As Chicago Fire season 14, episode 17, came to an end, Chief Hopkins followed through on his threat to use his power to push Severide out of the CFD by handing Lucy a report marked for internal affairs. As Lucy pulled the form inside out, it was teased that Hopkins was reporting Severide to internal affairs for dereliction of duty, a choice that left many fans puzzled.
It became apparent that Hopkins was likely going to use Severide’s frequent work with OFI somehow in the report. The question was exactly how Hopkins would try to frame Severide’s arson investigation work against him.
While neither Hopkins nor Severide appeared in Chicago Fire’s most recent episode, which put the focus on Violet and Novak, the episode quietly provided fans with answers as to Hopkins’ reason for reporting Severide to Internal Affairs.
Early in the episode, Vasquez comes to greet Lucy to turn in his time sheet as she sits at her desk, clearly dragging her feet on following through with Hopkins’ request to drop off the internal affairs report. After Vasquez leaves, Lucy picks the report up off her desk and puts it back into the envelope Hopkins had presented it to her in. As Lucy slips the report into the envelope, the camera pans onto the complaint form just long enough for us to get a clear view of the report in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment.
The moment unfolds in literal seconds, which is how many fans managed to miss the update that was right under their noses. However, One Chicago Center has transcribed Hopkins’ statements from the report, which make it clear that he is reporting Severide for reckless behavior connected to an arson case he worked earlier this season.
"Lieutenant Severide operated outside his official capacity as lieutenant of Squad 3 by acting as an unofficial consultant of the Office of Fire Investigation in a case in which he had a direct personal investment,” Hopkins wrote. “In doing so, Severide engaged in dangerous and reckless behavior not covered by his role as a member of the Chicago Fire Department, opening the department up to liability. This is far from the first instance of Lieutenant Severide abandoning his post to work in conjunction with the OFI. Each time he does so, he endangers the lives of his fellow firefighters. This pattern is a clear example of dereliction of duty.”
As we suspected, it seems that Hopkins is building his case against Severide in reframing the work he’s done with OFI as Severide overstepping and neglecting his core responsibilities, which is where the charge of dereliction of duty comes in. Hopkins’ argument is that Severide is essentially abandoning his post and therefore endangering the lives of those who work under him.
Hopkins specifically seems to be focusing in on the role that Severide took in working the arson investigation that landed Van Meter in the hospital, claiming that the work Severide did on the case was in an unofficial consultant capacity. It seems that Hopkins is going to try to spin Severide’s actions in working the case and trying to bring down the party responsible for the fire to justice as being dangerous and reckless, alleging that he colored outside the lines during the case.
Now that Hopkins has set his sights on Severide and opened this internal affairs investigation, we imagine he’s going to do everything he can to paint Severide in a negative light. Thankfully, we know that Severide is not about to go down without a fight, and he’s got a lot of allies in his corner who we hope will show up to assist him in clearing his name.
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