Fans of the One Chicago franchise should prepare for a schedule change tonight.

Episodes of Chicago Med, Chicago PD, and Chicago Fire will air later than usual today, April 1. It’s an unexpected schedule shake-up, with networks getting less than 24 hours to accommodate. 

Why the Delay?

NBC will broadcast a live speech from former President Donald Trump tonight. The special coverage is expected to preempt the usual primetime schedule, pushing the One Chicago lineup to a later timeslot.

What Time is Chicago Med, Chicago PD and Chicago Fire on Tonight (April 1)?

The time slots for two shows are shifting to accommodate the speech:

• Chicago Med Season 11 Episode 16: 8pm – 9pm et (remains as scheduled)
• Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 16: 9:20pm – 10:20pm et
• Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 16: 10:20pm – 11:20pm et

Fans should check their local listings or NBC’s streaming platform for the most accurate schedule.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What This Means for Viewers

• Tonight’s episodes will not be skipped; they’re simply delayed. If the speech goes over the 20-minute anticipated time, the shows will be delayed even further. If it’s not 20-minutes, they will likely air sooner.
• To be safe, DVR users may need to adjust recording times.
• Streaming options via Peacock or NBC apps may also reflect the updated schedule.

What Other Shows Will Be Impacted?

Survivor on CBS and The Masked Singer on Fox will also be preempted.

Speech Info

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, first announcing the speech, on X writing: “TUNE IN: Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran.”

If you’re planning to catch your usual One Chicago episodes, be aware they may start later than usual due to tonight’s Trump speech coverage.

One Chicago—Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago P.D.— just delivered its most ambitious and high-stakes crossover episode.

What started off as a seemingly random occurrence ended up connecting not only to a major moment in Chicago’s history, but to the leaders of Chicago’s bravest and boldest teams and units. 

The episode kicked off with Chicago Fire responding to a ghost and rogue aircraft headed right for Chicago. With communication completely cut off from the plane, the FBI was also called in case it was a terrorist event, bringing back former Intelligence detective Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos). 

Even though Upton always had the authority to take charge of a case, it was nice to see her in such a commanding role, making many of the calls and operating independently, all while revealing that her love and care for her ex-husband, Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), is what actually brought her back to Chicago in the first place.

Halstead returned in the episode as well, with their reunion providing some much-needed closure for fans, though honestly, I wish we had seen what transpired after they agreed to head to the bar following their day from hell. There seems to be plenty of love and affection between them, even though it’s evident that Upton bottled up much of those feelings after he ghosted her upon his move to Bolivia. They both deserved better than the way their relationship eventually crumbled, but you can also tell that taking time away from the Windy City really helped put things in perspective for them. It was nice to see them in the same room, working the case, but knowing that they didn’t have to cover for Voight anymore or fall back into old patterns. Where will they go from here? Will we see them coming back once in a while to assist on cases? Clearly, it works well. 

And man, it felt good to see them standing there with the rest of Intelligence. It felt right. 

CHICAGO P.D. — “Reckoning, Part 3” Episode 1317 — Pictured: (l-r) Jason Beghe as Hank Voight, Benjamin Levy Aguilar as Dante Torres, Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead, Tracy Spiridakos as Hailey Upton, LaRoyce Hawkins as Officer Kevin Atwater — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

Still, Upton found herself having to listen to Nathan Conway, the special agent leading the charge for the FBI, who kept hindering the investigation with bad calls and orders, leaving many of Chicago’s responders to push back to move the case along.  

It immediately became clear that Conway was not someone that any of them could take orders from. He may have been their superior, but his decisions were lacking, at best, putting everyone in even more danger. 

CHICAGO P.D. — “Reckoning, Part 3” Episode 1317 — Pictured: (l-r) John Marshall Jones as Agent Nathan Conway, Jason Beghe as Hank Voight — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

The Dominion Airlines incident was eventually ruled an accident, with the teams figuring out that the chemical being smuggled in by the drug mule exploded mid-flight due to a change in pressure, immediately killing everyone on board, but it wasn’t a coinicdence that it included a drug smuggler that both Upton and Halstead were tracking, nor was it a coincidence that it happened on the 25th anniversary of the Heart of Chicago Fire. 

This was part of a much more sinister and complex plot. 

Time, however, wasn’t on their side, and they were racing against the clock to figure out how everything was connected to pinpoint a motive, a suspect, and an anecdote as the chemical weapon began infecting Dom Pascal’s (Dermot Mulroney) firefighters, who were among the first to enter the aircraft without any knowledge of what dangers they’d come face to face with. 

It was also an episode where the stakes were at an all-time high. Across Fire, Med and PD, everyone stares death in the face daily as they put their lives at risk for the job, but being exposed to an unknown chemical agent that was able to kill 185 passengers in seconds came with a different kind of danger. 

CHICAGO P.D. — “Reckoning, Part 3” Episode 1317 — Pictured: (l-r) Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella Kidd, Taylor Kinney as Kelly Severide, Brandon Larracuente as Sal Vasquez — (Photo by: Lori Allen/NBC)

Macy Vasquez, Stella Kidd’s newbie firefighter, was fine one minute and gone the next. Nabbing the suspect was a priority, but they were more concerned about figuring out what the chemical composition was so that everyone else in the situation didn’t end up in the morgue as well. 

Upton, Pascal and Voight took matters into their own hands—and honestly, since the case ended up connecting to them in a personal way, it made sense that they were the ones risking it all anyway. 

The decision they made came at a high cost, with Pascal even getting arrested by Conway’s agents, in an effort to retrieve tech from the suspect’s house to help his own. 

And it was a risk worth taking as it helped the doctors at Med save Cruz, his partner, Lizzy, who was exposed after she was splattered with blood from an infected patient, and Violet Mikami. 

Macy ended up being the only casualty on the team, though the plane’s only survivor died a few hours later, after they were able to safely deliver her baby and give the little girl a fighting chance. 

The med hour put the focus on Hannah, who, despite Dean Archer’s insistence, put on the PPE and went to deliver the baby of the plane’s sole survivor. 

Since she’s pregnant with Dean’s baby, his heated reaction to her decision wasn’t surprising, as he was worried about his unborn child and her mother, but at some point, he also needs to be reminded who he’s dealing with. Hannah goes above and beyond to protect those who need her, and no one would be able to stop her. When her health took a turn, she was definitely feeling guilty and hard on herself, but thankfully, the labs all came back great, and neither she nor her baby was exposed, with the elevated heart rate simply a symptom of stress. And who could blame her? The situation was already stressful enough without Dean reminding her of it. 

Frost and Lizzy’s relationship may have also fizzled out, but he clearly cares about her, and when her life was in danger, he called her estranged siblings so that they could reconnect. As Mitch suggested, this wasn’t the time to do things later because there may not have been a later.  

Crossovers always come with a slight disadvantage for those who don’t watch all three shows, like me. I’m not someone who follows Chicago Fire, so knowing the dynamics of each relationship or who some of the characters are is sometimes a bit tricky, though I commend the series for doing its best to blend the three shows so seamlessly that you can pick up on context clues, and they almost feel like one unit when moving together during the major crossover events. 

CHICAGO FIRE — “Reckoning, Part 1” Episode 1415 — Pictured: Taylor Kinney as Kelly Severide — (Photo by: Peter Gordon/NBC), single, outdoor

Voight and Pascal’s history bubbled up to the forefront once the PD hour started, as they pieced together that the suspect was also the victim of the Heart of Chicago Fire, which killed his whole family. In fact, Thomas Marr was the child that Voight saved from the burning building, though he didn’t make it out unscathed, with much of his body suffering burns. 

As they worked the case, Voight was forced to come clean about his role in the fire–he knew there was a meth lab in the apartment complex, but he wanted to work the case a few extra days to land the players, so he asked them to delay a fire inspection for 2 days. 24 hours later, the place went up in flames, though that piece never made it to public records as the cause was deemed inconclusive. 

Marr wanted to blow the lid on the whole thing, speaking to a reporter with his findings, all while holding the people “responsible” and accountable. As he explained it during the memorial for Cranston, he wanted everyone to feel the pain of burning alive as his parents did. 

Of course, Voight didn’t carry this case lightly—it was one that deeply affected him all these years, but fighting pain with pain wasn’t going to change the outcome. 

As he told Halstead, he was a newbie cop at the time and felt invincible, though it didn’t excuse the fact that he destroyed Marr’s entire life and made him endure decades of silent suffering. 

CHICAGO P.D. — “Reckoning, Part 3” Episode 1317 — Pictured: (l-r) Dermot Mulroney as Chief Dom Pascal, Jason Beghe as Hank Voight — (Photo by: Lori Allen/NBC)

Since Marr was a huge danger, threatening to expose the chemical weapon he built in the heart of the city, he was neutralized, with Upton and Halstead instrumental in helping Voight save everyone at the memorial. 

Halstead realized Voight was still carrying all that guilt, so he looked deeper into the case and informed him that the apartment fire wasn’t started by the meth lab; it wasn’t Voight’s fault, and his actions likely wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the situation, but Voight couldn’t shake it anyway. Voight may have been doing this for a long time, but he never forgets and is able to own up to his mistakes and missteps—it’s what makes him so good at what he does. 

Thankfully, instead of more damage, they were able to prevent what could’ve been the worst disaster to ever strike Chicago—with the heroes of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D. all working side-by-side to protect their city. 

What did you think of the 2026 One Chicago crossover? Was it one of the best they’ve ever done?

Rarely do I find myself disappointed in a fall finale, especially for Chicago PD and Chicago Med, two shows that have been executing cliffhangers for more than a decade. 

In fact, the Chicago Med fall finale on Nov. 12, 2025, neared the 10-year mark since the show’s premiere on Nov. 17, 2015, so they’ve been in the business for quite some time. 

But there was a huge issue during both the Chicago PD Season 13 Episode 7, titled “Impulse Control,” and the Chicago Med Season 11 Episode 7, titled “Double Down,” finale cliffhangers, which ended in almost the same way, and painted their leading ladies as reckless and rash in their decision-making.

Chicago Med found Caitlin Lennox taking it upon herself to save one of her former patients, Faye, from an abusive relationship. When Faye’s husband was admitted into the ED, drunk and injured, she immediately clocked that the cut on his arm could have been a defensive wound. Ripley went to talk to Devin, confirming that he was lying about what led to the injuries, and further causing them to question his story when they offered to call his wife, and he immediately shot it down, saying that she’s out of town visiting her dad. When Caitlin dialed Faye’s number, Devin’s phone rang, making the situation even more sinister. 

That’s when Caitlin, who has been making questionable decisions for much of the season after getting a positive result to a potentially life-ending diagnosis, took it upon herself to drive to Faye’s house and check in on her. 

CHICAGO MED — “Double Down” Episode 1107 — Pictured: (l-r) Luke Mitchell as Dr. Mitch Ripley, — (Photo by: George Burns Jr/NBC)

There were so many red flags from the get-go—there was a storm, there was no one responding inside the house, there was a broken bottle on the steps—and someone like Caitlin should’ve picked up on them rather than letting her ego take charge, but instead, she broke the window and went inside. That wasn’t even the bad decision I’m referring to; it’s the fact that she didn’t think to call the cops beforehand to get some backup. Or the fact that she came without backup at all.

Once inside, she found Faye badly beaten in a basement, which naturally had no cell service, and when she decided to go call for help (you know, what she should’ve done from the beginning), she was hit over the head by Devin, who likely staged the power outage at the hospital to escape and make his way back home. I won’t even begin to point out how unlikely it is that he got there moments after Caitlin, considering she mentioned that they lived in the burbs, and his drive would’ve taken quite some time, but it’s a show, so I’ll put that criticism aside. 

Ripley failed Caitlin by not keeping a closer watch on Devin, sure, but Caitlin failed herself by trying to play the hero instead of leaning on others for help. She’s been exuding this “me, myself, and I” mentality for quite some time, and now she’s going to pay the price. It’s honorable that she’s so dedicated to her patients and wants to help them, regardless of the situation or dangers, but there was a better way of reaching this same result, one that didn’t have to put them both in jeopardy. 

Hopefully, Ripley will be able to get help in time to save both Caitlin and Faye from Devin.

But if that finale wasn’t enough, there was the Chicago PD finale, which found newcomer Eva Imani doing the exact same thing in the final moments of the episode. 

The situation was slightly different, as Intelligence was working on the continuation of a case following the murder of Gary Bell, the son of fallen billionaire Raymond Bell, whom Voight was convinced was a violent person by nature. After a victim was murdered in Bell’s neighborhood, Voight noticed that the same hand injuries were inflicted as the victims of the late Gary, leading Voight to believe that Raymond was responsible despite not having any evidence connecting him to the crime. 

Voight’s been doing this long enough that when he has a hunch, he knows to follow it. Trying to find how Raymond fit into it, he had his team pull all hand injuries, with one leading them to Randall’s longtime gardener, who had a mysterious hand injury that was brushed off as a work accident. Now homeless and in and out of psychiatric care, he confessed that the Bells were very bad people, admitting that victims always went into the house, but never came out, including a young nurse.

That was later confirmed by Julie, Gary’s young daughter, who was now in the care of Randall. When she fell from a tree and was brought to the hospital, she admitted to Imani that a ghost named Aurelia lived in the basement. Aurelia was a nurse at the time of her disappearance.

No one actually believed Julie’s tree story, and through Voight’s chat with Randall, it was very obvious that she was brainwashed and instructed on exactly what to say. It was also creepy that he kept reminding her to “tell the truth,” almost as if he’d already convinced her of what “truth” he wanted to be a reality. 

Something was very off, and while everyone wanted to help Julie, Imani, who in previous episodes revealed that her sister, an addict, had gone missing, was personally driven to bring justice to this little girl. It didn’t sit right with her that even though Raymond was dangerous and a young girl was in his care, and after she got a text from Julie’s phone that could have been a cry for help, she was defeated when Voight simply told her that they needed to act with control in order not to blow the whole case up. 

Since Imani is new, she’s got a desire to just get things done, with the red tape proving to be an obstacle.

Slowly but surely, Intelligence began to uncover a list of addicts and homeless people on the missing persons list who were located off Highway 94 and vanished mysteriously. With the evidence still circumstantial, they needed Raymond to give them something to work with—and so they brought him in for questioning, hoping to stroke his ego until he finally broke. And it worked, with Randall finally admitting after hours of being interrogated that he was in the area at the time of Aurelia’s disappearance, though it still wasn’t enough to get them to move.

CHICAGO P.D. — “Impulse Control” Episode 1307 — Pictured: Jason Beghe as Hank Voight — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

The final straw for Imani was a phone call from Julie, where she heard the little girl whimpering and screaming. Instead of asking for permission, which would undoubtedly get denied, Imani went rogue, driving to the creepy house in the middle of the night, breaking in and finding herself walking right into a trap. 

Sound familiar? 

Again, the intentions of both Caitlin and Imani are good and pure, but it’s questionable behavior from two women who know better and who have the resources to call in backup in case things go south, which, when dealing with people whose instinct is violence, is very possible. 

It’s unclear if something happened to Julie or if he used her to get to Imani after realizing she was communicating with the cops. Julie may already be so far gone that she assists Raymond in the kidnappings.

Either way, Imani is now trapped in that house with a killer, and there’s a history of people never leaving. Furthermore, no one on her squad knows that she even went there, and they don’t have enough evidence against Raymond. 

While the suspense is high, it’s a frustrating way to end the episode, taking two very bright and promising leads and having them make senseless decisions to move the storyline along. Imani and Caitlin deserved better. The only way to redeem the storylines is to not allow them to fall into a “damsel in distress” trope. They are two very capable young women, so I hope when new episodes return in 2026, they prove themselves and get out of the bind on their own—one they shouldn’t have allowed themselves to get in the first place, despite the best of intentions.

Other Moments From the Chicago Med and Chicago PD Fall Finales

• Someone is blackmailing Voight with his past—and his abusive father—to get him to resign, and all signs are pointing to Commander Delvin, who hired the half-baked mail delivery kid and used his actual phone number to call him. Clearly, he underestimates Voight.
• Dr. Howard finally told John Frost how she feels, but he’s got chemistry with Fire’s Lizzy Novak, too. There weren’t hard feelings, but do we really need another love triangle?
• Dr. Charles accused Rabari (The Resident’s Manish Dayal) of putting his patient in danger to protect his trial, and though it may have seemed that way, it was kind of out of line for Charles. I do like the potential of their partnership, though! 
• Hannah is having nightmares about birth, and her latest case, involving Jeremy Lockhart, a former ED patient who was diagnosed with stomach cancer and who is going through a complex surgery to buy himself enough time to meet his unborn daughter, isn’t helping. It’s a very emotional storyline—and one bound to take a toll on a pregnant woman. 
• Archer finally told his son Sean about Hannah’s pregnancy, and it was weird for everyone. Archer is also having chemistry with Dr. Kingston, but she’s not someone who ever wanted kids, and well, he’s about to become a dad again. Talk about a complicated.
• Kacey is the star of the season—she’s a pot stirrer, gossiper, and truly unhinged human being. I love everything about it.