Chicago Fire season 7 character review: Otis

How was Chicago Fire season 7 for Otis? We’re looking back at how Chicago Fire’s latest season went for Yuri Sardarov’s character.

As we continue to look back on Chicago Fire season 7, we’re breaking down the season for each of the show’s characters.

Did your favorite character have a good season or a bad season? What were their strong points and were there any weaknesses? Was the character affected by the show’s writing, or vice versa? Where could they go from here?

Check out our detailed character breakdown, and let us know your thoughts on how this season was for each character in the comments.

In this article, we’re profiling Brian “Otis” Zvonecek (Yuri Sardarov).

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What happened

After having a busy season last year, with a new love interest and a possibly career-ending injury, Otis was returned to being a supporting character in Chicago Fire season 7.

He had two key story points: being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress in the first One Chicago crossover (which was never really mentioned after that), and confronting a fake firefighter who’d come to Firehouse 51 toward the end of the season.

There was one cute moment when Katie Nolan (Brittany Curran) returned, and Otis got to see her again, but generally it was a slow season for him. Which may have been welcome, considering how much difficulty last season put him through!

At least Otis and Lily (Ariane Rinehart) are still together and still seem like a very happy couple. Good for them, because they’re adorable!

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What it means

With a pretty quiet season, there’s nothing that immediately stands out for Otis. If there’s any big talking point, it’s that whole scene from the crossover, where Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) says he has post-traumatic stress, after Otis finds a mother and child burned to death in an elevator.

That’s clearly traumatic, but Chicago Fire didn’t address it past that episode. Or really at all, since Otis insisted he was fine. That’s the kind of thing the show should have dug into, as it would have been great character development. More importantly, PTSD is an incredibly sensitive issue, and it deserved more than just being quickly brought up and dropped again.

Otis is never going to have the level of screen time that characters like Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) do; that’s not his function. But what aspects of him can still be explored?

Our prognosis

Obviously, most of what happens for Otis next season is going to be comic relief. That’s what he’s primarily used for and what Yuri Sardarov is really good at. But how much room will there be next season to keep fleshing out his character, and in what directions?

The show’s given Otis a new love interest, so that one’s been done, unless they move the Lily and Otis storyline ahead super-fast and get them married. They’ve already given him a serious injury (to be fair, most characters on this show have been in the hospital at some point). So what else is out there that would challenge and stretch his character?

It’s hard to even guess. The show could give him some kind of mission or undercover op to finish, but Otis’s BFF Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) just did that. He could take on some kind of new responsibility at the firehouse, but what would that be that somebody isn’t already doing? So it’s not an easy question to answer, but hopefully the writers will figure it out.

For the latest Chicago Fire season 7 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.