Warning! SPOILERS ahead for the 2025 One Chicago crossover, "In the Trenches."
I'm disappointed that the 2025 One Chicago crossovers have given each show in the franchise a specific part of the larger story so that it is clear where one episode ends and the next begins. The 2025 crossover, however, offered a more integrated story where characters from all three shows worked together from close to the beginning of the three-hour event.
I liked the idea of integrating all three shows seamlessly. Featuring characters from all three shows in every part of the crossover helped the story flow more cohesively than several other crossovers in the One Chicago universe. However, the downside of this approach was that it made the latest One Chicago crossover feel like a three-hour episode of one show rather than three different shows that told a blended story.
Chicago Fire Dominated The Crossover
Every Storyline Tied Back To Firehouse 51
Chicago Fire aired in the first part of the hour, but its presence was felt throughout the entire crossover. The story began with Firehouse 51 responding to a call about a gas explosion at a government building, and every storyline in the One Chicago crossover came out of that story. To an extent, that was logical, as there would be no crossover story without the gas explosion. However, Chicago Fire carried most of the three-hour story, which left little room for the other two shows.
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NBC has a very important reason for changing the schedule and starting the One Chicago crossover with Chicago Fire instead of Chicago Med.
Every storyline could be traced back to Chicago Fire in some respects. Trudy (Amy Morton) got shot while performing a police mission, but she was trying to arrest the person responsible for the gas explosion. Furthermore, her medical crisis story focused mostly on Mouch's (Christian Stolte) fear of losing her, while little attention was given to how her potential death would affect her colleagues at the police department. Similarly, Chicago Med's Dr. Archer (Steven Weber) was there mainly to advise Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) by phone on how to do an emergency procedure.
I wouldn't have expected any of the shows to have standalone stories, as that would defeat the purpose of the crossover. However, this particular crossover seemed far more unbalanced than previous ones I have covered in my career. While "In the Trenches" paid homage to Chicago Fire's longevity and status as the first show in the franchise, it might have been confusing to that part of the audience that doesn't watch the fire-and-rescue show regularly.
The Crossover's Integration Of All Three Shows Made It Harder To Give Them Equal Time
Past Crossovers Gave Each Show Its Own Story
It was difficult for the crossover to give equal time to all three shows because of the format. While other crossovers I've covered have had more clear delineations between episodes, "In The Trenchs" did not, and that contributed to the three shows being out of balance. Neither Chicago Med nor Chicago PD had an hour that was dedicated only to their contribution to the crossover, while Chicago Fire's storyline was similar to a standard episode of the show.
This parallel story structure made it harder to dedicate time to Chicago Med and Chicago PD's stories, contributing to the lack of balance in the crossover.
That said, the other two shows had important storylines that were addressed in the crossover. However, instead of the second hour being dedicated to treating burn victims and the third hour of the show being focused on Voight's team trying to catch the person who had shot Trudy and other perps related to the gas explosion, the investigation was going on alongside these other stories. This parallel story structure made it harder to dedicate time to Chicago Med and Chicago PD's stories, contributing to the lack of balance in the crossover.
Med and PD's Subplot Was Interesting But Got Less Time
It Was Resolved Too Quickly Because of Time Constraints
The idea of Lenox (Sarah Ramos) butting heads with Voight was exciting. Chicago PD's Voight and Chicago Med's Lenox are equally stubborn, and Lenox tends to be as rigid about following procedures as Voight is fast-and-loose. Thus, it was inevitable that these two would clash. Voight's insistence that Lenox extubate a patient prematurely so that he could interrogate her hit all the right notes even though Voight's threat to have Lenox arrested for obstruction of justice was mostly empty.
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The three One Chicago shows – Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med – will forces in a crossover in 2025, meaning many new duos are possible.
Unfortunately, this subplot didn't get much follow-through. Although Goodwin (S Epatha Merkerson) ed Lenox's position, Lenox decided to compromise by giving Burgess (Marina Squerciato) information that could help identify the patient without compromising her care. It was disappointing that One Chicago didn't give this story the time and energy it deserved, although I understood that it was difficult to find space for it with everything else that was happening in this fast-paced crossover.
- Created by
- Derek Haas, Michael Brandt
- First TV Show
- Chicago Fire
- First Episode Air Date
- October 10, 2012
- Cast
- Jesse Spencer, Taylor Kinney, Monica Raymund, Jason Beghe, Jon Seda, Sophia Bush, Jesse Lee Soffer, Nick Gehlfuss, Yaya DaCosta, Torrey DeVitto, Rachel DiPillo, Philip Winchester, Joelle Carter, Monica Barbaro, Carl Weathers, Yuri Sardarov
- TV Show(s)
- Chicago Justice
