As Chicago Fire season 14 came to a close, the writers chose to leave the fates of nearly the entire ensemble up in the air via what has become one of the show’s most shocking season finales ever.
The finale opened with a flash forward three days into the future as the 51 team responded to a dangerous building fire. The finale then rolled back the clock to three days prior, and throughout the episode, we got glimpses of a call gone wrong with the finale inching us closer and closer to the scene that opened the episode. By the time the final minutes of the finale rolled around, we returned to the scene of the building fire that started it all.
As the episode came to a close, the fire was quickly getting out of control, and the team began to pull back but not before chaos ensued. As Kidd, Vasquez, Herrmann, and Ballard flee the roof before it collapses, they’re engulfed in a ball of fire while Severide, Cruz, Mouch, Capp, and Tony are trapped inside as the roof collapses upon them.
Since the finale, fans have been speculating about which character could be in the most danger of perishing in the fire. A new theory has begun to take shape that it’s Herrmann who will die in the fire, but we’re not buying that theory.
Chicago Fire theory suggests Herrmann is marked for death, but we’re not convinced
The theory, which originates from Collider, suggests that the finale was full of moments that foreshadowed Herrmann’s death and that the finale was a sendoff—or a thank you, if you will—to Herrmann.
There are many valid points made in the theory, such as how the show might be falling back on a retirony in having Herrmann mention how he considered retirement only for him to then die on the job or how Herrmann taking such a central role in the finale might be a hint that it was designed to be his final episode. These are valid and could indeed hint that Herrmann is in danger of dying in the season 15 premiere.
Look, if there is one thing that the Chicago Fire writers have proven over the years, it’s that they’re never predictable, and sometimes the character you feel is the safest ends up being the one who was in the most real danger. We know not to ever assume anyone in a cliffhanger situation such as the one introduced in the season 14 finale is safe. There is a chance that literally any of the firefighters responding to the call could be in danger, but the odds are that it’s someone who was inside the building when it collapsed that is the truest danger.
Unlike those in the building, we know that the group of Kidd, Vasquez, Herrmann, and Ballard were literally all in the same boat. The group was all in close proximity together on the ladder of the rig, trying to make their way back down to the ground when the ball of fire engulfed them. The scene did not look good, but we know that all four were in their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), gear that is designed to resist heat and flame in limited exposure.
We imagine that while the group on the ladder might have some varying injuries, they’ll all make it out alive and share a similar fate. After all, how would the show explain one individual in the group dying from the exposure and not the others? Also, Herrmann was not at the front or in the back of the group but in the middle with Vasquez, so it would seem if anyone in the group was in the most danger, it would be the person in front or back, which was Ballard and Kidd, respectively.
Chicago Fire fans should be most worried about Mouch, Cruz, Tony, and Capp
The characters fans should really be focusing the most on are those who were trapped inside the building when the roof collapsed. While they were all in the building when the roof collapsed, they’re in more unique positions given they were trying to make their way out of the building when the roof came down. This means that there is room for the show to put each character in their own unique situation when the season opens.
Some might have been in the clear, while others could become trapped or even impaled by falling debris around them. This is why we’re worried that if a character is going to die, it’ll be Cruz, Mouch, Capp, or Tony. Yes, I know Severide was also in the building, but we know Taylor Kinney has linked a deal to return for season 15, which reveals Severide isn’t in any danger.
Of the group of four, Cruz and Mouch seem to be in the most danger due to one particular show that was included in the final moments. In this shot we see glimpses of Cindy, Chloe, and Trudy, hinting that the show could be about to make one of the women a widow.
This brings us to the theory that it’s Mouch who is in danger. Mouch has flirted with retirement a lot in recent seasons, and we can’t shake the idea that the Brothers in Arms book storyline was introduced to foreshadow Mouch’s demise. While the publisher passed on publishing Mouch’s memoir and was more interested in his firefighter romance story, we could see that changing in the wake of his death with Brothers in Arms being a celebration of Mouch’s life and dedication to the CFD.
His death would also create major storyline repercussions for both Chicago Fire and Chicago PD, allowing PD to explore Trudy’s grief following the death of her husband and how the Intelligence Unit supports her following the loss.
Of course, we’d love to see the show fake us out and not kill off any character, but between Herrmann and Mouch, we’re certainly more worried about Mouch than Herrmann or anyone else.
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