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Rick Eid, Derek Haas dish on Chicago PD and Chicago Fire crossover

By Brittany Frederick

NBCUNIVERSAL EVENTS -- "One Chicago Day" -- Pictured: (l-r) Executive Producers Eriq La Salle, Derek Haas, Rick Eld at the "One Chicago Day" event at Lagunitas Brewing Company in Chicago, IL, on October 30, 2017 -- (Photo by: Parish Lewis/NBC)
NBCUNIVERSAL EVENTS -- "One Chicago Day" -- Pictured: (l-r) Executive Producers Eriq La Salle, Derek Haas, Rick Eld at the "One Chicago Day" event at Lagunitas Brewing Company in Chicago, IL, on October 30, 2017 -- (Photo by: Parish Lewis/NBC) /
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Chicago PD and Chicago Fire cross over tonight, so what to expect? Producers Rick Eid and Derek Haas told FanSided what’s coming in NBC’s two-hour event.

Wednesday is huge for Chicago PD, as it’s not only the Chicago PD 100th episode but the first part of a crossover with Chicago Fire.

What should One Chicago fans expect from this milestone event? FanSided spoke to both show’s executive producers, Derek Haas and Rick Eid, to preview the two-night, two-hour crossover.

Read below to find out what both of them are excited about in these episodes, if they gave each other advice, and if PD‘s 100th episode will make any reference to Erin Lindsay.

FanSided: Rick, this was not just the Chicago PD 100th episode, but your first crossover as the showrunner of PD. Was the experience a bit daunting?

Rick Eid (RE): It was daunting and ultimately rewarding and I hope the viewers feel the same way. But it was fun. It was fun to work with Derek. It was fun to do a 2-hour show that mined PD and Fire. And it was a blast.

FanSided: Derek, as the veteran of so many crossovers plus having co-written Fire‘s 100th episode last year, did you pass on any advice to Rick on either count?

Derek Haas (DH): Honestly, I knew Rick pretty well from last year. We were in the same office, even though he was doing SVU, and so we hit it off. We were really looking forward to doing it.

The challenge was we’d never done Fire as being the second hour, because when you write these things you have to have an antagonist that you wind up hunting down and hopefully capturing by the end, and traditionally that’s what cops do.

So when Rick and I got together, we were like let’s do a two-hour story, as opposed to a hand-off where the PD hour is resolved and you just kind of kick into a Fire episode. Let’s have all of our characters fully on your show, have all of your characters fully on ours. We’ll just treat it as a two-hour movie with a really cool cliffhanger-y middle.

As far as the 100th goes, what are the fans looking for? They wanted to have Mouch and Platt together; they haven’t seen them together in a while. Brett and Antonio together. Those kind of things but really it’s a thriller storyline so it’s not like the 100th [episode of Chicago Fire] where we had a wedding and more of a personal [angle]. This is how can we keep people on the edge of their chairs for two hours?

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FanSided: Was it a coincidence that this was also the 100th installment of Chicago PD, or did you plan to celebrate the milestone with a crossover?

RE: It was a coincidence, but a coincidence we embraced. We were always going to do something big for the 100th, and we found out that this is the way the schedule is laid out, [that] he crossover would coincide with the 100th. We thought it was just perfect, so we embraced it and went all out for it.

FanSided: Anything in particular that you’re excited about in the Chicago PD/Chicago Fire crossover? What should the fans be looking forward to?

DH: You’re going to see Platt put into a super-dangerous situation, and not Mouch but another favorite firefighter is going to be coming to her rescue. That’s early off the bat.

Then you’re going to see Antonio and Brett. That situation that’s always on simmer is going to go on full boil, because they’re in a dangerous situation and both of them have that kind of personality where when things get heated, it’s hard to slow them down.

This puts Cruz in a hard place, because of his experience with PD and his brother. There’s all different threads. You’ve got Boden and Voight sharing the same surveillance van, sharing the same office. Arson investigation with PD investigation.

It really is the most integrated two hours, as opposed to we’re going to write an episode and the last five minutes we’re going to hand off to the other show.

FanSided: What are the logistics of it? You mentioned having the full casts of both shows involved, so how do you make sure you write for more than a dozen characters?

DH: It’s not easy. (laughs) But I will say it was fun for me, because I got to write PD for the first three seasons. [But] other than quick crosses, I hadn’t gotten to write those characters in a while, so I appreciate Rick sharing the 100th of PD with me so I could write Voight again. I got to write Halstead. I got to write Ruzek and Burgess. Just people that I’ve been around since they started on the show, and then it was fun to also include Upton who I hadn’t written for before.

FanSided: Plus you finally got to put Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) on the motorcycle.

DH: I had given up trying to get it done until this crossover, and was like you know what? It’s happening. I don’t care if it’s two degrees outside. He’s riding a motorcycle.

FanSided: Rick, since this is the milestone episode for Chicago PD, are we going to see any references to former characters like Erin Lindsay or Mouse, since they’re part of what got the show this far?

RE: I’m not sure if anybody was referenced in the 100th. It’s not the world’s most sentimental episode. It’s not a celebration of itself. We just tried to create a two-hour event that integrated PD and Fire, so we tried to stay true to the story.

In the course of other episodes this season, after the crossover and after the 100th, we do reference certain characters that were in the show at some point. People that were on the show, still remain part of the fabric of the show and the mythology of the show, so we try to be true to that depending on the story.

FanSided: So can we say anything about what comes after this? Does anything carry over into the rest of Chicago PD season 5 or Chicago Fire season 6, or is this more of a standalone event?

DH: Brett and Antonio and Cruz is a triangle that definitely going to keep going on Fire. But it is a one-story event. There’s a bomber in Chicago and that brings out all of the weapons we have in our arsenal.

RE: Same for PD. This is an event episode that we embraced. I think it’s a fun episode, I think the viewers will really like it, but we didn’t do a lot of our continuing storyline stuff in this episode. There just wasn’t room for it. It’s a thriller, so we get on the ride and race to the end.

FanSided: Is there anything else you want to say as we approach this Chicago PD milestone?

DH: We’re both thrilled with how this season has gone. I don’t think the fans realize when they’re watching an hour of television how hard these crews work in Chicago. We’re out in the elements. We don’t care if it’s raining or snowing or two degrees or whatever. These actors are all out there doing it. These crew members are out there 14 hours a day.

Between fast-running episodes, the crew delivering stuff, incredible directors all year long and the cast bringing their ‘A’ game, and being a fan of PD still, it’s just been the greatest season. It’s been really fun to be a part of.

Next: Do you remember this Chicago PD episode?

The Chicago PD 100th episode airs tonight at 10 p.m. on NBC, followed by the crossover’s second part tomorrow on Chicago Fire at the same time. Are you excited for the crossover event? Let us know in the comments.

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