Another season has come and gone for the One Chicago franchise, and as always, the latest runs of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D. delivered no shortage of emotional highs and lows.
Among the lows of Chicago Fire season 14, Chicago Med season 11, and Chicago PD season 13 were a series of unexpected character deaths that once again reminded us no one is ever really safe in the One Chicago franchise. Whether they came as shocking twists or heartbreaking goodbyes, each loss left a lasting impact on the characters and viewers alike, with some proving more devastating than others.
Now, in no particular order, let’s take a look back at the four most heartbreaking deaths the latest seasons of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD served up.
James Frost
James Frost was not a great guy. Let’s just get that out there right now because to some it might feel strange to include the character on the list of heartbreaking deaths given all we knew about James and what he put his son, John, through. It’s not James who made this death heartbreaking, but his son.
The arrival of his parents opened a lot of old wounds for Frost, but he wanted to try to give them a second chance, especially knowing his dad’s health was not the best following his MS diagnosis. We’d come to learn, though, that James did not have MS but rather a tumor that was causing symptoms that mirrored MS. Upon learning the truth, Frost helped get his father in a clinical trial, but the treatment was ineffective.
As if learning that the trial was not working was not bad enough, Frost would also come to learn that his dad knew about his relationship with Ainsley and never stepped in to protect him from the inappropriate relationship. This discovery shook Frost even harder and intensified our dislike for the character.
Sadly, Frost did not have much time to process this revelation before his father’s health took a turn for the worse. In the end, Frost forgave his father and was there by his side when he took his final breaths.
Bob Ruzek
It was truly not a good season for father-and-son duos this year in the One Chicago universe. Back in season 12, it was revealed that Ruzek’s dad, Bob, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and we knew that the character’s time officially had an expiration date put on it. While we didn’t know when exactly Bob’s passing might come, this diagnosis made it clear that the character’s death would eventually come to fruition sometime in the future.
Even though we knew that Bob was ill, that did not prepare us for Bob’s quick decline in season 13.
Early in the season, it was established that Bob’s health had taken a turn for the worse and that his doctors had warned Ruzek that he likely had months to live. Knowing this, we anticipated that Bob’s death would come sometime in the final episodes of Chicago PD season 13, and that ended up being the case.
The Chicago PD team bid farewell to Bob in episode 19 in an episode that pulled at our heartstrings and was beautifully crafted. The episode saw Ruzek revisiting a cold case connected to a VHS tape he found in his father’s belongings. At one point in the case, Ruzek was attacked from behind and suffered temporary memory loss, which gave him a glimpse into what his father had been going through in the last several months following his diagnosis.
After cracking the case with help from his team, Ruzek ended the episode sitting at his father’s bedside and assuring him it was okay to let go as Bob passed away peacefully.
Bert Goodwin
It’s not often that two One Chicago shows feature character deaths with strong similarities, but we saw this happen with Chicago Med season 11 and Chicago PD season 13, with the two shows both featuring the death of a long-time character suffering from Alzheimer’s. The difference between the two shows’ approaches to the storyline was that Chicago Med took much more time with the storyline, showcasing the real impact the disease has not only on the individual suffering from it but also on the loved ones in their life.
While Bob Ruzek’s death came relatively quickly after we learned of his diagnosis, Chicago Med took its time through exploring the effects of Alzheimer’s. Bert was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s back in season 9, and we gradually saw the impact of the disease on his health and relationships as his memory began to slowly fail him.
By season 11’s arrival, it was clear that Bert’s health was getting much worse. The sixth episode of the season saw Bert lashing out at Goodwin in a way he never had during their years of marriage, which shook her to the core. Shortly after, Bert took a fall, and a CT scan showed he had a brain bleed. Due to his DNR, though, there was nothing the doctors could do other than make him comfortable.
A few episodes later in the season, Chicago Med said goodbye to Bert in an emotional episode that saw him pass away surrounded by his family with Goodwin and their three kids.
Macy Vasquez
We end our list with the most shocking death that the One Chicago shows served up this season. That death being the tragic passing of Macy Vasquez during the 2026 One Chicago crossover event.
During the One Chicago crossover, Macy’s unit responded alongside 51 when a 911 call came through about a passenger plane that had gone missing and was heading for Chicago. The units were called to the scene anticipating the plane would crash upon impact, but to everyone’s surprise, it landed safely on the airfield.
When the firefighters breached the plane, though, they found that all of the passengers had died, and we’d later come to learn their deaths were caused by a chemical attack. At first, it seemed the toxin’s impact was limited to those on the plane until the firefighters who breached the plane began to exhibit signs of exposure as well, including Macy.
Macy and the others exposed to the toxin were taken to Med for treatment, but Macy sadly succumbed to the toxin and died before the antidote could be given.
While Macy was not a core part of the show’s ensemble, she had a longstanding history on the show and was the first-ever Girls on Fire graduate. Her death was heartbreaking to watch unfold, especially knowing she died without getting the chance to say a proper goodbye to her mom due to the sudden nature with which the toxin killed her.
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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