One Chicago fans might not have to wait as long as they expected for the next seasons of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD to arrive!
On June 18, NBC announced the premiere date for The Traitors: New Blood, the all-civilian version of Peacock’s Emmy-winning series. The first season will debut with a special extended 2-hour premiere on Thursday, September 17, before settling into its normal time slot the following week under its 1-hour format in the leading hour of NBC’s Thursday night primetime block.
In announcing the premiere plans for The Traitors: New Blood season 1, NBC seems to have clued fans in on when it will be kicking off its new fall season.
We know that The Traitors: New Blood will open with a special premiere event before it begins airing at 8 p.m. as the new lead-in to Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order. This seems to suggest that the two shows will kick off their new seasons that same night, which suggests it will be the week of September 21 that NBC kicks off its 2026-27 fall season.
Assuming this is indeed the case, that would suggest that Chicago Med season 12, Chicago Fire season 15, and Chicago PD season 14 will begin their seasons on Wednesday, September 23. Should that be the case, this would mean the new seasons of the One Chicago shows will return much earlier than we initially expected.
Last season, NBC did not kick off its fall season until the final week of September, which happened to dovetail into the start of October with Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD beginning their seasons on Wednesday, October 1, 2025. For this reason, we anticipated that the new seasons of the One Chicago shows would arrive on Wednesday, September 30, or possibly even Wednesday, October 1, considering that most of NBC’s fall series technically began their seasons at the top of October given the timing.
Thankfully, though, it seems NBC might be looking to kick off its fall season a bit earlier this year. This is news that will surely excite the fans in knowing new episodes of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD could be arriving before the final week of September or the start of October.
Now, it is important to note we’ll have to wait for official word from NBC to know for certain when Chicago Med season 12, Chicago Fire season 15, and Chicago PD season 14 will begin. It’s unclear when that official confirmation might arrive, but The Traitors: New Blood premiere plans seem to have given fans an early indication for when to expect new seasons to begin!
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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