This year, NBC and Wolf Entertainment brought together their Wednesday block for an epic 2025 One Chicago Crossover. While I thought that there was some areas that could have used a little more work, overall, it was a great way to assemble the franchise for an intense case — a tradition that we haven’t seen since the global pandemic made filming trickier for all productions. It was also a reminder of how much we’re missing out on by not having people from Intelligence, Gaffney Medical, and Firehouse 51 interact more often.
Firehouse 51 may have dominated its patrons in the last several years, but during the earliest years of the franchise, we would see people from Chicago PD and Chicago Med mingle in the same pub.
Luckily, we don’t have to wait for another crossover event for NBC and Wolf Entertainment to start doing this. While overlapping case is perhaps the easiest way to achieve this, Molly’s is the perfect hangout spots for all these characters after work. Firehouse 51 may have dominated its patrons in the last several years, but during the earliest years of the franchise, we would see people from Chicago PD and Chicago Med mingle in the same pub. This allowed for some relationships between shows.
Miranda Mayo as Stella Kidd and Taylor Kinney as Kelly Severide in Chicago Fire
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I know it can’t happen every week, but occasionally, it would be great to see characters catching up with people outside their teams. This can be particularly helpful for newer characters who are still establishing their identity in One Chicago. As for Chicago Fire, Molly’s will remain Firehouse 51’s drinking pub no matter what happens. So if people from Gaffney and Intelligence drop by, chances are that they will run into someone they’re familiar with.
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Hangout places are normal, especially for network shows. However, most of them are typically in sitcoms, such as the Central Perk for Friends, the bar for Cheers, and MacLaren’s Pub for How I Met Your Mother. While my favorite fictional detectives take time to unwind in the same spot, those establishments aren’t given as much importance as Molly’s. As Firehouse 51’s favorite pub, scenes set in the bar allow Chicago Fire to shine a light on its characters outside their day job. Since its ensemble is its backbone, this is a very important aspect of its storytelling.
Beyond that, Molly’s also offers Herrmann a retirement gig, once he finally decides to walk away from firefighting. At the end of Chief Boden’s tenure at Firehouse 51 in the Chicago Fire season 12 finale, he chose the veteran firefighter to be his replacement. However, the process of ascending to the proper rank would take time. It doesn’t help that Herrmann started the process late. Now that he is already a captain, I fear that he may not be even that interested in the job. As seen in Chicago Fire season 13, episode 14, he struggles taking over for Chief Pascal.
If Herrmann decides to suddenly retire, however, which appears to be something he has been contemplating a lot lately, Molly’s will allow him to continue spending time with his old team.
At this point, it doesn’t seem like he is particularly interested in taking over Firehouse 51, although it would still be great to see him lead the house that he has served for many years. If Herrmann decides to suddenly retire, however, which appears to be something he has been contemplating a lot lately, Molly’s will allow him to continue spending time with his old team. The same goes for anyone who leaves the team, but remains in the area, similar to how Chicago Fire season 13 has been incorporating Damon into the procedural.
