between the Season 12 finale in May and the upcoming Season 13 premiere this fall in the 2025 TV schedule.

That’s already a bummer since the Season 12 finale didn’t give her a goodbye, but I’m already concerned about whether P.D. will handle this exit like a previous time a series regular was cut between seasons.

Chicago P.D. Is Losing Toya Turner

Toya Turner was Chicago P.D.’s newest series regular, and last seen as Kiana Cook in the Season 12 finale (available streaming with a Peacock subscription now) dressed to the nines for the Burzek wedding. Deadline reports that Turner will not appear when P.D. comes back for Season 13, meaning that we’ve seen the last of her. This obviously isn’t a situation like when Jesse Lee Soffer’s exit was announced over summer hiatus, but he returned for more episodes before being written out.

The reason for Turner’s exit as Cook is reportedly unknown, but I’ve been waiting for the shoe to drop for a Chicago P.D. or Chicago Med cast member after Fire cut two series regulars ahead of the fall season. The actress herself confirmed the news on Instagram, posting:

While I’m not shocked at another One Chicago cut and the last series regular in always seemed likely to be the first series regular out, I can’t help but think back to Toya Turner’s sweet stories about being welcomed by the cast, complete with LaRoyce Hawkins helping her pick out a couch. Cook’s complicated backstory also seemed like it had a lot of story potential.

All in all, I’ll miss Kiana Cook… and I may spend the next few months crossing my fingers that Toya Turner is not written out like another former series regular.

Yes, I Still Want To Know What Happened To Rojas

Join me on a blast to the Season 7 past of Chicago P.D., when Lisseth Chavez was the show’s newest series regular as Officer Vanessa Rojas. The character had an interesting backstory, a shot at a relationship with Atwater (Hawkins), and a cute friendship with Upton. Then, Rojas was cut from P.D. in the summer between Season 7 and Season 8, never to be seen or really mentioned again after the seventh season finale in early 2020.

I wasn’t ready to give up on Rojas, though. Even if Lisseth Chavez wasn’t ever going to come back, I just wanted answers. Why did she leave the Intelligence Unit between seasons? Where did she go? Was she still with CPD? I even asked showrunner Gwen Sigan if we might ever see her again in 2022, almost two full years after Season 8 premiered without a sign of Rojas!

I doubt that answers will ever come, so I’m just going to shift my hopes to crossing my fingers that Toya Turner’s Kiana Cook gets an explanation for her absence. It could be similar to P.D. explaining where Antonio was even after writing Jon Seda out. If I never get an answer about Rojas, I'll settle for even an acknowledgment of Cook's absence.

For now, you can always revisit both Cook’s and Rojas’ days on Chicago P.D. with their full seasons streaming on Peacock, as well as Chicago Med and Chicago Fire. All three shows will return to Wednesday nights in the fall.

The world of One Chicago on NBC often ends the spring TV season on life-or-death cliffhangers, but the finales in the 2025 TV schedule were short on imminent disasters (unless Hannah’s complicated situation on Chicago Med counts). Chicago P.D. ended Season 12 on the long-awaited wedding of Kim Burgess and Adam Ruzek, and I for one breathed a sigh of relief that they made it down the aisle without any last-minute crisis to kill the mood.

The fandom as a whole wasn’t on the same page about the wedding, however, and I’ve come to understand where the frustrated viewers are coming from as I sit in on NBC's summer reruns on Wednesday nights. And what else was there to do with Burzek on the brain but rewatch the other Chicago P.D. weddings to compare?

Why Chicago P.D. Fans Didn’t All Love The Burzek Wedding

First things first! Burgess and Ruzek are not only the longest-running main relationship on Chicago P.D., but arguably the longest-running main relationship in all of One Chicago. So, anticipation was high for their nuptials, not least because of all the ordeals they had to go through separately and together to get to an exchange of “I do.”

And as it turned out, there was no “I do” from either character, with the focus of the wedding scene being more on Chapman’s conversation with Voight in the pews rather than on the bride and groom. Showrunner Gwen Sigan told CinemaBlend about the wedding that the concept of having vows “just began to feel a little bit too soft and almost too sweet for the the tone we wanted at the end” with the stakes they’d set up. (The finale is streaming now with a Peacock subscription.)

So, nothing was ever scripted or shot of how Burzek pledged their love for each other in front of all the friends and family that P.D. could assemble from One Chicago. Perhaps I just went into the three NBC finales dreading the possibility of death and destruction so much that I was fine with getting at least that much peace for Burgess walking down the aisle, but other fans had higher expectations from the jump. Marina Squerciati’s excitement over picking the wedding dress certainly raised anticipation!

Viewers in the comment section Squerciati’s Instagram post with BTS photos for the wedding had a LOT to say. Here are just a few examples:

• luvtiva: "We deserved more than what we got. No vows, I do's, rings and the first kiss ☹️. Burzek deserved more."
• mrst_mama2a: "Was that really it for the wedding?! They better pic that back up. This beautiful couple deserves more QT and Burzek fans deserve vows after all they have been through. AND a Kevin best man speech. Please tell me there will be more."
• gem61719: "Sigh….that was about Voight and Chapman, not Kim and Adam. After all their history, the characters and fans deserved more. Here’s hoping we get it in the season opener next season!! Gorgeous dress!!"

So, there isn’t really a consensus among fans en masse that I’ve seen about whether Burzek got the wedding they deserved, but the common complaint about the event is consistent: they should have gotten more and the finale didn’t need to end on Voight and Chapman. Happy events can be few and far between on Chicago P.D. toward the end of a season, and the wedding ultimately wasn’t a 100% joyous event.

So let's look back at an event that was definitely a celebration!

Mouch And Platt Get Married

Okay, technically the first wedding for a P.D. character actually happened on Chicago Fire and the emphasis was mostly on the Firehouse 51 characters, but I’m counting it for the sake of comparison because 1) P.D. doesn’t have a lot of weddings to revisit and 2) it’s just nice to look back at Platt looking so happy when tying the knot with Fire’s Mouch. (If you also want to revisit it, check out Episode 18 of Fire Season 4 on Peacock.)

The build up to the wedding involved the kind of shenanigans that really fit on Fire in a way they never could on the crime drama, but when I went back to the episode, I realized what I’d forgotten: we don’t actually see these two characters exchange vows either. Mouch and Platt both looked overjoyed, and then the scene cut to the reception at Molly’s. No "I do."

The scene was emotional to rewatch, but honestly, mostly because characters like Otis, Dawson, and Casey were still in the mix on Fire at that point in Season 4, and it was nice to see them again. As the earliest One Chicago wedding that I’m counting for P.D., I’d say it was more celebratory than what Burzek got.

But there is another ceremony that definitely counts as a Chicago P.D. wedding without Chicago Fire being involved, which brings me to…

Halstead And Upton Elope

If you’ve been reading CinemaBlend’s coverage of Chicago P.D. over the years, you may already know: I had a major soft spot for Upstead and held onto hope for as long as reasonably possible for a happy ending after how Halstead left in Season 10. But before fans had to justify Jay quitting CPD, rejoining the army, and then going radio silent, and before Upton was overwhelmed by the abandonment with some powerhouse performances from Tracy Spiridakos, we had the partners eloping at the courthouse. (This was Episode 9 of Season 9, if you want to rewatch.)

Even knowing that Upton got a happy ending of sorts by the time she left Chicago in Season 11, rewatching their Season 9 midseason finale wedding stung a little bit because it was such a hopeful sequence. Nobody knew at the time that couple wouldn’t be together too long. But I did rewatched that wedding!

They got married under the least joyous circumstances of the three P.D. couples, as it was immediately after Halstead found an option to get the FBI off Upton’s back without flipping on Voight, and they went through the wringer throughout the arc. But as it turns out, these two lovebirds are the only ones of the three P.D. weddings to actually exchange vows on screen!

It was also the only one of the three to show the newly married couple consummating the marriage on screen, with Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos addressing those wedding decisions to CinemaBlend at the time. Oddly enough, the only Chicago P.D. married couple to exchange vows on screen is also the only marriage that ended in divorce, as it still pains me to say.

How The Crime Drama's Weddings Measure Up

My goal of ranking the Chicago P.D. weddings really ran into a snag after watching all three in a row. When it comes to the most satisfying wedding, I’d give the top spot to Upstead and their courthouse vows, then probably Burzek and then Platt/Mouch. Even if Burzek didn’t get all the fireworks fans were hoping for, the actors really sold how meaningful it was that their characters were finally tying the knot.

When it comes to the most rewarding wedding, I’d give that to Burzek simply because of how long and painful their journey was to finally building their family together. I’d place Upstead at #2 and Platt/Mouch at #3, pretty much just because I was more sold on Upton and Halstead’s will they/won’t they than Mouch and Trudy’s cross-show romance.

It remains to be seen how P.D. will handle Burgess and Ruzek’s working relationship now that they’re officially married. As the most procedural of the One Chicago shows, I wouldn’t be surprised if the marriage is mostly unacknowledged other than wedding rings for episodes that aren’t centered on either of the two characters.

Find out when Chicago P.D. returns to NBC Wednesday this fall for Season 13, in its usual 10 p.m. time slot following Chicago Fire Season 14 at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET. All three shows are also streaming on Peacock now.

Spoilers ahead for the One Chicago finales for the 2024-2025 season.

Another season of One Chicago action has come to an end on NBC, with Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med fortunately all scoring renewals ahead of their finales in the spring 2025 TV schedule. Now, one week after the three series aired their final ventures of the 2024-2025 season, every finale is available streaming with a Peacock subscription and I’ve had time to settle on my ranking for the episodes. Whether it’s here on CinemaBlend or just via social media, ranking Fire, P.D., and Med finales has become something of a tradition for me, but it was harder than usual this year.

The three finales were so different that I just couldn't decide on an order of best to worst overall. I debated ranking by which gave me the biggest jump scares, which would have had P.D. at #1 for Deputy Chief Reid’s sudden murder, Med at #2 for the non-murderous but still surprising Hannah reveal, and Fire at #3 since those cast departures had already been announced and Stella’s pregnancy was always a possibility.

Or should I rank by which would have me most excited for next season? That might have flipped the order to Fire, Med, then P.D. Or perhaps the level of stress per cliffhanger? None were particularly stressful this time around. No, I eventually settled on how much the finales made me cry, because it’s not every week that a procedural TV show will trigger the waterworks from me. So, read on for the order in which the One Chicago finales had me shedding some rare tears, starting with the least emotional.

#3: Chicago P.D.’s Season 12 Finale

Showrunner Gwen Sigan built anticipation for the Season 12 finale, called “Vows,” by previewing Voight questioning his own “mortality” with everyone “in so much trouble” after how the penultimate episode ended. The team had to go rogue after Deputy Chief Reid dissolved the Intelligence Unit, and Voight had to either fall back into old habits or show his true colors – depending on where you fall on Hank Voight’s moral code – to take down Reid.

Reid being shot by Rennie was shocking enough to me that my very dignified One Chicago finale live-blog reaction was “Holy Jump Scare, Batman!” and his final line of “You’re worse than me” to Voight was pretty chilling, but I wasn’t attached enough to Shawn Hatosy’s villainous character to shed a tear for him.

Likewise, while ASA Chapman seemed on the verge of tears after Voight crossed some serious lines to arrange Reid’s bloody downfall, I have to suspect that’s because she hasn’t known him terribly long in the grand scheme of Chicago P.D.’s 243 episodes so far. No tears from me over Voight falling off the moral wagon, because I certainly saw it coming.

What did nearly get me reaching for the tissues in “Vows” was the scene between Ruzek and Burgess in their car, when she was running down the reasons why it didn’t feel right to get married when so many things were going so very wrong. Ruzek saying that they could just put the wedding off was awfully sweet, and I have to credit Marina Squerciati and Patrick John Flueger for delivering.

The Burzek wedding didn’t have a full guest list or even vows spoken aloud when it ultimately happened, but that was a pretty great scene between P.D.’s longest-running couple. Would I have cried if the One Chicago finales that aired before P.D. on May 21 hadn't already had me in an emotional fictional place? That’s hard to say, but it's a good place to jump from Chicago P.D. to…

#2: Chicago Fire’s Season 13 Finale

Chicago Fire is generally the One Chicago show most likely to deliver a life-or-death cliffhanger at the end of a season, and also one of the rare network TV dramas that might actually deliver a permanent death on the other side in the fall. (R.I.P. forever, Otis.) So, I tend to steel myself for Fire more than any of the others. Throw in how Jake Lockett and Daniel Kyri’s exits had already been confirmed and what felt like pretty good odds that the good ship Stellaride would be getting a new passenger, and I was ready.

I thought so, anyway. Then Herrmann and Mouch came out of nowhere to pluck at my heartstrings! The big problem toward the end of Season 13 was the fact that there were three officers looking for two slots at Firehouse 51. Pascal showed no indication of wanting to leave as Battalion Chief even if Herrmann passed the Chief’s exam, and Mouch couldn’t move up to Engine 51 lieutenant if Herrmann was still captain of the rig, right?

Not right, as it turned out! Herrmann decided that a job behind a desk wasn’t for him, and since he and Mouch were likely in their twilight years at the CFD, he could still give his best friend the chance to be an acting lieutenant at their beloved firehouse. Herrmann stepped down for Mouch to take over as leader of Engine, despite Mouch emotionally arguing that Herrmann couldn’t just do that. I have to give it up to David Eigenberg and especially Christian Stolte, because that was a standout scene between two characters who are often more comic relief than serious players.

And would this #2 ranking be complete if I didn’t acknowledge the scene that not only had me tearing up, but – according to showrunner Andrea Newman – had “everybody behind the monitor…crying” as well? The baby bombshell that I was kind of expecting did indeed come before the end of the Season 13 finale, but it wasn’t Stella and Severide learning that they’d be adoptive parents soon.

No, Stella was pregnant, and Severide’s overjoyed reaction to the news was pretty delightful. Never before had I been so glad for Fire not to end on a cliffhanger, because Stellaride celebrating their pregnancy was a perfect way to end Season 13. Will there be dramatic twists to the pregnancy in Season 14? I’d be very surprised if not, but for the next few months, we can enjoy the memory of a very happy pair of parents-to-be.

#1: Chicago Med’s Season 10 Finale

A special congratulations Chicago Med this year, because I don’t think the medical drama has ever landed the #1 spot on one of my finale rankings. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise after Med’s fall finale was also my favorite of the three. Season 10 has felt a bit different under new showrunner Allen MacDonald, and cast member Steven Weber praised the “down and dirty” writing.

It was nothing “down and dirty” that had me crying in the Season 10 finale, but rather some loaded emotional moments. One of them didn’t come as a huge surprise after MacDonald previewed a “powerhouse” performance from Oliver Platt as part of the “Charles Trilogy” revisiting his family history. The final scene between Dr. Charles and Anna definitely had me reaching for the tissues. In fact, when I admitted as much to the showrunner, Allen MacDonald shared that it “makes me cry every time I see it” as well.

Chicago Med didn’t earn the #1 slot by just hitting one heart-wrenching note, though! I have to give special mention to Brooklyn Shuck, the young guest actress who played the terminally-ill Alea. Her storyline was of course tragic from the start, as she was doomed eventually whether she got the new set of lungs or not. The moment that really hit was when she addressed the father of the boy whose life she was saving, passing on a message for Noah to “use those lungs as much as he can” in case she dies before she could tell him herself.

The final emotional moment that ultimately ranked Med over Fire was the very last of the finale, with the reveal that Goodwin was pouring her heart out after a difficult day to none other than ex-husband Bert, whose dementia had advanced to the point that he was very kind to her but had no idea who she was. S. Epatha Merkerson more than earned that final moment of Season 10, and it was a lovely but sad beat for Goodwin.

And that’s that for One Chicago in the 2024-2025 TV season! All three shows will be back in the fall, presumably with more crises for fans to follow along with on NBC’s Wednesday nights. For now, you can always revisit earlier episodes of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med streaming on Peacock.

Spoilers ahead for the Season 12 finale of Chicago P.D., called "Vows" and available streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

As expected for a finale that would involve Voight pondering his "mortality" and Deputy Chief Reid making a big move against the Intelligence Unit, Chicago P.D.'s final episode of the spring 2025 TV schedule was pretty intense for most of the hour. It did end on a mostly high note, however, after the unit had been – to quote showrunner Gwen Sigan – in "so much trouble." When I spoke with Sigan about the finale, I had to ask about the guest list for Burgess and Ruzek finally tying the knot, as well as why an episode called "Vows" didn't actually include any wedding vows.

The wedding was pretty traditional by One Chicago standards, complete with a beautiful gown on Burgess, Ruzek looking dapper in his suit, a walk down the aisle, and plenty of people in the pews. Happening at the end of the episode also meant that it couldn't be ruined by Reid crashing it, although Voight's move in defeating the Deputy Chief did somewhat sour the nuptials when Chapman couldn't help but bring it up.

Still, Burzek finally got to tie the knot, and we officially have the first married couple on Chicago P.D. since Upstead's untimely end. In speaking with Gwen Sigan about the latest wedding in the wide world of One Chicago, I asked about how the writers decided on the guest list for the wedding. She explained:

Mouch was the only character from Chicago Fire or Chicago Med who joined the P.D. festivities, with Christian Stolte making an appearance not too long after his eventful episode of Med. There were no former P.D. stars who turned up either, although I hadn't gotten my hopes up for that after a previous Burzek development. Still, we saw all the main P.D. players as well as Makayla and Bob Ruzek, plus a bunch of unnamed characters, so Kim and Adam had a full enough house to say "I do."

Although if anybody was hoping to actually hear the "I do" after some lengthy vows from Chicago P.D.'s longest-running couple, that didn't happen in the Season 12 finale. When asked if vows were ever even scripted for Burzek, Sigan shared:

Well, if the finale was going to fit in one last conversation between Voight and Chapman in the audience of the wedding, then the ceremony couldn't be entirely light and fancy-free for fans to watch from home. Voight's decisions that led to Reid's death and even post mortem downfall were a result of him falling back into some old bad habits, and being dressed to the nines for a wedding didn't stop Chapman from calling him out on it.

So, we didn't hear how Burgess and Ruzek proclaimed their love for each other to finally start off their marriage. Still, seeing them surrounded by loved ones at the altar, we can at least be happy that they were none the wiser that Voight and Chapman were having a very different kind of conversation several pews back. They're married, and with no sign that Marina Squerciati or Patrick John Flueger is leaving the show like Jesse Lee Soffer did to throw a wrench in Upstead's marriage, the good ship Burzek seems to be sailing strong into Season 13.

The wedding was the last that we'll see of these characters for the next several months, as summer hiatus has officially kicked off. Fans will have the option of rewatching earlier episodes streaming via Peacock, and NBC renewed all three One Chicago shows to return to Wednesday nights in the fall. The Windy City action isn't going anywhere despite other NBC cancellations like Suits LA and Night Court, so it's just a matter of waiting.

NBC has had a good things going for the past several years with One Chicago Wednesdays, and Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. seem set to end the spring 2025 TV schedule with some potentially game-changing finales. Finales in this corner of the expansive Dick Wolf TV universe can range from tragic to triumphant, and the penultimate episodes last week already set up pregnancy drama, a main character possibly going to jail for murder, and wedding bells ringing.

The One Chicago showrunners all spoke with CinemaBlend to hype the final episodes of the 2024-2025 TV season, and it's a safe bet that fans will have plenty to talk about as summer hiatus kicks off. So, watch along with me for a spoiler-filled live-blog of these final episodes of the spring!

Note that entries will appear from Most Recent to Oldest as the episode is still airing live, and the order will flip from Oldest to Most Recent once the watchalong has concluded.

What To Expect From One Chicago's Finales

As usual, Chicago Med starts out NBC's One Chicago Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET, and showrunner Allen MacDonald previewed a "powerhouse" performance from Oliver Platt after he gets a big scare. The network's episode description for the Season 10 finale – called "...Don't You Cry" – sheds some more light:

Chicago Fire is next up at 9 p.m. ET, and the Season 13 finale will have to deal with the aftermath of Pascal being arrested, complete with Severide having what showrunner Andrea Newman described as a "nagging question" about the Chief. Called "It Had To End This Way," NBC's preview states:

Last up, we have Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET, with Voight questioning his "mortality" – according to EP Gwen Sigan – after Deputy Chief Reid shut down the Intelligence Unit in retaliation for their not-to-secret investigation into his shady dealings. According to the network:

As always with this three-hour block of primetime, let's start out with Chicago Med one last time this spring!

Chicago Med – "...Don't You Cry"

Chicago Med has a lot to pack into the last episode of the spring, starting out with Goodwin showing no mercy. She's not dealing out forgiveness tonight!

Lizzy Does Not Win Most Supportive Sister Of The Year

I've been sympathetic to Lizzy this season, but she's digging deep into her bag of resentments against Hannah after the pregnancy news. Poor Hannah is not off to a good start of dropping the bombshell on her loved ones!

Good News For The Lenox Siblings

Despite their fears, Kip and Caitlin Lenox apparently got the best kind of news! They haven't inherited the prion disease that would have slowly but surely wrecked their health before ultimately killing them. If we get good news for characters this early in the finale, does that mean we're doomed to bad news by the end?

Don't Be Suspicious

I can't say I blame Hannah for not dropping the pregnancy bombshell on Ripley in the middle of the ED while both were working, but she also wasn't being quite as subtle asking about kids as I expected. Ripley may come to regret his words about whether having children is worth the potential heartache.

Archer + Lenox = BFFs?

If you'd told me at the beginning of Season 10 that I'd be on board with the peculiar dynamic between Lenox and Archer, I might not have believed it! The antagonism has turned into a fun friendship, and I'm glad Lenox called Archer out on him not actually doing any of the fun vacation adventures that he was recommending to her. Maybe Archer is just the most entertaining when he's bonding with unexpected scene partners, although I'm fairly certain Lenox isn't going to replace Hannah for him.

Chicago Med Gets A Clean Bill Of Health For Guest Stars

Kudos to One Chicago's medical drama for casting Tim DeKay as Griffin, because it would be so easy to hate the overbearing father for stealing the lungs. DeKay has me feeling a modicum of sympathy for his situation as a dad on the verge of losing everything... although I'm still rooting for Walter (Sam Trammell) and his wife to somehow get the lungs for young Noah.

Dr. Charles Did Not Specialize In Teenage Girl Psychiatry

I can easily see why showrunner Allen MacDonald said that Oliver Platt was a "powerhouse" in the Season 10 finale, because he's crushing this episode. We're definitely being reminded of why Platt has had such a long and successful career. And how great is it that Mekia Cox wasn't too busy with The Rookie to come back as Robin? Anna seems like she could use all the support she could get, and nobody knows that struggle as a Charles daughter better than Robin.

I'm Definitely Not Going To Cry

Surely I've watched enough medical series and Dick Wolf TV shows over the years that I'm not going to cry over this transplant storyline and/or Dr. Charles and his daughters, right? Definitely not going to happen.

Update: I Cried

Dang it, Oliver Platt! I was determined that I was not going to cry during this episode of Chicago Med, but this scene between Dr. Charles and Anna (Hannah Riley) is gutting. How great is it to still learn more about characters ten seasons in, though? Dr. Charles' dad's suicide explains a lot about him, and hopefully sets up more of this juicy storyline for Season 11.

Anyway, I'm going to need a commercial break to grab some tissues, because Oliver Platt and Hannah Riley crushed this heartbreaking scene.

Heartbreaking Twist For Dr. Lenox

Alas, it was too good to be true for both Caitlin and Kip to be negative for the deadly prion disease. Here's hoping that the One Chicago version of the illness won't be enough to cost us Sarah Ramos between Seasons 10 and 11, because she's been a great addition to Med.

Were The Captain Crunch Berries Actually A Metaphor For Their Relationship?!

I was JOKING when I wrote "Were the Captain Crunch Berries a sugary metaphor for their relationship?" about Hannah visiting Archer at his home earlier this season, but was Hannah's visit in the finale a sign that she's pregnant and he's the father? Did Chicago Med really go there? (Revisit that episode streaming with a Peacock subscription if the Captain Crunch banter for some reason wasn't one of your most memorable elements of Season 10.)

Or does Hannah just need to confide in somebody about her pregnancy before dropping the news on Ripley, and Archer is the best candidate for a shoulder to lean on after Lizzy's reaction? And should I be careful when I crack cereal-related jokes from now on, lest they come true?

In all seriousness, all I know at this point is that I don't know how I feel about it, but what a twist for a finale! I'm always on board for scenes between Jessy Schram and Steven Weber.

Time For Chicago Fire – "It Had To End This Way"

It's rarely a good thing for the Chicago Fire characters when they need to borrow the Chicago P.D. set. Pascal really might be in some real trouble based on all the evidence pointing towards him as the one who blew up the car of the man who had killed Monica.

Are Stellaride Channeling Dawsey?

While a lot has changed since Dawson and Casey attempted to adopt young Louie after Gabby bonded with him on the scene of a fire, I've been getting Louie vibes from Natalie all season. Will Chicago Fire add a twist to Stella and Severide's attempts to adopt by having them take in Natalie instead? I kind of hope not, since we've already seen that happen on Fire (and even more successfully on P.D. with Burzek and Makayla).

Don't Bring A Firehose To A Gunfight

At nearly 300 episodes over thirteen years, sometimes I think that Chicago Fire is bound to run out of new ways to make fire emergencies harrowing. An inferno at a gun range and a building full of ammunition firing itself due to the flames? A new one!

I Miss These Characters Already

It's hard to believe that Chicago Fire really is saying goodbye to two of its own in this finale. Jake Lockett and Daniel Kyri's exits were announced more than a month before the end of Season 10, but it still doesn't feel like Carver and Ritter are being set up to exit.

Violet Needs A Win

Is there anybody in One Chicago who has been as unlucky in love as Violet, while being playing by an actor who generates as much chemistry with scene partners as Hanako Greensmith does? Poor Violet needs to catch a break in romance in Season 13, even if that means taking a break from romance. With Carver leaving Chicago for the sake of his own health and recovery, she's out of luck yet again.

Who Can Be Sweeter Than Captain Van Meter?

Tim Hopper slowly but surely became one of my favorite recurring actors on Chicago Fire as OFI Captain Van Meter. Severide and Van Meter aren't always on the same page, but their teamwork is A+. Severide taking a break from 51 to work with OFI might be less appealing without good old Van Meter in the mix.

Kelly Severide = Fire Cop Extraordinaire

Pascal is lucky to have had Severide on his side, because he definitely might have gone to prison for the attack on Franklin if the Squad lieutenant hadn't connected the dots back to Vale. Now, the problem may be that Pascal is still Chief while Herrmann is in the running. There are only so many officer slots at 51!

David Eigenberg And Christian Stolte Are TV Magic

We don't always get to see emotions running high between Herrmann and Mouch, but when the actors turn it on, they turn it all the way ON. Herrmann giving up his spot as officer on Engine 51 so that Mouch gets his chance has to be one of the sweetest moments of Season 13, and the character never seemed to want to become Chief as much as everybody else wanted that for him anyway. Assuming Pascal sticks around, Chicago Fire found the solution for having three officers for two available slots. Win-win-win?

A Stellaride Baby Is On The Way!

As it turns out, Chicago Fire is NOT going the Dawsey route of having Stella and Severide fall in love with a kid they saved and try to adopt them. After their attempt to adopt a baby failed earlier this season, Stella discovered some serendipitous news: she's pregnant.

It'll be interesting to see how Fire handles having a pregnant firefighter. That storyline didn't play out for long when Gabby was briefly pregnant years ago, and Stella is after all an officer. That was always an issue that they'd have to discuss on their parenthood journey, but let's be happy for Stella and Severide for now!

Time For Chicago P.D. – "Vows"

Well, one way to tug on the heartstrings is certainly to start the finale with nods to the late, great Alvin Olinsky.

Burzek Wedding Woes

After all their stress and planning this season, the imminent Burzek wedding has run into its first seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Very sweet of Adam to immediately say that they can just postpone their nuptials until it feels right and they can be happy, and Kim clearly appreciated the gesture, so the romance is still going strong. It just may be a difficult trip to the aisle by the end of this finale.

That said, nobody in One Chicago should ever plan formal events for mid-May. Dick Wolf's Windy City is a dangerous place to be during finale season. Planning a wedding in May was tempting fate!

Can Voight Get Clean?

Voight may not have issues with sobriety like his reluctant informant, but he absolutely hasn't kept clean hands over the years. I'm with the informant that "Was it worth it?" was a weird question to ask about getting clean, though!

I Don't Trust This Plan

Voight is making a pretty solid pitch to Reid's man on the inside to flip and give Intelligence what they need against the Deputy Chief, but with almost half the episode still to go, I don't trust that this will stick. Unless this is wrapped up soon and we get a 20-minute Burzek wedding, anyway!

Wear Your Seatbelts, Kids

Officer Joseph Caldera may have made enough bad decisions to wind up in Reid's pocket, but I'd say that Voight and Ruzek are the ones who made a mistake in trusting that he was really going to flip on the Deputy Chief that easily. Caldera really wasted no time in lunging forward to crash the car.

It looked to me that Voight and Ruzek at least were wearing their seatbelts, while I'm not sure if Caldera could have been wearing his if he had the freedom of movement to make that lunge forward. I'm also not certain if escaping alive and well is his goal. Whatever the result, there's a real-world lesson to learn here: wear your seatbelt.

Chapman May Think Too Highly Of Voight

While Sara Bues has recurred as ASA Chapman off and on going back to Season 9, Chapman really might not know Voight as well as she thinks she does if she thinks she can talk him down from doing whatever it takes to take out Reid.

Is it possible that we're watching Jason Beghe as Voight 2.0, a more evolved man than the one who once had Upton on the verge of a guilt-induced mental breakdown for half a season? (No, I'm still not over that thanks to Tracy Spiridakos' performance.)

Sure, but Voight seems to be prioritizing taking down Reid over staying true to the man Chapman thinks she knows, so P.D. may have a juicy ending for fans when it comes to Voight this season.

Holy Jump Scare, Batman!

And there we have the end of the despicable Deputy Chief Reid, played by the excellent Shawn Hatosy! I'd be lying if I said I didn't jump when those gunshots rang out, so credit to Chicago P.D. for the big surprise. Reid not lasting into Season 13 isn't a huge shock, but I didn't see him dying like this.

Also, A+ to Reid for "You're worse than me" to Voight as his last words! Accurate or not, the Deputy Chief was a villain to the last, and he seemed to connect some dots about Voight and Rennie with his dying breaths.

The Intelligence Unit Cleans Up Nicely

It's not every episode that we get to see the members of the Intelligence Unit dressed up, unless CPD dress uniform counts. We have Ruzek and Atwater looking snazzy in their suits, Kiana looking gorgeous, Torres cleaned up from his depression beard, and of course, the Best Dressed Burgess in her white wedding gown. I'd say Marina Squerciati made a good choice! I do wonder if there's a reason for Adam not wearing a tie, but honorable mention for Best Dressed might have to go to Makayla, looking cute as her mom's maid of honor.

Voight Fell Back Into Some Old Habits

Unfortunately for all of Chapman's optimism, Voight fell back to some of his old dirty tactics to close the case and guarantee the downfall of Reid. I'd say that it made for interesting TV for viewers from home, but I also don't blame her for being upset when Voight didn't bother even trying to deny or justify his actions when she confronted him.

One Chicago Returns In The 2025-2026 TV Season

And that's it for One Chicago in the 2024-2025 TV season! NBC renewed Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. ahead of the finales with confirmation of their returns to their Wednesday night time slot, so fans can count on the Windy City action returning as usual in the fall.

For now, you can always revisit earlier episodes streaming via Peacock, and check back with CinemaBlend for more from Med's Allen MacDonald, Fire's Andrea Newman, and P.D.'s Gwen Sigan.

The last NBC One Chicago Wednesday of a TV season is guaranteed to deliver some major twists, and that certainly will be true in the spring 2025 TV schedule on May 21. Chicago Med has a pregnancy bombshell to follow up on, Chicago Fire's Battalion Chief was arrested ahead of the finale, and Chicago P.D.'s Intelligence Unit was disbanded in the penultimate episode of Season 12. And those are just some of the twists that will have to be untwisted over the course of the finales!

Luckily, I was able to speak with the showrunners for Med Season 10, Fire Season 13, and P.D. Season 12 about the last episodes. of the season, and my biggest takeaway is honestly that I'm glad all three shows have been renewed for next season. Let's start with the same show that One Chicago Wednesdays kick off with: Med.

Chicago Med – "... Don't You Cry"

The penultimate episode of Season 10, which is available streaming now with a Peacock subscription, guarantees that the doctors are in for trouble with the desperate parents of some patients. In addition to hyping the scare that will result in a "powerhouse" performance from Oliver Platt, showrunner Allen MacDonald told CinemaBlend:

There's a glimpse of that "pure rage" in the preview for the Season 10 finale, which indicates that Dr. Frost may be the one to intervene before a messy situation gets bloody at Gaffney. For her part, Hannah has an entirely different conundrum for the episode, as she learned last week that she was pregnant. I'd originally assumed that Ripley had to be the father as her most recent ex (that we know of), but the showrunner was somewhat coy when he previewed how she handles her pregnancy in the finale:

Will Hannah turn to somebody before the credits roll on Season 10, or will we be waiting until Season 11 – when the bun in the oven could already be well on the way to rising – for any answers? Find out with the Season 10 finale of Chicago Med on May 21 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

And that brings us to...

Chicago Fire – "It Had To End This Way"

Chicago Fire's very first season without Eamonn Walker's Wallace Boden as full-time Chief of Firehouse 51 has been rocky for the first responders, including Dermot Mulroney's Dom Pascal as Boden's replacement. Showrunner Andrea Newman teased that Severide will be wrapped up in Pascal's storyline in the Season 13 finale and even previewed the exits of Jake Lockett and Daniel Kyri. That doesn't mean all loose ends will be tied off by the end of "It Had To End This Way," though. Newman told me:

The finale is also set to cover Herrmann preparing to finale take the Chief exam that could elevate him to the role that Boden envisioned for him in the Season 12 finale, as well as Stella being involved in Natalie's relationship with her sister. So, does the Chicago Fire team already have answers planned out for all the leftover questions at the end of Season 13? The showrunner explained:

It remains to be seen who will be sitting in the Chief's office at 51 at the end of the episode, as well as whether Natalie's place with Stellaride will become more permanent. The Season 13 finale airs on May 21 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

And what would a One Chicago finale night be without concluding on some crime action?

Chicago P.D. – "Vows"

In the wake of Deputy Chief Reid making good on his threat to arrest Torres, strip Burgess of her badge, and shut down Voight's unit, Intelligence was disbanded at the end of the second-to-last episode of Season 12. In addition to describing Voight's "mortality" in the finale, showrunner Gwen Sigan ran down which characters are in the most trouble with Reid openly targeting the team:

In light of the whole team being in "so much trouble," fans can take heart in the fact that NBC confirmed Burgess and Ruzek will in fact tie the knot before the finale even aired! And they even look happy, which is hardly a guarantee for the main characters in a Chicago P.D. finale.

Burzek are clearly having a more traditional wedding than when Upton and Halstead eloped at a courthouse, so hopefully that means a happier marriage for Burgess and Ruzek than what Upstead got. According to Gwen Sigan, fans at least don't need to expect a disaster interrupting the nuptials. She shared:

If there's one thing that Chicago P.D. fans can agree on, I hope it's that Burzek deserve to catch a break! Find out how it all goes down (and what goes wrong for there to be a "cost") with the Season 12 finale on May 21 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

All things considered, the One Chicago showrunners previewed some very eventful endings to the current season, so fans may want to revisit the episodes once they're available streaming next day on Peacock. The trio will also return to NBC in the fall for the usual One Chicago Wednesday lineup.

Only one episode is left in Chicago P.D. Season 12 in the 2025 TV schedule, and true to form, the penultimate episode set the stage for a finale where something is going to have to permanently change. After the secret investigation into Reid's shady dealings got back to him, the Deputy Chief did what he'd been threatening: had Torres arrested, Burgess stripped of her new detective badge, and the Intelligence Unit disbanded, pending investigation. Voight obviously isn't going to accept the end of his unit, and executive producer/showrunner Gwen Sigan previewed how he's going to react.

One Chicago's crime drama has a history of delivering intense penultimate episode, and the latest (which you can stream now with a Peacock subscription) put the whole team in hot water for Voight's feud against Reid. The finale, called "Vows," airs on May 21, and the title of the episode likely doesn't just refer to something as sweet as the Burzek wedding. The team will go off-book to continue their efforts to take down Reid, while Burgess and Ruzek ponder putting off their nuptials. So much for that "friendship" offered by Reid!

When I spoke with the showrunner, I had to ask: does Voight have a limit to how much he can take from Reid before falling back into some old bad habits? Gwen Sigan shared:

Voight has certainly gone back and forth about how much he's changed, and the showrunner only had good things to say about Jason Beghe and Shawn Hatosy as screen partners earlier this year. I'm also intrigued by the mention of Voight's "mortality." I don't take that to mean that Voight is going to go the way of Olinsky and die, but it's some nice continuity from when he was shot in Tracy Spiridakos' final episode and hallucinated Olinsky with a cameo from Elias Koteas. Sigan continued:

Well, based on the preview, it looks like he might not end up where ASA Chapman is hoping. The duo teamed up in Season 12 to work on bringing Reid down, as close to doing it by the book as possible with the bad guy in a position of power. Sparks arguably even flew between the two characters, and while I'm not exactly watching weekly in the hopes of a romance for Voight, seeing more of Sara Bues as Chapman has been a highlight of Voight-centric episodes for me this season.

I shared with the showrunner that I was surprised by how I liked Chapman and Voight as a duo in Season 12 as much as I do, and she explained what kind of ally the ASA will be to him after he quite literally shut her out at the end of the previous week's penultimate episode:

Chapman may want to push Voight further in the right direction, but Reid seems to be doing a pretty solid job of pushing him in the wrong direction. Instead of Voight following Reid's example of breaking the rules for personal gain, however, he's bending them to try and take the Deputy Chief down. The EP went on to describe the ASA's role in the finale:

At this point, I'm just hoping that Burgess and Ruzek finally manage to tie the knot with as few crises as possible beforehand! It seems like a safe bet that there are at least a few crises before the final credits roll on Season 12, though. Check out the finale promo and make your best guess as to whether Voight can avoid his old bad habits or continue to try and be his best evolved self:

The Season 12 finale of Chicago P.D. airs on Wednesday, May 21 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following the Season 13 finale of Chicago Fire with two departing stars at 9 p.m. ET and the Season 10 finale of Chicago Med with a "powerhouse" performance at 8 p.m. ET. All three shows are also available streaming on Peacock.

Months after NBC announced its first renewals for the 2025-2026 TV schedule, the network finally has good news for its three biggest dramas. Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med will all be back in the fall 2025 TV schedule, and it's a safe bet that the hit One Chicago Wednesday lineup with remain intact rather than split up over NBC's primetime lineup.

It's not a huge shock that One Chicago received renewals across the board despite some FBI cancellations elsewhere in the Dick Wolf TV universe, but those cast changes that were announced for Fire reportedly won't be the only shifts for the shows to come back once again. But let's start with what has the One Chicago glass half full!

Renewed For The 2025-2026 TV Season

The renewal news means that Chicago Fire will be back for Season 14, Chicago P.D. returns for Season 13, and Chicago Med comes back for Season 11. The individual shows are still a ways off from catching up to Mariska Hargitay's Law & Order: SVU elsewhere on NBC, but there's a lot to celebrate.

In fact, in addition to the guarantee that the upcoming season finales won't be the end of the line for any of these characters, a renewal means that P.D. will reach the 250-episode milestone and Med will reach that 200-episode milestone that I've been waiting for. Depending on episode count, Chicago Fire will be getting close to hitting 300 episodes.

The Chicago Fire cast members are the ones who came together to announce the renewals:

Hopefully Jocelyn Hudon's role in the announcement means that she'll be back as Novak for Chicago Fire Season 14! Only time will tell on that front, but I imagine that it's possible that we've already heard about all the cast cuts for the original One Chicago series at this point. Two series regulars won't be brought back for the 2025-2026 TV season: Daniel Kyrie and Jake Lockett.

Changes On The Way

In case anybody was hoping that Kyrie and Lockett being cut from Fire would be the only big One Chicago changes for the new seasons, there's some bad news coming out of a report from Deadline. Despite the three shows ranking as NBC's top linear scripted series in the ratings and doing well among fans with a Peacock subscription, budget cuts had to be worked into the deals for new seasons.

One isn't particularly surprising. The new approach to featuring series regulars in fewer episodes starting back in 2023 is reportedly continuing, although the usual two episodes missed per cast member could be bumped to 2-4 episodes. Some cast members of the three series will also have to pass on the usual 5% raise.

One change that I didn't see coming was that cast members have been requested to officially make the move to Chicago to establish an Illinois residency, and doing so could prevent those actors' from losing more episodes from their totals. Like the Law & Order shows filming on location in New York City, the One Chicago shows have filmed in the Windy City going back to the earliest days of Fire.

The seasons may also be shorter for the 2025-2026 TV season, although likely not by too many episodes. Contracts will need to be renegotiated with longtime cast members, one of whom is reportedly top-billed Chicago Fire star Taylor Kinney. With talks said to be underway, I for one am going to keep a close eye on the last few episodes of One Chicago's current season to see if anybody could be set up for a cliffhanger to potentially write them off in the fall.

Daniel Kyrie and Jake Lockett may not be the only cast departures confirmed this spring, which makes me more concerned for P.D. than Med. While there are certainly characters on the medical drama that I absolutely would not want to lose, P.D. has the smallest cast of familiar faces, to the point that I at least find it's almost always obvious when one of the actors is missing vs. easier to overlook with Fire and Med. Plus, with the exceptions of Benjamin Levy Aguilar and Toya Turner, all the main cast members have been on board the police procedural from the first season.

Now, is the sky falling just because some changes are going to happen with the One Chicago renewals? Of course not, and the three shows have survived big shifts in the past. All in all, I think fans have plenty to be happy about for the time being, and any significant worries can wait until closer to the end of the current season. For now, new episodes of Chicago Med air at 8 p.m. ET, Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesdays, all on NBC. The finales for all three will debut on May 21, and stream next day on Peacock.

Season 12 of Chicago P.D. is rapidly running out of episodes, and Adam Ruzek is set for a big installment in the not-too-distant future as the wait for One Chicago renewals continues. Like many other optimistic viewers of the Intelligence Unit, I’ve been counting on Kim Burgess and Ruzek tying the knot before the end of the spring 2025 TV schedule, with Marina Squerciati even sharing her journey of picking out Burgess’ wedding dress.

I’d also been trying (and failing) not to get my hopes up about who will attend the nuptials, but the promo for the next new episode has changed my mind.

Chicago P.D.’s Next New Episode

NBC’s hit cop drama has the week off on April 30, but will return with what looks like a very stressful and pretty dangerous hour of television for Adam Ruzek. The promo for the episode, called “Black Ice,” doesn’t even need 15 seconds to hype what appears to be a rough ride for the officer and his fiancé. Take a look:

Per NBC’s episode description, Ruzek’s involvement in “Black Ice” starts when he witnesses a “tragic accident on an icy bridge,” which ultimately leads the unit to a case involving sex trafficking. The preview indicates that Ruzek will definitely find one of the bad guys, but he’ll have to put up a fight with Kim unable to help on the other side of a door if he wants to come out on top.

All in all, I hope Burzek are on great terms after her sweet realization about Ruzek, and they honestly might need another hotel getaway if ”Black Ice” is as stressful as it looks for them. (You can watch the previous big Burzek episode streaming with a Peacock subscription now.) They might have a lot to endure before any wedding bells can ring.

How Long They’ve Been Engaged (This Time)

Kim and Adam were technically engaged for the first time in the earlier days of Chicago P.D., but the proposal that that is ultimately leading to an exchange of “I do” – hopefully, anyway – happened back in February 2024. It was a lovely, understated scene that actually scared Marina Squerciati, since she was afraid that everything might go sideways for Burzek in the wake of something wonderful.

Fortunately, showrunner Gwen Sigan has been true to her word about the duo being “pretty solid” and “coming back to [each other] as a foundation” without falling apart a la Upton and Halstead. (R.I.P. Upstead.) While the duo has gone through their ups and downs in Season 12 – ranging from Ruzek losing a friend while Burgess was out of town to the stresses of her promotion to detective – the wedding is on after just over a year of engagement.

In fact, going by what Marina Squerciati posted on Instagram, the in-universe wedding date is Saturday, May 25 at 3 p.m., and the actress trying on wedding dresses indicates that we will in fact see the ceremony… if absolutely everything goes according to plan, anyway, which is never a sure thing in the One Chicago world.

One Chicago’s History With Weddings

Weddings can be a bit of a mixed bag in One Chicago. On the unfortunate end of the wedding spectrum, we had the Manstead nuptials ruined on Chicago Med before anybody could even walk down the aisle and then the Brettsey wedding happened in a fish store on Chicago Fire. Then we had some small courthouse ceremonies for Dawson and Casey on Fire as well as Halstead and Upton on P.D., which were really lovely and in-character… but unfortunately both ended in divorce.

Trudy and Mouch tied the knot without too many disasters, and I’m hoping that the Burzek event goes down most like April and Ethan’s on Chicago Med. The doctor and nurse tied the knot and went off into the sunset together to build a happy life. If that could happen on P.D. without Marina Squerciati or Patrick John Flueger leaving the show like Brian Tee and Yaya DaCosta did on Med, sign me up!

That’s not the big hope that I’d been holding onto but have now changed my mind on, though.

Will Anybody Unexpected Show Up Like I'd Hoped?

One Chicago is a big TV universe that has welcomed and said goodbye to a lot of characters over the years, and I’ll admit that I’m still a bit stung over how the saga of Upton and Halstead’s relationship ended. With Tracy Spiridakos gone for less than a year by the time of the Burzek wedding and Jesse Lee Soffer returning to his old stomping grounds to direct, I got my hopes up that maybe we could get a surprise appearance from Upton and/or Halstead.

I’m not sure how FBI: International filming in Budapest fit into this idealized scenario of mine before Soffer’s show was cancelled, but with Olinsky killed off and Antonio long gone, one or both halves of Upstead seemed like characters who might realistically be able to show up as guests.

But all it took was watching the promo for the upcoming Ruzek episode and the stressful Burzek moment for me to completely change my mind. Upstead had their moment in the sun, and surprise appearances from Jesse Lee Soffer and/or Tracy Spiridakos would run the risk of overshadowing Marina Squerciati and Patrick John Flueger’s characters getting their big day.

Would I be upset to see them again? Of course not, but the saga of Burgess and Ruzek is arguably the longest in all of One Chicago, and I’d love for them to get a happy ending in the spotlight.

Will Season 12 End On A Cliffhanger Even If The Wedding Goes Well?

Chicago P.D. does have a knack for ending seasons on cliffhangers that can be quite harrowing and bloody, which doesn’t 100% fit with the scenario of the Season 12 finale ending on Burgess and Ruzek tying the knot without any fresh crises getting in the way. I could maybe see P.D. going for an unambiguously happy ending if the show had been cancelled, but I’m not particularly concerned about any One Chicago cuts for the 2025-2026 TV season other than perhaps to the casts. Chicago Fire has already lost two firefighters.

All in all, we can’t do much more than hope and speculate at this point with weeks to go before the finale and NBC still not yet confirming the future of One Chicago. If a quick preview can change my mind about wanting to see what’s up with Upstead and keep the focus on Burzek, though, there’s still a lot to consider as Season 12 winds down. Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, May 7 at 10 p.m. ET for the “Black Ice” episode of Chicago P.D., following Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET.

Spoilers ahead for Episode 16 of Chicago P.D. Season 12, called "Seen and Unseen" and available streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

The focus of Chicago P.D. shifted over to Burgess in "Seen and Unseen" in the 2025 TV schedule, as she struggled with all of her duties as a newly-minted detective on top of a difficult murder case, planning a wedding, and parenting Makayla with Ruzek. If that wasn't enough, the case itself relied on her memory after the shooting occurred in a diner that she frequented, so Burgess was heaping extra pressure on her own shoulders.

Fortunately, the stress wasn't enough to upset the smooth sailing of the good ship Burzek for too long, and she came to a very sweet realization about priorities before the final credits rolled.

Burgess And Ruzek Are Planning Their Wedding

Despite wedding planning not getting a ton of screen time in Season 12, Chicago P.D. clearly isn't marrying Burgess and Ruzek off via an elopement like Upstead's wedding a few seasons earlier, and "Seen and Unseen" was the first big look into their plans for the nuptials. The duo have a wedding planner who presumably is very busy off-screen while Kim and Adam are solving crimes each week. The hurdle that crossed over into their work lives in "Seen and Unseen" was the guest list, with Adam putting together his half (at about 80 people) while Kim couldn't prioritize hers.

And it just seemed like more and more problems kept jumping up for them as the episode continued. On top of the wedding planning, the roof was leaking, Ruzek's dad was ailing, Burgess was overworked, and Makayla was struggling with schoolwork. The couple was bickering more than we usually see of them, and I was a little worried that "Seen and Unseen" would end on tension.

Then, Burgess hit her breaking point after a call with Deputy Chief Reid, who continues to cause problems for Intelligence, requiring more paperwork from her. As far as I was concerned, it wasn't looking good for her to have a happy ending at home in the final minutes of the episode. Sometimes, it's good to be wrong!

Burgess Realized What Matters Most

As she sat down to her computer for more hours of paperwork, Burgess flashed back over her encounters with Ruzek from the episode to realize that she was neglecting their relationship and not acknowledging all the work he was doing while she focused on her report.

In a neat trick, Chicago P.D. played through the same scenes from earlier in the episode, but with slightly different angles to show Burgess realizing what she'd missed the first time around. So, she went home and surprised her fiancé with news that she'd booked them a weekend at the 5-star Langham hotel in downtown Chicago, dropping a lovely little speech on him:

It may have taken them twelve seasons to get here, but I nominate Burzek as the One Chicago couple with the best communication! Ruzek obviously responded well to her speech, and the credits rolled with them happily getting an early start on what Ruzek dubbed their "saucy weekend." The wedding is happening, the happily-ever-after is still on the books, and my suspicion that their big ceremony won't happen as planned doesn't necessarily mean disaster if I'm right.

Why I Think The BIG Wedding Might Not Happen

Happily, my doubts about Burgess and Ruzek tying the knot with a big ceremony aren't about anybody getting cold feet or a fight splitting them up or Voight causing relationship problems a la Upstead. (No, I don't still have a grudge about Voight messing with Upton and Halstead's relationship. I'm definitely, totally, completely 100% over that. Not protesting too much at all, right?) When I say that the "big wedding might not happen," I quite literally mean that they might not be able to have their BIG wedding.

The finished guest list apparently hit 120, with Ruzek telling Burgess that the planner broke the news that "there's no way we're fitting 120 in the backyard," so they're "gonna have to make some brutal cuts." Plus, it wouldn't be a wedding in the One Chicago world if something didn't go awry. The most recent weddings on Chicago Fire were Stellaride and Brettsey, with the former getting married on a boat after losing their venue and the latter getting married in a fish store after waiting too long for a venue.

Chicago Med's Ethan and April did get a lovely church wedding, but that may have at least partly been due to Brian Tee leaving the series and just getting a happy sendoff with Yaya DaCosta's return. The Manstead wedding fell apart before anybody could even approach the aisle, though! And as for Upstead on Chicago P.D... well, the only hope for a happy ending for them is an off-screen reunion after their divorce.

All of this is to say that I expect something to go very much not according to plan for the Burzek nuptials, including them not getting that big 100+ person wedding they'd wanted.

Why I Think A Wedding Will Happen

I do think that the knot will be tied before the credits roll on Season 12, though. Marina Squerciati shared that she was "stupidly excited" trying on wedding dresses for the show, and a recent set of photos on her Instagram page include a wedding invitation listing the ceremony as "May 25, 2025 AT 3 O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON." The actress was also still sharing pics of wedding gowns as recently as a few weeks ago:

While her big episode aired live on March 26, Squerciati shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) that she was "still on set with Paddy filming the finale." Does that mean she and Patrick John Flueger were filming a happy ending to the finale right at that moment while "Seen and Unseen" was playing on NBC? Okay, maybe not, but I'm feeling good about a Burzek wedding happening in some form or other. Even if something does derail their best-laid plans, surely the characters wouldn't want to delay since Ruzek's dad isn't doing well.

Plus, if we assume that all necessary knots will be tied, we can have fun speculating about who makes the cut on the guest list. Disco Bob will hopefully be on hand, and I've been speculating that Adam's sister might appear as well. It'd be nice if Burgess could have some family on hand, and of course there are plenty of One Chicago characters who might make fan wish lists as wedding guests.

Of course, the cast filming finale scenes doesn't mean that NBC is anywhere near out of Season 12 episodes, and the next one looks like it'll be a rough one for Atwater in his own relationship. Check out the preview:

Catch new episodes of Chicago P.D. Season 12 on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET, following Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET. The wait is still on for NBC to announce renewals for the 2025-2026 TV schedule, but hopefully good news about the future of One Chicago will be announced sooner rather than later.

The three shows of NBC's One Chicago are finally returning from their mini break in the 2025 TV schedule, and Chicago P.D. has some big developments to follow up on. Chief Reid opened up to Voight about the death of his mother motivating him to become a cop, while Voight needs to take him down due to all the dirt that Reid has on him and the Intelligence Unit. Shawn Hatosy, who joined P.D. in Season 12 to play Reid, spoke with CinemaBlend about what went down, and Voight's final words of this particular episode (available streaming now with a Peacock subscription) set the stage for a fight back against the deputy chief.

That episode, called "Greater Good," established that Reid doesn't just have dirt to use on Voight and Co. in Intelligence; he was able to quickly get a warrant signed by a judge and a suspect confessed suspiciously quickly because he seemingly has damning info on them as well. I personally have found it entertaining to see Reid out-Voighting Voight, especially after Jason Beghe's character recently called all the way back to the series premiere. He's almost certainly bad news in the long run, especially with Voight only confiding in ASA Chapman instead of his whole team.

When I spoke with Shawn Hatosy, I had to know: how safe does Reid feel in having dirt on powerful as well as very bad people? The Animal Kingdom alum responded:

Reid was clearly comfortable enough in the power he has over certain people to make some pretty obvious sketchy moves in the "Greater Good," and being "friends" with him doesn't exactly translate to being sincere bosom buddies. Suffice it to say that there are plenty of strings attached... but per Hatosy, Reid knows Voight well enough to expect the sergeant to strike back.

Personally, I'm curious to see if Reid's story about his mother's murder will affect Voight and Chapman's attempt to take him down moving forward. The reveal was certainly the biggest bit of backstory for the character in Season 12 to that point, and Shawn Hatosy shared his thoughts on the exposition:

A tragic backstory is as good a reason as ever to pursue a career in law enforcement in One Chicago, and P.D. has never been full of cops who follow all the rules. Still, somebody in a position of power within the CPD has to be pretty sketchy for Voight of all people to object! Hatosy went on:

So, with Chicago P.D. approaching the end of Season 12 and the Burzek wedding on the way with hopefully a decent amount of tragedy-free screentime, when will the show pick up this storyline with Voight and Reid? We may have to just wait and see, as the promo for the new episode on March 26 promises an exciting installment for Marina Squerciati's Burgess in particular. Take a look:

As always, Chicago P.D. airs last in NBC's One Chicago Wednesday primetime block, which starts with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, continues with Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and then concludes with P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. None of the shows have been renewed just yet at the time of writing, but considering that NBC has only had good news for two comedies so far in 2025, I for one don't take that as a bad sign for One Chicago.

After Chicago P.D. put Ruzek through the wringer in the last episode of February in the 2025 TV schedule, the One Chicago cop drama is about to revisit the tense dynamic between Deputy Chief Reid and Sgt. Voight. Reid, played by Season 12 newcomer Shawn Hatosy, told Voight back in the fall finale that he had a whole lot of dirt on the Intelligence Unit, then proposed that they become "friends." Ahead of the new episode on NBC on March 5 and streaming next day with a Peacock subscription, Hatosy spoke With CinemaBlend about what that friendship means from Reid's point of view.

The newest installment is called "Greater Good," and will feature Voight questioning Reid's motives with a Violent Reduction Initiative, which is being enacted in a community with gangs fighting for territory. That would sound like standard operating procedure to get the Intelligence Unit on a case, but what's not so standard is Reid having the means to blackmail Voight and Co... if he deems it necessary, anyway. When I chatted with Shawn Hatosy about how Reid sees the "friendship" with Voight, he shed some light:

In seasons past, it wouldn't have been surprising to see Voight pulling the same kinds of sketchy moves that Reid has been pulling in Season 12, which does make the dynamic just that much juicier for longtime fans. In fact, Voight very recently reminded Atwater of his policy of "tell me the truth so I can lie for you" as leader of the unit.

So, in light of their friendship being fueled by dirt and Reid stating in the promo for Episode 15 that he needs someone he can trust, how much does the deputy chief actually trust the sergeant? Shawn Hatosy answered that very question, saying:

The loyalty between the members of the Intelligence Unit usually pays off for them as they go above and beyond, with that happening just last week when Ruzek recruited his CPD friends to help track down Zoe's family. Reid is taking advantage of it for his own means, and it should be interesting to see if this means Voight doing dirty work for him or Voight just following his instructions without pushing back.

While the relationship between the characters is tense – to say the least – the actors seem to have a good time filming the dynamic. Shawn Hatosy shared how one scene between him and Jason Beghe actually had to change due to the complications of a winter in the Windy City:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, March 5 at 10 p.m. ET for the "Greater Good" episode of Chicago P.D., with Shawn Hatosy's return as Deputy Chief Reid. For a taste of what's to come ahead of the installment, check out the promo below:

As always, Chicago P.D. wraps up NBC's hit One Chicago Wednesday lineup at 10 p.m. ET, following Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET. The three shows make up a third of the current nine-show Dick Wolf TV universe, although that total will shrink with the cancellations of two FBI shows on CBS. I'm not too worried about any of One Chicago being cancelled, though; as of the end of 2024, they were NBC's three top-rated scripted shows, just ahead of Law & Order: SVU.

Spoilers ahead for Episode 14 of Chicago P.D. Season 12, called "Marie" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago P.D. revisited the troubling case of young Zoe in the latest episode of the 2025 TV schedule, and any episode involving that little girl is bound to be intense after what Patrick John Flueger said about working with the young actress. Zoe was abducted by the man she believed was her father, and the Intelligence Unit went all-out to try and find him... all while Ruzek was trying to take care of his father, whose memory has quickly deteriorated. The officer understandably shed some tears when his dad forgot his name, but finally cracked a big smile when he could introduce Zoe to her grandmother.

So the episode did come to a happy ending with Zoe meeting a loving family member and learning her real name – Marie, as we might have guessed based on the episode title – but it was a heavy hour of television. Even the good ship Burzek was sailing some choppy waters, although they handled it well. With how draining "Marie" was by the end for Ruzek, I'm just glad that Marina Squerciati posted some very fun behind-the-scenes photos of her trying on wedding gowns for Burgess and Ruzek's upcoming nuptials. Who wouldn't need a little lightness after how "Marie" unfolded?

Let's take a break from all the heaviness for a few minutes and celebrate some pretty dresses and fun comments from Squerciati's fellow One Chicago actors! First, though, be sure to read her caption below:

Personally, I have to vote for dress #2 with the long sleeves and deep V-neck. It looks great on Squerciati – who had a baby just last year! – and seems like something that Burgess might pick out. Plenty of people chimed in her comment section, including a current Chicago P.D. star, former Chicago P.D. star, and Chicago Med alum, and there seems to be a consensus among the One Chicago actors:

• Tracy Spiridakos (Chicago P.D.): "😍😍😍 I love 1 and 2! You look gorgeous. I’m so excited 🥹"
• LaRoyce Hawkins (Chicago P.D.): "i’m torn between option 2 and 3
  i’m also torn between who’s best man i should be..🤔"
• Yaya DaCosta (Chicago Med): "I vote for number two!"

Fortunately, Patrick John Flueger was not among the commenters, so he may be going along with Marina Squerciati's caption of "I KNOW IT'S FOR TV, BUT PADDY DO NOT LOOK AT THIS POST." As for LaRoyce Hawkins' comments, I'm leaning towards him as Ruzek's best man just because of the very sweet option of Makayla as Burgess' maid of honor, the very funny option of Platt as Burgess' matron of honor, or a wild card. Kiana has been a great addition to the Intelligence Unit, but not really around long enough to be a bridal party candidate.

And I'd be lying if Tracy Spiridakos' comment of "I'm so excited" didn't make me cross my fingers for Upton to turn up at the Burzek wedding, even if just for a quick cameo. I wouldn't mind Jesse Lee Soffer turning up as Halstead as well, but Halstead's divisive exit was less open ended than Upton's was. At this point, though, and in all seriousness, it'd just be great if Burzek get to celebrate a nice wedding where nothing goes wrong... and ideally not at a fish store, like what happened with Brettsey over on Chicago Fire.

On the whole, Chicago P.D. can be dark enough at times that it's just fun to focus on what could lead to happiness for the characters who go through so much. For now, Marina Squerciati trying on wedding dresses is the closest we have to confirmation that a wedding ceremony is in the works for Burzek before the end of the season. At least they won't be eloping a la Upstead?

See what's next with new episodes of One Chicago on NBC Wednesdays, starting with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and then finishing with Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. It really is P.D.'s turn for a proper wedding with all the fixings; Med's April and Ethan tied the knot in a church ceremony while Fire's Brett and Casey made the most of their fish store. Here's hoping Burzek get a win!

Chicago P.D. hasn't been easy on Ruzek in Season 12, starting with the violent death of an old friend and then getting wrapped up in the heartbreaking case of a little girl named Zoe, who had been abducted and surrounded by death for all of her young life. Zoe's case wasn't closed by the end of her first episode early in the 2025 TV schedule, and P.D. is about to pick it back up. The upcoming return to Zoe's story reminded me of what Patrick John Flueger said about working with young Annabelle Toomey for the Ruzek/Zoe scenes.

The next Chicago. P.D. episode is called "Marie" and will air in the One Chicago cop drama's usual 10 p.m. ET time slot on February 26. Per NBC, Ruzek will be dealing with his father's health going downhill while Intelligence is on the hunt for a serial killer, and the promo reveals that Zoe will be abducted and in need of rescue. In her first episode from back in January (which is available streaming now with a Peacock subscription), she connected with Ruzek more than any other member of the unit.

And when I spoke with Patrick John Flueger at the time, I noted that Chicago P.D. has a knack for finding strong young actors, including Ramona Edith Williams as Makayla, to play very dark storylines. The actor quickly chimed in with "We did it again!" and went on to share what it was like to team up with Annabelle Toomey:

Anybody who watched her first episode, fittingly called "Zoe," can probably agree that the very young actress didn't need to know all the details of the serial killer storyline! Chicago P.D. is in fact one of Annabelle Toomey's first big shows, after appearing in one episode of Chicago Fire (as a different character) and three episodes of The Bear. Suffice it to say that her characters on those two shows hadn't gone through what Zoe did! Flueger went on:

According to the longtime One Chicago star, Annabelle Toomey was so good that it was "uncomfortable" to see her as Zoe. Patrick John Flueger clearly meant it as a compliment, and the youngster already seems to be a pro at heavy storylines even if she didn't quite know all the details. He recounted a conversation he had with her:

It remains to be seen how much of a role Toomey will have in the next episode, which concerns Zoe's abduction. Her picture is shown in the promo, but no new footage of Zoe herself. Hopefully that doesn't mean Ruzek and Co. are unable to find her by the end of the hour. Take a look for yourself:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, February 26 at 10 p.m. ET for this new episode of Chicago P.D., or check it out streaming next day on Peacock. As always, the network's One Chicago block of shows kicks off on Wednesdays with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, before closing with the exploits of the Intelligence Unit.