The three current series within the “One Chicago” universe have a lot in common. Other than the obvious being their location, the shows occasionally feature the same characters and storylines. A more minor fact that fans of the shows might not realize is that their episode titles have fun quirks regarding how they’re named. “Chicago Med” episode titles are all about the season they’re in. For example, every Season 1 episode title only has one word in it, Season 2 title’s have two words, and so on.

As far as “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.” episode titles, they share the same way of being named, and it does not follow the same pattern of “Chicago Med.” Some fans of the series may not even have recognized it until now, but once you know the way these titles are chosen, it’s something you’ll pay a lot more attention to and look out for during new episodes and re-watches.

Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. share the same episode naming technique

The fun little title detail you might have missed as a “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.” fan is that each is pulled from a line of dialogue within its specific episode. Episode titles range from one word to a phrase to numbers, but a character speaks them all at some point in the story. For instance, in Season 3, Episode 5 of “Chicago Fire” (“The Nuclear Option”), the title is spoken by Mouch (Christian Stolte) while conversing with Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) over the repair of Molly’s van. “I think we have to go with the nuclear option,” Mouch says, referring to asking Cap (Randy Flagler) to fix their vehicle.

An example over on “Chicago P.D.” can be found in Season 9, Episode 3 (“The One Next to Me”) when the title is spoken by Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) and others in a support group as they recite a veteran poem. “Not for kings, not for glory, but for the one next to me,” they say in unison.

The only two instances across both shows of the title not being spoken in the episodes are in the pilots. As with many a new series, the first episode of “Chicago Fire” is titled “Pilot,” but there is no mention of the word in the script. In the first “Chicago P.D.” episode, “Stepping Stone,” you won’t find the words spoken either.

Check out the episode titles ahead of time and see if you can catch when it’s spoken on your next “One Chicago” viewing.