Once upon a time, the return of NBC’s One Chicago block in the fall would mean the Halstead brothers (played by Nick Gehlfuss and Jesse Lee Soffer) coming back to primetime on their respective shows. Both left by the end of the 2022-2023 TV season, however, and Will on Med got much better closure than Jay did on P.D. Now, the latest casting news out of One Chicago in the 2025 TV schedule could mean an update on what’s been up with Jay Halstead… if we’re lucky enough that Med does what Fire did so well several seasons ago, anyway.
The Big One Chicago Casting News
While Chicago Fire is losing several series regulars ahead of Season 14 and Chicago P.D. lost Toya Turner’s Kiana Cook, Chicago Med is bringing back a familiar face for the 2025-2026 TV schedule despite my worries to the contrary. Nick Gehlfuss is returning to Med to reprise his role as Will Halstead for the first time since the Season 8 finale back in 2023.
Gehlfuss is returning as a guest star, so fans won’t see him as often as during the first eight seasons of the show before his big decision to leave Med. My #1 hope for his return is that Will isn’t coming back with any bad news about the little family he was building with Natalie and Owen in Seattle, but the news of a former series regular coming back to One Chicago reminded me of something that happened on Chicago Fire, and that has me hoping for an update about P.D.'s Jay as soon as we see Will again.
Will We Get An Update On Jay?
Longtime Chicago P.D. fans may remember when Antonio Dawson was written out between Season 6 and Season 7, with Jon Seda being cut from the cast. P.D. didn't deliver many details about what Antonio was up to after leaving the Windy City, and the big update came courtesy of Fire, when former series regular Monica Raymund returned to guest star as Gabby Dawson, a.k.a. Antonio's sister
And if Chicago Fire could deliver an update on a former Chicago P.D. main character via their guest-starring sibling in 2019, while couldn’t Chicago Med do the same for Jay with Will returning this season? Even if we never saw much of the Halstead brothers’ relationship during their overlapping seasons of One Chicago, it stands to reason that Will would at least be aware of what’s been happening with Jay after how P.D. ended his story.
Admittedly, it’s not unusual for a One Chicago show to move on quickly from a character after the actor left, but not hearing much about Halstead felt particularly strange back in P.D. Season 10. Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) had a whole storyline about their relationship while he was nowhere to be seen, and never anything to suggest a sympathetic side to his story.
And while Upton is gone from the Windy City as well, I’d still like an update about Jay from Will now that Will is guaranteed to be coming back to Med. Surely somebody could ask him about his brother on screen, and Will could have at least a minor thing or to two say… right? If Chicago Fire could do it for P.D.’s Antonio, surely Chicago Med can do it for P.D.’s Halstead!
I’ll hold out hope for it, anyway. For now, we can all look forward to the return of NBC’s One Chicago Wednesdays on October 1, starting with Med at 8 p.m. ET, continuing with Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and ending with P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also check out earlier seasons of all three shows streaming with a Peacock subscription now.
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