It seems Chicago Fire fans have quite a lot to look forward to in the final episodes of season 13!
After waiting what has felt like an eternity, Chicago Fire season 13 episode 18, will finally welcome back Eamonn Walker as Deputy Commissioner Wallace Boden, marking his first appearance on the show since the season 12 finale. Surprisingly, it seems Boden isn’t the only character set to return as season 13 winds down, as Chicago Fire’s showrunner has confirmed another beloved character will also be making a return to the show before season 13 draws to an official close this May.
Following a brief stint away from the show, it’s finally been confirmed that Jake Lockett will be coming back before the season closes out! Fans have been anxiously awaiting news on Lockett’s status with the show following his exit at the end of the show’s fourteenth episode, “Bar Time.” In the episode, Carver left 51 to check into rehab following a relapse that served as a wake-up call that it was time to commit to getting help and making a change to his lifestyle.
While fans initially thought the storyline would lead to Carver missing an episode or two, it’s since turned into an unexpectedly long hiatus for the character who has not appeared on the show since Feb. 26. This has led to some understandable concern among fans as to whether Carver would be coming back or if the storyline was introduced as a soft exit storyline for Lockett. Fortunately, that is not the case, as Carver will be back before the season concludes, and it seems the writers have some tricks up their sleeve for when he does return.
“Carver will be back in the next few episodes,” showrunner Andrea Newman revealed to TVLine, adding, “but he’s coming back with a surprise.”
And let the panic begin again as to what this surprise might end up being.
The last time Carver left town, he returned with a new love interest who quickly made waves and caused more than a little drama before she left town. Surely, the writers won’t be repeating the same storyline, but we do have to wonder what this next surprise might be, given how the last surprise Carver returned with wasn’t exactly a pleasant surprise.
There is reason to be concerned the surprise could be that Carver is going to leave 51, but would the writers really bring him back only to write him out of the show again? We don’t think so, especially with how much the show has been focusing on his relationship with Violet, who has been working through her feelings for Carver while he’s been away, even penning a long letter to him to help her work through her feelings.
This has us wondering, could the surprise Carver returns with be that he’s ready to confess his own feelings back to Violet and extend an olive branch to try to repair their relationship? Or could the surprise be that he’s taken some sort of vow of celibacy in working on his sobriety, which would of course, complicate a possible reconciliation with Violet?
We’ll have to stay tuned to find out what the writers have up their sleeves, but at least we can rest assured that Carver will be coming back before the end of Chicago Fire season 13!