Inside the "Marvel"-Level Chicago Fire, Med, & P.D. Crossover: "It's One Big Movie"
"Everybody is coming in — I'm gonna get the chills — it is such a big ride," Med's Steven Weber told NBC Insider.
Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med are all coming together for the first time in five years for a crossover extravaganza.
The teaser alone for this TV event will get your heart pumping. In it, you see Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) in trouble after a subway collapse and an injured Trudy Platt (Amy Morton) crashing in the hospital. What will happen? How will all these worlds combine? Is everyone getting out of the crossover unscathed?
"The only teaser I can provide you is that I've been waiting for it myself," Devin Kawaoka, a.k.a Chicago Med's Dr. Kai Tanaka-Reed, told NBC Insider. "Five years is a long time, and how exciting for all of us to get to cross over. I've heard so much about all the fun that they're having, and I literally can't wait to watch myself as a fan."
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NBC Insider chatted with the One Chicago showrunners and several stars across the franchise to get more details on the crossover. Read on, and be sure to tune in Wednesday, January 29 at 8/7c for all the action. Things kick off with Chicago Fire, followed by Med at 9/8c, then P.D. at 10/9c.
Chicago Fire's Andrea Newman calls the One Chicago crossover "cinematic, explosive, and thrilling"
Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman reveals the three-part episode will see Firehouse 51 battling one of the most catastrophic fires they've ever faced. "Our 51 guys take command of the scene, and they have to rescue people with their own lives on the line as they do it," she said. "All the danger involved going in—where there's potential collapse, there's fire, there's explosions, there's gas leaks, there's air depleting. It's one thing after the next. A lot of action."
"You don't notice when you're going from one episode to the next," Newman added. "It's really all one big episode. It's one big movie, is what it is. The writing process for these things is quite extensive."
The episode was a collaboration between Chicago Fire writer Victor Teran, P.D. writer Joe Halpin, and Med's Stephen Hotstein. It took them months to write the three-part saga.
"They really kept saying, 'We really want it to have layers that you just keep peeling back,'" Newman said. "Surprises that keep coming. They made it together: a three-hour movie, essentially."
Chicago P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan reveals the crossover will feature unlikely pair-ups
The crossover will feature new character team-ups. P.D.'s Voight (Jason Beghe) and Fire's Chief Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) share copacetic scenes, while others are more tense, like Ruzek and Stella's trapped-underground storyline.
"One of the themes running throughout this crossover is the couples that we have on the show and their relationships being tested and tried throughout," Newman said. "So yeah, Kidd gets trapped in with Ruzek, and Severide (Taylor Kinney) has no way of getting to her. And so he's trying to keep it together and not lose it while also finding a way to get to her and get them out of there."
Chicago P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan added, "You see a bit more of that really interwoven story between three different shows, which was fun. That's all kudos to the three writers that worked on this and the fact that they were so in it together from the beginning."
"As far as P.D.'s role [in the crossover episode], we're definitely such an engine for the investigation, obviously, and tracking down the criminals who are part of this huge incident in Chicago," Sigan added. "And we become very interwoven with the other two shows, and it's different pair-ups. So you'll see some interesting pairings between all three shows of characters that don't usually get to spend a whole lot of screen time together."
Like Ruzek and Stella, for example. Or Chicago Med newbie Dr. Caitlin Lenox (Sarah Ramos), who helps P.D. veteran Platt in the hospital.
"I would say it's very emotional," Sigan said of the episode. "It's definitely high-stakes, what happens with [Platt's] story. But I think, you know, it really galvanizes the team... It forms quite high stakes for the team to find these offenders at the end of the day."
Chicago Med's Allen Macdonald says the crossover is "emotional, suspenseful, and breathtaking"
"It's been a lot of fun," Chicago Med showrunner Macdonald told NBC Insider. "It is a complicated process doing a crossover, but the payoff is huge, I think, for the fans. I can tell you the cast very much enjoys when they're on set together. There's an energy there when they're all together that reminds us that this is a big One Chicago family and these three shows are all connected."
As to what action Med fans can anticipate, Macdonald says Dr. Archer (Steven Weber) in particular will be put to the test.
"A lot of our characters cross over, but [Archer] has some very interesting yet gory medical things he has to do during the process of the show..." Macdonald said, adding that Dr. Lenox and Dr. Ripley (Luke Mitchell) will be tasked with saving Platt. "Her life is on the line, and they really have to work together to hopefully figure that out in time."
The crossover isn't just adrenaline, though. "There's a really beautiful moment in the Med hour where Mouch (Christian Stolte) talks to an unconscious Trudy..." Macdonald said. "There's a lot of action, and action is wonderful and it's a cornerstone of this franchise, but the emotional component is the thing I think will stick with people."
Chicago Fire's Joe Minoso and Med's Steven Weber say the crossover is "such a big ride"
Joe Minoso (Fire's Joe Cruz), tells NBC Insider, "This is not a crossover event; this is a One Chicago three-hour movie. It is, like, just an insane, huge story that happens to have all of your favorite One Chicago people in it."
"Every time we have the pleasure of working with anybody over on Med or P.D., it's kind of like going to your weird cousin's house, you know?" Minoso said. "And they've got a couple of different toys that you don't have at your place, and so you get to play with their stuff or vice versa."
Miñoso added, "Fire is known as the crazy cousin that breaks things, so [Med and P.D.] are always a little nervous about what we're gonna do when we get on their set. But for the most part, it's a real joy."
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Med's Steven Weber echoed Minoso's excitement. "This particular crossover is going to be a massive ride," Weber said. "This is like Marvel Endgame, OK? Avengers: Endgame. Everybody is coming in — I'm gonna get the chills — it is such a big ride, it's so good," Weber gushed. "People are gonna flip out. Everybody hit it out of the park. The writers, the directors, and the actors had a blast."
Fire's Miranda Rae Mayo, Med's Darren Barnet, and P.D.'s LaRoyce Hawkins tease what's to come
"Fans can expect the firefighters to show up and do what they do, which is help people get to safety in a moment of crisis, in a moment of just intense catastrophe," Mayo (Stella on Fire) revealed before taking a moment to shout out the real-life Los Angeles firefighters who've been battling wildfires in California.
"Frost is all about saving some lives, but he is out on a ride-along and ends up in the middle of the fire inferno kind of by accident, but thankfully he's there," Barnet (a.k.a Dr. Frost on Med) revealed. "All that fire is real. All that stuff happening is real, and it was a pleasure and a treat to cross over and kind of see what the other parts of the family are doing."
As for the P.D. side of the episode, Hawkins (Atwater on P.D.), said, "If you're a fan of the show, you know every time the storyline surrounds one of our own being hurt or affected, it impacts the unit differently." (He's referring to Platt and Ruzek, who both are in danger during the crossover.)
He added, "Ruzek being my partner and best friend, Sergeant Platt being a mom to me and the whole unit — those two individuals particularly are extremely impacted by this incident. We just do our best to make sure we pull up for our family. And we get to save the city on the side."
