Wednesday nights in the fall are usually filled with Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. on NBC, but that’s not the case in 2023 due to the effects of the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike. Fortunately, NBC is taking a fun approach to the empty primetime slot following Magnum P.I. and airing a rotating selection of repeats of memorable episodes of the three shows. I’m following along for a One Chicago rewatch, and revisiting Chicago Fire‘s “Acting Up” on October 11 helped me spot exactly when and why a crossover with P.D. could have been perfect.
When I originally watched “Acting Up,” which was Episode 16 of Season 11, back in March, my focus was primarily on Cruz stepping up in the wake of Severide’s departure. Now, after my previous rewatch helped me view Severide’s absence a little differently, I saw a missed crossover opportunity. Here’s why!
Cops Were Already Involved
Truck was called to a scene that was as dangerous as any the firefighters might normally experience on a shift, but with bullets flying around them instead of flames. Stella, Gallo, and Carver were in the thick of the action, trying to save a young boy while avoiding getting shot themselves. Admittedly, Carver’s reaction was the important part of the sequence more than the actual crime being committed, but cops were called to the scene. How great would it have been if cops with very familiar faces appeared an hour earlier than P.D.‘s usual 10 p.m. ET time slot?
Stella And Upton Had A Reason To Bond
Two of the main female characters between Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. had something sad in common during the 2022-2023 TV season: their husbands were gone from Chicago. Hailey Upton had to say goodbye to Jay Halstead just a few episodes into P.D. Season 10 due to actor Jesse Lee Soffer’s decision to leave, and Stella said an off-screen goodbye to Severide in Fire Season 11 due to Taylor Kinney’s leave of absence.
While Halstead was a lot farther away than Severide, Upton and Stella had the loneliness of missing their significant other in common. I know I would have enjoyed seeing how a crossover might have played with that dynamic, especially since it was well before Upton tearfully decided to remove her wedding ring. This was a unique point in time for the two women when they had something in common that nobody else in One Chicago could have entirely related to.
Fire And P.D. Had Lost Major Characters
For all that the three shows of One Chicago have strong ensembles that can survive the departure of any one actor, P.D. felt a little off-balance in Season 10 after losing Halstead and the Fire characters were still figuring out how to deal with Severide’s absence when “Acting Up” aired in March. Just like how Stella and Upton could have bonded over missing their husbands, the Firehouse 51 crew and Intelligence Unit were both moving on in the absence of a longtime leader. They were coping and compensating, but it wasn’t the same, and it could have been interesting to see both teams in the same situation at the same time in the same episodes.
Trudy Was Already Involved
Technically, “Acting Up” was already a mini crossover, as Amy Morton made a guest appearance in the Fire episode to help Cindy Herrmann regain some confidence after she lost her hair due to chemotherapy. Admittedly, spending time with Cindy shows a very different side of Trudy than P.D. viewers see with Sgt. Platt on a weekly basis, but seeing Amy Morton involved just made me wish that she’d brought some of her co-stars with her. Back in the day, Fire and P.D. used to air an annual two-parter early in each new year, and “Acting Up” could have been perfect for the Fire half with some slight tweaks.
All of this said, I was never really expecting a crossover event during Season 11 of Chicago Fire. The last two-parter between NBC’s Chicago shows aired back in early 2020, prior to the COVID production shutdowns that cut Fire Season 9 and P.D. Season 8 short. Crossovers are bound to be much more complicated nowadays, and I’m not expecting a multi-parter in the 2023-2024 TV season either. At this point, I’m just hoping that the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved soon enough for the three One Chicago series to get an episode or two finished before the end of the year!
For now, NBC will continue airing standout repeats, with Chicago Fire revisiting “The First Symptom” on October 18. That episode was the one that ended in the tease of Jesse Spencer’s return as Matt Carsey, and I’m looking forward to a rewatch! Season 11 of Chicago Fire is also available streaming now with a Peacock Premium subscription.
