Never before has a franchise created such an in depth and cohesive interconnected universe such as the One Chicago Family that often sees the characters from Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. crossing over between shows seamlessly and organically on a consistent basis.
From the members of Chicago Fire dropping off patients and interacting with the ED doctors at Chicago Med, to Chicago P.D. stepping in as needed when the heroes from Firehouse 51 require police aid, the One Chicago franchise has beautifully used the incredibly talented ensembles of its three shows to develop a franchise unlike any other.
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Beyond its crossovers in one-off episodes, the franchise has also become known for its annual One Chicago Crossover events which carry one storyline across all three shows. These crossovers have become a staple among fans and a must-watch event each season.
There have been four instances of One Chicago Crossover events where a Chicago Med episode has been part of a multi-episode story arc in conjunction with an episode of Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire. These events have been marketed as #OneChicago Day, with all episodes airing back-to-back on the same night or spread over 2 nights.
In the 2020-21 season, the writers were able to work in a few one-off crossovers, but pulling off a huge three-show crossover event was simply not possible amid the pandemic, and unfortunately, there was no big sweeping multi-episode crossover event.
Trailer from the last crossover event in 2019:
While we are all still reeling over the mindblowing Chicago Fire cliffhanger, desperate to find out the fate of our heroes trapped in that boat, showrunner Derek Haas has revealed plans for next season’s One Chicago crossover event.
Haas has told TV Line his plans for not one, but 2 major events for Chicago Fire and the rest of the One Chicago Family next season.
“Hopefully, the second episode, like we’ve done in the past, will be a major crossover,” showrunner Derek Haas shares. “We’ve already started talking about ideas for it and to do one in the vein of ‘Infection,’ where it was three big episodes with all three shows represented in all three hours. That would be ideal. Hopefully, the pandemic will be closer to being under control by then, and we’ll have more people back and we can cross people over a bit more easily.”
Additionally, Chicago Fire’s 5th episode next season “is going to be our 200th episode,” Haas notes. “So we’re going to start and really build towards that episode and make that one special, too.”
The air date for the new, upcoming season has yet to be announced, but if the new season begins the final week of September and runs uninterrupted, we could see the One Chicago crossover event arrive as early as the first week of October 2021 and the 200th episode could arrive as early as Wednesday, October 27.
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