NBC’s One Chicago shows might not be coming back until the first week of October, but cameras will soon begin rolling on the new seasons of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD. All three series are expected to begin production in late July, with the cast and crews heading back to set to begin work on the new seasons coming our way this fall.
Before cameras roll on the next seasons of Chicago Fire and Chicago Med, the crews behind the scenes have reason to celebrate. Production assistants on both NBC dramas have officially ratified a union contract, marking a major step forward for the crews who help keep the long-running series running smoothly.
As first reported by Variety, Chicago Fire and Chicago Med are the latest scripted series to ratify union contracts as part of a broader unionization campaign for production assistants in the industry. This new deal will cover the 26 employees working as production assistants on Chicago Med as well as the 35 employees working as production assistants on Chicago Fire.
“I want to thank the company for being a collaborative partner throughout this process and for recognizing the importance of quality healthcare, fair wages, and strong workplace protections for our newest LIUNA members,” said Alex Aguilar, the business manager of Local 724, who will represent the Chicago Fire and Chicago Med teams via a statement released to Variety. “These agreements are a testament to what can be achieved when labor and management work together in good faith.”
This new contract will help to ensure the production assistants working on both shows will have access to the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans, provide higher minimum wages, and provide access to paid holidays, meal penalties, and sick leave.
Seeing Chicago Fire and Chicago Med ratify deals for their production assistants might not seem like a big deal to the causal fans, but it’s a major milestone for both shows and should be celebrated!
Production assistants are truly the unsung heroes of the industry and are the backbone of a TV set, working tirelessly to ensure the shows we all know and love make it to the screen. It’s hard to narrow down the list of tasks that production assistants are responsible for, as the list includes such a wide range of essential support tasks, including coordinating schedules, assisting various departments, helping with crowd control, taking care of errands, and making things run smoothly by ensuring the cast and crew have what they need throughout the filming. Basically, they’re the oil that keeps the machine running smoothly!
It’s unclear whether there are ongoing discussions for Chicago PD production assistants, but we certainly hope to see the last of the One Chicago shows join the growing list of shows to organize unions for production assistants, which includes the likes of Abbott Elementary and The Pitt, among others.
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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