The first One Chicago crossover in five years provided fans with plenty of non-stop action, heart-stopping moments and some fun (but strange) pairings between characters we’d never really seen interact all that much. And though for a while there, we thought we might have to say goodbye to one or two favorites, the shows closed the three-hour event on a high. But what happened in the One Chicago crossover? Read on for our recap.
The Emergency That Started It All
The One Chicago crossover consisted of three episodes: first was Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 11, “In The Trenches Part I,” followed by Chicago Med Season 10, Episode 11, “In The Trenches Part II” and third was Chicago P.D. Season 12, Episode 11, “In The Trenches Part 3.”
The three-hour movie basically starts with a big emergency consisting of multiple underground explosions, complete with structural collapse and secondary explosions. It’s the type of emergency that requires all hands on deck, and the Chicago Fire team soon gets to work, with Pascal directing everyone and setting up a command center. He quickly calls for a P.D. backup, and Violet and Novak, who have Dr. Frost as a ride-along, get to work on triaging and later transporting victims to Chicago Med. Frost also ends up being the one to shut off the gas in the middle of the fire.
Soon the team learns that a gas explosion in the subbasement started the fire, but when Severide and Herrmann check the scene, they realize it was likely arson. Bates informs them the server room where the fire started belongs to the Employee Pension Fund where the city administer Chicago’s pension plans. But not just that, the city put a great deal of money into cryptocurrency, which was kept on a data storage drive that what was stolen. How much was stolen? Two-hundred-and-fifty million dollars’ worth.
Early on in the emergency, Severide pulls out a victim with bad burns — who Asher figures out later is actually one of the robbers. Burgess and Voight try to question her, but Lennox refuses to wake her up too early, as that would be bad for her care. She does, however, give Burgess information about the patient that might help pinpoint who she is. Once they figure it out, they follow the leads and realize the robbers had inside help. It was Bates, all along. Bates begs Voight not to take her in and to give her a moment with her gun, but Voight refuses.
As the emergency ends, Voight and Pascal shake hands. “It’s finally quiet,” Pascal says. “Won’t last long,” he adds, and Voight agrees. But for one day, they saved everyone.
Kidd and Ruzek Escape Near-Death
Early on in the One Chicago crossover, Pascal informs Truck 81 that a train is disabled directly below where they are, so Lieutenant Kidd and her team head down to try to evacuate it, despite the fact that there is still an active gas leak and there could be gas pockets in the subway tunnel. Carver and Stella get to the train and start to evacuate it since the ceiling looks like it’s going to collapse. That’s when Officer Ruzek gets there, following one of the offenders. He and Stella barely make it into the train before the tunnel collapses, trapping them.
Once trapped inside the two work together to help the wounded, and when Adam finally gets a signal, he lets Kim know they’re alive but are trapped and that the offender is likely in the train with them. At first, Adam doesn’t tell Stella what’s happening, but she calls him out for “rationing out intel” and reminds him that she’s on his team and she needs to know what she knows. The two discuss what happened to Platt, who was shot and critically injured, with Adam sharing that he feels guilty and Stella trying to comfort him. Soon, however, they’re called to tend to one of the passengers on the train, a kid who can’t breathe.
Stella has paramedic training, but she isn’t a doctor so she calls Archer to tell her what she needs to do to save the kid. It works, but only for a bit, and when the child needs help again, the ground shifts and they lose communication. Archer, however, figures out a way to send messages via the communication system on the train — via Morse code. Once they save the kid, however, they run into another, even bigger problem: They’re running out of air.
The two tell everyone on the train and try to keep everyone as calm as possible so the oxygen lasts longer. It buys them enough time for rescue to get there, though just before the Chicago Fire teams break through, the real offender who has been hiding on the train makes himself known and points a gun at Stella. Stella headbutts the guy and Adam tries to wrestle him, as Severide, Pascal and the rest finally break through to help him out. The gun goes off as they all fight, killing the robber. Everyone gets out alright in the end, with Adam even recovering the hard drive that was stolen.
Severide and Burgess Reunite With Their Partners
Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode I, “In The Trenches Part I,” which opens the crossover, starts with Kelly Severide and Stella Kidd discussing the possibility of going away for the long weekend. Severide wants to wait till they have more time, but Stella insists you have to make the time, telling him: “More time doesn’t magically appear. You have to make the time.”
Later, the two share a moment in the middle of the emergency, as Stella tells Severide to be careful and reminds him that he “owes her a trip to Cancun.” But it’s not Severide who ends up in trouble, it’s Kidd. After the tunnel collapses around her, she’s unable to report back to Pascal. Severide hears this and is predictably concerned, so he rushes in to try to make his way to Stella, finding that all the possible routes of entry are blocked. At the same time, Kim finds out Adam was likely in the tunnel as well, which doesn’t bode well for him, though Herrmann tells her to “keep the faith.”
Kim even offers to pull Makayla, their daughter, out of school so Adam can speak to her, but Adam tells her they’re all going to have dinner together that night, so there’s no need. He also tells Stella that if she wants to talk to Kelly, she should, but Stella tells him she needs to focus on the job.
After the two are rescued, Adam and Kim reunite, though Archer sends him on an ambulance to Med since he has a laceration. Severide and Kidd also reunite, with Severide telling Kidd they should “get out of here,” to take advantage of their long weekend. Stella seems to agree and the two kiss as snow falls on Chicago.
Trudy Survives — and Saves the Day
When the One Chicago crossover starts, we see Mouch telling Herrmann that Trudy is mad at him because she wanted to celebrate the night before and he chose to go to a bar with other future Lieutenants. It’s not until the two meet up once the emergency is underway and Mouch tries to talk to her that he realizes the real reason she’s mad. Mouch forgot her birthday — that’s what Trudy wanted to celebrate.
It gets worse, because Trudy’s in charge not just of the patrol officers on the scene, but of figuring out what happened. She recognizes a former officer, and she, Bates and Adam later scour security footage trying to find the offenders after it’s established the fire was arson. As Severide is gathering evidence of the arson, he finds two of the robbers trapped. They attempt to overpower him, but Severide radios to explain what’s going on, as Bates, Adam and Platt head down.
Once in the subbasement, Platt corners one offender, but as she goes to cuff him, someone shoots her in the back. Trudy manages to radio out that she’s been hit, and after Mouch hears the news, he rushes inside. It looks like the building is going to collapse so Pascal orders Severide, Herrmann and Mouch to evacuate but Severide and Herrmann refuse to leave Mouch until they find Trudy. Once she’s transported to Med, she codes and the doctors are unable to restart her heart. Dr. Mitch Ripley suggests cooling her to hit “pause,” giving Lennox enough time to fix the holes, before they try restarting her heart. The approach is risky, but Lennox agrees.
Mouch, however, is still wracked with guilt about not remembering Platt’s birthday and about the fact that, as much as he wants to be there for her, he also wants to try to help the rest of Truck 81 find Kidd. He blows up at Ripley over the experimental treatment and can’t seem to settle until he finally learns that Trudy is going to be okay. Once he gets to see her and she wakes up, Platt turns out to be more helpful than anyone could have predicted. She tells Voight that she was shot by a second offender and that the offender she searched had a key card to a hotel.
That’s enough for the team to locate the room, where they find the plans for the building and figure out how to use the Capone tunnels to get to where Adam and Stella are. A team consisting of Pascal, Severide, Herrmann, a returning Mouch and Dr. Archer make it down to the trapped train and manage to get everyone out. Later, Mouch thanks Lennox and Ripley for saving Trudy.
