The 2025 ‘One Chicago’ Crossover Recap: ‘In the Trenches’

This article contains spoilers for Episodes 1311, 1011, and 1211 of ‘Chicago Fire’, ‘Chicago Med’, and ‘Chicago P.D.’ To revisit each show’s previous episode, click here (Fire), here (Med), and here (P.D.)

One particular television event that fans love through and through, is the One Chicago crossover on NBC. Because it is a wondrous convergence of three incredible shows, wherein we get to see the talented casts of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D. work as one to keep the people of the Windy City safe and secure and oddly enough, it’s been a little while since we celebrated one. In large part because of the many disruptions the industry has dealt with over the past few years. But at long last, the crossover returned to the airwaves last night and ‘In the Trenches’ absolutely delivered three hours of compelling and engaging, and outright moving television.

A feat that it accomplished by way of a stunning downtown surprise. Wherein a massive explosion from a ruptured gas leak injured a bevy of people. Which brought forth a compelling sequence that truly set the tone for the crossover. Wherein we came to realize that danger was going to be everywhere in this epic story. Which led to tense moments for the team at Firehouse 51, who did their absolute best to stop the fire and begin rescue efforts, and since this was such a massive and horrifying explosion… it easily brought forth the crossover in question. Since Gaffney staff members were on site in the opening chapter of this tale, and even Trudy was there to offer support during the situation, one that quickly evolved into something more.

Because once the fire was out, and people were on their way to the hospital, the post fire investigation revealed that this whole thing started because of a heist. For someone wanted the city’s pension data, which was buried in the basement of the city building that suffered the most damage in the fire, and those responsible… managed to escape as clues were being brought to bear, and they even shot Trudy amid their escape, and sent Ruzek into the depths of the subway system. Which eventually led to him and Kidd being trapped in a subway car with one of the offenders as damage from the blast continued to pile up. Which in turn brought forth a second half of stories that were focused heavily on bringing the thieves to justice and saving lives across the board, especially Trudy’s.

But before we dive into those moments, let’s talk about the case in question, since it was what brought Intelligence into the fold, to do their thing and they impressed here. Because they were able to slowly work out that this whole mess was a result of a failed lawsuit against the city. One where disgruntled and ailing city employees decided to work together to steal the pension fund and use it for their own gain, and sadly… because of their greed… many suffered, and lives were at risk. Such as everyone trapped in that subway car. That meant, Intelligence had to not only bring the right people to bear, but needed to learn of their plan so they could figure out how to free those folks trapped below before their air supply diminished.
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Thankfully, their incredible work as a team allowed for that happen, and all were rescued, the bad guys were brought to justice and thus ended one amazing crossover event. One that quite frankly, was as epic as it gets. Because this trilogy of stories wasted not a single second and took us on a breathless ride that had us on the edge of our seats and just featured some big moments for certain. After all, seeing Chief Pascal just plunge a tool into the heart of a fire is about as badass as it gets. Plus, this episode went a little harder than expected with the gore since we were privy to a full on shot of a human heart and watched a man’s legs be amputated. All to really inform us of how much goes into saving lives in disasters such as these, and what’s amazing… is that this trilogy still had so much more to offer.

After all, we’d be fools to not discuss the emotional heartstrings that this event pulled upon. Because the whole Trudy plotline was about as heart wrenching as it gets. Especially after one considers that Mouch screwed up so badly, only to learn that his wife, his love, was hanging on for dear life, and well… her journey back to health here was downright exhausting. Because it was just stunning to see Doctors Lenox and Ripley go to incredible lengths to save her. Going so far as to basically put her in suspended animation to control her bleeding and nurse her back to health and of course, it was just tear-jerking to see Mouch suffer through the wait, and the worry and the guilt. Which made her recovery absolutely worthwhile and moving and just as powerful as can be, and yet… the moving stuff still didn’t end there.

Since we were treated to different angles regarding how people would react to having loved ones in horrible situations. After all, with Ruzek down below and Burgess handling business upstairs, we came to learn how some people… will just bury themselves in busy work to process dark times. Because Kim really did come to understand there was nothing, she could do in the moment but work toward helping her husband get the hell out of that situation. Which gave her strength and kept her from slipping into the darkness and that was fascinating to see. As was Severide’s response to Kidd being trapped below. Since there was a real sense of desperation that he exuded here. One that spoke to the helpless nature that people feel when loved ones are in trouble.
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But what truly allowed for this trilogy to shine, was the sheer fact that there was a genuine sense of danger surrounding many of the characters. Because Trudy was in awful, awful shape here, and Ruzek and Kidd were running out of air and it really did seem for a moment there, that some hard cast changes were coming to these shows. Which only added to the tension, and the worry and well, all of that made, for a stunning three hours of television. For this one really did glue us to our screens and offered up just one big moment after another, and some outright moving ones, and let’s be honest… some inspiring ones as well. Because it was amazing to see Dean Archer suit up and go into the depths of the city to make sure that everyone made it out of that subway car alive.

But above all, it’s the cast of these shows that really make these crossovers quite amazing. Because it really does give them an opportunity to turn in some of their best work, and we really saw some stunning performances here. Because Christian Stolte (Mouch) brought us to tears with his earnest performance of a man desperate to have his prayers answered, and Taylor Kinney (Severide) really sold the panic and the worry of a helpless husband, eager to find a way to save the woman he loves. All of which brought forth one of the best crossovers this series has ever put to screen. Because this one had it all and just provided us with great storytelling, and it does leave us eager to see what this franchise will have in store for us in its next crossover. Because this one will be hard to top. Until next time.