Chicago Fire really dropped a bomb on viewers with its season 13 winter premiere. The episode largely revolved around Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) and the messy situation he was pulled into with ex convict Junior Polanco (Richard Cabral).
The episode took an absolutely devastating turn in its final moments, as Joe Cruz was pulled into a shootout involving Junior and another ex con. The firefighter was shot in the arm, and while he was able to escape with his life, he was not in good shape. He broke down in tears, and the episode closed out. And we mean closed out. Chicago Fire did not even air a promo teasing the resolution of Cruz's story next week.
Networks have been influenced by the L.A. fires
This is highly irregular. For one, One Chicago has just returned from its winter hiatus, so we know that new episodes will be airing in consecutive weeks. For another, Chicago Med had a promo for its next episode right before Chicago Fire premiered. What gives? Well, NBC did not give a specific answer for its decision to withhold a promo, but there is context that may prove helpful.
There are currently wildfires causing devastating damage to Los Angeles. Over 100,000 were forced to evacuate their homes in the wake of these fires, and as such, networks with firefighting dramas are being extra cautious about their content.
CBS, for example, decided to postpone the release of a Fire Country rerun on Friday, January 10. The network pulled the episode and replaced it with an episode of NCIS: Sydney, according to Deadline. It makes sense that the network would not want to hit too close to home for Los Angeles based fans. Especially since there does not appear to be an end to the wildfires in sight.
Chicago Fire will return on Wednesday, January 15
NBC was put in an even trickier spot heading into Wednesday night. Instead of a rerun, the network was releasing the midseason premiere of Chicago Fire, which is one of their most popular shows. It would have been a very last minute decision to pull Fire from the Wednesday night lineup, especially since its packaged with Chicago Med and Chicago PD.
It's possible that NBC decided to pull the promo for next week's episode out of respect for what's currently happening in Los Angeles. Now is not really the time to drum up excitement for a plot that will almost certainly involve a deadly fire. As of right now, however, Chicago Fire will be airing a new episode on Wednesday, January 15.