One Chicago fans are going to have to adjust their budgets, as it’s about to get a bit more expensive to have access to Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD’s past and present seasons.
Beginning today, based on billing dates, Peacock is raising the prices on its various subscription tiers, which will mean One Chicago fans who depend on the service to enjoy past seasons of the franchise’s various shows and to keep up with the new episodes will be paying more to watch Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD. Thankfully, the price hikes won’t be too high, but that doesn’t make the news any more welcome.
The smallest price change comes with the Peacock Select tier, which will increase by $1, rising from $7.99 monthly to $8.99 per month. The ad-supported Peacock Premium tier will rise to $12.99 per month, increasing $2 monthly from its $10.99 rate. Finally, we have the ad-free Peacock Premium Plus tier, which will see the biggest price increase of the batch, rising $3 from $16.99 to $19.99 a month.
And it’s not just the monthly plans that will see price increases. One Chicago fans looking to purchase the annual plans will see some notable upticks in the prices for the various plans, with the Peacock Select annual subscription rising from $79.99 a year to $89.99, the Peacock Premium annual subscription increasing from $109.99 a year to $129.99, and the Peacock Premium Plus annual subscription increasing to $199.99 a year, which is up $30 from the plan’s original cost of $169.99.
“These price changes allow Peacock to continue to create the best experience for its viewers, remain competitive in the marketplace, and deliver unique content across all genres. Current annual subscribers, or any users on active promotional offers, will continue at their current prices until those plans or offers expire. Subscriptions will then renew at the new price,” Peacock noted of the price changes.
The timing is certainly unfortunate for One Chicago fans as the price increase comes just ahead of the season premieres of Chicago Fire season 15, Chicago Med season 12, and Chicago PD season 14. This definitely makes sense from a branding perspective; after all, it would be easy to cancel or pause plans if this change went into place at the top of the summer rather than right before the shows’ returns.
It's never fun to see the price of a streaming service increase, no matter how large the price increase is. Thankfully, the Peacock plan changes are on the modest side compared to other streamers, and Peacock is still one of the more affordable platforms in compared to competitors.
Peacock is definitely worth the price for One Chicago fans, as the streaming service is the only place fans can find every single season of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD, as well as the franchise’s one-and-done sister series, Chicago Justice. That’s 796 episodes and counting of the four shows! It's also the only place where fans can find new episodes of all three shows in season, as Peacock adds the latest episodes of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD every Thursday following their broadcast debuts.
Chicago Med showrunner hints we've seen the last of one of the show's most disliked characters
The final episodes of Chicago Med season 11 took an unexpectedly darker turn for Dr. John Frost as the season revisited his traumatic experiences growing up as a child actor and his rocky relationship with his parents, who failed to protect him. It all began when Frost’s parents, James and Celeste, showed up in town hoping to reconnect with their understandably estranged son.
Frost would eventually agree to meet with his parents, and he came to learn that his father’s health was in decline due to his MS diagnosis. As the season progressed, Frost would come to learn that his father was not suffering from MS, but rather he had a tumor on his spine which was causing MS-like symptoms. He’d also come to learn that his dad knew about the tumor but didn’t explore treatment out of fear.
By the time Frost found out the truth, his father was no longer eligible for a medical trial which could provide treatment designed to shrink the tumor. Despite their fractured relationship, Frost didn’t want to give up on his dad and agreed to sign on for a Nick of Time reboot series in order to make the money needed to pay for his father’s expensive treatment.
It was clear from the start that Frost did not want to return to acting, but it was a means to an end to make the money needed for his father’s treatment. He was all set to proceed with the project until the reboot’s producer surprised him at lunch with the news that Ainsley, the woman who played his mom on the show and took advantage of Frost as a teen, had been added to the cast.
Upon learning the news, Frost chose to walk away from the reboot which was when he’d come to find out that his father knew about his relationship with Ainsley and never stepped in to protect him. Instead, he turned a blind eye. This led to another fallout between Frost and his father, one that was short-lived as Frost would learn in the penultimate episode of the season that his dad’s treatments were not working and he’d been moved to hospice care.
The season finale saw Frost make peace with his father as he stayed with him through his final hours and remained at his side until his father passed as the finale came to a close.
Jessalyn Gilsig not expected to return for Chicago Med season 12
Needless to say, the back half of the season was particularly trying for Frost in many ways, but it was one that allowed the show to close the book on the past as the show focuses on how Frost will move forward. With the closing of this book, Chicago Med showrunner Allen MacDonald seemed to indicate that we’ve seen the last of a character that quickly became one of the show’s most disliked characters: Ainsley.
While you can truly never say never in the world of television, MacDonald appears to have all but confirmed we’ve seen the last of Ainsley on Chicago Med. In speaking with Parade following the finale, MacDonald noted that while they’ll always make reference to Frost’s past and to Nick of Time and Ainsley, specifically, they’ve closed the book on that—seeming to hint that while Ainsley might come up in conversation, she won’t be popping back up on the show directly.
“There’s a weight lifted off his shoulders. I think the past has always been something he’s run away from, that he thought he didn’t need to deal with it but it was actually weighing him down more because he wasn’t. We’ve spent the last two seasons with him slowly confronting the past and growing from the processing of it, and now I believe next season he’s going to move on,” MacDonald revealed. “There will be other challenges next season for Dr. John Frost, but as far as the past and Nick of Time and Ainsley, those are things we’ll always make reference to, but I feel like we’re closing the book on that, on the past, and now he’s going to move forward.”
As much as we love Jessalyn Gilsig, who was phenomenal in the role of Ainsley, it does make sense for her appearance in season 11, episode 19, “Exit Strategies," to serve as her final episode on the show.
Frost will surely continue to unpack the events of his past in the new season as he works on his relationship with his mom following his father’s death, but we don’t need to see Ainsley back again as it’s time the show began to allow Frost to reclaim his future and move forward. Thankfully, that seems to be the plan, and we’re certainly eager to see what season 12 will bring for Frost as he begins this new chapter in his story!
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