Labor Day weekend is made for three things: grilling, avoiding anything remotely productive, and convincing yourself that watching nine straight hours of television counts as a cultural activity.
Fortunately, REEL Chicago has you covered.
NBC’s One Chicago universe – Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med – has become one of television’s most durable franchises. With all 14 seasons of Fire, 13 seasons of P.D., and 11 seasons of Med currently available on Peacock, hundreds of episodes are waiting for anyone looking to spend the holiday weekend with Firehouse 51, Gaffney Medical Center, and the Intelligence Unit.
So where do you start?
Rather than attempting the clinically inadvisable feat of watching everything, here are three One Chicago mini-marathons that actually fit into a long weekend.
“Reckoning”
The easiest binge recommendation is also the freshest.
This year’s three-show crossover, “Reckoning,” aired March 4 and plays essentially like a two-hour-plus One Chicago movie.
Start with Chicago Fire, Season 14, Episode 13, “Reckoning, Part I,” when Firehouse 51 responds after a passenger jet suddenly goes silent in the air. That emergency grows into something much larger as the story moves to Chicago Med, Season 11, Episode 13, “Reckoning, Part II,” where Gaffney doctors confront a medical mystery connected to the aircraft. It concludes with Chicago P.D., Season 13, Episode 13, “Reckoning, Part III,” as Intelligence uncovers a larger conspiracy and begins pursuing the person responsible.
That’s three episodes, roughly two hours and six minutes, and all three corners of the franchise working together.
If you’ve never watched One Chicago, this may be the best sampler platter.
“Infection”
For something classic – and arguably one of the franchise’s most effective crossovers – go back to 2019’s “Infection.”
The story begins with Chicago Fire, Season 8, Episode 4, “Infection, Part I,” moves to Chicago Med, Season 5, Episode 4, “Infection, Part II,” and concludes with Chicago P.D., Season 7, Episode 4, “Infection, Part III.”
A rare and deadly bacterium begins spreading through Chicago, forcing firefighters, doctors, police, and the CDC into the same escalating emergency.
Wolf Entertainment itself has singled out “Infection” as one of the franchise’s most bingeable events, and it’s easy to understand why. It has everything One Chicago does particularly well: a citywide threat, characters crossing between shows, and stakes that grow dramatically from one hour to the next.
Just maybe don’t watch this particular marathon while somebody at the Labor Day barbecue is coughing.
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If you want to see where the One Chicago universe really became one universe
Another three-part crossover is worth revisiting because it helped establish the formula the franchise still uses today.
Begin with Chicago Fire, Season 4, Episode 10, “The Beating Heart,” continue with Chicago Med, Season 1, Episode 5, “Malignant,” and finish with Chicago P.D., Season 3, Episode 10, “Now I’m God.”
The story starts after Firehouse 51 firefighter Christopher Herrmann is stabbed and ultimately expands into an investigation involving patients who received unnecessary chemotherapy – with a connection to Hank Voight’s past.
The crossover is particularly interesting now because it came during Chicago Med’s first season, when the three-show structure was still relatively new.
Or just pick your poison
You don’t necessarily need a crossover.
If rescue sequences and the relationships inside Firehouse 51 are your thing, start with Chicago Fire. Peacock currently carries all 14 seasons.
Want something darker and more morally complicated? Chicago P.D. currently has 13 seasons available, following Voight and Intelligence through cases that regularly push both legal and ethical boundaries.
Prefer doctors, impossible decisions, and emergency-room chaos? All 11 seasons of Chicago Med are also available.
And there’s actually a reason to catch up now.
Chicago Med returns for Season 12 on Wednesday, October 7, as the One Chicago seasons begin their next chapter this fall.
So fire up Peacock, order something appropriately Chicago, and choose your emergency.
Labor Day lasts three days.
The One Chicago universe has roughly 800 episodes.
Choose wisely.
