One Chicago: 11 ‘Fire,’ ‘Med’ & ‘P.D.’ Burning Questions for 2026
The bad news: All three One Chicago shows left off with major cliffhangers, involving characters’ fates in question as well as jobs on the line, potential romances, and much more. The good news is that all Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. are all back relatively early in the new year.
The One Chicago lineup returns on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, with new episodes, and each show has quite a few burning questions to answer. Will any of them lose a main character?
All three ended with one in danger, whether from their own making or unknowingly having walked into a situation. There has also been a mystery set up about one of the doctors, a blackmail situation for one of the members of Intelligence, and a question regarding when we’ll see a main cast member again. Plus, there is, of course, the question of a crossover between the three shows.
Below, we take a look at the 11 burning questions we have over this hiatus. Let us know yours in the comments section.
Chicago Med: Will Lenox survive Devin?
Lenox (Sarah Ramos) has gotten very involved in the safety of her patient, Faye (Olivia Nikkanen), whose husband Devin (Jack Falahee) abuses her, to the point that she went to check on her at the end of the fall finale. It’s a good thing she did since Faye was badly beaten in the basement. But when Lenox went to call for help, Devin knocked her out.
It’s the classic set-up for at least part of the midseason premiere to track what Devin’s doing to Lenox and Faye in the basement while the rest of the doctors are busy at the hospital (especially with a blackout), until hopefully help arrives. But what will happen to Lenox in that time? And how will that affect her moving forward as she continues to deal with her prion disease diagnosis?
If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic abuse, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233.
Chicago Med: What's going on with Charles?
Something’s been going on with Charles (Oliver Platt), with the doctor admitting to problems sleeping. He also admitted to Theo (Manish Dayal) that he’s looking into whatever’s going on with him but it was also affecting his judgement.
But what exactly is it that Charles is going through? And what will it mean for him continuing to work at the hospital and his interactions with the others going forward?
Chicago Med: Is an Archer/Kingston romance brewing?
It certainly seemed like there could be something between Archer (Steven Weber) and Kingston (Merrin Dungey) as they talked during surgery near the end of the fall finale about their personal lives (yes, both are single) and music choices.
With Archer having a baby with Asher (Jessy Schram) after a night together last season, it does seem very likely that this could be the beginning of a new love triangle — especially if Asher begins to question if she and Archer are just friends coparenting or could be more.
Chicago Fire: Will Severide or Van Meter die in the fire?
Severide (Taylor Kinney) put on his fire cop hat and worked an arson case with Van Meter (Tim Hopper) in the fall finale: Someone deliberately set a fire in a school to target the principal. A lot of people didn’t like the guy, and that left them with quite the suspect list.
What they didn’t know was that while they were talking to him in his apartment at the end of the episode, someone was setting a fire in the stairwell below. Severide is almost 100% safe, but Van Meter is a question mark. He’s recurred since Season 6, and his death would certainly hurt Severide.
Chicago Fire: Is Pascal's new romance over before it even really started?
Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) and the mayor’s chief of staff, Annette (Annabeth Gish), have grown close, with the two finally making time for coffee-turned-lunch in the fall finale. However, can they become anything when, as was revealed during their dinner at the end of the episode, she took his advice to prevent a teacher’s strike, and one of the consequences will be engine 51, run by Mouch (Christian Stolte), possibly being decommissioned?
Even if that doesn’t happen, it shows just how complicated this potential romance would be — and while we do want to see Pascal moving on from his wife’s death, is this the way for him to do it?
Chicago Fire: Is Engine 51 really going to be decommissioned?
Mouch just became lieutenant — thanks to Herrmann (David Eigenberg) giving up his spot — so could Chicago Fire really be taking away engine from him?
Something tells us that all of 51, including Pascal, will work together to keep that from happening, but there could be a time when it is out of service when the series returns in 2026 before a solution is found.
Chicago Fire: Will Kidd return as planned?
Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) went to Cleveland to help her and Severide’s foster son help his mom settle in at a clinic where she can get the treatment she needs for her injuries. We’d think nothing of it and expect her back on time, except for Severide remarking to Cruz (Joe Minoso) in the fall finale that he was hoping Kidd wouldn’t be in Cleveland for longer than her two weeks of furlough.
The moment something like that is said on a TV show, we can’t help but immediately start thinking something’s going to happen to change those plans.
Chicago P.D.: What will happen to Imani in the Bell house?
Voight (Jason Beghe) and Imani (Arienne Mandi) were so certain that Raymond Bell (Barry Del Sherman) was a serial killer, and Intelligence’s investigation in the fall finale pretty much proved it. Imani especially was worried about his granddaughter, especially after Julie (Julianna Layne) told her about the woman in the basement. But when Imani went to the Bell house to check on her, the officer only found her phone before hearing what sounded like a gunshot.
While we’re not at all worried about Imani, we can’t help but wonder what will happen next. Will Raymond attack Imani? Is Julie safe?
Chicago P.D.: What's Devlin ultimate plan for Voight?
In the fall finale, Voight received an envelope with messages over photos of himself beaten as a child (“RESIGN OR THIS GOES PUBLIC”) and his father (“YOUR FATHER THE ABUSER”). The messenger gave him a phone number of who called him to make the delivery, and Voight rang that phone only to see IA’s Commander Devlin (Joel Murray) ignore an incoming call.
The two aren’t on good terms, but is the IA Commander really blackmailing Voight, or is there something else going on?
Chicago P.D.: How will P.D. continue to explain Ruzek's absence, and when will Patrick John Flueger return?
In October, it was announced that Patrick John Flueger has taken a leave of absence for personal reasons, and he was last seen onscreen as Ruzek in the October 29 episode. Nothing has been said onscreen to explain his absence, and we can’t help but wonder if/when something will be. Perhaps that will depend on when he’s returning, which we don’t know yet.
While there are certainly a few ways it could be done, we’re starting to think it might just be as simple as a mix of Ruzek having days off and perhaps spending some time with his dad, should they choose to go that route.
One Chicago: Will there be a crossover?
One of the things that makes this franchise so good is how seamless the crossovers, both big and small, are. We’ve already had characters crossing between shows this season, but what about a three-show event?
The last one was January 2025, and that one did a great job of mixing up pairings. We’d love to see it happen again, whether it’s leading into or after the Olympics.
One Chicago Wednesdays, Return, January 7, 2026, 8/7c, NBC
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