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Infection (Chicago franchise)

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"Infection"
Chicago crossover event
Promotional poster for the crossover event.
Story byDick Wolf & Derek Haas
Original air dateOctober 16, 2019 (2019-10-16)
Part 1: Chicago Fire
Episode title"Infection: Part I"
Episode no.Season 8
Episode 4
Directed byReza Tabrizi
Teleplay byDerek Haas
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Badlands"
Next →
"Buckle Up"
Chicago Fire (season 8)
List of Chicago Fire episodes
Part 2: Chicago Med
Episode title"Infection: Part II"
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 4
Directed byMichael Pressman
Teleplay byDiane Frolov and Andrew Schneider
Episode chronology
← Previous
"In the Valley of the Shadows"
Next →
"Got a Friend in Me"
Chicago Med (season 5)
List of Chicago Med episodes
Part 3: Chicago P.D.
Episode title"Infection: Part III"
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 4
Directed byEriq La Salle
Teleplay byGwen Sigan
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Familia"
Next →
"Brother’s Keeper"
Chicago P.D. (season 7)
List of Chicago P.D. episodes
Crossover chronology
Preceded by"February 2019 Chicago crossover event"
Followed by"February 2020 Chicago crossover event"

"Infection" is a three-part fictional crossover event that exists within the Chicago television franchise. The event aired on NBC consecutively in three back-to-back one-hour time slots on October 16, 2019. It began with "Infection: Part I" of Chicago Fire, continued with "Infection: Part II" of Chicago Med, and then concluded with "Infection: Part III" of Chicago P.D. All three episodes followed a unified story line of an infection spreading across Chicago and the first responders dealing with the repercussions. Many actors in the franchise appeared outside of their main series and in all three parts of the crossover.

Plot

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Part 1

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At a Chicago Bears game, members of Firehouse 51, the Intelligence Unit, and Chicago Med are tailgating. After Matthew Casey notices a guy collapse in the middle of the festivities, they head over to help and find the guy with a flesh-eating infection on his legs repeating the letters "BRT." The guy is taken to Chicago Med where they identify the infection as necrotizing fasciitis. Ambulance 61 gets dispatched to a house where they find two people dead inside from the same infection. Jay Halstead identifies the original victim as a student at a local university. Cruz reveals to Mouch and Brett that he plans on proposing to Chloe. Burgess responds to a call at a gas station where a woman and her child are both infected. They both shortly die later at Chicago Med. Boden begins dealing with the mayor's office when the house is assigned to parade duties. Firehouse 51 responds to a fire at Central Chicago University (CCU), where a large chemical fire has broken out. While in the basement rescuing trapped people Severide notices a panel on the wall with the same "BRT" initials. The discovery allows intelligence to begin putting together a connection between the infection and the university. After shift Chloe breaks up with Cruz. Intelligence discovers that the original victim was a lab assistant at CCU and had previously been threatening professors with an apocalyptic-type event happening in Chicago. Burgess and Upton go to Chicago Med to question him; however, when they arrive, they are told he died. The Office of Fire Investigation determines that the fire at CCU was deliberately set. Jay Halstead finds out that another lab assistant at CCU, Veronica Song, was supposed to be in the lab at the time of the fire but didn't show up. Upton arrives at Song's house to question her; however, upon entering Song collapses from infection. They are both brought to Chicago Med where Song is rushed into surgery.

Part 2

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The press begins questioning Goodwin about the infection. Upton gets examined for potential infection after finding Song's blood on her; Song later flatlines in surgery and is unable to be revived. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) arrives to begin tracking down the source of the infection. Ambulance 61 along with two other ambulance companies get dispatched to the same apartment complex where they find five infected patients. The CDC along with Chicago Med, Fire, and P.D., evacuate the apartment building in hopes to finding more leads. P.D. narrows down all sources of the infection to either CCU or the apartment building and identifies it's being spread via a bug sprayer. The CDC thoroughly inspects the apartment building and finds a bug sprayer being burned in the furnace. Voight and Upton begin interviewing tenants of the apartment building who all collectively describe a man who appeared to be an exterminator. CCU students reveal that they were working with the infection hoping to make a treatment for it although its progress was destroyed in the fire. One apartment tenant mentions a blue pickup truck with a grey circle which intelligence begins searching for. When the apartment tenants get impatient they all escape quarantine but most are later found. Upton's test comes back clear and she is released. Intelligence tracks down a blue pickup in the vicinity of the apartment building and the tag plate comes back to a car rental company. CCU students along with Will Halstead continue looking for a treatment and begin making progress. Burgess and Ruzek question the car rental employee and get security footage, the renter is positively identified as an employee of the CCU lab. Meanwhile, Firehouse 51 is dispatched to a public disturbance call. Will Halstead walks in on a lab assistant, David Seldon, destroying microbiology samples, the two engage in a fight but Seldon ultimately wins by hitting Halstead in the head with medical equipment, knocking him unconscious, and runs away.

Part 3

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Voight and Jay Halstead arrive at Chicago Med looking for Seldon who had been identified as the truck rentee but he is nowhere to be found. At the public disturbance call, Firehouse 51 and P.D. have trouble maintaining order when civilians believe they know who caused the outbreak and want to take matters into their own hands. Chicago Med is put on lock down as they begin searching for Seldon. Jay walks by the security guard and tells him Voight is looking for him. Both Voight and the security guard walk down the hallway of Chicago Med feverishly. The security guard explains that a ”Code Silver” is the mandated code for a shooter in the hospital. Hospital security cameras reveal he already escaped so they begin broadening their search. Jay Halstead and Upton find a house they suspect Seldon to be in although all they find is his ex-wife. Intelligence questions the ex-wife who tells them Seldon isn't done yet. They also end up on a wild goose chase when they get many leads in different areas around the city from civilians trying to help and Seldon setting up false leads. The team finds his lab with many medical experimentation tools and a map with an area circled that includes a parade route. Firehouse 51 arrives to assist with the parade only to find the route to have no spectators due to widespread fear from the infection. Intelligence finds out that BRT had previously been funding Seldon experiments but when funding was unexpectedly cut he snapped and started planning to release the infection. Further investigation leads them to believe that Seldon is planning on releasing the infection at BRT headquarters where a board meeting is taking place. The CDC and Firehouse 51 are called to help evacuate the building. Meanwhile, the team at Med working on a treatment finds a proper antibiotic that attacks and reduces the infection. Atwater, Jay Halstead, and Upton begin evacuating the building. In the boardroom Halstead finds the entire board taken hostage by Seldon and begins trying to deescalate the situation. Upton, with a sniper rifle on the adjacent building, creates a distraction which allows Voight and the rest of the team to enter. Seldon refuses to surrender and is shot dead by Voight. After wrapping up the case everyone begins settling down back into their own lives.

Cast and characters

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Main

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Actor Character Episode
Chicago Fire Chicago Med Chicago P.D.
Jesse Spencer Matthew Casey Main Guest
Taylor Kinney Kelly Severide Main Guest
Kara Killmer Sylvie Brett Main Guest
David Eigenberg Christopher Hermann Main Guest
Joe Minoso Joe Cruz Main Does not appear Guest
Christian Stolte Randy "Mouch" McHolland Main Does not appear Guest
Miranda Rae Mayo Stella Kidd Main Does not appear Guest
Annie Ilonzeh Emily Foster Main Guest
Eamonn Walker Wallace Boden Main Guest
Nick Gehlfuss Will Halstead Guest Main Guest
Yaya DaCosta April Sexton Guest Main Guest
Torrey DeVitto Natalie Manning Guest Main Guest
Brian Tee Ethan Choi Does not appear Main Does not appear
Marlyne Barrett Maggie Lockwood Guest Main Does not appear
S. Epatha Merkerson Sharon Goodwin Guest Main Guest
Oliver Platt Daniel Charles Does not appear Main Does not appear
Dominic Rains Crockett Marcel Guest Main Guest
Jason Beghe Henry "Hank" Voight Guest Main
Jesse Lee Soffer Jay Halstead Guest Main
Tracy Spiridakos Hailey Upton Guest Main
Marina Squerciati Kim Burgess Guest Main
Patrick John Flueger Adam Ruzek Guest Main
LaRoyce Hawkins Kevin Atwater Guest Main
Lisseth Chavez Vanessa Rojas Guest Main
Amy Morton Trudy Platt Does not appear Guest Main

Notable guests

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Actor Character Episode
Chicago Fire Chicago Med Chicago P.D.
Aaron Serotsky David Seldon Guest
Eunji Kim Veronica Song Guest
Kristen Gutoskie Chloe Allen Guest Does not appear
Alberto Rosende Blake Gallo Guest Does not appear Guest
Ricky Bartlett Security Guard 1 Does not appear Does not appear Guest
Eileen Galindo Mama Garcia Guest Does not appear Guest
Randy Flagler Harold Capp Guest Does not appear Guest
Daniel Kyri Darren Ritter Guest Does not appear Guest
Anthony Ferraris Tony Ferraris Guest Does not appear Guest
Kathleen Munroe Andrea Danover Does not appear Guest
Kyla Kenedy Amanda Does not appear Guest
Jeremy Shouldis Marty Peterson Does not appear Guest
Louise Lamson Heather Holcomb Does not appear Guest

Production

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The intersection of Jackson Blvd and LaSalle Street in Chicago, Illinois, was used to film the empty parade route scene seen in the crossover.

On September 2, 2019, it was announced that the production teams Chicago franchise were planning another crossover event between Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D.[1] Executive producer on all three series, Dick Wolf, and Chicago Fire showrunner, Derek Haas, wrote the story for all three episodes.[2] Compared to previous crossover events within the franchise producers wanted the event to feel more like a three-hour television movie with Haas saying "This year, we just said, ‘why don’t we get all three shows active in the first hour?'"[3] Haas also stated about the crossover "I haven’t written Med since we did the Med [spinoff] episode. But you’ll see why that’s feasible, because it’s less about each show having its own shape to it and more like all three shows really intertwined throughout. You could be watching any hour and be like, ‘Oh, wait, is this P.D.? Or is this Med? Or is this Fire?’ We’re even doing scenes that you would think would be a Med scene, but it's in the Fire hour."[4] All three episodes filmed in Chicago, Illinois and the entire event took over sixteen days to film.[5][6] On filming the empty street for the parade route scene Haas said "One of the original ideas was: What would it look like if Michigan Avenue were empty of people? How spooky would that be?"[5]

Reception

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Critical response

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Vlada Gelman with TVLine said that the "crossover proved to be a monumental event for some of the Windy City’s finest."[7]

Viewing figures

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The three-part event aired from 8:00-11:00 pm EDT on October 16, 2019, on NBC.[8] Chicago Fire switched timeslots with Chicago Med for the evening with Fire airing an hour earlier than usual.[9] The first part of the crossover was watched live by 8.23 million viewers, the second part rose to 8.93 million, the final part dropped back down to 8.62 million.[10] The high viewing figures led to the crossover being called the "dominant event of the night."[11] Deadline Hollywood said "NBC’s three-part Chicago crossover titled “Infection” came on strong Wednesday night, giving a boost to all three franchises for NBC in the adults 18–49 demographic."[12]

References

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  1. ^ Hurley, Laura (September 2, 2019). "What Chicago Med's Crossover With Fire And P.D. Will Be About, According To The Showrunner". CinemaBlend. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  2. ^ Gelman, Vlada (September 2, 2019). "Chicago Fire Boss Previews This Fall's Mega #OneChicago Crossover". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  3. ^ Bissette Sumerel, Ashley (October 14, 2019). "Preview — One Chicago Crossover Event: Infection". Tell-Tale TV. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  4. ^ Gelman, Vlada (September 2, 2019). "Chicago Fire Boss Previews This Fall's Mega #OneChicago Crossover". TVLine. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Gelman, Vlada (October 15, 2019). "#OneChicago Team Previews 'Zombie Apocalypse'-Like Crossover Event". TVLine. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  6. ^ Jones, Adrienne (October 16, 2019). "Why 'Nobody Likes' Making The One Chicago Crossovers With Fire, P.D. and Med, According To Dick Wolf". CinemaBlend. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  7. ^ Gelman, Vlada (October 16, 2019). "#OneChicago's 'Infection' Crossover Reignites 'Burzek' Relationship — Plus, Who Got Their Heart Broken?". TVLine. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  8. ^ Jones, Adrienne (October 12, 2019). "Why Dick Wolf And Chicago Fire's Boss Liked The Infection Story For Upcoming Crossover With P.D. And Med". CinemaBlend. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  9. ^ Stockly, Ed (October 16, 2019). "What's on TV Wednesday: 'Chicago Fire,' 'Chicago Med' and 'Chicago PD' crossover on NBC". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  10. ^ Welch, Alex (October 17, 2019). "'Chicago Med,' 'The Masked Singer' adjust up, 'SEAL Team,' 'Chicago P.D.,' 'Almost Family' adjust down: Wednesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  11. ^ Hurley, Laura (October 19, 2019). "One Chicago Kills With Deadly Crossover, Arrow Misses the Target And More In This Week's TV Ratings". CinemaBlend. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  12. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (October 17, 2019). "'Chicago' Crossover Event Dominates Wednesday, While 'The Masked Singer' Rises; 'Riverdale' Down From Season Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 19, 2019.