One Chicago has had a difficult couple of years. The franchise has had to contend with numerous cast exits, the writers and actors strike, and the pandemic. Seasons have been shortened, delayed and tweaked as a result. But all the franchise's ducks have been lined up in 2025.
A crossover event is happening once again. It's a huge deal, and one the fans have been wanting for quite some time. It can be easy to forget, however, amidst all the smaller crossovers and cameos, just how long it's been since the last proper crossover event.
One Chicago hasn't had a crossover since 2019
The last time all three One Chicago shows teamed up to tell a singular story was on October 16, 2019. That's right, it has not happened since last decade. In a move similar to the upcoming Jan. 29 crossover, Chicago Fire kicked off the crossover, despite the fact that Chicago Med generally comes first in the One Chicago Wednesday lineup.
The Chicago Fire episode was titled "Infection," and the Med and Chicago PD episodes that followed were titled "Infection: Part II" and "Infection: Part III." Makes sense. The previous crossover events in the One Chicago franchise followed a hand off structure, in which one team dealt with an aspect of a case, only to hand it off to the next team at the end of the episode.
It was fine enough, but "Infection" felt like a breakthrough. It was the first time all three shows felt like they were they were genuinely interconnected, much in the way that Avengers movies felt like for the MCU. "Infection" gave fans a chance to see character pairings and confrontations that we would not see otherwise.
Dick Wolf wanted a crossover back in 2022
This integrative quality is likely what has made it so difficult to replicate. Dick Wolf admitted that he wanted to stage another crossover before 2025, but scheduling conflicts, and the aforementioned issues caused by the pandemic and the strikes, made it virtually impossible.
In November 2022, former Chicago Fire showrunner Derek Haas told TV Insider that Wolf wanted to stage a crossover as soon as possible. "If Dick Wolf has his way, the chances are 100 percent," he explained. "But we haven’t actually [solved] the medical restrictions that we need to have that many cast members interacting."
A crossover was obviously not in the cards during 2023, when the writers and actors strike meant that the show had to be delayed by several months. Fortunately, Wolf's desire to see a crossover has materialized, and we are all going to benefit come January 29.