This article contains mentions of sexual assault.
There have been many high-quality crossover episodes in theOne Chicagofranchise, making it hard to determine which is the best. TheOne Chicagouniversecontains six shows from producer Dick Wolf, though theLaw & Ordershows are considered a separate franchise from the threeOne Chicagoshows, which air on Wednesday nights on NBC. Initially,Chicago Firewas a standalone show, but it spun offChicago PD15 months later andChicago Medthe year after that.
EachOne Chicagoshow features a different aspect of first-responder work, withChicago Firebeing about members of the Chicago Fire Department’s Firehouse 51,Chicago P.D.focusing mainly on the Intelligence Unit’s attempt to keep the streets safe, andChicago Medoffering medical-based storylines at the Gaffney Medical Center. While there is much debate aboutwhichOne Chicagoshow is the best, many fan-favorite episodes are crossovers in which characters from the different shows work together to solve a problem that affects everyone.
14Chicago Fire Season 7, Episode 15 (“What I Saw”) / Chicago P.D. Season 6, Episode 15 (“Good Men”)
Cruz Goes Undercover To Help Voight Catch Robbers
This crossover focuses on the possibility that a firefighter is involved in a robbery spree, leading toChicago PD’s Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) recruitingChicago Fire’s Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) for an undercover operation. While the tension between Voight and Firehouse 51 staff, especially Boden, over the idea of investigating a firefighter-related theft is excellent, this is a less impressive crossover than several others becausethe story is typicalChicago PDfare involving undercover agents and mutual distrust.
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That said, Cruz’s relationship withChicago PDcharacters has always helped connect the two shows, so in that sense, it was important that he be the one to go undercover rather than a random person who was never seen again. However, this crossover still loses points because it would have worked just as well as a standalone episode that includes Cruz visitingChicago PDwithout theChicago Fireinstallment.
13Chicago Fire Season 1, Episode 23 (“Let Her Go”): Chicago P.D.’s Backdoor Pilot
There Would Be No Spinoff Without This Episode
Technically, “Let Her Go” is not a crossover, asChicago PDdidn’t exist yet. However, it was a backdoor pilot for the spinoff, which means that the characters fromChicago PDappeared in an episode ofChicago Fireto introduce them to the audience and establish the relationship between the spinoff and the parent show. This episode was a far better backdoor pilot than many, asthe connection between the new show and the old one was more than coincidental.
Chicago Med
August 03, 2025
The main plot of this pilot episode establishes the relationship between the Intelligence Unit and Firehouse 51, with Casey working with Voight to find out who set the fire and killed Hallie. This is an emotional story for Casey which also gives the audience insight into who Voight and his team are as they all work together. Thus, while it wasn’t as exciting as some other crossovers, “Let Her Go” offers a solid introductory story for theChicago PDcast.
12Chicago Fire Season 3, Episode 19 (“I Am the Apocalypse”): Chicago Med’s Backdoor Pilot
This Backdoor Pilot Was More Memorable Than PD’s
Chicago Med Will has burns on his face as he shakes hands with a firefighter
LikeChicago PD,Medbegan as a backdoor pilotonChicago Fire. This one is memorable both because it introduced Jay Halstead’s (Jesse Lee Soffer) brother, Will (Nick Gehlfuss) as the main character and because of the high-stakes situation. The episode involves a deadly gas leak that lands several people at Gaffney Medical Center, thus seamlessly introducing the setting forChicago Med.
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The gas leak story would have been strong enough on its own. Still, the episode also included a violent hostage taker who screams, “I am the Apocalypse” and exposes the entire staff to a deadly pathogen. This theme would be repeated in another crossover later, “Infection.“This intense scenario set the tone for the new series while also working perfectly as a standalone episode ofChicago Fire.However,Chicago PDshould have also been involved, considering there was a hostage situation that needed to be dealt with and Jay’s brother was one of the doctors trapped inside the hospital.
11Chicago Fire Season 3, Episode 13 (“Three Bells”) / Chicago P.D. Season 2, Episode 13 (“A Little Devil Complex”)
An Intense Episode That Might Have Confused Casual Viewers
This crossover dealt with Shay’s death inChicago Fire,with the first half dealing with the fire department discovering more information about Shay’s death and the second half involving the cops investigating, as it had now been determined a criminal matter. Obviously, Shay’s death had to be resolved within theOne Chicagouniverse, and involvingChicago PDin the investigation made sense. For most of the audience, this was a strong two-part crossover episode thatproperly closed Shay’s storyline,but it might have confused casual viewers.
While it was easy enough for a casual viewer to follow the plot, this crossover didn’t work as well for them as self-contained stories that require no previous knowledge of both shows.
While some people watch everyOne Chicagoshow,others might only watch one and tune into the others when there’s a crossover that stretches over all three episodes.Usually, crossover episodes are self-contained, but in this case, the story was the resolution to something that had previously happened duringChicago Fire.Thus, those viewers who didn’t watchFireregularly might not have cared about Shay or understood the significance of this story. While it was easy enough for a casual viewer to follow the plot, this crossover didn’t work as well for them as self-contained stories that require no previous knowledge of both shows.
10Law & Order: SVU Season 15, Episode 15 (“Comic Perversion”) / Chicago P.D. Season 1, Episode 6 (“Conventions”)
The First Time One Chicago Connected With Dick Wolf’s Other Franchise
At first glance, it’s not logical forLaw & Order; SVUto participate in aOne Chicagocrossoversince the two shows take place in different cities. However,there have been several times when Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) or her team discovered that a rapist or killer had also struck in Chicago,which offered the perfect excuse for her unit to work with Voight’s. “Comic Perversion” was the first of three such crossovers; the idea was unique at the time, and it was accomplished without compromising SVU’s commitment to sexual assault survivors.
While this is a strong episode, it has been rightly criticized for not having a strong connection between theLaw & Order: SVUandChicago PDhalves. Instead,Law & Order: SVUresolves its case, which involved a stand-up comic accused of sexual assault, by the end of the hour, only for Erin Lindsey (Sophia Bush) to enter Benson’s office and tell her that the Intelligence Unit needed her help to find a serial killer. Thus, this is more like a standalone episode where Benson works with Voight and Lindsey than a true crossover.
9Chicago Fire Season 3, Episode 21 (“We Called Her Jellybean”) / Chicago P.D. Season 2, Episode 20 (“The Number of Rats”) / Law & Order: SVU Season 16, Episode 20 (“Daydream Believer”)
A Much More Tightly Connected Crossover Than The First Time
This three-part saga was a far better crossover; it involved all three teams and didn’t rely on a random connection at the end of the first part. Instead,this story revolved around a joint investigation that involvedLaw & Order; SVUas well as both the police and fire departments in ChicagoThe connections were all logical, enhancing the strength of the crossover, and it also involved the cold case trope, which often makes cases more interesting.
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The only flaw in this story was that it didn’t involveChicago Med.However, this crossover occurred only two episodes afterChicago Med’s backdoor pilot, so the writers might have felt it was too soon to include the newest addition to the lineup. Additionally,since this story already involved three different shows, it might have stretched the plot too thin to includeMed.Still, the medical drama’s absence was felt, especially when investigating a rape connected to an apartment fire.
8Chicago Fire Season 5, Episode 9 (“Some Make It, Some Don’t”) / Chicago P.D. Season 4, Episode 9 (“Don’t Bury This Case”)
Severide Is In A Precarious Situation Throughout This Crossover
Severide is put through the wringer in this crossover. He spends most ofChicago Fireseason 5, episode 9 trying to find a bone marrow donor for Anna, only to end up in serious trouble after his car is involved in a deadly crash. This allows the story to shift intoChicago PD’s piece of the two-part story, which begins with the cops questioning Severide about the incident. The idea that a carjacker stole and crashed his car is a bit far-fetched, but the police’s questions add to the stress Severide feels throughout the hour.
7Chicago Fire Season 3, Episode 7 (“Nobody Touches Anything”) / Law & Order: SVU Season 16, Episode 7 (“Chicago Crossover”) /Chicago P.D. Season 2, Episode 7 (“They’ll Have to Go Through Me”
The Second SVU Crossover Is Full Of Dramatic Tension
“Chicago Crossover” and its associated shows are easily the best of the threeLaw & Order: SVUcrossovers. AlthoughChicago Firewas mostly a standalone episode, the tie-in was far more clear than the one in “Comic Perversion,” as it involved an actual case, and it was intensely personal for Lindsey.Law & Order: SVU is pulled into the story when Severide finds a box of pornographic images of children at a fire scene, and the plot thickens when one of those photos is of Lindsey’s brother, Teddy. However,the episodes shine because of the tension between Voight and Benson.
Benson and Voight are similar in that they’re both committed to justice. However, Benson is firmly by the book, at least to the extent that she does not approve of vigilantism or bending the law so far it almost breaks in an attempt to gain information or make arrests. Thus, she doesn’t take well to Voight’s rogue cowboy approach. However, romantic sparks fly because of the way the two butt heads, which is interesting because Benson compares Voight to Stabler.
6Chicago Fire Season 4, Episode 10 (“The Beating Heart” / Chicago Med Season 1, Episode 5 (“Malignant”) / Chicago P.D. Season 3, Episode 10 (“Now I’m God”)
The First Crossover To Feature All Three One Chicago Shows
ThenewOne Chicagocrossovermight be similar to this one, as the new one is the first three-episode crossover in a while and the one that started with “The Beating Heart” is the first crossover to feature all threeOne Chicagoshows. This crossover was also one of the highest-stakes episodes among all of the crossovers, making it a fantastic story for the writers to use as a modelfor other crossover appearances.
What starts out as an ordinary episode ofChicago Fireis soon revealed to be anything but.
These episodes are especially interesting because of the twists and turns they take. What starts out as an ordinary episode ofChicago Fireis soon revealed to be anything but, as a team member’s life-threatening injuries soon morph into a medical mystery surrounding a fire in a building and a scheme to send people for overdoses of chemotherapy being linked to Voight.
5Chicago P.D. Season 5, Episode 16 (“Profiles”) / Chicago Fire Season 6, Episode 13 (“Hiding Not Seeking”)
A High-Stakes Story Begins In Chicago PD And Ends In Chicago Fire
The crossover that begins in “Profiles” reverses the usual trend by having theChicago PDpart of the series air first instead of last. This is one of the most tense stories inOne Chicagohistory, with Voight racing to find a bomber who has targeted media personalities. Contacting Firehouse 51 is a logical step for Voight because the firehouse employs experts, some of whom know how to dismantle it. bombs or figure out where they came from.The partnership between the two departments is a welcome reprieve from people getting in each other’s faces over who’s the better team.
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However, although the two departments get along,Boden isn’t happy with the idea of Voight recruiting an undercover operative from his ranks— again. This conflict raises the stakes significantly and is relatable.
