The three shows of NBC's One Chicago world are finally returning in the 2026 TV schedule, and the crossover looks even bigger and more harrowing than all previous three-parters. Not only is there a literal airplane involved in the latest crisis for the first responders of the Windy City, but Chicago P.D. vets Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos will be back. Yet after how Halstead left in 2022, does the crossover need to redeem him? I asked showrunner/executive producer Gwen Sigan that very question, and she previewed the perks of having him back for a multi-part event.
The very earliest promotion of the crossover was hyping the returns of Halstead and Upton, so anticipation has been high going back to early February to see Soffer and Spiridakos again. While it remains to be seen what brings the ex-spouses together again after Upton joined the FBI and Halstead went radio silent on his wife, P.D. fans for better or worse likely remember how Jay tried to justify his decision to her in Season 10 and into Season 11.
When I spoke with the three One Chicago showrunners ahead of the crossover on March 4 (which will also be available streaming next day with a Peacock subscription), P.D.'s Gwen Sigan weighed in on whether the writers felt Halstead needed to be redeemed after how he exited the show (and his marriage):
I think there was. For me, it was a chance to have more time with him, to have an ability to have basically three more hours with this character, and to have him on screen with Upton again, because of the way that each of these characters left. They didn't get to leave together. They didn't get to have sort of these scenes on screen that I think would have felt really cathartic, and felt really like they were completing some sort of story they had together.
Bringing Jesse Lee Soffer's Jay Halstead back for his first on-screen project since the end of FBI: International wasn't expressly for the purposes of redeeming his character for his actions the last time he was on P.D., with the exit becoming even more painful as Tracy Spiridakos remained in the cast and portrayed Upton's grief. The crossover will evidently give them what they deserved: "completing" their story on screen "together."
Fortunately, with how Upton seemed to recover by the time she left and what appears to be an action-packed three hours of television, the crossover should have the time to give them some solid scenes in addition to the Fire, Med, and other P.D. characters. Still, fans don't have to worry that Jesse Lee Soffer or Tracy Spiridakos will be back for just a quick cameo a la Elias Koteas as Olinsky back in Season 11. Gwen Sigan went on about handling Jay's return:
That was something that was conscious in our minds, writing that return for both of them, and then how the end of this three-hour [crossover] would go. I don't know if we necessarily were trying to redeem him in any way, but to see how he's changed and sort of taking responsibility for some of it. That was important to us.
Viewers got to see Upton changing on screen in the aftermath of Halstead's exit, leading up to her decision to leave Chicago. Now, the crossover can show how Halstead has changed off-screen since early Season 10. Whether or not the exes will have a happy reunion is a bigger question, but at least the actors were all smiles back on set (despite Spiridakos sporting an in-character head wound):
Of course, the crossover isn't going to be three hours of Upstead: The Movie, and there's a reason why the heroes of all three shows are going to need to pitch in. Like what happened with the 2025 crossover, the episodes are airing in a different order than usual, with Chicago Fire kicking things off, followed by Chicago Med and then concluding with Chicago P.D.
All hands will need to be on deck starting with Fire, when Firehouse 51 is called to an airfield after a passenger jet goes silent while still in flight. That normally might be enough for a full hour of the founding One Chicago drama, but the jet is only the beginning with the doctors and nurses of Med as well as the cops of P.D. brought into the mix. Plus, FBI Special Agent Hailey Upton and the former Detective Halstead!
Check out a promo for the event:
Tune in to NBC on Wednesday, March 4 starting at 8 p.m. ET for the latest One Chicago crossover event, but be sure to check back with CinemaBlend first for more from P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan, Fire showrunner Andrea Newman, and Med showrunner Allen MacDonald all about the action that brings the three shows together.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
