Which One Chicago finale had the best cliffhanger in 2019?

Chicago PD

What happened: Brian Kelton (recurring guest star John C. McGinley) was becoming the next mayor of Chicago, and Intelligence was feeling the heat thanks to Kelton’s decision to re-open the Internal Affairs investigation into what happened during the midseason finale. Because of Adam Ruzek’s (Patrick John Flueger) decision to cover for Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) after that earlier episode, it’s Ruzek who was facing a potential murder charge.

Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) believed there’s no way to stop Kelton and save Ruzek, not knowing that Antonio found out the Internal Affairs cop’s daughter is a drug addict and a prostitute, which would discredit the guy and end the investigation. Antonio kept that information to himself, not wanting to use an innocent young woman as a pawn, especially when she’s obviously in a bad spot already.

So Voight cryptically declared that he was going to see Kelton. And after Ruzek was formally arrested, Chicago PD ended with the team getting a call to the now-mayor’s house, only to find his dead body in the foyer. Kelton had been murdered, and the show cut to Voight wordlessly driving someplace, implying that he’d been the one to kill him.

What we think: Like Chicago Fire, Chicago PD has certain elements it goes to more often than not. On this show, it’s Voight doing something outside the law that takes care of the situation, even if it’s morally objectionable or a bit of a reach logically. Voight can negotiate the end of a gang war in someone’s kitchen, because the gang members somehow listen to him. And he can have people killed, and as audiences know from that body at The Silos, he can kill people.

That’s the inherent issue with this cliffhanger. There’s nothing specifically wrong with the story, but it’s exactly what the audience expects to happen—there’s zero suspense. Yes, seeing Kelton’s dead body is a visual jolt, but what did One Chicago fans expect to happen when Voight said he was going to find Kelton? They weren’t going to have a nice chat.

Ending the season in this way also presents a larger problem that we’re not sure how the show is going to fix. Obviously, Voight can’t be busted for Kelton’s murder, or there wouldn’t be much of a show anymore. He can be arrested, sure, but he has to get away with this on some level. And that just stretches plausibility a bit too far. Chicago PD always seems to find a way for Voight to fix the problem, usually without serious consequences, but being able to murder the new mayor? That’s going to be hard to believe.

How we’d grade it: Chicago PD‘s cliffhanger makes more sense than Chicago Med, but it has that same “we’ve seen this before” feeling like Chicago Fire. In the end, we give Fire the edge because at least it had a ton of action that was fun to watch, whereas PD was doing what it already does most of the time. It’s a solid second place.

Which season finale in the One Chicago universe was your favorite this season? Let us know which one, and why, in the comments underneath this article.