When Chicago Fire returns to the 2026 TV schedule this fall for Season 15, fans will be thrown into the aftermath of a major cliffhanger. The recently concluded Season 14, ends with several characters in danger during a call. Series co-star Miranda Rae Mayo admits to not knowing if someone will actually be killed off. However, she’s happy to talk about being consumed in the fire.

The Season 14 finale, “Thank You,” sees the entire firehouse getting called to a building fire, but it quickly turns dangerous when the smoke grows thicker, turning from gray to black. The building collapses, with Squad 3, along with Mouch, inside, while Stella, Hermann, and the rest of Truck 81 are engulfed in flames while trying to go down the ladder before their time runs out.

It was terrifying for me to watch the ordeal and be left with a cliffhanger, and there have more recently been theories as to who will make it out alive and who could die. It seems Mayo, who plays Lieutenant Stella Kidd, can relate to fans' uncertainty, as she shared an honest comment with TV Insider on that finale ending:

Even though Mayo is unaware of what the aftermath will look like, she does know that Kidd won’t be going anywhere, and the same can be said for Severide. She and on-screen husband Taylor Kinney have signed new contracts for next season, so fans will be happy to know that "Stellaride" will be back. When it comes to everyone else, their fates are unclear and, given this is Chicago Fire we're talking about, just about anything can happen. After all, the show has seen a lot of exits in recent years.

Regardless of the outcome, Mayo couldn’t say enough about how great it was seeing the intense stunt come together. The actress recalled watching the scene back and how she reacted to it, while also giving props to the incredible stunt team. I can only imagine how it was really like on filming day, as the end result is insane to watch:

When it comes to a show like Chicago Fire, there are so many stunts that are done, and many of those can be quite complex. These stunts may seem scary to the fans, but Rae's comments suggest there's still some on-set fun to be had with them. (Of course, the cast and crew's safety also has to remain a priority as well.) All in all, it's great that Chicago Fire is still able to keep fans and the actors on their toes even 14 seasons in, and I’m both excited and nervous to see how this cliffhanger wraps up in the fall.

As of now, Chicago Fire’s Season 15 premiere date has not been revealed but, as on NBC's prior methods of sharing information, such info could arrive by the end of the summer. I'm hopeful that the wait will be worth it, and fans will be able to better prepare themselves. Even if no one dies in the premiere, I can see this entire ordeal having some lasting effects on the firefighters as the shakeups continue.

Fans relive some of Chicago Fire's biggest moments, in the meantime, as all 14 seasons are available to stream with a Peacock subscription.

Warning! Major spoilers ahead for the Season 14 finale of Chicago Fire, streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

It’s finale season on the 2026 TV schedule, which means it's time for many shows to end on wild cliffhangers that will leave us wondering over the summer. Unfortunately, in Chicago Fire’s case, there was indeed a cliffhanger during the Season 14 finale, and it was not a good one. Now, the series might be in for another shakeup as many characters were left in serious danger, but I’m most worried about two specific people.

The finale, “Thank You,” took viewers back and forth between a call that all of 51 was on and hours before the disaster. All that fans knew of the call was that it was serious, so much so that our beloved firefighters had to fall back. When the time came for the call, it was all hands on deck at a warehouse. Squad 3 and Engine took to doing search and rescue while finding the source of the fire, as Truck was on the roof trying to vent it. Unfortunately, there was black smoke, indicating the building was going to go up, and it was too late. Now, multiple characters are trapped, and it seems like they might not all make it out alive. So who’s actually in danger and who isn’t?

Why I Think Cruz And Herrmann Are In Danger

Truck was trying to get back on the rig before the explosion, but as they were going down the ladder, the building went up in flames, and everyone on the ladder was engulfed in the fire. Engine and Squad, meanwhile, were trapped in the structure and put out a Mayday call. Obviously, there are a lot of characters to worry about, but Cruz and Herrmann are the two I'm the most concerned for.

Cruz found out that Chloe is expecting twin girls, and he was in the structure when it went up in flames. As for Herrmann, he and Cindy just renewed their vows and are in the process of rebuilding their home following the fire. Sadly, he was on the roof and was engulfed in flames on the ladder. All this is to say, I've seen too many characters die after their happiest moments, to not be concerned by these facts. And with Herrmann also just saying he doesn’t know how much longer he’ll be a firefighter, I can't help but worry the most for these two.

Why I Think Severide, Kidd, and Mouch Are Safe

The other three characters who are in pretty serious danger are Severide and Mouch, who were in the structure, and Kidd, who was on the ladder. However, I'm theorizing that they'll all be safe.

Ahead of the finale on Wednesday, Deadline revealed that Taylor Kinney and Miranda Rae Mayo signed new deals, meaning they will be back for Season 15 this fall. That's good, considering all that they've been through. It also makes me think that they'll make it out of this disaster alive.

Mouch, meanwhile, is thinking about signing a book deal for his fiction work, Sheets on Fire, from years ago. He wasn’t sure about it, but he talked to Herrmann, who was more than happy, even though Mouch’s memoir about them was what he wanted. Plus, he just made lieutenant. So, I'll be shocked if his story ends at the start of next season.

It should be pointed out that for Cruz, Chicago Fire briefly showed Chloe, while it did the same thing for Herrmann with Cindy, Mouch with Platt, and Severide and Kidd with their former foster son Isaiah, who wants to live with them.

At this point, it could still be anyone’s guess as to who could die and who could survive, and even if they all do survive, which is the hope, it can be assumed this cliffhanger will have a deep impact on their lives. Unfortunately, fans will just have to wait until the fall to find out when Season 15 premieres.

Chicago Fire has been keeping fans on the edge of their seats for the 14^th season on the 2026 TV schedule, and that won’t be stopping anytime soon. While the season is wrapping up next month, Season 15 has officially been confirmed. However, there is about to be a big shakeup as the show moves forward.

Deadline reports that showrunner Andrea Newman will be stepping down after Season 14. She’s been with the Dick Wolf drama for all 14 seasons and has been spearheading the series for the last three. Co-executive producer Victor Teran, who has been on the series since Season 10, will be stepping in her place as showrunner and executive producer for Season 15, presumably airing this fall. The shakeup is a big one, considering Newman joined Chicago Fire as co-executive producer after the pilot.

After becoming executive producer in Season 6, she was named co-showrunner alongside co-creator Derek Haas in 2021. In 2023, Newman took over as the sole showrunner and will remain in the position until the end of Season 14. What this means for future storylines is hard to tell, but fans should likely expect some changes moving forward. In a statement, Newman said:

News of Newman’s departure, which is believed to be her decision, comes weeks after the One Chicago franchise, also consisting of Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, was renewed. The Season 14 finale is set to air on Wednesday, May 13, and will likely set up Season 15, so fans should get some idea as to what to expect then. As of now, NBC hasn’t revealed when the show is returning, but Upfronts will be taking place next month, and the network is expected to unveil the schedule then.

Meanwhile, Chicago Fire has been seeing some big shakeups as of late. Earlier this season, Dermot Mulroney took a leave of absence after portraying Battalion Chief Dom Pascal since Season 13, but it is believed to be temporary. Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett were announced to be departing at the end of Season 13, with Kyri wrapping up Ritter's storyline at the beginning of Season 14. Lockett has returned on a few occasions as Carver. Of course, with a show that has been on as long as Chicago Fire, exits are expected, but now it seems that’s happening behind the scenes as well, and there’s no telling what could be next.

There has been a surprising number of shows going through what Chicago Fire is going through just this year. In fact, three CBS shows are changing showrunners for their upcoming seasons. At the very least, Fire was able to find a replacement right away, and it’s someone who has worked on the show. Now it’s just a matter of waiting to see what storyline changes will be made.

For now, new episodes of Chicago Fire air on Wednesdays at 9 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.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 17 of Chicago Fire Season 14 in the 2026 TV schedule, called “Sway” and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago Fire was missing some characters again in the latest episode of Season 14, but the only one that was really a problem was Severide. Per Stella, he was going to be out for a couple of weeks for more Captain training just after acing the exam. Him not being present doesn’t mean that he was out of Chief Hopkins’ crosshairs, and ”Sway” ended with the reveal of how he’s going after Benny Severide’s son. It doesn’t bode well for Kelly, but I do see an upside of Hopkins replacing Pascal, and that’s in the treatment of the Truck 81 lieutenant.

How Chief Hopkins Is Going After Severide

With Severide absent, Hopkins spent the episode getting to see the rest of Firehouse 51 in action, and he was clearly impressed with how Stella ran 81 despite initially greeting her as “Lieutenant Severide’s wife.” He even gave her the go-ahead to play fire cop and investigate a recent inferno, paying attention when she credited Severide for teaching her everything she knows about fire investigation.

Unfortunately, if she thought that her praise of her husband to Hopkins would make him think better of her husband, it seems to have backfired. He did some digging and discovered that Severide had a long history of working with OFI, which didn’t exactly help Hopkins believe that the apple had fallen far from the tree with Kelly as Benny Severide’s kid.

The episode ended on the reveal that Hopkins isn’t wasting any time in going after Severide through official channels, even with the Squad 3 lieutenant absent. He directed Lucy to take some paperwork to be filed with the CFD’s Internal Affairs Bureau:

Hopkins wants Severide to be investigated for “DERELICTION OF DUTY,” presumably tied to Severide taking so much time to work with OFI while still serving as lieutenant of Squad. It would be a reasonable concern… if Hopkins didn’t immediately go scorched earth by filing paperwork with Internal Affairs instead of doing some more digging himself.

If the concern stemmed from Hopkins just not knowing Severide well enough yet to see how he can handle Squad and OFI work, that’d be one thing. It’s a whole other thing after Hopkins declared his vendetta against what he sees as the nepotism that got Kelly where he is.

And that’s of course very bad for Severide and pretty juicy for fans heading into the final episodes of Season 14, but I’m honestly just relieved that Stella isn’t getting the short end of the CFD stick… again. For now.

Stella Is Finally Catching A Break (Sort Of)

For much of his time on Chicago Fire until shortly after the death-defying One Chicago crossover, Pascal was being significantly harder on Stella as the lieutenant of Truck than he was on Severide on Squad or Herrmann/Mouch on Engine. There was no clear cause for it, or what seemed to be clear favoritism towards Severide, and it was pretty infuriating for me to watch as somebody who really wanted to like Dermot Mulroney’s character.

Yes, his final episode did establish that he was particularly hard on her because she reminds him of himself, but I’m still not convinced that that was enough to justify how he treated her. She didn’t know why he was doing what he was doing, so it just seemed incredibly unfair, and Chicago Fire not revealing that to viewers earlier meant that we didn’t really have a reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. Pascal went out on a high note after his heroics in the crossover, but I'll never feel good about how he treated Stella.

Is Hopkins clearly bad news for 51? Of course. Was I ready to spend the full hour being annoyed at him on her behalf when he referred to the Lieutenant Stella Kidd as “Lieutenant Severide’s wife” upon meeting her? 100%. But dang it, I really enjoyed seeing a chief watching Stella in action, seeing how capable she is, and giving her the hard-earned respect that she deserves.

Honestly, if he didn’t have a twisted vendetta against her husband, I’d be pretty happy with seeing how he approached getting to know Stella and how she operates in action. I’m not confident that the respect will last if/when he sees how ride or die she is for Severide, but what can I say? After her long journey to become a CFD officer, I like seeing Stella get her due, and Hopkins is more interesting for not being rotten to the core.

Unfortunately, Chicago Fire is now going on a brief break, not too long after being renewed for Season 15. You can plan on seeing the Firehouse 51 crew back in action on Wednesday, April 22 at 9 p.m. ET as usual, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET (with Dr. Charles alive despite the EP giving fans reasons to be afraid) and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET, all on NBC. You can also revisit earlier episodes on Peacock.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 16 of Chicago Fire Season 14, called "Firehouse 66" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago Fire fans had a lot to be happy about heading into the latest episode of the 2026 TV schedule, as NBC has officially guaranteed a Season 15 with the renewal of all three One Chicago dramas. That said, "Firehouse 66" was an odd episode of the long-running show with the majority of the main cast members absent, and I thought I knew where Severide's story was going... until Cruz dropped news I wasn't expecting, and now the Squad 3 lieutenant's future is a lot more uncertain thanks to Chief Hopkins.

Cruz Had Big News

"Firehouse 66" featured the return of none other than Chloe, and her first scene of the episode involved her prompting Cruz to finally tell Severide something. Since the departure of Chief Pascal seemed at least partly in service of promoting Severide to Captain at the CFD and taking over Firehouse 51, I was imagining that Cruz was going to open up about passing the lieutenant's exam and being ready to serve as a Squad officer.

Everything would line up neatly in this scenario: just after Severide aced the captain's exam, Cruz aced his, and then Cruz could just take that vacancy, and all would be right with the world. I don't know if that's in the realm of possibility for the real-life CFD, but who really watches One Chicago on the condition of realism from start to finish? Everything would stay in the 51 family.

Instead, Cruz had a different kind of good news: Chloe is pregnant! Yes, their family is going to grow from four to give, with Chloe's due date far enough in the future that the new baby could be part of Cruz's Season 15 storyline. The big twist actually had nothing to do with the hierarchy of Firehouse 51, which isn't exactly great news for Severide in light of what he learned about Chief Hopkins.

Hopkins Has It Out For Severide

In case anybody thought that Chicago Fire just replaced Dermot Mulroney's Dom Pascal with Stranger Things' vet Rob Morgan as Chief Hopkins for the sake of having a less hands-on chief to smooth the way for Severide to settle into the top job at 51, Hopkins proved you wrong over the course of "Firehouse 66." He dropped by 51 for a visit, which he then dedicated his entire day to, and Severide was his top target for criticism.

In fairness, some of Hopkins' comments technically weren't out of line as somebody new to 51. It is somewhat odd that Severide and Stella are allowed to work on the same shifts, for one, and the famous feeling of family at 51 might seem a little too casual to outsiders. But Severide could tell that there was more to Hopkins dragging him over the coals than just being a stickler for rules, and it turns out that the new chief has been nursing a grudge against Benny Severide for years.

Benny had suspended him from duty back in the day, and time evidently doesn't heal all wounds when it comes to Hopkins. He doesn't like Severide because he thinks Benny's son got too many automatic advantages by virtue of his last name. Basically, Hopkins seems to see Severide as the CFD version of a nepo baby, and while he didn't have the power to confront Benny over his misdeeds, he definitely does have power over his son now.

And if that wasn't enough bad news for good old Kelly, Hopkins announced that he intends to make Firehouse 51 his permanent home base, so the big office is about to be filled again. Severide isn't just going to accept it, though, especially after learning that he had indeed aced the captain's test. He stormed off to Van Meter's house, where he delivered a fiery speech about being ready to fight back. It was enough to convince Van Meter that Severide really does want the top job at 51, and this may be the arc that carries Kelly through the rest of Season 14.

Find out with new episodes of Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Chicago Med (which just delivered a doozy of a cliffhanger for Dr. Charles) at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also find all three shows streaming on Peacock.

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.

Spoilers are ahead for Episode 15 of Chicago Fire Season 14, called "Do Not Resuscitate" and available streaming with a Peacock subscription.

The status quo at Firehouse 51 felt a bit off in the latest episode of Chicago Fire in the 2026 TV schedule, with Pascal's office sitting empty, Severide MIA for the hour, and new assistant Lucy pitching in on pretty much everything. Pascal's empty office wasn't too surprising, after he was fired from the CFD in some nice continuity from the crossover event and news had already broken about a Stranger Things star replacing Dermot Mulroney. But after the events of "Do Not Resuscitate," I'm wondering if Pascal was just the first Firehouse 51 exit of the spring season. Will Brandon Larracuente be out next as Vasquez?

In "Do Not Resuscitate," Vasquez teamed up with Kidd to investigate the aftermath of a car crash, when the driver insisted he'd been alone in the vehicle but every sign pointing towards a passenger who'd fled the scene. After they ruled out the possibility that the passenger had been held for nefarious reasons, the Truck duo kept digging until they got to the truth: who they thought was the passenger had actually been the driver. Her friend swapped places with her so she could run from the scene and hold on to her place at West Point.

Vasquez was the one who spotted the injuries that revealed the purported driver had really been in the passenger seat when the airbags went off, showing off a knack for investigation that prompted Stella to tell him that it's okay if he wants to go to the police academy like he'd originally planned. He responded:

And that seemed like it could be the end of Vasquez dabbling in detective work, unless he wanted to channel his inner Severide and play fire cop from time to time. Then, however, the final scene of the episode featured Vasquez at a firing range, showing off some serious proficiency with a handgun... which he packed up to take with him, indicating that it's his own weapon and not one from the range. The episode ended on him looking at a poster that reads: "FOLLOW YOUR CALLING! Join the Chicago Police Department[.]"

Normally, I wouldn't necessarily take this as a clue that Vasquez is going to follow Pascal out the door of Firehouse 51, but we're just shy of a year to the date since the news broke that Chicago Fire was cutting Daniel Kyri as Ritter and Jake Lockett as Carver. If this is the time of year for cast departures to be decided, should we indeed take this twist for Vasquez as a sign that Brandon Larracuente will leave ahead of Season 15?

Well, it would put an end to any potential long-term awkwardness about Violet and Novak crushing on the same guy, but it'd be a shame to lose a character who has received so much screentime in Season 14. Plus, Fire technically hasn't been renewed yet for Season 15, and there are other changes at Firehouse 51 that may be much more imminent than any cast departures. Take a look at the promo for a glimpse at one of them:

The mention of Severide taking the captain's exam in "Do Not Resuscitate" wasn't just a one-off explanation for Taylor Kinney missing an episode, but the longtime Squad lieutenant is apparently following through on Pascal's push and pursuing a promotion to captain. I've felt that a promotion is well-deserved for a while, not least because the last time a lieutenant was promoted to captain was back in Season 6 with Casey getting the bump.

Showrunner Andrea Newman previously explained why Severide hadn't pursued a promotion before; that reason evidently doesn't apply anymore in Season 14, but it's clear enough from the promo that it won't necessarily be as simple as Severide acing an exam. Whatever the future holds for Brandon Larracuente as Vasquez, it seems that we're likely to see Severide back in the spotlight before anything is confirmed.

One Chicago is taking an extra week off between episodes, so Chicago Fire won't return until Wednesday, April 1 in the usual 9 p.m. ET time slot on NBC. In the meantime, you can always revisit earlier episodes streaming on Peacock.

Spoilers are ahead for Episode 14 of Chicago Fire Season 14, called "Hit and Run" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago Fire got back to business as usual in the first episode after the death-defying One Chicago crossover event of the 2026 TV schedule, but that's not to say that the hit NBC drama is ignoring what went down in the three-parter. After the Chicago Med episode that aired just before "Hit and Run" on March 11 didn't really acknowledge the crossover as it advanced Ripley and Lenox's relationship, a member of Firehouse 51 was booted from the CFD after what he did during the event with Med and P.D. This was the end of Dermot Mulroney's run as Chief Pascal.

Pascal knew that he was risking his career during the crossover, when he directly disobeyed an order from the FBI to not enter the scene of a fire that was technically under federal jurisdiction. Despite Mouch's protests during the three-parter, the CFD Chief was ready to be arrested for his actions, which did pay off. He retrieved the data that the P.D. and Med crews needed for an antidote to what was killing off civilians and first responders alike.

The crossover ended with Pascal getting a summons from higher ups, and it was almost inevitable that he'd face consequences for his actions, especially after news that a Stranger Things vet would be replacing Pascal at 51 for at least some of Season 14. I'd originally thought that he'd be suspended for a handful of episodes before coming back, but he's out of the CFD as of "Hit and Run" due to what he did in last week's crossover. We have a kind of continuity from the event that wasn't present in the latest Med episode... with the cost of a member of the 51 family.

And the episode wasn't a total downer, despite the sad twist of losing Pascal. He spent most of the episode convinced that the CFD firing him for conduct unbecoming was a sign that he should just be done with the job forever, to the dismay of Mouch in particular, as the Engine lieutenant had been on the scene when Pascal doomed his career by saving the day in the crossover.

Mouch's last-ditch effort to get Pascal to change his mind came in the form of a report, delivered via voiceover on top of scenes that led to the reveal that the former CFD Battalion Chief might just take his friend in Phoenix up on his offer to join the department there after all. Here's what Mouch wrote:

While Pascal wasn't exactly around long enough to leave as much of an impact as Boden did, Chicago Fire did give him a good sendoff. Plus, he passed the torch to Severide as much as he could while the Squad 3 officer still holds the rank of lieutenant. I'm not quite sure that his explanation of why he was so hard on Kidd was enough to justify his treatment of her throughout Season 14, but she was at least touched to hear that it was because she reminded him of himself.

And speaking of Kidd, "Hit and Run" did make the time to touch on her main storyline from the crossover as well. The death of Macy, her first Girls on Fire recruit to become a firefighter, hit her hard during the three-parter, and the tragedy clearly still stung in the latest episode despite her determination to return to the job.

As for what happens next, the promo reveals that the paramedics will be back in action after missing the events of "Hit and Run." Take a look:

You can find new episodes of Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also revisit every earlier season of the current One Chicago series streaming on Peacock now.

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.

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.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 11 of Chicago Fire Season 14, called “Frostbite Blue” and available streaming with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago Fire is running out of episodes before a mini break for the Olympics on NBC in the 2026 TV schedule, but the hit drama still had time left to give me at least Severide (and me) one more scare about Van Meter’s health. On the upside, “Frostbite Blue” also featured the long-awaited return of a former Firehouse 51 hero: Sam Carver, played by a bearded Jake Lockett in his first appearance since being written out in the Season 13 finale. I didn’t realize how much I missed him, but now I’m realizing that he shouldn’t come back full-time... at least for now.

That’s not to say that there was any indication that he might be returning, but it’s not unprecedented for a Chicago Fire character to come back after a break, and Lockett didn’t get much of a sendoff the first time around except for a heated moment with Violet. It was just nice to get a little bit more of him back in the 51 atmosphere with more members of the cast, and for Carver to meet Vasquez.

The meeting with Vasquez actually went better than I expected after the promo leaned into the love triangle right after an emotional Stellaride reaffirmation last week. The two men certainly have some things in common: joining a firehouse filled with heroes who have been around for a really long time and love combining the professional with the personal, for one. And also crushing on Violet.

There was some tension between the two men at Molly’s after an awkward moment of Vasquez trying to get Carver to have a drink. He recovered well, though, when Carver shared that he doesn’t drink, and had no way of knowing the massive can of worms he nearly opened from last season. The tension was enough to settle my mind on the belief that Firehouse 51 might be a more enjoyable place with only Vasquez (or only Carver).

I maintain that Hanako Greensmith is capable of generating chemistry with anybody, so Violet’s romances tend to be pretty interesting on their own without needing any love triangle drama. I’d been nervous that Fire was going in that direction with Violet, Vasquez, and Novak before Novak made her love connection with Chicago Med’s Dr. Frost.

Plus, I’ve been enjoying Vasquez settling into a friendship rhythm with the two paramedics, even with the sparks flying (and now catching flame) between him and Violet. I’m always on the lookout for a trio that could recapture the magic of Casey, Dawson, and Severide from back in the day, and fans kind of got that with Violet, Ritter, and Novak. Vasquez has made some strides in making another trio, and I’d hate to lose that again after more than half a season.

Basically, I don’t need Chicago Fire to add a testosterone-fueled feud between Carver and Vasquez over Violet. Love triangles can drag enough that all three of the people involved are hard to root for by the end; I’m happy to have had Carver back for at least one episode after his unceremonious exit, and glad that all the baggage that came with him did the opposite of derailing Violet and Vasquez. I like Vasquez and I like Carver, and I don’t want to get tired of either of them.

Would I like to see Carver drop back in from time to time, or even in a more regular capacity? Sure, especially if he and Violet got their tension out of their systems in “Frostbite Blue” and nobody felt the need to try and assert dominance again. Now just isn’t the time for full-time Carver.

Plus, with the next mega three-parter crossover on the way, Chicago Fire fans have something huge to look forward to even if the One Chicago drama isn’t going to bring Carver back from Denver.The wait is even still on for a renewal for Season 15, so perhaps I just shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself.

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, February 4 at 9 p.m. ET for the final episode before the 2026 Winter Olympics take over NBC’s primetime lineup for several weeks. Chicago Fire returns in early March for the crossover with Chicago Med and Chicago P.D., so the shows will hopefully make up for the mini winter hiatus by delivering something pretty thrilling.

Chicago Fire got off to a harrowing start in the 2026 TV schedule in the wake of the fall finale cliffhanger than ended with Severide and Van Meter in grave danger. Severide managed to escape the inferno with relatively minor injuries, but Van Meter's fate was uncertain for the first three episodes of the new year as he lay unconscious in the hospital. Throw in the news that Mouch was out at Firehouse 51, and Severide was taking a lot of hits. Fortunately, Van Meter's survival was finally confirmed, reminding me of what executive producer Reza Tabrizi told CinemaBlend about the characters' relationship.

Mouch was the first loss of the new year, when his efforts to save his job at the CFD paid off... sort of. He wasn't let go, but Engine 51 was decommissioned anyway and Mouch was moved over to Firehouse 40. That at least didn't have to mean Christian Stolte was permanently gone from the show, whereas Van Meter seemed on the verge of death from the very start of 2026. The tragedy was looming over Stellaride's relationship, on top of the loss of Isaiah from their home. (You can stream the most recent episodes with a Peacock subscription now.)

I was concerned the Van Meter would become a Chicago Fire casualty like another CFD officer a few years ago, and it's safe to say that the original One Chicago show was delivering on the "heartache" that Reza Tabrizi promised. Now that Van Meter survived – although not without one last scare when he started choking on his breathing tube – and Severide and Stella are leaning on each other again, fans can breathe a sigh of relief. After how the EP described the Severide/Van Meter relationship, the fallout of his death could have been nightmarish. Here's what Tabrizi told me:

Severide's status quo in the firehouse really has gone through some major changes over the past several seasons, starting with the departure of Casey as his longtime Truck counterpart and cigar partner. Then, Boden accepted a well-deserved promotion, which meant moving on from 51 and Eamonn Walker moving on from Chicago Fire. (He did return as a guest for a Season 13 crisis.)

Severide working with OFI more and more meant more screentime with Van Meter, with the Squad lieutenant even coming in with the save when evidence seemingly pointed towards the captain messing up. Tabrizi went on to comment on how far their relationship has come:

Considering that the episode in which Van Meter woke up ended with Severide and Stella finally revisiting that brief window of time in which they thought they'd be parents, perhaps we'll see them bond over fatherhood at some point. Severide did spend some time with Van Meter's daughter at the hospital, after all. Take a look at the scene that confirmed he wouldn't be losing another friend:

For now, it's a waiting game to see when Chicago Fire revisits any stories with Van Meter in them. The promo for the next episode, which airs on January 28, showcases the love triangle between Vasquez, Violet, and Carver, with Jake Lockett returning for the first time since the Season 13 finale.

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET for the next episode of Chicago Fire, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET as usual. All three shows will come together for a crossover event following the 2026 Winter Olympics as well.

Chicago Fire has already gone through many changes in Season 14, and there's still nearly half of the season left to go in the 2026 TV schedule. After Firehouse 51 lost both Carver and Ritter from the ranks of first responders, Mouch was then cut from the crew and transferred to another house. Stella's break was fortunately short, but Dermot Mulroney is on his way out as Chief Pascal. I wasn't too surprised by the news in light of recent developments for Severide, but One Chicago is adding a new character played by somebody Stranger Things fans will recognize.

Pascal's last episode for the foreseeable future will be Episode 14, according to Deadline, which at least indicates that he'll be in the mix for the crossover event involving a passenger jet in early March. Due to NBC's upcoming One Chicago break while the 2026 Winter Olympics take over much of primetime in February, that means Pascal will make it into March, but his future any further down the line is uncertain. The break will reportedly last until the end of Season 14, with the possibility of him returning before the final credits roll on the season.

While Chicago Fire cast members have skipped episodes here and there in recent seasons, this seems to be a much more substantial separation for Dermot Mulroney as Chief Pascal. The hiatus is said to be part of the character's story, so fans likely don't have to worry that Pascal will abruptly be gone with no explanation starting in Episode 15. (His replacement will arrive in the sixteenth episode.)

I wasn't shocked when I first saw the news of Mulroney being written out of Fire for at least a little bit, since it seemed like a development in service of Severide taking more of an administrative leadership role, which could have been good for him in light of the emotional breakthrough with Stella. As it turns out, however, Pascal isn't going to be MIA so that Severide can step up in his absence, because Chicago Fire cast a Stranger Things star to fill that hole at 51 rather than going a more expected route with the Squad lieutenant.

Rob Morgan has accumulated so many credits over the years of his career that you'd likely recognize his face as Battalion Chief Hopkins in Chicago Fire even if you didn't know his name. My personal favorite one of his roles in recent years was as Officer-turned-Chief Powell on Stranger Things. His character's fate on the Netflix juggernaut was unknown as of the end of Season 5, with somebody else taking on the job of Police Chief in Hawkins, but fans will soon get to see the actor play another kind of first responder.

Per the outlet, Morgan will recur as Battalion Chief Hopkins, who comes to 51 with a haunted past from overseeing a number of other firehouses in the Windy City. He's not one to waste time in asserting his authority, which may not make him the most welcome addition to the firehouse family.

I'd love if this is used as an excuse to bring Boden back briefly to shed some light on Hopkins, or maybe for Mouch to turn up with any details about Hopkins that he learned through the grapevine at his new house. That said, Rob Morgan's arrival in Episode 16 comes with only five episodes left in the season, so he won't have much time at 51. He'll appear in four, including the Season 14 finale.

Fans have plenty of time to theorize, with Episode 16 presumably not airing until mid-to-late March. In the meantime, you can always revisit some of Chief Pascal's highlights opposite Severide with earlier episodes of Chicago Fire available streaming with a Peacock subscription. There are also still a couple of weeks left before the Olympics, so keep tuning in to NBC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET for the latest from Firehouse 51, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 10 of Chicago Fire Season 14 in the 2026 TV schedule, called "Carry A Torch" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago Fire picked up this week with an eerie feeling in Firehouse 51 due to the absence of Engine 51, with the vehicle being decommissioned and Mouch assigned to a difference house. Most of the first responders were too absorbed in their own problems to join Herrmann in acting out in response to Mouch's exit, though, notably including the growing gulf between Severide and Kidd. The timing of Van Meter's brush with death and losing Isaiah took a toll on both, and they were dealing with it separately rather than together.

Or so it seemed, anyway! The two came together by the end of the episode, getting honest about their feelings and Stella addressing the tragic plot point that was so abruptly dropped after the Season 14 premiere: her pregnancy. It would have been an emotional scene as scripted no matter what Taylor Kinney and Miranda Rae Mayo did with it, but the actors crushed it, and I have to credit Mayo in particular for making me reach for the tissues.

The Loss They Haven't Been Dealing With

As you may recall, Season 13 ended on Stella joyfully letting Severide know that she was pregnant, in a scene that showrunner Andrea Newman told CinemaBlend involved had "everybody behind the monitor... crying." That seemed to set up a pregnancy storyline for Season 14 that would surely be complicated by Stella's status as the Truck 81 lieutenant.

Even though behind-the-scenes dance videos showed Miranda Rae Mayo not wearing the kinds of pregnancy prosthetics that Jessy Schram is now wearing on Chicago Med, I hadn't given up on the idea that Mayo simply filmed some scenes before a flashforward to when her character would be visibly pregnant. Surely that happy ending to Season 13 would last at least a little ways into Season 14, right?

Not so! An early scene in Season 14 revealed that Stella had miscarried very early in the pregnancy, immediately ending the storyline that had been set up so joyously in the previous finale. I've felt ever since that premiere back in September 2025 that one of the most emotional storylines from the past few seasons was cut short and very swiftly replaced by one that involved fostering Isaiah.

While that's been a solid storyline with Isaiah as a compelling new character, fans have also seen Firehouse 51 heroes dealing with fostering and adoption before with Casey and Dawson first, then Cruz and Chloe. I just felt like a genuine fallout from the miscarriage was missing.

On-Screen Healing Can (Finally) Happen

Apparently, I could have had more faith in Chicago Fire! While fans have had to wait several months and the turn of the year for the show to delve back into the story, the emotional climax of "Carry A Torch" involved Stella and Severide opening up about their recent struggles, with Severide sharing that Van Meter waking up made him want to be with her as his family. For her part, she communicated why losing Isaiah was so hard on her, even though he's doing so well with his mom. She told her husband:

Whatever heartstrings I had left after watching Herrmann's reaction to Mouch's transfer were officially plucked by Stella's confession about the impact of the miscarriage, and Severide rose to the occasion with his response:

While this isn't the first time that the lieutenants have set the goal of improving their communication, Miranda Rae Mayo and Taylor Kinney were pretty fantastic throughout the scene. I'd spent the episode wondering if Stella seeing the mother with her newborn was going to make her rush to restart the adoption process, and speculating about whether Severide's reaction Van Meter's scare would further the divide between the spouses. Instead, they've admitted to not being okay and committed to not being okay together. I'll take that as a Stellaride win!

Is The Pregnancy Journey Restarting As Season 14 Continues?

If fans are going theorize about another Stellaride pregnancy happening, now is probably the time to start. I've always assumed that the bulk of a Chicago Fire pregnancy would happen off camera for a character who's usually in the action, and a pregnancy starting now could reasonably be on the verge of delivery by the Season 15 premiere in the fall of the 2026-2027 TV season.

That's not to say that I'm expecting Season 14 to end on a repeat of Stella dropping pregnancy news on her husband, and this storyline is more interesting to me without another bun in the oven. (I have Chicago Med for that!) To follow Van Meter's daughter's example of dropping a questionable fire-related joke, I may be worrying about an inferno out of a little bit of Stellaride smoke.

In all seriousness, NBC technically hasn't even confirmed a fifteenth season yet at the time of writing. Still, it would be compelling to see a different path to parenthood for these characters that doesn't mirror the failed attempt by Dawson and Casey or the eventual successful adoption of Javi by Cruz and Chloe.

After all, with Chicago Fire literally advertising the next stage of the love triangle between Vasquez, Violet, and Carver (even with Carver largely absent this season) in the next episode, it's nice to also have a Firehouse 51 romance that's well past the will they/won't they stage. Check out the promo below, with Jake Lockett's return as Carver:

Welcome back, Carver! Whatever he's been up to off screen for the past few months, he's looking pretty dashing. If you look closely at the preview, you can see that he's wearing a Denver FD jacket rather than a CFD jacket, so it seems that he might just be in town for a visit rather than to stay. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing him back for at least a few episodes after Jake Lockett's kind words after Carver was written out.

As for Stellaride... well, I'm glad to see that they're able to deal with their loss from back in the fall as a united front. There are still a couple of episodes left before One Chicago takes a break from NBC to air the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the three shows will return with a mega crossover between Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med on March 4. You can also revisit early episodes of the series streaming on Peacock.

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 Fire Season 14, called "A Man Possessed" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

Chicago Fire didn't hold back with the first episode of the 2026 TV schedule, paying off on Severide and Van Meter's cliffhanger with the "heartache" promised by executive producer/director Reza Tabrizi. All three of the men inside of the burning building survived the initial blaze, but Van Meter was gravely injured during the escape, and the winter premiere ended with him in a medically-induced coma with Severide on the warpath for justice.

Now, considering that the main characters of Chicago Fire can be in life-or-death situations on a weekly basis, the vast majority of near-death experiences don't result in actual death on this show. I wasn't particularly worried about Severide after fourteen seasons of him cheating the Grim Reaper.

I was worried about Van Meter, however, after another shocking death a few years back set a precedent that sometimes key characters will die if they're not on the list of series regulars, no matter how beloved they are.

Van Meter May Be Dying

During the escape from the blazing building from the fall finale, Van Meter sustained third-degree burns on his back as well as scorching to his lungs to go with smoke inhalation. With the help of Chicago Med's Dr. Archer, the OFI Captain's life was saved, but he was left on a ventilator and eventually, a medically-induced coma. A tearful Severide told the doctor that he'd heard stories about people being put into those comas and never waking up, and I was concerned that "A Man Possessed" would end with Van Meter flatlining.

Severide's investigation into the fire may have led the CPD toward the culprit, but his outburst during the interrogation was followed by his removal from the case. With Van Meter's life in jeopardy, I very highly doubt Severide is dropping anything. For now, it's just a waiting game to see if Tim Hopper's character will live or die, and a different character's death has me nervous that he really could pass away.

The Chicago Fire Death That Changed The Game For Me

A whole lot has happened on Chicago Fire since Season 11, but a twist that I'm sure many fans haven't forgotten is the death of Chief Evan Hawkins, a.k.a. the man that Violet loved deeply. He died abruptly just three episodes into the season, after Jimmy Nicholas had recurred as the character since the start of Season 10. It was a complete shock to see such an important character die so suddenly, even though Nicholas was only ever a recurring cast member rather than a regular.

Van Meter has admittedly be part of Chicago Fire for much longer, originally debuting in early Season 2 and continuing to appear across more than thirty episodes. He's been a key character in Severide's arcs, but never quite a series regular. Before Hawkins died back in 2022, I wouldn't be too worried that Fire would unceremoniously kill off an important character. Now... well, my eyes were peeled for whether the promo for the next episode would reveal the character's fate. Take a look:

Well, there's no good news about Van Meter's fate in the preview, but also no bad news! Plus, it bodes well for Severide that Cruz is back, so there are two Firehouse 51 heroes on the arson case. Find out if Severide's friend will survive his injuries with the next episode of Chicago Fire, airing on NBC on Wednesday, January 14 at 9 p.m. ET, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also find the episodes streaming on Peacock next day.

One Chicago's long absence from the small screen is nearly over, with Chicago Fire's winter premiere hitting the airwaves on NBC in the 2026 TV schedule. The long-running drama left off in the fall on a life-or-death cliffhanger for Severide. While that's not unusual for the bold Squad 3 lieutenant, comments from executive producer Reza Tabrizi to CinemaBlend have me concerned that "heartache" on the way will be tied to a different character.

The winter premiere, which airs on January 7 and streams next with a Peacock subscription, is called "A Man Possessed" and picks up where the finale left off. Per NBC's logline, an act of arson will harm someone close to Firehouse 51, putting Severide on the track of the perpetrator. That at least indicates that Severide will be fine enough to continue his OFI investigation.

The fall finale ended with him, Van Meter, and a school principal by the name of Mr. Cole, who had been targeted for arson by an unidentified student, several stories up in an apartment building that was set on fire by a hooded figure. When I spoke with Reza Tabrizi, who also directed the winter premiere, he previewed the episode getting Chicago Fire off to an eventful start in 2026:

Technically, Chicago Fire also ended 2025 on a cliffhanger regarding the fate of Engine 51, with Pascal learning that budget cuts might lead to Mouch's rig being decommissioned. That's certainly still a concern in 2026, but Reza Tabrizi's comments leave me concerned for Van Meter. Of the three people in the apartment that was set on fire, he's the only one who fans have reason to care about but doesn't have the against-all-odds survival streak of Kelly Severide.

Fans have gotten to know the OFI boss better over the years the longer that Severide pitched in as a "fire cop," and I know that I at least would be bummed if something goes sideways for him. When I asked the EP/director how worried fans should be about the characters involved in the arson, he shared:

Mr. Cole could be a dangerous variable. While the fall finale revealed that he's not exactly the best principal to the kids under his charge, neither Severide nor Van Meter is going to just abandon a civilian in a fire, and that could create a larger risk to both. When I noted to the EP that Severide has bad luck to end up in deadly situations even when he's working with OFI, Reza Tabrizi responded:

All of this said, Chicago Fire often puts key characters in deadly situations without going so far as to kill them off. There are also other concerns for the winter premiere, including whether Stella will return from her trip before the final credits roll. Regardless of whether Severide experiences a loss, the couple has been pretty solid all season. For now, check out the promo for the first new episode of 2026:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, January 7 at 9 p.m. ET for the winter premiere of Chicago Fire, between Chicago Med (with its own life-or-death cliffhanger to resolve) at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also stream the winter premieres on Thursday via Peacock.

When it comes to future TV stars making minor guest appearances before hitting it big, Law & Order: SVU is usually the place to find a plethora. For Stranger Things star Joe Keery, however, his second credit ever was in the One Chicago corner of the Dick Wolf TV universe after guest-starring in two episodes of Chicago Fire. Now, with Stranger Things ending in the 2025 TV schedule, NBC's official social media account for the franchise is throwing back to his pre-Steve Harrington days, and it makes me want to see him back on Fire again.

Joe Keery appeared in Episodes 16 and 17 of Chicago Fire Season 3, which originally aired in March 2015 and are available streaming now with a Peacock subscription. He played Emmett, a young man who Mouch mistakenly believed was his son via sperm donation. Prior to Fire, Keery only had one credit to his name: a single episode of Sirens.

Admittedly, I'd forgotten that Joe Keery had appeared on Chicago Fire until NBC's post, perhaps because Emmett from the Windy City in 2015 wasn't sporting the iconic '80s hair (fortified by Farrah Fawcett hair spray) of Steve Harrington in Stranger Things. NBC's One Chicago X account (formerly known as Twitter) didn't shy away from shouting out the hit show despite it hailing from Netflix, with "Mouch's world has been flipped Upside Down." Take a look at a clip:

If Joe Keery had been playing the typical one-and-done kind of guest star, there really wouldn't seem like an opening was left for his character to organically return. That said, as seen in the clip, Emmett is that half-brother of Mouch's biological daughter, Lizzie.

While Lizzie (played by Christian Stolte's real-life daughter) only appeared in one episode of Fire, one episode of Chicago Med, and hasn't been seen back in the franchise since 2019, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's curious about Mouch's relationship with her (or lack thereof) over the past decade. And since Lizzie and Emmett are siblings, why couldn't a reunion with Lizzie also mean the return of Emmett?

Of course, Joe Keery hasn't exactly been hurting for work outside of the world of the Upside Down in recent years. He (and his hair) have a role in the upcoming Liam Neeson film Cold Storage (set to premiere in the 2026 movie calendar), and he managed to film a season of Fargo between Stranger Things releases, to name just two credits. His music career is going strong as well, with his band releasing a new album earlier this year.

So, I wouldn't exactly count on seeing Joe Keery back on Chicago Fire in the 2026 TV schedule to reprise his role as Emmett, but it's at least fun to see him on screen before he shot to stardom as Steve on Stranger Things. If you want to revisit his two episodes of Chicago Fire's third season, you can find them on Peacock. If you've been waiting for more Stranger Things, the fifth and final season premieres for fans with a Netflix subscription on Wednesday, November 26 at 8 p.m. ET.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for the Season 14 fall finale of Chicago Fire on NBC, called “Pierce the Vein” and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

While it may feel like One Chicago only just returned to the airwaves in the latter half of the 2025 TV schedule, Chicago Fire’s fall finale has officially aired to wrap up the Firehouse 51 heroes’ stories for the year. That’s not to say that all of those stories wrapped up neatly, and there’s more than one cliffhanger to keep fans wondering until the new year. With some lives in jeopardy while other characters have their professional futures uncertain, it’s not too soon to look ahead to the 2026 TV schedule for when One Chicago will be back.

Where “Pierce The Vein” Left Off

Severide seemed like he could be safer than usual in “Pierce the Vein,” as he was playing fire cop and helping Van Meter with an OFI investigation. They ended the episode paying a visit to the arson victim, while a hooded figure lit the building on fire behind them, with the flames already creeping up the staircase when the final credits rolled.

Not for the first time, a fall finale ended with Severide's life in jeopardy, although I'm more worried about Van Meter at this point. Fire needs Taylor Kinney as the face of the show, as far as I'm concerned; Van Meter is less essential, which can be bad news when it comes to a Fire cliffhanger.

While those are the lives in jeopardy as of the end of “Pierce the Vein,” Mouch’s professional future is uncertain. The budget cuts at the CFD are continuing, and Davis (Season 14 newcomer Annabeth Gish) spent most of the episode having to cancel plans with Pascal because she was trying to prevent a teachers’ strike.

Unfortunately, when the numbers were crunched, the money to prevent the strike may have to come from one of Firehouse 51’s rigs being permanently decommissioned: Engine 51, helmed by Mouch in his first year as a lieutenant. Pascal got the bad news in the same episode that he’d encouraged Mouch showing initiative at the CFD. Davis didn't guarantee that Engine 51 was on the chopping block, but's not looking great for Mouch.

And technically, Mouch isn’t the only one whose future is in jeopardy. Engine 51 doesn’t have as many prominent characters anymore since the departure of Ritter, and any hopes that Kylie would join full time haven’t been rewarded. Mouch is the main face of Engine 51 at this point in the season, and it’s not hard to imagine a way for Chicago Fire to at least temporarily decommission 51. In theory, Mouch could always move over to Truck 81, or just take a job elsewhere until Engine could return to action.

There is another character whose return in the first episode of 2026 isn’t guaranteed, but fans don’t really have reason to worry long-term in this case. Stella Kidd took a two-week furlough to take Isaiah to Cleveland, where his mom will be treated at a world-class facility. The news was dropped early in “Pierce the Vein,” and while the Northeast Ohioan in me objected to the Cleveland mockery (other than Tony of all people defending the Cleveland Orchestra), it didn’t give reason to worry about Kidd’s return other than when it will happen.

But hey, at least Novak is fine and Violet just ended the episode by getting closer with Vasquez! So, when will we get all the answers for what was left unsaid in the fall finale?

When Chicago Fire Will Return In 2026

Luckily, NBC announced the midseason premiere schedule just hours before the three One Chicago fall finales aired on November 12. Along with establishing that The Hunting Party Season 2 will be replacing Law & Order: Organized Crime on Thursday nights and when Tracy Morgan’s new Tina Fey-produced comedy – called The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins – will arrive, the schedule confirms that NBC is bringing One Chicago Wednesdays back literally as soon as possible in the new year.

Chicago Fire will return to NBC for the rest of Season 14 on Wednesday, January 7 at 9 p.m. ET, a.k.a. the very first Wednesday of 2026. Chicago Med Season 11 will be back in its usual 8 p.m. ET time slot (with its own cliffhanger to resolve), with Chicago P.D. Season 13 back at 10 p.m. ET.

All three shows will presumably take a break in February, when the 2026 Winter Olympic Games take over primetime from the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 6 to the Closing Ceremony on Feb. 22 in Milan. (As if that’s not enough, NBC will also air Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 and the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 15.)

Over the next several weeks, however, you’ll have to head to streaming for a Chicago Fire fix. All fourteen seasons so far are available streaming now on Peacock, as well as all seasons so far of Chicago Med and Chicago P.D., crossovers included.

Warning: spoilers are ahead for the sixth episode of Chicago Fire Season 14, called "Broken Things" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

The heroes of Chicago Fire's Firehouse 51 have been working in uncertain times, but now one member of the team will be absent for reasons other CFD budget cuts as the 2025 TV schedule winds down. Stella Kidd decided to step away from not just 51 but the Windy City as a whole by the end of "Broken Things," which may cause unpleasant flashbacks to Season 10 for longtime fans. No need to worry this time, though – Stella is leaving for a good reason, and there's no cause to believe that she won't be back as planned.

Stellaride's efforts to do right by Isaiah meant Stella spending the day trying to get better care for his mom while Severide was shadowing Pascal. After connecting with Chicago Med's Goodwin, the Truck 81 lieutenant learned that there was a great center that could provide everything that Isaiah's mom would need. The catch? The hospital is several states and one Great Lake away from Chicago: Cleveland, Ohio.

Now, as somebody who is sitting in Northeast Ohio as I write this, I got a kick out of the shout out to Cleveland and a laugh from of the look of utter dismay on Stella's face when she said "Ohio." But it was clear that she was invested enough in helping Isaiah that the Cleveland location didn't mean giving up; instead, she and the youngster are relocating to the Buckeye State for some weeks to help get his mom set up while Severide stays behind in Chicago.

On the one hand, this doesn't sound entirely dissimilar to when Stella left Firehouse 51 (and Severide) in Season 10 for the purpose of promoting Girls on Fire across the country. That was all well and good... until she spent days not answering Severide's calls or texts, and didn't even give him a head's up when she returned. She did of course return full-time after that, but there were some rough waters for the good ship Stellaride for a while.

And while Stella going off on another indefinite trip away from Severide, Firehouse 51, and Chicago has some hallmarks of what she did in Season 10, the circumstances couldn't be more different. Helping Isaiah has been part of her parenthood journey, and she and Severide are as solid as they've ever been.

Plus, "Broken Things" aired just one week ahead of the Season 14 fall finale, which means that all of the characters will soon be off the air until the 2026 TV schedule. Stella's time in Cleveland to help Isaiah could just take place over winter hiatus, and she may be back right away or early in the new year. No need to sweat that she'll be gone for half a season this time!

The fall finale – called "Pierce the Vein" – seems like it will be plenty intense without Kidd in the mix, with her husband investigating a high school fire while Novak gets an unexpected call. Based on the promo, that call will probably be tied to her sister. Take a look:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, November 12 at 9 p.m. ET for the fall finale of Chicago Fire Season 14, between Chicago Med Season 11 at 8. p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. Season 13 at 10 p.m. ET. All three shows are also available streaming on Peacock.

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.

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.

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
• CARRIE - Prime Video
• 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.

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.

Chicago Fire kicked off Season 14 in the 2025 TV schedule with a big change for Herrmann to adjust to after he voluntarily gave up his position as a lieutenant at Firehouse 51 so that Mouch could have his turn. Originally, the adjustments he’d have to make didn’t seem much more serious than finding a way to supplement his family’s income and give up the office at 51. Then, the Herrmann family home burned to the ground, delivering a tragedy that was hard to watch but could be great for the story as the season continues.

Of course, the fire wasn’t as tragic as it could have been, since every member of the family was fortunately outside of the house when it started to burn. Still, they lost almost everything, and Herrmann spent most of the fateful episode (which is available streaming now with a Peacock subscription) wondering if the fire happened because of some faulty wiring that he was responsible for.

Severide did ultimately prove that the cause had been a problem with a switch in the kitchen, not something that Herrmann had done, but that didn’t fix all of the former Engine lieutenant’s problems. Even Mouch’s efforts to support his friend didn’t do much, as he tried to persuade Herrmann that they’d only lost material possessions and what mattered was that the whole family survived.

While that was a great perspective, I was on Herrmann’s side when he pointed out that there were a lot of memories and a lot of sentimental value in all of those material possessions, and maybe the immediate aftermath of the inferno wasn’t the right time to try that line of comfort with Herrmann. They did get back on the same page, however, when Mouch joined Herrmann in combing through the rubble of the house to try and find something that survived.

And they did! They recovered a ring that had belonged to Cindy’s mother, and seeing that had survived was the thing that finally broke Cindy after everything. She’d put so much effort into fixing everything for the family that she hadn’t had much time to mourn or vent, and I have to give special kudos to actress Robyn Coffin for her performance. The episode mostly followed Herrmann’s point of view throughout the episode, but Cindy breaking down was the part that really hit home for me.

For me, it’s a credit to Chicago Fire that there are still ways for twists to pack an emotional punch after thirteen full seasons and nearly 300 episodes. Just like how Severide’s reaction to the pregnancy news in the Season 13 finale (which was sadly cancelled out by the pregnancy twist in the Season 14 premiere) made me cry, Cindy’s reaction to the ring was an emotional blow, and that’s a good thing on the small screen.

I hope that Fire continues to explore the aftermath of the fire for Herrmann in ways other than using it as a reason to write him out for a few episodes, but only time will tell. See what’s in store for the family with new episodes of Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also revisit earlier episodes streaming now via Peacock.

Chicago Fire Season 14 got off to an eventful start in the fall 2025 TV schedule, with the first few episodes delivering everything from a bombshell about Stella Kidd's pregnancy to the arrival of an X-Files vet to the exit of Daniel Kyri's Ritter. In the next new episode, which airs on October 22 and streams next day via a Peacock subscription, one firefighter seems on the verge of at least one very big personal loss, and his magnanimous decision at the end of Season 13 might backfire on him now. Poor Herrmann!

The former Engine 51 lieutenant took a demotion at the end of Season 13 so that Mouch could have his turn as an officer at their longtime firehouse. Now back on Truck 81, the aftermath of Herrmann's decision has almost been played more for laughs than anything else, especially after his reluctance to give up his office. I don't think many laughs are on the way for the character in the new episode on October 22, called "Mercy." Take a look:

While One Chicago promos never give away the full story of an episode, it seems clear enough that Herrmann is on the verge of losing his house to a fire. The shots of the home indicate that the structure is already pretty well ablaze by the time the firefighters arrive, but the bigger concern for David Eigenberg's character is apparently that his daughter Annabelle was supposed to be at home, and she didn't seem to be answering his calls. Who would have guessed that the best-case scenario for Herrmann would be just the destruction of his home in a fire?!

The episode description from NBC doesn't confirm (or rule out) the worst coming for Herrmann in "Mercy," but does shed some light on what to expect:

All in all, while the most immediate concerns for this episode are the fates of 1) Annabelle and 2) the Herrmann house, I can't help but reflect on one big change that was mostly funny in early Season 14 but now feels tragic. Before the fire, the family was already struggling with the pay cut that came with Herrmann demoting himself back to Truck 81 from his former position as a lieutenant.

Even if the house has the best fire insurance that the wide world of Dick Wolf TV shows has to offer, I don't see a way that this won't be a huge financial blow as well as emotional blow to the family. Will Herrmann come to regret the decision to give up his promotion (and pay raise) if his family starts struggling even more in the wake of a fire in their home?

If that is the case, hopefully Annabelle won't be another factor that the family has to worry about for too long. I can imagine an optimistic scenario that she's not answering her dad's desperate cries in the promo simply because she left the house with the stove or a candle or a curling iron still hot, and therefore safe from the flames. A less optimistic scenario in which she's still inside the burning building... well, my fingers are just crossed that the whole Herrmann family will be no more than singed by the end of the next episode.

As always, new episodes of Chicago Fire air on NBC Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET, between Chicago Med in the wake of its 200th episode at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. ahead of a cast member stepping away at 10 p.m. ET. All three shows are also available streaming on Peacock.

Spoilers ahead for the second episode of Chicago Fire Season 14, called "Primary Search" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

After the Chicago Fire Season 14 premiere wrapped up some stories like Damon transferring to another firehouse, Carver settling in to his new life in Denver, and Stella's short-lived pregnancy plot, Episode 2 dedicated some more time to Ritter. Daniel Kyri had been among the cast members whose departures were confirmed before the fall of the 2025 TV schedule, but Fire bought him back for the first couple episodes to set up his exit. While I knew that I'd be bummed to lose Ritter from 51, he did get a pretty solid sendoff.

Kyri confirmed on Instagram that the October 8 episode was also his last episode of Chicago Fire, so Ritter won't be coming back from New York again by next week. The Truck 81 firefighter had jetted off to NYC in the Season 14 premiere after his ex, Dwayne, was shot. It was a great grand gesture, but as he told his friends back in Chicago, he also met Dwayne's family. He was wracked by guilt, believing that the former CPD cop never would have left Chicago in the first place if he'd just agreed to moving in together.

Luckily, that wasn't the end of the story. Convinced that they at least needed to have a conversation, Ritter and Dwayne had a long talk that resulted in Ritter realizing that Dwayne had gone to NYC for a promotion, not because he was fleeing the Windy City due to their breakup. They decided to get back together... and not to restart the relationship by going long distance.

Ritter decided to move to New York to be with the man he loved, which appalled Violet, who'd only meant to encourage him to talk to Dwayne rather than leave the CFD. He assured Violet and Novak that he was only considering it an "extended furlough" and that he'd be back, although he also told Mouch (still adjusting to his new leadership role) that he planned on visiting his uncle's former firehouse in NYC.

His time on the show ended on a heartwarming note, with Violet insisting that she and Novak drive him to the airport to make sure that he didn't miss his flight. Echoing the point she'd made earlier in the episode, the friends all seemed to agree: Chicago isn't that far from New York. Violet and Novak intend to visit him there, so their goodbye for now in "Primary Search" doesn't mean goodbye forever.

There's no sign at the time of writing that Chicago Fire will bring Daniel Kyri back beyond his two-episode sendoff to start Season 14, but I'm guessing that fans will at least hear about Violet and Novak visiting him off-screen. He got a much deserved happy ending that doesn't rule out an eventual return, and that can be the best-case scenario on a show that has killed off main characters. (R.I.P. Otis.)

And the action will continue without Ritter, as it does after any character leaves Chicago Fire. Based on the promo for the next episode, it appears that Taylor Kinney and the other actors playing Squad 3 heroes are out on the water for a daring rescue. Take a look:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, October 8 at 9 p.m. ET for the next new episode of Chicago Fire, between Chicago Med (with another returning star joining Nick Gehlfuss) at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. (with the newbie still on board) at 10 p.m. ET. You can also revisit earlier seasons of Daniel Kyri as Ritter with Fire streaming on Peacock.

Chicago Fire kicked off Season 14 in the 2025 TV schedule with some changes to Firehouse 51 even beyond the absence of Carver, the departure of Ritter, and Stella not needing to step out of the action after all. Mouch was installed as the lieutenant of Engine 51 and entitled to an office in the fire house.... if only Herrmann was willing to vacate it. He has come a long way since earning the nickname of Mouch as Man + Couch pre-series, and actor Christian Stolte opened up about why none of these developments would have worked in earlier seasons.

In the Season 14 premiere (available streaming now with a Peacock subscription), Mouch was still getting used to all the new tasks that came along with the lieutenant gig, not helped by Herrmann holding onto the office. As for the former Engine lieutenant, he did have some valid concerns like the dip in his income due to giving up his spot as an officer, but one of my big takeaways from the first episode is that Mouch deserves full custody of the office.

When Christian Stolte spoke with CinemaBlend and other outlets ahead of the premiere, I had to know: how will Mouch be dealing with the mantle of an officer after thirteen years as a member of the team rather than the leader? The actor shared:

Christian Stolte isn't kidding about Chicago Fire having longevity! While it's not the longest-running show in the Dick Wolf TV universe with Law & Order on Season 25 and Law & Order: SVU in Season 27, the founding One Chicago drama has already outlasted most current and past network TV shows. With Mouch as part of the Firehouse 51 going back to the very beginning, he's gone through plenty since those earlier seasons to rise to his current position.

Mouch's promotion is also reassuring in light of the cuts that are coming to the CFD, since the officers seem the safest from losing their positions. In fact, Stolte went on to preview an upcoming episode that will include a key moment for Mouch, and I'm already excited to see it:

I don't think it'll catch on if Mouch starts trying to go by "Randall" or "McHolland" after more than fourteen years with his nickname, but that may be pretty much all that's left of Man + Couch as the new episodes of the fall continue on NBC. Of course, more turmoil seems to be on the way for Stella on Truck 81 than Mouch on Engine 51 due to the arrival of Sal Vasquez, played by On Call alum Brandon Larracuente. Take a look at the promo for the next new episode:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET for new Chicago Fire episodes with Mouch and Co., between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also stream all three shows next day on Peacock. This will be an especially big week in One Chicago for Med, which reaches the 200-episode milestone on October 8.

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.

The three finales of One Chicago were emotional all around back in the spring, with Chicago Fire ending Season 13 with tear-jerking performances from Taylor Kinney and Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella told Severide that she was pregnant. It was a rewarding way to close out the season after watching all of their struggles towards parenthood, but rarely is anything struggle-free for too long on Chicago Fire. Ahead of the Season 14 premiere in the 2025 TV schedule, executive producer Andrea Newman previewed what will be “very loaded” for Kidd in particular when it comes to pregnancy and parenthood.

The Season 14 premiere of Chicago Fire on NBC is called “Kicking Down Doors,” and will air on the network on Wednesday, October 1 in the usual time slot between Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. (It will also stream next day with a Peacock subscription.) The logline sheds a little light on what’s to come, although anything concerning the good ship Stellaride is missing:

The episode description leaving out Stella and Severide isn’t cause for alarm, since Chicago Fire isn’t likely to spoil the details of what comes next for them. The “new face at Firehouse 51” probably refers to Sal Vasquez, a new firefighter played by On Call alum Brandon Larracuente coming on board to help fill the vacancy left by Jake Lockett as Sam Carver.

So, what about Stella Kidd with a baby on board as of the end of Season 13? Well, I had to ask showrunner Andrea Newman about what’s to come, since Fire hasn’t featured two firefighters dealing with a pregnancy since Dawson and Casey back in the day. During NBC’s One Chicago press day ahead of the Season 14 premiere, Newman previewed:

A Stellaride baby has always meant something different for Stella than for Severide, which he immediately acknowledged when he floated the idea to her to set up their parenthood journey in Season 13. After all, she was the one who’d have to take a break from the action as a firefighter, and they seemed to sidestep that issue with the decision to adopt. Then came the bun in the oven, and an understandably “loaded” scenario for the Truck 81 lieutenant.

When asked during the press junket about how much grief she was going to give Stella and Severide during Season 14, the showrunner teased:

The heroes of Firehouse 51 pursuing parenthood have had mixed results over the years, with Dawsey’s pregnancy ending in tragedy while Cruz and Chloe adopted Javi and then had baby Otis. Casey had to move across the country to take care of the Darden boys, while Brett adopted a baby and then joined him. Will Stellaride's journey be more like Dawson and Casey's, more like Otis and Chloe's, or something else entirely?

For now, take a look at the trailer for One Chicago’s return:

Chicago Fire Season 14 premieres on Wednesday, October 1 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Chicago Med Season 11 at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. If you want to brush up on last season’s finale before we see how Fire continues the stories in the new season, you can find the episode streaming on Peacock now.

The days are counting down until Chicago Fire returns in the fall 2025 TV schedule to reveal just what happens next for the heroes of Firehouse 51 after the tear-jerking Season 13 finale back in the spring. Some developments were announced ahead of time even beyond the Stellaride pregnancy, including two firefighters leaving and another Dick Wolf Entertainment vet coming on board. Another casting has been announced for the upcoming Season 14, and it's a real treat for me as a longtime fan of The X-Files. Annabeth Gish landed a role in One Chicago, and my worlds are officially colliding!

Annabeth Gish will be a guest star in a multi-episode arc in Chicago Fire's fourteenth season, with TV Insider reporting that she'll play Annette Davis, the mayor's chief of staff. The X-Files alum will debut in the Season 14 premiere that will air on NBC on October 1 and stream next day with a Peacock subscription. It's generally not a good thing in One Chicago when a major character gets mixed up in politics, and Gish will share scenes with Dermot Mulroney as Chief Dom Pascal.

While Annabeth Gish first made a name for herself with a role in 1988's Mystic Pizza and now ranks among the actors to appear in the most Mike Flanagan movies and shows, my first impression of the actress was as Agent Monica Reyes on The X-Files. She stepped up as a lead in the ninth and final season of the original run of the Fox series, then reprised her role for a few episodes of the two-season revival... although I tend to practice my good old-fashioned X-Files selective canon and ignore what the revival did to her character.

I feel pretty comfortable predicting that Chicago Fire isn't bringing Gish in for a storyline involving aliens, and any cigarette-smoking men on the show are more likely to accidentally start fires than refuse to die over eleven seasons of a Fox TV show. (I'm definitely over why The X-Files brought CSM back and totally not holding a grudge or anything.)

When it comes to Gish's character on Chicago Fire, I'm wondering how the long-running drama will handle the usual time jump between seasons. The Firehouse 51 firefighters learned at the end of Season 13 that there were likely some imminent cuts to the staff, and Miranda Rae Mayo wasn't sporting a prosthetic pregnancy belly in a behind-the-scenes video with her wearing her usual costume as Stella Kidd. Is Chicago Fire foregoing the usual summer time jump of a few months?

Only time will tell, but Annabeth Gish's Annette Davis is only one new character who has been confirmed to appear in Season 14. With Jake Lockett, Daniel Kyri, and Michael Bradway all out as series regulars, On Call vet Brandon Larracuente is on board as new firefighter Sal Vasquez. Kyri will be back for a limited time to wrap up his story as Ritter.

Chicago Fire returns to NBC for Season 14 on Wednesday, October 1 at 9 p.m. ET, between Chicago Med Season 11 at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. Season 13 at 10 p.m. ET. You'll also be able to find the newest episodes of all three One Chicago shows streaming next day on Peacock.

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.

The end of summer hiatus is in sight for the three One Chicago shows on NBC, but fans can't count on seeing Chicago Fire back on Wednesday nights just yet in the fall 2025 TV schedule. A fresh behind-the-scenes video shows three returning stars along with the newest series regular dancing to the Law & Order theme song right in front of the trusted Ambo 61. It's a cute look at the set, an introduction to Brandon Larracuente as a newcomer, and a somewhat curious sneak peek at how Stella Kidd will evidently be looking in early Season 14.

Jocelyn Hudon and Hanako Greensmith, both of whom posed for a cute photo with departing star Daniel Kyri when production on Season 14 kicked off, joined Miranda Rae Mayo and Brandon Larracuente for a Fire version of what a pair of Chicago Med stars did with the Law & Order theme. Take a look:

I always get a kick out of when the various Wolf Entertainment TV shows make nods to each other, whether it's via an epic crossover event like what One Chicago delivered earlier this year or, like we have here, one cast dancing to the theme song of one of the other shows. If this grouping also represents the four actors filming together, then apparently there will be a scene with the Ambo 61 paramedics and at least two of the Truck 81 firefighters.

Brandon Larracuente joined the Chicago Fire cast after Jake Lockett and Daniel Kyri were cut, with news later breaking that Michael Bradway was out ahead of Season 14 as well. Stella lost three firefighters from Truck over summer hiatus, so at least she's getting one new arrival! But Kidd's status on Truck has also been a bit of a mystery over summer hiatus, and I have new questions after this video.

The Season 13 finale ended on a beautiful scene between Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Severide (Taylor Kinney) that had "everybody behind the monitor" crying, according to the showrunner. Kidd told Severide that she was pregnant, and it was a lovely way to end the season.

Now, unless there are some cliffhanger loose ends to tie off, Chicago Fire usually starts a new season with a time jump of several months to keep up with real time. I've been assuming that the same will happen for Season 14. Doing the math for Stella Kidd learning that she was pregnant in late May, it seemed inevitable that her pregnancy would be showing by early October, so a big question was: how would Fire handle Truck 81 if the lieutenant presumably couldn't be leading the crew into infernos?

Considering that Miranda Rae Mayo is geared up in the behind-the-scenes dance video, it seems like a safe bet that she's not filming Stella Kidd five months into her pregnancy, but the paramedics are rocking the short sleeves that are to be expected from episodes set in a Chicago fall. Could Mayo have been filming a flashback to before her character would be showing?

Fire doesn't use flashbacks very often. Is this a sign that the show might not be delivering as big of a summer hiatus time jump as usual? Possibly. Or maybe the video was just recorded when the actors were filming the Season 14 premiere, before the usual time jump happens. While it was posted weeks after Daniel Kyri shared his photo with Jocelyn Hudon and Hanako Greensmith back on set, that doesn't mean it was just recently recorded.

I actually have very similar questions about Jessy Schram's pregnant Dr. Hannah Asher over on Chicago Med after the actress also danced to the Law & Order theme for Instagram. Interestingly, the Instagram posts both credit the choreography of the videos to Stephon Vann, so I'm wondering if fans should keep their eyes peeled for a Chicago P.D. dance in the coming days.

For now, you can always revisit the first thirteen seasons of Chicago Fire streaming with a Peacock subscription, as well as every season of Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. so far. All three shows will premiere their new seasons on NBC this fall on Wednesday, October 1.

The months are counting down until Chicago Fire returns to pay off on the tear-jerking Season 13 finale, following the news that Jake Lockett, Daniel Kyri, and Michael Bradway won't be returning as part of the cast. Lockett's exit as Carver was set up in the finale back in May, but there was no indication of how or why Kyri's Ritter would leave. Those details are still unavailable, but there's some very good news: Kyri has confirmed that he'll be returning for part of Season 14 when it arrives in fall of the 2025 TV schedule.

Read on for what we know so far and why I now have hope that One Chicago can truly deliver another one of those "big endings" that showrunner Andrea Newman promised for Ritter and Carver!

Daniel Kyri Is Coming Back As Ritter

Daniel Kyri broke the good news himself via Instagram Story, showing a selfie alongside costars Hanako Greensmith (Violet) and Jocelyn Hudon (Novak). He's back in his gear as a member of Stella Kidd's Truck crew, so this seemingly isn't a case of how Chicago Fire brought back Alberto Rosende for a very brief goodbye as Gallo back in the Season 12 premiere.

Kyri didn't confirm how long he'll be back for Season 14, so Ritter won't be on board at Firehouse 51 full-time this fall. Still, there's plenty to celebrate with the BTS photo:

I'm taking it as very good news that we'll get to see Ritter just a little bit longer, and not only because he got an unceremonious ending in the Season 13 finale with no hint of an exit like Carver got. A lot of change is presumably coming for Truck 81, and I'd hate for all of it to happen off screen.

For one, after Pascal gave Stella a hard time in Season 13 about all the turnover from her Truck crew, she's losing three firefighters: Carver, Damon, and Ritter, fresh off of Ritter transferring over from Engine.

Throw in Stella presumably stepping back from the action at some point in Season 14 (if she hasn't already after a usual summer hiatus time jump) due to her pregnancy, it's hard to picture so many changes off the bat for Truck. At least we can count on seeing Ritter again!

What Showrunner Andrea Newman Told Us About 'Big Endings

I spoke with Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman back in the spring, ahead of the finale and not too long after the news had broken about Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett not returning as series regulars in Season 14. When asked about giving Ritter and Carver what were presumed at the time to be their exits in the finale, Newman teased:

The finale hadn't yet aired at this point, so there was no way of knowing that Carver would decide to join the Denver Fire Department to try and continue his recovery, or that the episode would end without hinting at why Ritter would be gone between seasons. It seems like a stretch to include two "big endings" in one packed hour of television.

Now, Chicago Fire has the opportunity to give Ritter a much bigger ending than a sendoff during hiatus. I'm not sure how many episodes will feature Ritter, but I'm hyped we'll be getting him back at all. Season 14 has added On Call vet Brandon Larracuente as a new series regular.

Chicago Fire returns to NBC with new episodes on Wednesday, October 1 at 9 p.m. ET, between Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. as usual. You can also revisit earlier episodes streaming with a Peacock subscription now.

You know what they say: when one door closes, another one opens. Well, that’s exactly what’s happening for Chicago Fire’s Michael Bradway. The actor is officially not returning for Season 14 of NBC's hit first responder drama, which is a big bummer. However, on the same day this news broke, it was also announced that he’d be playing an important role in an upcoming book-to-screen adaptation that’s at the top of my most anticipated list.

Michael Bradway Has Been Added To The List Of Actors Not Returning To Chicago Fire

Michael Bradway joined Chicago Fire in Season 12 as Severide’s half-brother, Jack Damon, and he starred in 17 episodes across Seasons 12 and 13. However, following that run, TVLine confirmed that he won’t be back for Season 14, which will premiere this fall on the 2025 TV schedule.

What makes this news even more of a downer is that it marks the show's third big exit in a short span of time. Before this, it was announced that Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett wouldn’t be back as Darren Ritter and Sam Carver. And when Lockett reflected on his departure, he wrote about how uncertain the future is and that he was “going to miss the hell” out of this work.

In the case of Bradway, this departure is a little easier to take, because producers have reportedly said there’s a chance he could reprise his role in the NBC series. However, there’s another reason I’m not taking this update too hard, and it has to do with a new romance series he’s starring in on Amazon.

Michael Bradway Landed A Major Supporting Role In The Adaptation Of Every Summer After, And I Can't Wait

This report about Bradway’s Chicago Fire exit didn’t cite a reason. However, there’s no denying the serendipitous timing of it all. On the same day, it was announced that he’d be playing Charlie Florek in the adaptation of Carley Fortune’s bestseller, Every Summer After.

The series, which is being renamed Every Year After and will eventually be available with an Amazon Prime subscription, is based on a bestselling romance novel, and Bradway will play the older brother of the main male lead. The story will follow Sam and Percy across years of friendship as they grow up next door to each other while spending their summers in Barry’s Bay.

If the show follows the book, there’s a big issue that makes Sam and Percy not talk for years until a tragic development brings them back together.

So, all this, along with a recent update about Amy B. Harris signing on as showrunner, was known. However, on July 17, Bradway was cast as the ever-flirtatious Charlie (which you can see the Charlie-coded way he announced this news in the Instagram story below). Along with him, Fortune revealed the show’s leads – Sadie Soverall will play Percy and Matt Cornett will play Sam.

This alone is thrilling, because I adore Every Summer After. It’s the ultimate beach read, and I’ve been dying to see the immaculate lake vibes and incredible romance on screen. Now, it’s happening, they're in production, and I literally can’t wait.

However, the excitement, specifically where Bradway is concerned, doesn’t stop there. If Every Year After is a success, my dream is that they’ll continue the story by adapting Fortune’s book One Golden Summer, which is all about Charlie finding love.

On the whole, it seems like this series will give Michael Bradway a bigger role than he had in Chicago Fire, and I know fans can’t wait to see his take on the beloved Charlie. However, as always, change is hard, and he’ll be missed on the NBC drama.

But remember, as I said at the start, when one door closes, another opens. And this door, Michael Bradway’s about to go through enters into a sunny, summery and very exciting world!

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.

NBC’s One Chicago is still in the midst of summer hiatus in the 2025 TV schedule, but the weeks since the finales back in May haven’t answered a major question for Chicago Fire: what will the cast look like with two major departures? Well, fans won’t have to wait for fall for at least one answer. Fire has cast a star from a recently-cancelled Wolf Entertainment TV show as the newest series regular, with a character who will presumably replace Daniel Kyri's Ritter and/or Jake Lockett's Carver in Season 14. Prepare to welcome On Call’s Brandon Larracuente to Firehouse 51!

While Prime Video’s On Call wasn’t part of the multi-show Dick Wolf TV universe that spans NBC and CBS, it did feature One Chicago vets like Monica Raymund and Eriq La Salle, with La Salle previously telling CinemaBlend about his hopes for a second season. The show was cancelled back in May, although remains available streaming with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. After FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted, it was the third cancellation of a Wolf series of the spring and opened the door for Brandon Larracuente to join Fire.

The On Call alum has been cast as a series regular for Chicago Fire Season 14, according to Deadline, although no details about his character are currently available other than that he will be a key member of the 51 family. With the departures of Jake Lockett as Carver and Daniel Kyri as Ritter on top of Stella’s tear-jerking pregnancy reveal in the Season 13 finale, I’m assuming that Brandon Larracuente is coming on board as a new firefighter for Truck 81. (You can stream the finale now with a Peacock subscription.)

While we don’t yet know the circumstances of Ritter’s exit after the finale only set up Carver’s, Stella will presumably have some vacancies to fill on Truck. Even then, it remains to be seen how long she can remain on active duty now that she has a bun in the oven. In fact, if Fire goes for the usual time jump from May to September, Stella could well already be on desk or EMT duty similar to what the show did with Dawson’s brief pregnancy before Monica Raymund’s departure.

All of this is to say that Larracuente’s character may be entering a firehouse in turmoil, although at least Severide helped Pascal wrap up his legal troubles before the credits rolled on Season 13. Interestingly, Deadline further reports that the efforts to find a new home for On Call may still be ongoing. If Season 2 does happen, Larracuente’s character’s absence would probably be the easiest to explain away based on how Season 1 ended.

Chicago Fire returns to NBC in the fall, with its regular 9 p.m. ET time slot on Wednesday nights for Season 14. As always, Fire airs between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. The three series will presumably return in late September, as per usual, but you can revisit older episodes streaming on Peacock in the meantime.

Chicago Fire officially added another member to the Firehouse 51 family in Season 13, with Jocelyn Hudon returning as a series regular after recurring in Season 12. As one of One Chicago's newest stars, the The Strain alum had big shoes to fill as 51's newest full-time paramedic after Kara Killmer's departure as Brett, and Novak quickly proved up to the task as Violet's (Hanako Greensmith) partner. NBC recently re-aired one of my favorite Season 13 episodes, and it has me more excited than ever for what's in store with Novak in Season 14.

While I'd have a hard time narrowing down my favorite Chicago Fire episodes ever out of 13 seasons and counting, "Chaos Theory" – a.k.a. Episode 10 of Season 13, airing on NBC on January 22 in the 2025 TV schedule – was a favorite from the most recent season. It was not only exciting for the Cruz story at the time, but even more interesting when looking. The episode touched on the lovely friendship between Novak and Violet, and paired both paramedics with characters who won't be back in Season 14.

I couldn't help but think about the potential that sets up for both characters come fall, separately and together as a duo. So, whether you're watching summer reruns on NBC like I am, revisiting past episodes streaming with a Peacock subscription, or just following along here, read on for what Jocelyn Hudon told CinemaBlend about her first season as a Chicago Fire series regular!

Novak Settling In As Violet's Partner

When I spoke with Jocelyn Hudon in the weeks following the three-show crossover event, I couldn't help but drop the compliment that her relationship as Novak and Hanako Greensmith's Violet was one of my Season 13 highlights. Luckily – for me, anyway – there was no break in their partnership to contribute to what would make me cry in the Season 13 finale by the end of May. Hudon shared what it was like to work full-time with Greensmith after just recurring in Season 12, saying:

As the season went on, fans got to see Novak and Violet's friendship deepen beyond silly and goofy, as both characters were there for each other when needed outside of Firehouse 51. Even if that was just watching reality TV together, it showed the pair bonding. After Novak's uncertain future when she first arrived and Violet having to move on from Brett, Fire delivered some nice developments. According to Hudon, Violet being true to her word about supporting Novak meant a lot to her character. She said:

Considering Chicago Fire has a history of strong female friendships going back to the earliest days of Dawson (Monica Raymund) and Shay (Lauren German), that bond between Novak and Violet could come in handier than ever in Season 14 in light of events from the end of the thirteenth season.

Showrunner Andrea Newman previewed "big endings" for the finale's farewell with Carver (Jake Lockett) and Ritter (Daniel Kyri) departing the show, although the episode wrapped without setting up an exit for Ritter. In light of Carver as Violet's long-standing will they/won't they partner and Ritter as Novak's roommate, their looming absences should affect the paramedics more than any others in Firehouse 51.

Fortunately, Jocelyn Hudon bringing up another show from the expansive Dick Wolf TV universe is something to smile about. She said:

There are worse comparisons to make than Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay and Kelli Giddish! Fans likely shouldn't cross their fingers too hard for another crossover between SVU and One Chicago to bring Violet, Novak, Benson, and Rollins together, but it's a fun comparison.

Jocelyn Hudon Settling In As A Series Regular

Jocelyn Hudon only had good things to say about being welcomed by the Chicago Fire cast with "no divas" and "no difficult personalities" to deal with. But was it tricky for Hudon to step into Kara Killmer's shoes as 51's newest series regular in Season 13? Hudon recounted meeting the actress who'd played Brett for so long:

Getting the stamp of approval from Kara Killmer surely boded well for Hudon as she received the promotion from recurring to regular. As the longest-running of the three One Chicago shows, Fire of course has a passionate fanbase and a history of divisive discourse over relationships in particular. The actress shared her positive experiences with the fandom:

While it took some episodes to really get to know Novak, it was at least clear early on that she was going to be a much better partner for Violet than the very messy Emma and the unfortunate Lennox! Fans have evidently responded well to what Novak brought to the show.

So, after Jocelyn Hudon settled into Chicago Fire after being promoted to series regular status, is there anything she'd like to do on the show if the sky was the limit? Earlier this year, when there were still episodes left in Season 13, she said:

It's certainly not unprecedented for paramedics to wind up in flames alongside the firefighters of Truck 81, Squad 3, and Engine 51, so perhaps we'll see Novak in some more peril when Chicago Fire returns in the fall! NBC has not yet announced a premiere date for Season 14, but the network is continuing the successful One Chicago Wednesday block of primetime. As usual, the lineup will open with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, continue with Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and wrap with Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET.

In the meantime, you can keep tuning in to NBC on Wednesday nights to check out Chicago Fire Season 13 reruns, or take your pick up episodes with the full series so far 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 13 finale of Chicago Fire, called "It Had To End This Way" and streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

Not every season of Chicago Fire ends on a happy note, but the Season 13 finale in the 2025 TV schedule definitely delivered. Even though the hit NBC drama is losing two firefighters, there was plenty to celebrate: Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) are going to be parents. In a sweet twist, the baby on the way isn't the duo getting their hopes up again for an adoption, but because Stella herself is pregnant. Executive producer Andrea Newman spoke with CinemaBlend about the change in plans for parenthood, as well as what made everybody on set cry.

Stella telling Severide that she was pregnant brought their latest subplot as a couple full circle, after Severide pitched starting a family at the end of Season 12. Andrea Newman previewed their "journey" to starting a family before Season 13 debuted, but as it turns out, the Chicago Fire plan for them becoming parents was originally different. When I asked the EP/showrunner why Stellaride are having a baby of their own rather than the adoption storyline continuing, Newman shared:

Episode 20 saw Stellaride come heartbreakingly close to adopting an infant, with Jessy Schram making a guest-star appearance from Chicago Med to deliver the baby who could have become their child. Instead, the adoptive mother changed her mind, and the two Firehouse 51 lieutenants had to go home without a baby.

It was a devastating twist, especially after the rest of the firefighters had gone all-out to put together as many baby supplies as possible when the adoption initially seemed like a sure thing. As it turns out now, that heartbreak brought the couple closer in a positive way, as Newman continued:

Considering that this is the first pregnancy for a female firefighter in Firehouse 51 since Gabby Dawson back in late Season 3, the story is actually a lot fresher than adoption. Chicago Fire's Cruz went through an adoption storyline not too long ago, and two characters on the Chicago P.D. corner of One Chicago took in a young girl as well. Here's hoping Stella's pregnancy goes better than Gabby's did! The showrunner went on:

Fans have a while to wait to see the next stage of Stellaride's pregnancy journey in the fall, although Stella could be past her first trimester when Season 13 kicks off depending on how long the time jump is. Speaking with Andrea Newman, I admitted that Miranda Rae Mayo's performance in Episode 20 made me cry, and the showrunner responded:

Apparently, Taylor Kinney's performance when Severide learned that he and Stella were going to become parents was powerful enough that the Chicago Fire team on set was in tears. How nice is it to have a finale twist that makes people cry for good reasons rather than any kind of tragic cliffhanger?

Thanks to the early One Chicago renewals, fans can rest easy in the knowledge that Fire will be back in its 9 p.m. time slot on NBC's Wednesdays in the fall, 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 for your rewatching pleasure over summer hiatus.

Chicago Med also has a character with a bun in the oven ahead of next season, but Hannah seemed a lot less pleased by the surprise than Stella was!

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.

Another season of Chicago Fire comes to an end on May 21 in the 2025 TV schedule, and the stakes for Firehouse 51 are as high as they've been at any point in Season 13. The penultimate episode (available streaming now with a Peacock subscription) ended with Pascal being marched out of the firehouse by the CPD, and that's not the only plot that needs to be addressed before summer hiatus kicks off. Fortunately, showrunner Andrea Newman spoke with CinemaBlend to shed some light on what's on the way.

The Season 13 finale is somewhat forebodingly titled "It Had To End This Way," and something tells me that the "End" isn't just going to refer to the current One Chicago season. Per NBC, Severide will put his job on the line to help Pascal, while Herrmann gets set for the Chief's test that could also affect Pascal's future – or lack thereof – at 51. Plus, even though Chicago Fire has been renewed for Season 14, this will be the last episode for both Jake Lockett and Daniel Kyri!

The most imminent crisis is almost certainly Pascal's situation, as he has been taken into police custody as the evidence mounted up that he's the one responsible for the attempted murder of the man who killed his wife. When I spoke with the showrunner, I noted that the writing seems to be on the wall for Dermot Mulroney as Chief Pascal, and she shared what kind of ally Severide will be for Boden's replacement in desperate circumstances of the Season 13 finale:

While it took some time for Pascal and Kidd to find a groove with each other at 51, the new chief and Severide were on good terms from the start of Season 13 before bonding, as Andrea Newman noted, over the Bishop issue. The mess just got messier with the death of Monica.

Severide is familiar with having a loved one as an Achille's heel, however, so he can see where Pascal is coming from... to a certain extent. The showrunner went on:

The previous episode didn't exactly end with Van Meter thrilled with Severide, so it'll be interesting to see how welcoming the OFI team is to the Squad 3 lieutenant if he continues trying to investigate. It also remains to be seen just how long "forever" means when it comes to Severide and Pascal's relationship on Fire. After all, Pascal has crossed lines even if he didn't blow up the car, and Herrmann still seems to be in the running for the Chief gig at 51.

Then, of course, there's the question of how Chicago Fire will set up the departures of Carver and Ritter, with the looming exits of Jake Lockett and Daniel Kyri. Carver's exit is easier to speculate about, even without accounting for Lockett's message about the "honor" of working on Fire. The Truck firefighter has been through the wringer throughout Season 12 and Season 13, to the point of taking a long break.

Ritter, on the other hand, seems settled into his life in the Windy City at this point, complete with Novak as a new roommate. So, how will the long-running drama say goodbye? The showrunner of course didn't spoil exactly what's coming, but she did preview giving them endings that they "deserve" after their time at 51. She said:

Many Chicago Fire characters are lucky enough to leave alive and well as their stories take them elsewhere, but there are cases like Shay and Otis who were killed off in explosive incidents. Should we be worried about Carver and/or Ritter in what may be their final episode of One Chicago? Well, the preview for the finale doesn't give away any details about either character, but it does give a taste of what's coming for Pascal. Take a look:

Check out NBC on Wednesday, May 21 at 9 p.m. ET for the Season 13 finale of Chicago Fire, between the Season 10 finale of Chicago Med with a "powerhouse" performance from Oliver Platt at 8 p.m. ET and the Season 12 finale of Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. All three shows will return to their usual Wednesday time slots when NBC's fall schedule picks up later this year.

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.

While Chicago Fire Season 13 is still airing on the 2025 TV schedule and the show has yet to be renewed for Season 14, the long-running NBC drama is already making changes. More cast departures are on the way, as it was recently announced that both Jake Lockett and Daniel Kyri are exiting at the end of this season as firefighters Sam Carver and Darren Ritter, respectively. Now, Lockett is reflecting on his time with the series.

Fire wrapped filming for the season, meaning that for Lockett and Kyri, their time at Firehouse 51 has come to an end, at least for now. Lockett joined the show during Season 11 and was only upped to series regular for Season 13. Unfortunately, the show ultimately bumped him in what was an “effort to trim the budget,” as Deadline previously reported. The actor took to Instagram to express how much he’s going to miss being on the show:

It’s always hard seeing a cast member on a show leave but, with Chicago Fire in particular, it’s even harder knowing how close the cast is. The compilation video Lockett shared alongside his message seems to show off that kinship. Depending on how the season ends for Carver, it’s possible the character could return at some point, and although Lockett's tenure on the show wasn't relatively all that long, I don't think fans will forget him. For the actor himself, is sounds like playing Carver seemed to be a highlight of his career:

Chicago Fire has been somewhat brutal this season. There was a major loss early on, when Pascal’s wife was killed in a car crash. Additionally, viewers nearly said goodbye to a fan favorite when Jack became trapped in a house fire that led to Boden's return.

Meanwhile, this season has also centered on a storyline involving Carver's problem with his drinking, and he even took a bit of a break from 51 to get better. It’s hard to tell if that will play a part in his exit but, if fans know one thing about Chicago Fire, it’s that the show is unpredictable. Check out Jake Lockett's full post down below:

Chicago Fire has seen a revolving door of stars throughout its 13-season run, but that doesn’t mean it gets any easier each time a cast member leaves. Season 12 saw three main stars leave, with Alberto Rosende, Kara Killmer and Eamonn Walker departing. Now that two more are joining them at the end of this season, the series loses a bit more continuity cast-wise.

However the season ends, I'm hopeful Carver’s exit is written in a way that would allow Jake Lockett to return at some point. Should that not come to pass, at the very least, he deserves the departure of a hero. Fans will just have to see how it happens, as new episodes of Chicago Fire return on Wednesday, May 7 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Spoilers ahead for Episode 18 of Chicago Fire Season 13, called "Post-Mortem" and available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription.

The April 16 episode of Chicago Fire was hyped ahead of time for bringing back none other than Eamonn Walker as Deputy Commissioner Boden, and rightfully so. He even teased to CinemaBlend that fans might lose one of their favorites at this point in the 2025 TV schedule, and that could still be true despite nobody being killed off in "Post-Mortem." Plus, news broke during the episode that two stars are definitively leaving One Chicago at the end of Season 13, so the Firehouse 51 family is going to look different next fall.

Jack Damon Might Be Medically Unfit

Chicago Fire switched up its usual format in "Post-Mortem," with the officers of Firehouse 51 – including Chief Pascal – reporting to Boden about a fire that went horribly wrong. One firefighter had been left behind when the burning house was evacuated, with his life in very real jeopardy. The show managed to build the tension by not revealing for a chunk of the episode who was in surgery, with candidates including Cruz and Carver. Instead, Damon was the one who was left behind due to a number of factors going wrong at the same time.

Fortunately, Damon survived and didn't even look too badly injured, but his biggest issue isn't visible. He told Severide that "There was evidence of lung breakdown in my X-ray," and the doctors "won't know how extensive until I get a CT." The credits rolled on the episode before revealing the results of the CT. Severide tried to reassure his half brother that there are treatments even if the prognosis is bad, but Damon knows guys who "never came back from this."

Severide promised that he'd be there for Damon no matter what happens, but it certainly appears that the firefighter might be medically disqualified from going back to work on Engine. Just when things seemed to be going well for the brothers after their issues back in the fall! So, we might be losing Michael Bradway as Damon and will have to wait for confirmation. What we don't have to wait on is the identity of two firefighters who are running out of episodes.

Two Firefighters Are Leaving

In some unfortunate timing for any Chicago Fire fans who were checking TV news during commercial breaks on April 16, Deadline reported mid-episode that Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett would be exiting Fire at the end of Season 13. While the show hasn't officially been renewed for Season 14 at the time of writing, it will return without Ritter and Carver if it does receive that expected renewal.

This seemingly isn't a case of the actors deciding to move on. The outlet reported that Kyri and Lockett's exits are part of a push to cut the budget for Chicago Fire, citing sources that state that many of the longtime stars' contracts will be up at the end of Season 13 and require negotiation. More exits within One Chicago as well as the two Law & Order shows on NBC are also possible as part of renewal talks.

These departure reports come almost exactly two years to the date from the news that series regulars across NBC's installments in the nine-show Wolf Entertainment world would appear in fewer episodes in a cost-saving measure. In fact, both Hanako Greensmith and Jocelyn Hudon missed the "Post-Mortem" episode that brought Eamonn Walker back.

While this is certainly sad news for the state of Chicago Fire's current ensemble, the shocking cancellations of FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International elsewhere in the Dick Wolf TV universe just have me hoping for renewals across the board for the NBC installments. Hopefully any other cuts will be limited, but only time will tell.

For now, keep tuning in to NBC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET for new episodes of Chicago Fire Season 13, between Chicago Med Season 10 at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. Season 12 at 10 p.m. ET. Cast changes are evidently coming to at least the most senior one of the three shows, and my fingers are crossed that any exits aren't totally permanent. You can also revisit earlier episodes streaming on Peacock.

Chicago Fire fans have a lot to celebrate and possibly a bit to fear as well with the next episode of the 2025 TV schedule, airing on April 16. Called "Post-Mortem," the episode brings back none other than longtime Firehouse 51 leader Wallace Boden, with Eamonn Walker reprising his iconic role for the first time since the Season 12 finale last spring. Boden isn't just turning up for a fun visit, however, and Walker spoke with CinemaBlend about just how dire the circumstances are for the crew of fan favorites.

Boden of course didn't leave the Windy City like Casey and Brett did, with Chicago Fire writing out Eamonn Walker by promoting his character out of Firehouse 51 to Deputy Commissioner. It'll be in that capacity in the CFD that Boden is back in the mix. The 51 family already seemed like they could use some guidance after Pascal lost his wife, and when I asked Walker how serious a Chicago Fire crisis has to be for the Deputy Commission to step in, he shared:

This isn't just a case of something going slightly sideways and a firefighter needing an extra bottle of water or some oxygen from Ambo 61. Somebody's life is evidently in very real danger, which really does fit with "Post-Mortem" as the title of the episode! Walker doubled down on hinting that major losses are possible with the Chicago Fire entry on April 16, saying:

For all the times that Chicago Fire heroes have survived close calls with death, there have also been notable instances of characters being killed off. In light of losses like fan favorites like Otis and Shay as well as more recent deaths like Hawkins and Monica, I noted to the longtime series regular that it can feel like nobody is entirely safe on this show. Eamonn Walker couldn't speak to that without spoiling the episode, but he did elaborate:

Walker referring to the decisions made by a chief really makes me curious to see what Boden and Pascal make of each other. The actor confirmed that he met Dermot Mulroney for the very first time on the set of Chicago Fire, so the dynamic was new for the actors as well for the characters.

Some of the effects used in the promo for the episode also make me suspect that a lot of the emergency of the week will be recounted via flashbacks, which would also track with "Post-Mortem" as the title of the episode. Take a look and see for yourself:

Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, April 16 at 9 p.m. ET for the "Post-Mortem" episode of Chicago Fire, as always right in the middle of NBC's hit One Chicago block. It remains to be seen if this will be Eamonn Walker's only episode of Season 13, but at least we can safely guess that Boden isn't the fan favorite who fans need to worry about losing in a fire at this point.

Unfortunately, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med are all still waiting on renewal news for the 2025-2026 TV season. For now, you can just keep watching on Wednesday nights and/or stream next day with a Peacock subscription.

As it continues to air amid the 2025 TV schedule, Chicago Fire is still bringing the action and hitting fans in their feels. Throughout the show's 13 seasons, there have been a revolving door of cast members. Some have lasted quite a long time, while others only a season or two. Although most characters that have left Firehouse 51 willingly left, there have been a few that were unfortunately killed off, leaving fans heartbroken. With that, Yuri Sardarov is opening up about Otis’ death, and let's just pretend I don’t have tears in my eyes.

Sardarov was an original cast member on the NBC drama, playing firefighter Brian “Otis” Zvonecek during the first seven seasons. Following an intense Season 7 finale that saw 51 rushing to the scene of fire at a mattress factory, Otis suffered severe injuries. He sacrificed himself to protect civilians from a boiler explosion, and he died at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center with Cruz by his side in the Season 8 premiere. Although the character's bittersweet exit may have seemed sudden, it was actually something that Sardarov knew in his heart it was right, telling TV Insider:

I can't imagine being an actor and receiving the news that your character is being written out of a show. However, I'm glad that Sardarov left of his own accord. Still, the end result was one of the most heartbreaking moments on Chicago Fire. Not only did Cruz have to say goodbye to Otis, but Joe Miñoso also had to bid farewell Sardarov and vice versa in real life. When it came to his character's final moments, Sardarov apparently had quite a time:

While there was a finality to Otis’ death, it was still quite devastating and gruesome. It's hard not to wonder whether Otis could've been naturally written out in another way. However, during a previous interview, Sardarov said that the death was necessary since he wanted to move on, and it was something that fans wouldn't expect. Apparently, he and series co-creator Derek Haas talked about it for a long time. Now, I’m crying all over again just thinking about it.

Even though Yuri Sardarov felt it was time for him to leave Chicago Fire, it doesn’t sound like it was easy. Even today, over five years after his exit, he still keeps the series close to him, occasionally sharing photos from set on his Instagram. It also wasn’t easy for him to completely move on, as he admitted that it’s taken a while for him to figure out what’s next. Still, he says that the end result was ultimately worth it:

Chicago Fire has seen some brutal deaths throughout its run, including Shay's in Season 3 and Hawkins' demise in Season 11. Otis’ tragic death in Season 8 is certainly hard to forget. As long as Fire continues, I'll remain worried about the fates of the main characters. I just hope that whatever happens, any actor who exits will be satisfied with the conclusion of their character's arc like Yuri Sardarov is. Anyone wanting to relive the show's toughest installments can stream them with a Peacock subscription.

Spoilers ahead for Episode 15 of Chicago Fire Season 23 on NBC, called "Too Close" and available streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

NBC was hyping a big death in the March 5 episode of Chicago Fire, and the founding One Chicago drama delivered in the 2025 TV schedule. While one of the heroes of Firehouse 51 didn't perish, Chief Pascal suffered a major loss with the untimely death of his wife Monica in a car crash... on their anniversary, of all days. The preview for what comes next doesn't look great for Pascal, making the timing just right for the news that Eamonn Walker is reprising his role as none other than Wallace Boden.

Let's start with the good news!

Eamonn Walker's Return

News broke just hours before "Too Close" aired that Eamonn Walker would soon be back on Chicago Fire, so perhaps fans should have predicted that something would go wrong with Firehouse 51's current chief. NBC Insider revealed that the longtime series regular will reprise his role for the first time since the Season 12 finale back in the spring in an episode that airs on Wednesday, April 16. The installment will be the 18th of Season 13 and called "Post-Mortem."

And while the very next episode seems to feature Pascal unraveling, as per the promo, that evidently won't be what brings Boden back. After an order from Commissioner Griffin, the CFD's Deputy Fire Commissioner returns to analyze a burned-out house after it went down with a firefighter still inside. Showrunner Andrea Newman previewed what to expect, saying:

Clearly Eamonn Walker isn't just coming back for a quick cameo! And even if the episode sounded less interesting, his return will pay off on the promise during spring 2024 that the door was open for the actor to recur as a guest star. We'll get at least one appearance out of him before the end of Season 13! My fingers are crossed that we get to see a conversation between Mouch, Herrmann, and Boden, with Herrmann getting closer to achieving Boden's goal for him and Mouch making lieutenant.

The episode has also already begun filming, thanks to a cute pic from the One Chicago X (formerly known as Twitter) account:

Now that we've covered the good news about Chicago Fire in the not-too-distant future, let's take a look at the heart-wrenching death that occurred in "Too Close," with Pascal losing his wife on the same night that he was excited to give her a present over dinner to celebrate their anniversary.

Why Pascal Needs An Intervention

Pascal was understandably distraught by the end of Episode 15, as he learned that Monica had been in a car crash. He arrived at Med just in time to learn from Dr. Archer (played by Chicago Med series regular Steven Weber) that she'd already died. He didn't even get one last goodbye. Even though Monica wasn't exactly the biggest character of Chicago Fire Season 13, Dermot Mulroney's performance as Pascal got the horrible news was such that the tragedy packs a major punch.

With One Chicago taking a break of a few weeks before returning on March 26, it's likely a safe bet that there will be at least a slight time jump to get Pascal back on the job following his wife's death. Based on the preview, though, it might have been best for him to stay out of the CFD and mourn his wife for longer. Take a look:

Pascal crying in his office, very publicly confronting the person (possibly) to blame for his wife's accident, and dangling one-handed from some heavy machinery high up in the air? Yes, I'd say he could have used more time off after the death of his wife, and it's clear from just that quick promo that the rest of 51 is going to be at a loss on how to deal with their chief in this state.

And there are certainly some interesting possibilities from the idea of Pascal stepping away from the job, willingly or not after the events of the next episode. Herrmann is still claiming to want Pascal's job, while Mouch is suspicious after Pascal suggested that he was too close to his best friend to see the whole truth.

The one thing that we know for sure is that Eamonn Walker's big episode to bring back Boden won't be the first dealing with the fallout of Monica's death, so we won't get to see Boden's reaction to the unraveling Pascal. Still, there's plenty to look forward to. Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, March 26 for the next new episode of Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET now. All three shows' current seasons so far are also available streaming on Peacock.

Chicago Med delivered a more lighthearted story than usual for Dean Archer (on acid!) in the February 26 episode in the 2025 TV schedule, but there was plenty of stress for Ripley as the hits kept on coming. Already on forced leave from Gaffney, his attempt to help out Lynne resulted in her planting a kiss on him, and he needed advice to guide him back to Hannah... only for Hannah to break up with him. In the next episode, he's going to put his own life in danger in a move usually reserved for the first responders of Chicago Fire, and I spoke with actor Luke Mitchell about what happened and what's ahead.

The breakup with Hannah was especially heart-wrenching after Ripley dropped an "I love you" on her, but Hannah was firm that it was for the best because she couldn't be the one to save him. (The episode is streaming now with a Peacock subscription.) When I chatted with Luke Mitchell ahead of the big upcoming episode featuring a Chicago Fire star, he weighed in on whether his character saw that breakup coming:

With as eventful as One Chicago has been lately, it may be easy to forget that it wasn't all that long ago that Sully died, so it's natural that Ripley would still be grieving. That doesn't mean he's been grieving in the healthiest way! All in all, 2025 really hasn't been his year so far. Since the breakup happened outdoors at night in the Windy City, I had to ask the Australian actor: just how cold was it to film the sequence with Jessy Schram?

Apparently, the temperature when filming that emotional scene between Hannah and Ripley was nothing compared to shooting on location for the upcoming episode, which could not be more appropriately named than its title of "Down in a Hole." Luke Mitchell shared:

Most of the doctors and nurses of Chicago Med spend their time in scrubs and sneakers, which S. Epatha Merkerson jokingly referred to as "pajamas and slippers" since she wears suits and high heels as Sharon Goodwin. Joe Mińoso, who knows a thing or two about Chicago winters after thirteen seasons and counting of Chicago Fire, also joked that on Fire, they "call it Club Med" because "everything is so clean over there, mostly heated all the time" while they're "walking around in comfy scrubs."

No Club Med for Ripley in "Down in a Hole," which airs on Wednesday, March 5 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC! He'll be struggling to rescue a woman and her daughter when they're trapped in an abandoned well, and it doesn't appear in the preview that it will be any roomier for him on Med than when something similar happened to Burgess over on Chicago P.D. The good news for Ripley is that he'll have another One Chicago hero on hand to help him out: Mouch, played for the past thirteen seasons by Christian Stolte, who is crossing over from Chicago Fire to lend a hand.

And when it comes to what it was like for Luke Mitchell to work with the longtime Fire cast member for one of his rare Med ventures outside of the hospital, the actor only had good things to say about Stolte:

The actors may have had a "really great time" teaming up after working together on the three-part Avengers-esque One Chicago crossover, but based on the promo, I think it's a safe bet that the characters won't be having such a great time. Check out Ripley down a hole with Mouch on the scene in the preview for the next episode below:

Assuming Ripley makes it out of "Down in a Hole" alive, I would not blame him if he wants to stick with the scrubs, sneakers, and heated hallways for a while after this ordeal! Don't miss the big episode on Wednesday, March 5 in Chicago Med's usual 8 p.m. ET time slot on NBC, followed by Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. Be sure to check back next week for more from Luke Mitchell as well!