One City to Rule Them All

Dick Wolf’s One Chicago trilogy has retained its heat since Chicago Fire first sparked fan interest back in 2012, often dominating Wednesday night with the combined total viewer power of Fire (the night’s most-watched show), Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med. Now in their 13^th, 12^th, and 10^th seasons respectively, the NBC shows succeed with first responder heroics sprinkled with romances and topical storylines.  On their premiere night, Wednesday, September 25, we can expect a batch of new faces to fill in for several departing long-term actors.

Here’s a sneak peek of the season returns of Chicago’s best, bravest, and finest on Med, Fire, and P.D.

Chicago Med 

It’s all surgical hands on deck at Gaffney Medical in the season premiere. With the exit of Dr. Marcel (Dominic Rains) and the closing of an underfunded nearby hospital, patients will be shunted over to their ED (Emergency Department).  Patient and medical services director Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) knows that Gaffney will probably absorb a majority of those patients, so she brings in emergency doc Caitlin Lenox (Sarah Ramos), assigned to fellow military vet Dr. Archer (Steven Weber). “She’s not interested in making friends, she’s interested in being efficient,” says showrunner Allen MacDonald.  And she’s much stricter about [protocol] than he is. “Rule-pushing Archer is not pleased.”

Also incoming — emergency doc and pediatrician John Frost (Darren Barnet), “who is very charming, loves children and knows how to talk to them”—though not always to their parents! “Frost deeply believes that even a young child should understand what is going on with his body and be involved in those decisions. “

Meanwhile, Pawel (Kristof Konrad) — shady brother of Gaffney custodian Liliana (Alet Taylor) — has accused Dr. Ripley (Luke Mitchell) of beating him up, causing tension between Liliana and Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt), while Ripley disappears. This leaves Ripley’s love interest Dr. Asher (Jessy Schram) feeling “very unsettled, very confused,” according to Schram, as this comes just as the two were taking a step forward in their relationship.

Expect more character upheavals when Goodwin makes hard decisions about which employees to fire in a financial downsize. “She’s going to get a lot of static,” says MacDonald, “from some she had to cut loose.”

But first up in episode one: A mass casualty event sends a horde of passengers, injured on a capsized commuter ship, to Gaffeny. MacDonald says, “There will be a lot of chaos and suspense.”

Chicago Fire

Big changes come to the hottest Chicago drama as beloved Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker) exits 51 to become deputy commissioner.   “We have a mantra,” says showrunner Andrea Newman “We say once a part of 51, always a part of 51. That’s particularly true for Boden because he’s still in the CFD. So yes, we do plan on seeing him, although not right off the bat.”

His replacement: Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney), a Miami FD veteran, who “shakes everything up,” says Newman. “What’s transpired to get him here is revealed in the premiere. He’s a totally different kind of leader from Boden, who was a father figure by the time he left the house. Pascal, she adds, “is enigmatic, he wants to peel back the layers of the firefighters to find out more about them as firefighters and people because knowledge is power to him.  He’s got his eye out for people who cross the line.”

Meanwhile, the team is trying to find out more about him, especially Lt. Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg), whom Boden deemed his heir apparent. “All our guys will have different reactions to him and there will be surprises in terms of who bonds with Pascal and who doesn’t,” Newman adds. Speaking of bonds, “there’s major drama in Pascal’s marriage. (KaDee Strickland plays his wife Monica).

There’s also drama with young firefighter Jack Damon (Michael Bradway), who revealed in last season’s finale that he was Lt. Kelly Severide’s (Taylor Kinney) younger half-brother.  While Damon is focused on his relationship with his big bro, Severide has to think about their next step. That Damon hid the truth angers his boss, Severide’s wife Lt. Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo). Can she trust him? “It’s a very complicated triangle with Kidd, “says Newman, “whose relationship with her husband is affected by Damon. “

In the romance department, look for stumbles between the empathetic Damon and fun-loving paramedic Lizzie Novak (Jocelyn Hudon), who has a “surprising love life. We’ve got some fun soap going on,” Newman promises. There’s also trouble between former lovers paramedic Violet (Hanako Greensmith) and Carver (Jake Lockett, who is now a regular). What they each want may be very different because of the ghosts hanging over them– her late fiancé Hawkins and Carver’s “tortured past.”

Says Newman, “There are a lot of fun reveals, but amazing hero scenes too,” starting with a vape warehouse on fire in Season 13’s premiere. With thousands of canisters of nitrous oxide, it’s like a fireworks factory!”

Chicago P.D.

 The Intelligence Unit’s boss, Sgt Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) is in emotional survival mode after being kidnaped and tortured last season by a serial killer, followed by the departure of his confidant Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos), who helped save him.  “Those two events have put him in a place where he’s rocked backwards,” says showrunner Gwen Sigan. “He’s evaluating his life, what got him here and he’s dealing with those in a very Voight way, as you’ll see in the season premiere. He’s certainly in a different head space, which has been fun to explore. We’ll see that during the twisty high-stakes narcotics case that opens Season 12,” she adds.

But help may be on the way from Voight’s returning friend, Assistant State Attorney Nina Chapman (Sara Bues), whose relationship with Voight, “will morph,” says Sigan, “as she attempts to take on Upton’s spot.”

Plus, we’ll see two new faces in the series. Patrol Officer Kiana Cook (Toya Turner) and Deputy Chief Charlie Reid (Shawn Hatosy). “Kiana is very strong-willed,” explains Sigan. “She wants to be aggressive solving cases. It’s fun to see this new energy. She throws a lot of them off guard, and brings out the best parts of who they are.” Officer Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) and his new teammates “will have an interesting dynamic.”

As for Reid, the new deputy chief sees a lot of himself in Voight and identifies quite a bit with his philosophy as a police officer. That relationship will evolve as the season goes on.

And yes, fans, there’s going to be a wedding! Officers Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) and Burgess (Marina Squerciati) are “in a very solid place,” notes Sigan, “and we made the decision to keep them there.” Could their good friend Officer Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) be the one to marry them? “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Hawkins teases.

Chicago Med, Season 10 Premiere, Wednesday, September 25, 8/7c, NBC

Chicago Fire, Season 13 Premiere, Wednesday, September 25, 9/8c, NBC

Chicago P.D., Season 12 Premiere, Wednesday, September 25, 10/9c, NBC