Following a series in order and sticking to it is good. But when four or five series interact in the same universe, you need a viewing guide! It's the turn of Dick Wolf's Chicago series franchise to go through the mill so that you are not too lost…
Update of 30/05/2017 ***
With the upcoming arrival of the fourth series of the Chicago Justice franchise, the universe created by Dick Wolf becomes more and more extensive, and it is not the cross-overs with New York Special Unit that fix things. To help you properly follow the adventures of your favorite characters, here is a short guide to viewing, in chronological order, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Chicago Justice and New York Special Unit… You can also assume that each series is independent enough to be watched without the others!
Season 1 of Chicago Fire
In 2012, Chicago Fire launched on the NBC network. You can quietly follow the 22 episodes of the first season without worries.
Even if we quickly meet Hank Voight and Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) during the season, it is with episode 23, Goodbye Hallie (Let her go in the original version) that you will be able to attend the introduction (backdoor pilot) of the Chicago Police Intelligence team.
Chicago Fire Season 2 – Chicago PD Season 1
You can start the second season of Chicago Fire until episode 11. You will also have the opportunity to meet the character of Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush) and that of Jay Hallstead (Jesse Lee Soffer).
Chicago PD began airing after episode 11 of Chicago Fire.
You can follow both series in parallel. Nevertheless, it is important to watch episodes 1×05 to 1×07 of Chicago PD between episodes 2×15 and 2×16 of Chicago Fire, at the risk of spoiling you.Indeed, this episode is the first meeting of the Intelligence team with Olivia Benson's team of the New York Special Victims Unit. You will have to look at the New York Special Unit 15×15, then the Chicago PD 1×06.
The only real cross-over takes place at the end of the season. Indeed, the 2×20 of Chicago Fire opens a cross-over plot with its little sister, plot that will find its denouement in the 1×12 of Chicago PD.
Season 3 of Chicago Fire, 2 of Chicago PD
Let's start the new season of Chicago Fire, the third, which follows in parallel with the second season of Chicago PD. You can discover in the second part of the season of Chicago PD the character of Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) as well as the character of nurse April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta), childhood friend of firefighter Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) in episodes 3×17 to 3×20.
As for the cross-overs, the first is a triple cross-over with New York Special Unit, whose starting point is a fire from which the Intelligence team discovers boxes containing photos of child pornography. The team then travels to New York to meet with the special unit for victims.
The second concerns episodes 13 of both series, starting with Chicago Fire.
Episode 3×19 of Chicago Fire serves as the backdoor pilot for the Chicago Med series.
Season 4 of Chicago Fire, 3 of Chicago PD and 1 of Chicago Med
When Chicago Fire began its fourth season, Chicago PD continued its third. You will have the opportunity to meet more and more often characters who will then appear in Chicago Med.
The Chicago Med series is launched after episode 5 of the other two series.
The first triple crossover between the three series begins in the Chicago Fire 4×10, continues in the Chicago Med 1×05 and ends in the Chicago PD 3×10, where the life of one of the firefighters at Station 51 will hang in the balance.
The second crossover takes place between Chicago PD and New York Special Unit. It begins in episode 14 of season 17 of New York Special Unit and ends in the 3×17 of Chicago PD. It is actually a sequel to the first cross-over between the two series.
Episode 21 of season 3 of Chicago PD serves as a backdoor pilot for Chicago Justice. Note that this is the first series of the franchise where no character is introduced before in one of the three series.
Season 5 of Chicago Fire, 4 of Chicago PD and 2 of Chicago Med – Arrival of the first season of Chicago Justice
In September 2016, Chicago PD opened the scoring with the broadcast of its fourth season, followed closely by the second season of Chicago Med. The following month the fifth season of Chicago Fire was launched.
This is an opportunity to discover once again the characters of the different series interact together. It is not uncommon to meet Antonio Dawson or Jay Halstead in the corridors of the hospital or even some firefighters.
The first major event of the season comes in episode 4×08 of Chicago PD. Indeed, this is the last episode where the character of Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) appears who leaves the series to join Chicago Justice!
The first crossover occurs during episode 5×09 of Chicago Fire, even if this first part is only a pretext. Indeed, in the last minutes of the episode, Severide is involved in a traffic accident. It is only in episode 4×09 of Chicago PD that the plot is developed with an amnesiac Severide and suspect No. 1 in a homicide case.
The seasons are rather quiet in terms of crossing until the evening event organized by the NBC channel which introduces Chicago Justice, new version of the franchise.It all starts in episode 5×15 of Chicago Fire when a huge fire involves Detective Olinsky's daughter. The investigation will continue in episode 4×16 of Chicago PD before finding its legal conclusion in episode 1×01 of Chicago Justice. Note that if this crossover does not involve an episode of Chicago Med, several characters make appearances since part of the plot takes place in the hospital.
If we put aside the crossovers above, the different series can be watched easily without affecting the understanding of the plots.
Next year, the franchise will continue with the broadcast of season 6 of Chicago Fire, season 5 of Chicago PD (with the departure of Sophia Bush) as well as season 3 of Chicago Med. Big loser of the season, Chicago Justice will unfortunately not know a second season. However, there is no indication that the characters of the judicial series will disappear, they could appear regularly in the others! Fingers crossed that this expanded universe will continue for a long time but also that the characters of New York Special Unit will make an appearance again!
