The One Chicago Crossover, titled ‘In the Trenches Part I, II and III’ was probably the best either of these shows have been in quite a while. Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 11 ‘In The Trenches: Part I,’ started the emergency, leading into Chicago Med ‘In The Trenches: Part II,’ with the crossover concluding with Chicago P.D. ‘In The Trenches: Part III.’ However, the entire crossover felt like a movie involving the characters of all three shows—and it all clicked.
After waiting five years for a crossover, it’s very easy to pinpoint why this one worked. Even though there are fewer connections between the shows now than there used to be, these characters still all exist within the same city. Not just that, they know each other, and can very easily find a rapport with one another, particularly in tough situations. Sure, we were invested in Adam and Kim and Severide and Stella, even though they were separated, but Adam and Stella of it all also worked well and was great to see.
Let the lesson be this: One Chicago is better when it remembers that they are all in one city. And sure, we cannot have these kinds of crossovers every episode. We wouldn’t want three big characters in peril every week, either! But the shared universe remains one of One Chicago’s best assets. They would do well to use it more.
For a moment there, I thought this might be the moment we lost Trudy Platt. If there’s anyone I thought the show might be willing to part with, it was Amy Morton’s Platt. She’s a very important part of the team, she is. But she’s also not as integral to Intelligence as Adam, and she also doesn’t appear in every episode. But I will say I’m really glad I was wrong.
I got unsurprisingly emotional at seeing Platt shot. Not to mention every second of Mouch waiting to learn if she would be okay. Mouch and Platt have been a safe harbor in many storms in One Chicago and the idea of losing Platt hurt as much as the idea of losing the couple did. The episode introduced the added wrinkle of Mouch having forgotten Trudy’s birthday the night before, so we were on edge from the beginning, thinking about what could have been.
For Mouch, perhaps the only thing scarier than the possibility of losing Trudy is the possibility of losing her when they were not on good terms. That’s partly why he blows up at Ripley, and why he seems to take Lennox being Lennox to heart. He’s scared he’s going to lose his wife, yes. But he’s also terrified that she could die thinking he didn’t love her the way she deserved. Thankfully, Trudy pulls through and as soon as she opens her eyes, not only helps crack the case—she also tells Mouch to go be a firefighter.
