Chicago Fire season 8 recap: Catch up before season 9 premieres!

Here’s what happened in Chicago Fire season 8.

Chicago Fire returns to NBC next Wednesday, and it’s been a long time since we saw the show, so One Chicago Center is providing a quick refresher on what happened last season.

These are the important things that happened during Chicago Fire season 8, and/or the moments that are likely to have an impact on what audiences are going to see in the future.

If you want to go back and rewatch full episodes before the next season starts, you can watch full episodes on IMdB TV for free (with ads).

Keep reading for the rundown on Chicago Fire, and then tune in for the new season premiere on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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Otis died

The biggest news of the season came at the beginning, when Chicago Fire revealed that Otis (Yuri Sardarov) had died in the fire that started at the end of season 7. It was the latest death in the line of duty for the show, and here’s why it happened.

Otis’s death had effects throughout the rest of the season. Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) dealt with losing his best friend, and almost lost his girlfriend Chloe (recurring guest star Kristen Gutoskie) because Otis’s death made her hesitant about Cruz also possibly dying. She broke up with him, but the two eventually made up, got engaged, and were married toward the end of the season.

The situation also left Molly’s in a tough position. Otis’s girlfriend Lily (returning guest star Ariane Rinehart) closed Molly’s North but reappeared once as she pursued a new business venture. And Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg) brought on Mouch and Trudy (Christian Stolte and Amy Morton) as new partners to fill the void.

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Everything’s coming up Stella

Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) became Firehouse 51’s favorite last season. Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker) decided that he saw tons of untapped potential in Stella. He signed her up for a leadership conference, even though she wasn’t technically qualified (it turned out that it was for officers, and she’s not an officer).

After Stella did better than most of the officers at the conference, Boden also got her a job as an instructor at the fire academy. Trying to work two jobs, Stella exhausted herself and wound up in a car accident, after which she and Boden agreed that she needed to do less. But Stella instead just moved on to a new project—running a female-oriented youth mentoring program called Girls on Fire.

Foster is leaving (left?)

Emily Foster (Annie Ilonzeh) headed out of Firehouse 51 in Chicago Fire season 8. After turning down an offer to re-enter medical school during season 7, Foster had a pretty sharp change of opinion last season and ultimately decided to interview with Northwestern University in hopes of resuming her prior career.

In reality, actress Annie Ilonzeh was not asked back for the upcoming season, and her place on the series has been filled by Adriyan Rae, whose character Gianna Mackey will be introduced during the season 9 premiere.

The only question is if Ilonzeh will return for a goodbye scene or if we’ll get some reference to confirm that Foster was accepted into medical school—so far, it looks like we’ve seen the last of the character.

For the latest Chicago Fire season 9 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.