Dick Wolf‘s One Chicago first responder franchise has been a ratings hit since 2012’s Chicago Fire premiere, followed by 2014’s Chicago

P.D., and then Chicago Med in 2015. In 2025, they’re still among NBC’s most popular shows. Here’s what’s to come when the trio of shows return together all on Wednesday nights.

 

 

Several months have passed since Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) learned she was pregnant. Is the father her former boyfriend Dr Mitch Ripley (Luke Mitchell) or lovelorn colleague Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber)? “Whichever it is,” says showrunner Allen MacDonald, “he’ll react with ambivalence.” Meanwhile, Ripley has moved on with Sadie (Holly Curran), whom he rescued from a well along with her young daughter (May Lansing). “He’s throwing himself completely into this relationship quicker than is probably healthy for him,” MacDonald warns.

 

 

Distressing news hit emergency department chief Caitlin Lenox (Sarah Ramos) at season’s end, after learning she inherited her mother’s Prion Disease, which causes life-shortening motor-neuron issues. She’s now decided not to reveal her diagnosis. Says Ramos, “the story the writers are telling is what does it mean to live knowing you have a fatal disease that could strike at any time. Lenox, who’s on the autism scale, would want to help as many people as she can with the time she has, while experimenting with being alive.”

A sad farewell and a welcome return also mark the season opener. Marlyne Barrett, who has played the well-respected Charge Nurse Maggie Lockwood since the pilot, has taken a leave of absence “for personal reasons,” says MacDonald. “Maggie has planted such deep roots on the show, and it is absolutely our intention to see her again when she signals that she’s ready.”

Fans of Nick Gehlfuss‘s Dr. Will Halstead, last sighted in Season 8 moving to Seattle, will be happy to know he’s back for multiple episodes. He returns to Chicago in the 200th episode to take the son of Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) — no word if they’re still together — to a Bears’ game and drops by Gaffney. “It’s a very special episode and by the end it will feel like a big deal,” MacDonald promises.