When Chicago Fire season 14 resumes on April 1, there is a very real possibility that we could see several key members of the cast sidelined for the episode. In fact, it seems almost certain that this could be that one random episode in the season when we see a large majority of the cast sidelined for the episode.
Fans will recall, earlier this year in the sixth episode of the season, the writers sidelined half of the show’s ensemble in “Broken Things,” with Cruz, Mouch, Herrmann, Capp, and Tony all sidelined in the episode. It was a jarring episode, as it’s not common that the show sidelines so many characters within one single episode, and this left the show with just six main characters to feature in the episode.
Sadly, it’s becoming a growing trend for the shows to sideline a large number of characters in a single episode, and it’s looking like episode 16 might be another episode where most of the cast is not present.
NBC has begun to release the promotional materials for the episode, and it’s quite alarming that between the episode photos, the promo for the episode, and the synopsis information, only a few characters are seen or mentioned directly.
The promo for the episode literally only features two key characters, with Severide and Cruz being the only characters featured within the promo, and they’re also the only two characters mentioned by name in the episode synopsis. Interestingly, Severide and Cruz are also at the heart of nearly every photo from the episode, with the only two other characters featured being Capp and Tony. This seems to suggest that episode 16, “Firehouse 66,” will be putting a focus on Squad, and this could mean we’re going to see several key members of the ensemble sidelined.
Within the promotional materials for the episode there is no sign of Kidd, Vasquez, Herrmann, Mouch, Violet, or Novak, which seems to suggest that we might not see at least a few of these characters in the episode. After all, it seems suspicious that there is not a single appearance from them in the photos, promo, or synopsis information.
Should these six characters all be sidelined, that will mark a new record for the show, and sidelining six series regulars in an episode would be a very bold choice. It would also be interesting to see how the show would explain away such a large number of characters being absent in the episode. This is, of course, contingent upon the show actually writing these six characters out for the episode.
There is a chance that a few could appear in episode 16, as there are always some occasions when a character is simply not featured in the promotional materials. However, fans might want to begin preparing themselves for the very real possibility that we’re going to put a primary focus on Squad 3 in the next episode of Chicago Fire at the cost of the rest of the cast.