Dick Wolf‘s One Chicago Universe began with Chicago Fire in 2012, a procedural drama about the firefighters and paramedics of Firehouse 51 under the purview of Battalion Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker). In 2014, Chicago P.D. was added to the Chicago world and followed the police officers in the 21st District of the Chicago police department led by Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe). Chicago Med, a medical drama, was added to the family in 2015, starring Oliver Platt as Head of Psychiatry Dr. Daniel Charles and S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin, Director of Patient and Medical Services. The legal drama Chicago Justice was a short-lived addition to the universe for one season in 2017.
These dramas each deliver intense action sequences, complicated workplace romances, and jaw-dropping drama. Along with their steady supply of Chicago-based fire, police, and medical-related spectacles, these shows know how to pull at the heartstrings of their fans. This could be through the death of a beloved character, the loss of someone near and dear to them, or a high-stakes incident that results in great stress or the questioning of someone’s character. Whichever scenario it is, each season of these One Chicago shows knows how to keep their audiences on the edge of their seat with the tissues ready.
10. “The Radical Truth”
‘Chicago P.D.’ Season 8, Episode 10
Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) and his family life are the focus of this episode of Chicago P.D. when Adam’s father, Bob Ruzek (Jack Coleman), gets caught helping out a gang by stealing restricted police information. Bob’s endeavors go south when he is kidnapped by the same gang because of his inability to locate their snitch. When Adam discovers his father is missing, he enlists the help of his unit to find him, but discovers his father’s role in his fate along the way. Adam grows frustrated with his father’s poor decision-making, and is thought to take matters into his own hands when he comes across the man who threatened his father.
Bob Ruzek’s behavior has always weighed on his son, embarrassing him and threatening their family’s legitimacy within the police force. With this last incident coming right before Bob’s retirement, Adam is not only incredibly worried about his father, but fed up with his father’s role in his own misfortune. To put salt in the wound, the one person who has always believed in him and been in his corner, his on-again-off-again partner Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati), accuses him of killing the man who threatened his father in cold blood. Everything that could go wrong for Adam in this episode, does.
9. “Guilty”
‘Chicago Med’ Season 1, Episode 12
What can happen when one rushes to judgment is the focus of this episode of Chicago Med. When Nurse Maggie Lockwood (Marlyne Barrett) makes the decision not to follow police orders to draw the blood of a teenager who was found to be driving under the influence, she is arrested for obstructing an investigation, even though the teenager had denied consent to draw his blood. Similarly, when Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) believes that her infant patient is the victim of shaken baby syndrome. She rushes to get Sharon Goodwin to call child services, only to discover later that the mother did not hurt her child.
This episode shows audiences how dangerous it can be to make decisions without having all the facts and how upsetting the results can be for those involved. Dr. Manning’s behavior was clouded by her judgment of a young, single mother who she deemed as being unfit. Her own biases and struggles as a single mother herself led her to judge her patient’s mom too harshly, and almost cost her custody of her child. Maggie’s unfortunate arrest shows audiences what can happen when someone gets caught up in a system that has little leniency or does not take into account the other factors at play.
8. “What Will Define You”
‘Chicago Fire’ Season 7, Episode 7
After the death of Kelly Severide’s (Taylor Kinney) dad, Benny Severide (Treat Williams), Kelly struggles to deal with his emotions as he plans his father’s funeral. Eager to give his father the send-off that he deserves after spending decades in the Chicago Fire Department, Kelly runs into a few hiccups that threaten his plans for a worthy funeral, but when the day comes, everything falls into place.
Witnessing Kelly’s internal struggles is what makes this episode tug at the heartstrings. After such a tumultuous father-son relationship between Benny and Kelly, Kelly has trouble managing his mixed emotions about losing the man who was rarely there when he needed him. Despite their history, Kelly puts so much pressure on himself to give his father a funeral worthy of thirty years of service to his city, knowing that his father always showed up on the job.
7. “I Was Here”
‘Chicago P.D.’ Season 7, Episode 13
Kim Burgess and Adam Ruzek have gotten into a good rhythm since finding out that Kim is pregnant. Kim has started desk duty, working at a call center, while Adam continues to work in the Intelligence Unit. When Kim gets a call from a scared young woman, it sticks with her throughout her shift, so she enlists the help of Desk Sergeant Trudy Platt (Amy Morton) to scope out the call. It turns out that the young woman is a victim of a sex trafficking operation, and when Intelligence picks up the case and Kim helps them out, saving the victim results in a beating that costs Kim and Adam their child.
Burgess and Ruzek have always had a hard time being on the same page, which makes this traumatic ending to such a happy moment for them hurt so much for fans. Due to Kim’s eagerness to help out and to save a young woman from an unfortunate fate, she ends up losing the baby that, albeit unexpected, she had grown to be excited about welcoming into the world with Adam. The news is made all the more heart-wrenching when it’s delivered in the hospital to a bruised and traumatized Kim, who so clearly has a hard time processing it.
6. “Lose Yourself”
‘Chicago Med’ Season 2, Episode 15
At the start of “Lose Yourself,” Nurse April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta) is excited about her new pregnancy and is discussing baby names with her friend Maggie. As patients come in and the Emergency Department gets full and chaotic, April goes for a routine ultrasound only to discover that the baby does not have a heartbeat, and she has to get a D&C procedure for her miscarriage. Unable to fully process what is happening, April returns to work and shifts her focus to her patients.
April has always put her patients first, and fans were finally seeing her get excited about her pregnancy and put more time and energy into herself. This makes the news of April’s miscarriage even more disappointing for fans, as they see April struggling to admit what’s going on and not share the burden with friends or her partner, Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee). By the end of the episode, Maggie discovers the D&C procedure on the schedule and makes it a point to comfort April through this difficult time.
5. “Absolution”
‘Chicago P.D.’ Season 7, Episode 9
After Marcus West (Sammi Rotibi), an innocent Black man, is killed in prison due to Detective Jay Halstead’s (Jesse Lee Soffer) incorrect assumption that he committed a crime, Jay feels responsible for looking after his family. When Angela (Vicky Jeudy), Marcus’s wife, calls Jay asking for help, Jay finds himself in a bad situation when he is kidnapped by a gang and tortured along with Angela to find out who stole drugs from them.
The events of “Absolution” are all the ripple effects of a short-sighted decision made by Jay which resulted in the death of an innocent man. Because of his decision-making, Marcus West’s family has been suffering, and instead of being honest about who he was and what happened to Marcus, Jay decided to hide his identity and the truth about what happened from Marcus’s family. When he finally comes clean, Angela retaliates by shooting him. An innocent family has been ruined, and now Jay’s life is in danger, all because of the cover-up of a terrible decision.
4. “The Number of Rats”
‘Chicago P.D.’ Season 2, Episode 20
This episode saw the end to a supporting character’s arc: Nadia Decotis (Stella Maeve). Nadia, now working in the Intelligence Unit as an administrator, was first introduced to audiences when she was arrested by Detective Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush). After bonding over their troubled pasts, Nadia was able to seek help for her drug addiction and rely on Erin as a support system. Unfortunately, when the team starts to investigate serial murders and pin down their main suspect, Dr. Gregory Yates (Dallas Roberts), Nadia becomes his next target as a means to get to Detective Lindsay.
After being kidnapped by Yates, Nadia was killed in a crossover episode between Chicago P.D. and Law & Order: SVU. Audiences had seen Nadia make her way out of sex work and her struggles with addiction, only to have her meet such a sad fate right when she was on her way to cementing a better life for herself.
3. “I Can’t Imagine the Future”
‘Chicago Med’ Season 5, Episode 9
Dr. Daniel Charles faces the loss of his wife Cece (Paula Newsome) in this episode of Chicago Med. After getting remarried at the end of the last season, the two are dealing with Cece’s diagnosis of terminal cancer. About to head on their honeymoon, they decide to throw a bon voyage party to say goodbye to their friends and family. The party, while celebrating their life and love, is also a send-off party for Cece, who will likely not live much longer.
Fans watch Dr. Charles do his best to put on a brave face and celebrate with Cece, a woman who he has re-discovered love with, while also grappling with the reality of her diagnosis. Watching Dr. Charles keeps it together in front of Cece and break down when he is alone or comforting their daughter, Robin (Mekia Cox). It makes the audience feel the weight of his upcoming loss, and the sadness of realizing that they wanted to be together again a little too late.
2. “Completely Shattered”
‘Chicago Fire’ Season 11, Episode 3
Firehouse 51 is all hands on deck when responding to a movie theater fire at the end of this episode. Paramedic Chief Evan Hawkins (Jimmy Nicholas), who is dating paramedic Violet Mikami (Hanako Greensmith), shows up to help where he can. When he sees a man go down by the entrance, he runs over to help, only for the building to collapse and trap both underneath. 51 runs over to help Hawkins and the victim, but by the time they remove the debris, it’s too late for Hawkins.
Violet and Evan had been through a lot of ups and downs in their relationship up until this point, but they had finally made it through the red tape of a paramedic dating her chief, blackmail and a brief breakup. Unfortunately, their newfound happiness did not last very long, as Hawkins died right in front of Violet soon after their reconciliation. Fans saw Violet push her fellow firefighters aside as she tried to help Hawkins. There was not a dry eye in the house when Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker) stepped in and took Violet away, knowing that any attempts to save Evan would be futile.
1. “Sacred Ground”
‘Chicago Fire’ Season 8, Episode 1
The season 8 premiere of Chicago Fire picks up right where the season 7 finale left off, with a raging mattress fire wreaking havoc on those trapped inside. Paramedic Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) and firefighter Brian “Otis” Zvonecek (Yuri Sardarov) have received the brunt of the damage, as Sylvie’s arm is trapped under rubble and Otis is unresponsive. Unfortunately, Otis succumbs to his injuries in the hospital. After a three-month time jump, fans see how the firefighters and paramedics of 51 are grappling with the loss of one of their own in the aftermath of the fire.
As audiences watch the characters grieve the loss of Otis and handle the changes that occurred since the fire, they also get to grieve the loss of a series regular. Fans get to see Joe Cruz (Joe Miñoso) mourn the loss of his best friend and grapple with how to remember those who have been lost, even after those who loved them move on as well. The end of the episode concludes with a beautiful send-off of a beloved member of the 51 family, complete with a statue built to commemorate those who have fallen.
9“Guilty”
‘Chicago Med’ Season 1, Episode 12
What can happen when one rushes to judgment is the focus of this episode of Chicago Med. When Nurse Maggie Lockwood (Marlyne Barrett) makes the decision not to follow police orders to draw the blood of a teenager who was found to be driving under the influence, she is arrested for obstructing an investigation, even though the teenager had denied consent to draw his blood. Similarly, when Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) believes that her infant patient is the victim of shaken baby syndrome. She rushes to get Sharon Goodwin to call child services, only to discover later that the mother did not hurt her child.
This episode shows audiences how dangerous it can be to make decisions without having all the facts and how upsetting the results can be for those involved. Dr. Manning’s behavior was clouded by her judgment of a young, single mother who she deemed as being unfit. Her own biases and struggles as a single mother herself led her to judge her patient’s mom too harshly, and almost cost her custody of her child. Maggie’s unfortunate arrest shows audiences what can happen when someone gets caught up in a system that has little leniency or does not take into account the other factors at play.
