Chicago Fire season 7 character review: Matthew Casey

What it means

The Chicago Fire writing staff deserves credit for exploring the effect that Dawson’s departure and the subsequent divorce had on Casey. Considering how important she was to him—and the show spending so much time on their relationship—it would have been a huge oversight if there hadn’t been some kind of fallout.

That being said, if you had some quibbles with how this was executed, there’s nothing wrong with that either. The idea to throw Casey into a relationship with Naomi, even if it wasn’t intended to be the next love of his life, was just awkward. It came across as fast given that fans were still in the process of letting go of Dawson and Dawsey, similar to how Chicago PD hooked Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) up with Camila not long after Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush) left.

And there just wasn’t chemistry between Casey and Naomi, who came off like she was throwing herself at him more often than not.

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Back at Firehouse 51, though, it was also a plus that the writers did put it out there that their habit of constantly putting Casey at risk would take a toll on his psyche. It seems like every season there is at least one story that puts him in life-threatening peril, but he always picks back up and carries on. It’s okay for him not to be okay.

In that sense, this season was important for Casey, even if it was tough on him. He had to let go of his marriage and also confront his mortality—he turned a page in a lot of respects. So what could happen next?