TV Heartbeat preview! Terrorists will unite the casts of Chicago Fire and Chicago PD for the big Crossover Event on 4/29! #OneChicago

This is the big one!

While we frequently see Chicago Fire and Chicago PD characters dropping by each other’s shows, this is the Crossover (with a capital C!) that they’ve been building toward all season. These two episodes (Chicago Fire on Tuesday and Chicago PD on Wednesday) will unite the full casts of both shows in a single, huge story — a terrorist will attack my beloved city. “We’re giving you horror, shock and awe,” producer John Roman told the Chicago Tribune. “You’re going to be angry and it’s going to make you want Voight to nail those (expletive).”

Tuesday’s Chicago Fire tells the first half of the story which begins on an ordinary day with Dawson and Casey helping at a charity event. When things go horribly wrong, the brave men and women of Firehouse 51 will be first on the scene to rescue and treat victims.

Here’s a sneak peak of how the team reacts when they learn one of their own is missing:

Voight’s intelligence unit will be on the scene to begin the investigation which continues into Wednesday’s episode of Chicago PD. Wednesday will continue the story on the survivors and show the “hunt” for the terrorists as Sophie Bush describes it:

There must have been an insane budget on this episode to fully do justice to a story of this scope! Roman also commented that “Sadly, people now know what a terrorist attack looks like and it’s our job to recreate that look so it resonates.”

One more day. Run, don't walk to your television set.

The crews of both shows pulled out all the stops including, as Roman describes it, “one of the biggest production days we’ll ever have on the show…It’s going to be humongous: Fireworks, smoke, air mortars, dust clouds and 250 extras.”

#OneChicago pic.twitter.com/fuEnISzNck

— Derek Haas (@derekhaas) April 28, 2014

And here’s where I give you a sort of peak at what it took to put these episodes together, because I was there! I was privileged enough to work on both episodes (including the huge day Roman described) as a nurse. I can’t give you spoilers since I have an oath. (“A nurse’s oath!” 10 points to whoever identifies where that quote comes from!) However, I can talk a bit about what it was like to work on these episodes (with an assist from creator/producer/writer Derek Haas’ twitter feed).

Playing with toys for a living. pic.twitter.com/gfDQcsEOMY

— Derek Haas (@derekhaas) February 13, 2014

As Taylor mentioned, the set was spectacular. When I first walked out to the fully dressed set, I think my heart stopped. I wasn’t the only one amazed. Throughout the day, crew members would rush up and take smiling selfies with this horrific backdrop. (Guess which is the selfie and which is a scene from the show!)

Five days. Excitement levels exploding. #OneChicago pic.twitter.com/SD6xGogy1R

— Derek Haas (@derekhaas) April 24, 2014

Hair, make-up, wardrobe and props all brought their A game! One minute I’d be chatting with a fellow normal-looking (if sleepy) extra and then, a half hour later, they looked gruesome. There were so many walking, dazed and injured victims in one take, I thought I was in Walking Dead and needed to start taking out some brains!

There was a cast of a thousand in these episodes and all cast and crew members are real troopers as we filmed these outdoor scenes during the last grip of the Polar Vortex. Winters in Chicago are pretty tough, but we had a new level of brutal this year — the Polar Vortex.

Lucky me, I was outside without a jacket, hat or gloves in 9 degree weather. More than one cast member (in full layers and bunker gear) looked at me, puzzled and commented that I didn’t look cold. Strangely, I didn’t feel it since my adrenaline was up and the crew really tried to keep us as comfortable as possible.

But that was just one day — the crews had several weeks outside! A normal episode takes about 8 days to film, but these episodes required a lot more. Chicago Fire had a lot of outside day scenes in the cold (the episode is called “A Dark Day”) while Chicago PD got night shoots (it’s named “8:30 PM”). Chicago PD had a lot of night shoots – including Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day.

The two words in a script that make everyone hate the writer: EXT. – NIGHT.

— Derek Haas (@derekhaas) February 14, 2014

And they were still adding scenes a few weeks ago! The whole team is really are taking care to make sure they get this right! Yep, this is going to be a wild ride of emotions! What more can I say about these episodes?

Oh, well maybe I can answer the questions I get most often:

Yes – Taylor Kinney (Lt. Severide on Chicago Fire) is really that hot in person.
Yes – That really is Jason Beghe’s voice (Voight on Chicago PD)
Yes – The cast members really do have fun together. You would never guess there was a terrorist threat going around in between takes since there’s so much camaraderie among the actors. It’s a real pleasure to work with them!

Tune in this Tuesday for Chicago Fire and then watch the conclusion on Wednesday with Chicago PD!

Comment below or email me at Erica@MikeTheFanboy.com
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