After what has felt like an eternity, NBC has finally pulled off a new One Chicago crossover event bringing together the stars of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD… or at least most of the characters.
Heading into the three-part crossover event, fans were eager to find out which characters would be participating in the One Chicago crossover. It quickly became clear that the plan was for most of the casts of the shows to appear; however, in speaking with the creative teams behind the shows, One Chicago Center was able to confirm a few key characters would be absent from the crossover event including both series regular and recurring characters who have been active parts of the show’s current seasons.
One of the most notable absences from the crossover is Joe Minoso’s Joe Cruz, who played a key role in past crossovers as a long-time member of Chicago Fire. As Chicago Fire showrunner Andrew Newman told One Chicago Center, "He's the one [Chicago Fire] character who's not in the crossover.” This decision stemmed from Cruz being suspended in the prior episode, thus preventing him from being on call and working the emergency response.
It was also confirmed to us via Chicago PD’s showrunner Gwen Sigan that Chief Deputy Reid would not appear in the crossover and will next appear after the crossover event. “[Chief Deputy Reid does not appear in the crossover, but we'll be back with him very, very quickly after the crossover,” Sigan teased. Chief Deputy Reid is not the only recurring character sitting on the bench for the crossover, as Nina Chapman will also not appear and is slated to return later in the season.
With characters from Chicago Fire and Chicago PD not appearing in the crossover, it seemed likely there would also be a few characters from Chicago Med missing from the three-part event and that is indeed the case.
Chicago Med’s Dr. Howard and Dr. Johnson are not in the One Chicago crossover
The promotional images and promos confirmed that all of the Chicago Med series regulars appear in the crossover, there are two recurring characters who were not present in any footage or photos from the One Chicago crossover and this is because neither appear in the crossover. Both Henderson Wade and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut are sitting out the crossover and will not appear in their respective roles as Dr. Loren Johnson and Dr. Naomi Howard.
It’s unclear why neither character appears in the crossover, but it likely came down to the scale of the event and the need to exclude a few characters from the mix. Given Wade and Chestnut are both recurring members of the cast, it’s likely that the creative teams simply could not find a way to organically work them into the crossover episodes.
Each One Chicago show has a large ensemble so getting every series regular and recurring character into the mix is a major task. Even with the three hours, it’s hard to give every character a major storyline with some characters getting more screen time than others.
As much fun as it would be to see every character present, it’s just not feasible to expect the shows to incorporate recurring characters in the crossover in addition to all of the series regulars.