Feature Story
Chicago may not have the stature of New York City or the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, but the Windy City is no slouch in its flair for drama and excitement. NBC has made this clear to audiences for nearly a decade through its ever-growing One Chicago franchise.
Get ready to return to Chitown when “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Med” begin their new seasons Wednesday, Sept. 21, on NBC.
Whether you prefer excitement to come from the pursuit of justice, the fight against the elements or the race against the clock to save a life, One Chicago has you covered.
Created by the unofficial king of police procedurals, Dick Wolf (“Law & Order”), NBC's Chicago block of programming began with “Chicago Fire” in 2012. Since then, the series has expanded into a sort of “Chicagoverse” of interconnected spinoffs. Following a backdoor pilot (an episode intended to lay the groundwork for a new series) for each of them, “Chicago P.D.” premiered in 2014, followed by “Chicago Med” in 2015.
The eldest series, “Chicago Fire,” follows the dramatic lives of the Chicago Fire Department's bravest firefighters, rescue workers and paramedics. For the crews of Firehouse 51 — which include, among others, Gallo (Alberto Rosende, “Shadowhunters”), Cruz (Joe Minoso, “Boss”), Ritter (Daniel Kyri, “The T”), Lt. Severide (Taylor Kinney, “The Forest,” 2016) and District 4 Deputy Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker, “Oz”) — the drama of responding to the city's emergencies may be the underlying structure of each episode, but the real draw for viewers is the strong cast of characters and their relationships.
Last season saw quite the shakeup to Firehouse 51's operations when Lt. Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer, “House”) surprised everyone with a move to Portland, Ore. His sudden departure called into question whether chief paramedic — and Casey's girlfriend — Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer, “Beyond the Mask,” 2015) would stick around for Season 11.
The Season 10 finale reassured fans of both Brett's commitment to the service and to Casey (whose guest appearance leaves the door open for potential future drop-ins). Only time will tell if fans will see more of Casey (or other former favorites) this season.
Guest appearances by former stars aren't unheard of for the series. Audiences have already seen former chief paramedic Gabby Dawson (Monica Raymund, “Hightown”) make a crowdpleasing appearance since departing “Fire” at the end of Season 6. The interconnectedness of the One Chicago series means familiar faces can pop up in any of its three shows.
“Chicago P.D.” frequently sees its officers enlist the help of characters from “Fire” and “Med.”
“P.D.” follows Det. Sgt. Hank Voight (Jason Beghe, “Californication”) as he leads the CPD's Intelligence Unit to investigate the most serious crimes in the city. Voight's morally dubious past leaves him with a somewhat ruthless reputation that may help him professionally but causes strife in his personal life.
The ninth season of “P.D.” saw the Intelligence Unit investigating a drugrunning cartel. As the case escalated, detectives Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer, “The Brady Bunch Movie,” 1995), Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos, “Bates Motel”) and Voight found themselves in a tense standoff resulting in the death of a trusted criminal informant.
The big question for Season 10 is how Voight and the team manage the fallout of a death they worked so hard to avoid.