2025’s One Chicago Crossover Recap: 10 Biggest Reveals, Pairings, Twists From Fire, Med & PD Special

by admin · February 5, 2025

2025’s One Chicago crossover has been over five years in the making, and this time, a gas explosion brings the casts from all three series — Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD — together. The universe’s last crossover, “Infection,” premiered in late 2019. Unfortunately, when the COVID-19 pandemic began in the spring of 2020, numerous TV productions were affected. Due to safety protocols, the One Chicago TV shows’ casts and crews logistically couldn’t develop any crossovers, despite them being a tradition in the franchise, which is why the 2025 event is so special.

New episodes of One Chicago air on Wednesdays on NBC, with Chicago Med at 8 pm ET, Chicago Fire at 9 pm ET, and Chicago PD at 10 pm ET.

During the 2025 three-hour event, Firehouse 51, Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, and the Intelligence Unit join forces to catch the perpetrators behind the gas explosion, treat the injured (like Trudy Platt), and rescue trapped civilians (a group that includes Stella Kidd and Adam Ruzek). The One Chicago crossover also features new tandems as many characters have yet to meet. Of course, some characters get more screen time than others. However, the overlap between all three series and their stories comes in full force as “In the Trenches” raises the stakes in the fictional universe.

10. Kidd & Severide Are Reunited (& Planning A Trip)

Kidd Was Absent In Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 10

2025’s One Chicago crossover starts with Chicago Fire instead of Chicago Med, allowing the highly anticipated event to begin with a heartwarming moment between Kelly Severide and Kidd. It’s essentially the calm before the storm. After being absent from Chicago Fire season 13’s previous episode, the opening scene shows Kidd reunited with her husband. The couple discusses going on vacation that weekend to escape the cold Chicago winter.

Severide claims they should take their time and plan the vacation instead of rushing into it. Kidd counters that “more time” will never magically appear. So, they have to make the time happen (a sentiment that comes back around at the end of the crossover), but trip planning must wait as Severide and Kidd are late for work. Unfortunately, this morning scene between Severide and Kidd is their last peaceful moment of the three-hour One Chicago crossover.

9. Frost Joins Ambo 61 For A Ride Along

Violet Isn’t Too Happy About Frost’s Company

Viewers don’t have to wait long for characters from different shows to cross paths in Chicago Fire‘s segment of the crossover. A few minutes into the hour, Violet Mikami reveals that Dr. John Frost is joining Ambulance 61 for a ride-along that day. Frost is new to the One Chicago universe, making “In the Trenches” his first crossover. Luckily for Chicago Med season 10’s new doctor, the event makes good use of his character.

Unfortunately for Frost, though, Violet isn’t too happy about his presence. She has had bad experiences with doctors from Med on their ride-along, which is why Violet isn’t so friendly towards Frost at first. However, once they start working together and Frost backs Violet up when encountering a disgruntled security guard, the two seemingly come to an understanding in the 2025 One Chicago crossover.

8. Firehouse 51 Responds To An Emergency Downtown

A Gas Explosion Rocks Chicago’s City Employee Benefits Department Building

At the beginning of “In the Trenches,” Firehouse 51 responds to a gas explosion at Chicago’s City Employee Benefits Department building. It’s unclear what caused the explosion at first. Nevertheless, Chief Pascal takes over the scene, commanding the other Chicago Fire season 13 characters to perform search and rescue and investigate why the explosion happened. Meanwhile, he appoints Violet to lead the triage efforts. However, the big concern is cutting off the gas. The gas company takes too long to arrive, though, and Chief Pascal, Sam Carver, and Darren Ritter take matters into their own hands to stop the leak.

Chief Pascal later learns a subway train got stuck after running into rubble caused by the gas explosion. So, Kidd and Carver go underground to save the passengers. Everything is unstable, though, resulting in rubble falling from the ceiling. A piece of it injures one passenger, and Kidd orders him to take the civilian up to the ground level to receive treatment. The rest of them return to the train, where they can be somewhat safe from the falling debris. It eventually traps them underground, and they spend most of the episode on that train waiting to be rescued.

7. The Perpetrators Target The Government Building Because Of Their Lost Pensions

Those In Control Of The City’s Pension Fund Invested The Money In Cryptocurrency

Before Kidd (and Adam Ruzek) get stuck underground on the CTA train, Severide and Christopher Herrmann check out the source of the gas explosion in One Chicago‘s 2025 crossover. They discover that the building’s servers’ electrical distribution system was rigged to overheat, and find an open oxygen tank in a room that belongs to the employees’ pension fund. Consequently, as Severide explains, the place turned into a powder keg, causing the gas explosion.

A data storage drive containing the assets ($250 million) was kept in the targeted room to prevent hacking — they were worried after public outcry in response to the fund investing its money in cryptocurrency.

Hank Voight and Kim Burgess arrive at the scene and quickly deduce that the perpetrators were after the pension fund’s money. The two Chicago PD season 12 characters interview the pension fund’s executive director. He admits that a data storage drive containing the assets ($250 million) was kept in the targeted room to prevent hacking — they were worried after public outcry in response to the fund investing its money in cryptocurrency. So, the suspects stole this drive and triggered the gas explosion. By the crossover’s end, viewers learn that disgruntled citizens who lost their pensions were behind the disaster.

6. Trudy Gets Fatally Shot While Chasing The Perpetrators

The Chicago PD Character Almost Dies

As for how Ruzek gets stuck alongside Kidd on the train, it all starts when Severide comes across two men trapped in the server room. He frees them, but one pulls a gun on the firefighter. The suspect begins shooting and doesn’t hit Severide, but the commotion alerts Ruzek, Trudy, and Bates (a security guard/former cop Trudy knows). They split up, with Trudy tracking one offender, and Ruzek chasing the other. The suspect leads Ruzek down to the subway tunnels and the stuck train, and the cop loses him but knows he’s hiding in plain sight among the trapped passengers.

Meanwhile, Trudy catches the other suspect. However, while she has her gun trained on him, an unknown third party creeps up behind Trudy and shoots her three times in the back. They both get away, and Mouch is the one to find Trudy. They rush her to the hospital, and based on Dr. Caitlin Lenox and Dr. Mitch Ripley’s assessment of Trudy’s condition, things don’t look good for her.

Throughout the rest of 2025’s tense One Chicago crossover, Trudy’s life hangs in the balance. However, just when it seems like the original Chicago PD character will die, Trudy pulls through. When she wakes up, Trudy is able to give Voight vital information that ultimately helps them solve the case.

5. Pascal Tells Herrmann To Shadow Him During The Emergency

Herrmann Is On Track To Become A Chief

As some might recall, Chicago Fire season 13’s Herrmann passed the captain’s test. Consequently, he’ll soon be able to take over a firehouse as a chief. Pascal knows this, which is why he has Herrmann shadow him at the scene of the gas explosion. Doing so means Herrmann can’t get in on the action, and that doesn’t go over very well with the veteran Chicago Fire character.

As a chief, Herrmann must command the scene of a disaster. He must resist the urge to run into the fire alongside his fellow firefighters. However, Pascal is the chief during the One Chicago crossover. So, Herrmann explains to Pascal that he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t join his team in the trenches (which is undoubtedly where the crossover gets its name) because the scene already has a chief. Pascal lets him go, but Herrmann’s eagerness gives him pause, possibly setting up future tension between the two characters.

4. Voight & Pascal Finally Meet & Team Up

Pascal Joined Firehouse 51 During The Chicago Fire Season 13 Premiere

Perhaps one of the One Chicago crossover’s most exciting pairings (and certainly the most anticipated) is Voight and Pascal. Voight has been in charge for the entirety of Chicago PD‘s run, while Boden’s Chicago Fire replacement is only just beginning. The two men are technically the equivalent of each other, and it’s interesting to see how they interact with one another for the first time.

For the most part, Voight and Pascal are cordial. They never truly butt heads, if one doesn’t count Pascal stopping Voight from sending his officers to the source of the gas explosion to collect evidence. The two One Chicago characters ultimately work well together to investigate the crime and lead their respective teams. Hopefully, “In the Trenches” isn’t the last fans have seen of this duo.

3. Goodwin Returns To The Hospital After Her Near-Death Experience

Goodwin Was Stabbed In Chicago Med Season 10, Episode 8

After Sharon Goodwin survived in Chicago Med season 10, episode 9, the hospital’s director has been recuperating at home. The wife of a woman who died at Gaffney attacked Goodwin in episode 8 by stabbing her, but, luckily, Dr. Dean Archer was there. He performed emergency surgery on Goodwin and saved her life. Despite still being in recovery, Goodwin comes to the hospital to help after the gas explosion in the One Chicago crossover.

One Chicago TV Show	Season(s)	Episodes	Creators	Backdoor Pilot Premiere Date	Release Date	Finale Date
Chicago Fire	13	263	Michael Brandt and Derek Haas	N/A	October 10, 2012	TBA
Chicago PD	12	232	Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead	May 15, 2013	January 8, 2014	TBA
Chicago Med	10	187	Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead	April 7, 2015	November 17, 2015	TBA
Chicago Justice	1	13	Dick Wolf	May 11, 2016	March 1, 2017	May 14, 2017

It’s a great sign that Goodwin feels good enough to show up during the special three-hour event. Plus, she never looks as if she’s in pain or tired. As a result, Chicago Med fans should expect Goodwin to return to the medical drama very soon.

2. A Former CPD Officer, Burn Victim, & Train Passenger Are Among The Offenders

Three Perpetrators Hide In Plain Sight

The Chicago Fire segment of the 2025 One Chicago crossover introduces Bates, the government building’s security guard and a former police officer who previously worked with Trudy and Voight. Bates is present throughout the three-hour event as she “helps” the first responders. However, Voight later discovers that Bates was one of the people behind the attack. She was also the one who shot Trudy, almost killing her. Bates explains that she was diagnosed with mesothelioma and needed her pension. As mentioned above, though, the city cheated people like Bates, making her lose the money.

Bates’ accomplices include Margaret, a worker at the City Employee Benefits Department who was also diagnosed with mesothelioma. She sued her place of employment, but the lawsuit was dismissed. Like Bates, Margaret was under the characters’ noses the entire time. She is the Jane Doe victim with severe burns and the mother of the young girl who Frost helps throughout the crossover. As for the perpetrator on the train, Duffy, a man who consistently helps Kidd and Ruzek, is the person Ruzek was chasing. He had a mask on at the time, so the Chicago PD character didn’t recognize him.

1. Firehouse 51 Rescues Kidd, Ruzek, & The Other Trapped Civilians

The Firefighters Get To Them Just In Time

The big question looming over the One Chicago universe’s 2025 crossover is whether Kidd, Ruzek, and the other trapped passengers will be saved before their oxygen runs out. Luckily for them, Intelligence gets their hands on the suspects’ subway schematics. With it, Pascal, Severide, Herrmann, Mouch, and Archer are able to breach the tunnel’s walls from the building next to it. Just when they arrive, though, Duffy grabs Kidd and points his gun at her head.

As Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman told NBC Insider prior to the three-hour event’s premiere, the disaster tests [Severide and Kidd’s and Ruzek and Burgess’] relationships.

Kidd manages to get away from Duffy, and Ruzek attempts to take the gun from him. They struggle until the gun goes off, killing Duffy moments before the tunnel starts to collapse. The first responders guide everyone off the train and are able to save everyone (except for Duffy, of course). Ruzek grabs the pension fund’s drive from Duffy beforehand, though.

On the surface, Severide reunites with Kidd, who both commit to taking the time to go on their vacation as soon as possible, while Ruzek and Burgess also embrace. As Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman told NBC Insider prior to the three-hour event’s premiere, the disaster tests the two couples’ relationships. Fortunately, they make it out on the other side and everyone survives the One Chicago crossover.