Chicago Fire Showrunner Andrea Martin Teases One Chicago Crossover “In the Trenches”

We had the opportunity to talk with Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Martin about the upcoming crossover with Chicago Med and Chicago PD.

Don’t worry — there aren’t any spoilers. However, we did discuss the logistics of creating these crossovers, including who determines character arcs across the three series.

Get the fire started for the epic crossover now!

So, you have a big crossover coming up. How do the writers’ rooms get together to start on a project like this? What’s the process?

Yeah, it’s interesting. It’s, you know, the way we did it. I mean, it starts months out. You know, it’s really months and months of planning, which is crazy, but it starts with a general conversation amongst all the showrunners.

Then, we have writers assigned to these episodes, and each show is assigned a writer. Those three got in the room and started taking the big picture ideas and making and adding in all the character stuff that’s around them in episodes before and after.

And yeah, we kept the text chain going. You know, we have the med buildings right next door and PDs, and you just see people running in and out of each other’s buildings and doors and down the halls. And yeah, it’s just a lot of, it was like a beehive happening while that was going on.

We also had a text chain going where we could update each other on the latest twists and turns. Isn’t that hard, though?

I mean, you’ve got three completely different programs, and they all need to fit in from the last episode to the one after it.

It is so challenging. I think everybody has this sort of climbing Mount Everest feel to some degree, but the reward is so big.

What’s fun is the feeling of all these shows coming together and getting to see these writers that you pass in the hall, but you don’t always get to sit and talk to — the cast, too, getting to hang out together.

It’s really fun. It brings everybody together in a really nice way.

And every one of these crossovers has somebody in peril and somebody else who’s saving them. How do you decide which characters will be at the mercy of the disaster and which ones will be saving the day? Is there a competition between you all?

It’s a good question. Yeah. It’s funny because we were talking about how, of course, every pitch that we start with is, you know, our characters, and the same with the other shows.

And then, as you chip away at it, everybody kind of comes to the same place. Ultimately, it’s character-centric. It’s like, where are the characters in the moment that this crossover will take place, and what will best serve the stories that we’re telling for these characters right now?

That’s really how it shakes out. In this situation, we have so many different things going on at once.

And this, it really, the episodes themselves don’t feel like a fire, a med, a PD. It feels like one three-hour movie. The way this one broke out, we didn’t even think about it like that because we had triage happening at the scene.

All the Med people are there, and our guys are running from this fire scene to the hospital. The PD guys are investigating the scene and going to the hospital to talk to witnesses. So, everything is really interconnected, and the character stories are the front and center part that guides it.

And apparently, Stella and Ruzek are meeting for the first time during this crossover, right?

I was trying to think if they’ve ever crossed before, but they certainly have not had this kind of connection before. They had certainly never been together in a crisis before in this way.

So that particular dynamic that you mentioned is really fun because we haven’t seen it before, and they’re both very strong personalities. Lieutenant Kidd is not going to take orders from Ruzek, and Ruzek’s not going to want to take orders, either.

The real fun of this crossover was seeing them have to come together in a crisis — all of those dynamics, seeing everybody, people who hadn’t met because there were a lot of new cast members.

And how did their personalities complement each other as they figured out how to get themselves out of this?

Yeah, their personalities. It’s funny because I think Ruzek is really tightly wound. You know, he’s kind of on a different mission than she is. He’s trying to solve a mystery at the same time.

He’s trying to keep people alive. She’s more the, you know, the rescuer and the calm, the port and the storm kind of vibe on this one. And so, but they’re both having these crisis moments with their relationships.

They’re both trapped, and there are significant others on the outside. So, Severide and Burgess come together, too, trying to communicate with them and having their relationships tested in this way.

Okay. I have to ask this because my editors and I were having a conversation today about relationships and how there are very few really good and solid ones on TV. And yet, we saw the trailer for the crossover, and we saw Severide in tears, and we knew everybody was in trouble.

Is it hard to make happy relationships where people are just going about their lives and having a good time? Is it easier to show them struggling? I’m just curious about that from a writer’s perspective.

It’s interesting. I would say it’s more challenging from a writing standpoint to portray relationships with reality. You know, that’s really what you’re trying to do is make it feel real and relatable to the people who are watching.

Nobody has a perfect relationship—that I know anyway. So, what you’re doing is kind of digging deep into all the cracks and fissures that any normal relationship has, but then putting it in these crisis situations. So, it’s challenging to make it real, I would say.

To have it be dramatic and feel like a relationship that we could be in our fantasy worlds.

You mentioned that you get to see writers you don’t normally see and work with actors and characters you don’t normally work with.

What’s it like expanding the story to that degree? Does it, you know, you see these characters every week, and they’re in your world? For example, Atwater was on Chicago Fire last week.

What’s the difference between trying to do something small like that and bringing everybody together?

The challenge is that when we do that, it’s a Fire episode. So it’s just integrating Atwater into our Fire world, but this is creating a huge world that you’ve got to combine everybody.

And it’s different. It’s not the Fire world.

As I said, our PD, Fire, and Med world is its own thing — its own little universe with its own planets, stars, and everything else. So it’s very challenging because we’re sending these scripts back and forth to each other. How does that match?

Does that match enough? You know, as we’re doing it, everybody’s got their take on their characters and want to make sure that we do justice to the other characters, too. So yeah, that’s the hardest part, I think, making sure that it’s its own world.

It’s not just Med’s world or Fire’s world.

Are you ever surprised to see how somebody else handles your characters?

Yes.

What are some examples of that?

I’m trying to think of a good example from this episode. Severide, you know, is really pushed to the brink emotionally. And there’s a moment where he almost loses it on who’s not being particularly helpful at the moment. It’s not one of the main cast.

Herrmann, I can’t remember which script it was in, if it was PD or Med, but in this version, Herrmann was kind of like, “Calm down, Severide,” in the first version.

And I was like, no, no, no, Herrmann wouldn’t say calm down. He’d say, “I’ll kick his ass with you.” You know, that’s what he would say, not “Calm down and back off that guy.”

It’s “Kidd is my family too. And we’ll take you down together.” So it’s catching these little character moments of, “Well, how does he respond to the other kids, especially when it’s a completely new character?”

So, we keep an eye on that for each other. That’s kind of the fun part, really.

Okay. As I said, we’ve all seen the trailer, which says this three-parter will have ramifications throughout the rest of the season. What can you tease about how people’s favorite characters might be affected for the rest of the season without giving anything?

I think there’s a bunch of stuff just individually.

Again, Herrmann comes to mind because he’s at this point of decision-making point about leadership and moving up the ladder as opposed to staying where he is.

And is he the kind of leader who can do what Pascal and Boden have done in the past, which is just to see the big picture and stand back? Or is he the guy who wants to run in, a boots-on-the-ground firefighter?

What’s his leadership style, and how does he handle this crisis? And then you have something like the Severide-Kidd relationship where they’re talking about having a family going forward, and now they’re ripped apart. And how does that make them see that?

You know, what if you don’t get that the next day with the person? What if you don’t get to say that thing again? So that turns up the heat on all these relationships.

Burgess and Ruzek, I’m sure, too, and Mouch and Trudy. Mouch has been consumed with his rise and taking tests and maybe hasn’t been as attentive as he should be. How does this point up the importance of the person who’s number one to you in your life? How are you with them?

Well, that’s the end of our time. But I do want to say that I’m really enjoying Dom Pascal. I think he’s a great character.

And I was kind of freaking out a little bit that Herrmann might step up and wants to be Chief because I’m not ready to let him go yet.

That’s the whole thing. They can’t both be in that seat at the end of the season. So that’s the fun — kind of two trains running. Do they crash, or do they keep running side by side? How does this work out?

Thank you for saying that. We love Dom Pascal and Dermot.

The One Chicago crossover airs tonight beginning at 8/7, and we’ll have a full, combined review of “In the Trenches” at 11/10c when it all comes to an incredible conclusion!

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