Chicago Fire season 6: 3 moments we’d change

3. The arrival of Hope

Hope Jacquinot’s name proved to be a bit ironic, because the character did nothing but cause a lot of trouble when she arrived on Chicago Fire. Despite an excellent performance by recurring guest star Eloise Mumford, Hope took up far more screen time than she should and opened the season in an odd direction.

There was nothing wrong with Mumford’s performance, and even the idea of exploring Sylvie Brett’s (Kara Killmer) past through a childhood friend was great—our heroes can use more friends outside of Firehouse 51, and backstory is almost always useful. But where the show went off the tracks was making Hope the season’s first antagonist, having her sleep with Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and then plot against Severide’s existing love interest Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo).

That would’ve been a great plot for a Lifetime movie, but not so much for Chicago Fire. And it was a little more frustrating because that was the ongoing storyline for the first block of the season. It didn’t feel like something that deserved that much attention, especially to kick off a new season when the storylines could’ve gone literally anywhere.

Ultimately, this was a plot point that could’ve been scrapped entirely, or at least reinvented. It did not contribute anything meaningful to Chicago Fire season 6; Stellaride had plenty of bumps in the road well after Hope left, and we still didn’t learn that much about Brett. Why not just have Hope be a normal, supportive friend—perhaps who could’ve helped Brett sort out all the personal stuff she had to go through this season? She certainly needed the help later on.