All three of the One Chicago shows officially said goodbye for 2025 back in November, leaving fans to wait for nearly two months until their return. While that’s not too long in the grand scheme of things, it’s enough time to look back at the seasons so far and reflect on what’s working, what’s not, and what we hope to see from each show when all three return in January 2026.
Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD have all have had seriously engaging seasons so far, with some game-changing twists, new characters, and unmissable cliffhangers keeping up on the edge of our seats until January. But there have also been some downsides to each show, since as all long-time One Chicago fans know, sometimes the procedurals can ebb and flow.
More often than not, problems can vary from viewer to viewer. What one fan hates, another probably loves, which means that quality isn’t always reflected by ratings. However, it’s worth noting that out of all three One Chicago shows, Chicago PD season 13 had the lowest-rated episode in the franchise of the year. Some fans might not be surprised by that fact, but here’s what could be behind the stat.
The lowest-rated One Chicago episode of 2025 was Chicago PD season 13 episode 2, “Open Wounds.” The episode received 3.92 million viewers on the night of its airing on NBC with a rating of 0.3, a figure that measures how much of the show’s demographic tuned in. These numbers don’t factor in delayed viewing via DVR, on demand, or most especially streaming on Peacock.
If you look at the overall ratings for Chicago PD compared to Chicago Med and Chicago Fire, the police, you will noticed that the viewership are lower. That likely comes down to scheduling more than it does the quality of the show. Historically, television shows that air at 10 p.m. receive fewer viewers than those that air at 8 or 9 p.m. What can you say? The early birds really do get the worm.
Obviously, that’s not always true and depends on the show, the network, and the circumstance. But for Chicago PD, it seems to be the fact that it airs at 10 p.m. that decreases its on-the-night viewership. Who’s to say that if it flipped with either Chicago Med or Chicago Fire if the viewership would increase? It’s all unpredictable, and streaming surely makes up the difference.
The fact that Chicago PD season 13 had the lowest-rated One Chicago episode of 2025 with only its second episode, and an episode that was directed by former series star Jesse Lee Soffer, isn’t what you’d expect. “Open Wounds” was kind of a dark episode as Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) struggles with himself and his faith and self-medicates those struggles with inflicting pain.
Maybe the episode was a darker start to season 13 than some Chicago PD fans were expecting, maybe there were conflicting sports games on that night, or maybe it was your average post-premiere drop-off. After episode 2, Chicago PD season 13’s on-the-night viewership numbers increased and remained in the 4 million zone, and the 0.3 rating has remained totally stable. Let’s see what’s in store for 2026!
Chicago PD season 13 returns Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 at 10/9c on NBC.
