Chicago Fire season 7 casts Lethal Weapon’s Kristen Gutoskie

Chicago Fire has added Lethal Weapon and Containment actress Kristen Gutoskie to its cast for a new recurring role in Chicago Fire season 7.

The recurring cast of Chicago Fire is continuing to grow as we get closer to the start of Chicago Fire season 7.

Kristen Gutoskie is joining the new season as a character named Chloe, who is an office worker according to a report from Deadline. Presumably, that means she’ll be working in some kind of office role at Firehouse 51.

Making matters more dramatic is that Chloe is described as “bright, enthusiastic” and “[having] her eye on one of the firefighters”—though the casting blurb didn’t say which one.

That sounds an awful lot like Hope Jacquinot, the recurring character played by Eloise Mumford last season, who became one of the questionable parts of season 6.

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Kristen Gutoskie has experience playing a love interest for a show’s main character. Her most recent role was recurring on FOX‘s Lethal Weapon as Molly Hendricks, the girlfriend of Martin Riggs (Clayne Crawford).

She was also a series regular on The CW‘s virus drama Containment, playing Katie Frank in that show’s one and only season.

The question is what role does Chicago Fire see Gutoskie as fulfilling in season 7?

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The immediate options sound like they could be either good or bad. Describing Chloe as an office worker invites the suggestion that she could be the show’s replacement for Connie, following DuShon Monique Brown’s passing.

But fans don’t necessarily need to see someone take over Connie’s job—both the character and DuShon were beloved by everyone in One Chicago, so it would almost be better just to say Connie continues to exist and is just always off-screen.

And what’s up with having Chloe involved with a firefighter? As evidenced by the Hope storyline, that doesn’t necessarily go well, and Chicago Fire would have to explain why we should care about her sleeping with one of the team.

Unless she helps Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) move on from sleeping with his ex-girlfriend, a romantic subplot with her doesn’t seem to add anything to the new season.

Plus, given how much many fans disliked the Hope plotline, having a character who has a similar description to Hope and her story automatically invites the audience to be skeptical of Chloe and her motivation right out of the gate. That’s not where you want to start off a character. But we’ll have to see where Chicago Fire takes Chloe when the new season begins Sept. 26.

Let us know your reaction to this casting news in the comments. For more Chicago Fire season 7 spoilers and news, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.