One Chicago has a pretty good track record when it comes to shocking character deaths. The franchise knows how to get fans invested in the characters who navigate the medical, criminal, and fire-based cases that occur throughout the city, but it also makes sure to remind us that what they do is dangerous, and can lead to death at any given moment.
One Chicago does not have any magical, MCU-level means of resurrecting the characters who have died on the job. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. That being said, there have been a few instances in which characters who are dead manage to return to the show in a cameo capacity. It just happened in the season 11 finale of Chicago PD.
As such, we thought it would be a good time to recap the less than handful of times that it’s occurred.
Andy Darden returned in “Always” (Chicago Fire)
Andy Darden (Chris Sorenson) has an outsized impact on Chicago Fire for only being in two episodes. The close friend of Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) died tragically in the pilot, setting the tone for the show’s high stakes. Nobody expected to see him again, and yet, he appeared in the flashbacks for the season 3 premiere, “Always.”
The character was shown interacting with the Firehouse 51 characters we know and love, and it gave fans a better understanding of why he meant so much to Casey (and why Casey eventually decided to become the guardian for Darden’s sons).
Leslie Shay returned in “Always” (Chicago Fire)
Darden wasn’t the only one who returned in the season 3 premiere. Leslie Shay (Lauren German) also appeared in the episode, which was absolutely shocking to Chicago Fire fans given that she had just tied in the previous finale. The character’s death was still being processed by the rest of 51 in the present day, so it meant a lot to be able to see the character during her early days on the job.
There’s been little mention of Shay in the years since, but her cameo via flashback helped to put a bow on her storyline. It seemed like the last time the franchise would pull such a move, but a decade later, Chicago PD decided to get in on the flashback game (well, sort of).
Alvin Olinsky returned in “More” (Chicago PD)
Chicago Fire opted for flashbacks when it brought back some of its deceased characters, but PD went for a more abstract approach. In the season 11 finale, “More,” Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) is bloodied and delirious after being kidnapped. While awaiting his death, he has a vision of his late friend, Alvin Olinksy (Elias Koteas).
Olinsky was killed in season 5, and he tries to offer some words of comfort to Voight as he makes sense of his surroundings. It’s a brief exchange, but it was so unexpected that it was difficult to watch without getting emotional. In a finale where Voight almost died and Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) left, the Olinksy cameo still managed to steal the show.
