Heading into Chicago Fire season 14, episode 14, “Hit and Run,” we expected there to be fallout from the One Chicago crossover event, as the men and women of Firehouse 51 were heavily impacted by the events of the crossover.
Cruz, Novak, and Capp all had near-death experiences; Severide endured one of his most horrific calls in his entire career; Macy’s death hit close to home for Kidd; and Chief Pascal ended up in jail after disobeying a direct order from the FBI supervisor overseeing the investigation at the heart of the crossover. Of the three One Chicago shows, there is no denying that the Chicago Fire characters were most heavily impacted by the events of the crossover, and fallout was to be expected and did come… at least for a few characters.
In an unexpected twist, episode 14 was without three series regular characters, with Hanako Greensmith, Jocelyn Hudon, and Brandon Larracuente all unexpectedly sidelined in the episode.
Severide briefly explained what happened to Violet, Novak, and Vasquez in Chicago Fire season 14 episode 14
Early in the episode, after welcoming Mouch back to Firehouse 51, Severide and Mouch strike up a conversation as Severide asks if Mouch has gotten the chance to take a look at the roster. Mouch replies that he has and notes they’re running a three-man crew on Engine, which prompts Severide to note it’s the same for Truck this week as Clarence and Vasquez are both out. He then adds that Ambo is doing a joint duty training session at the academy.
The conversation is then cut short as a call comes through, and Truck, Engine, and Squad head out to respond. That’s the only update provided on the trio, and they don’t come up at all in the remainder of the episode, which was definitely quite unexpected, and the timing could not have been worse.
The trio’s absence was clearly a result of the ongoing cost-cutting efforts which result in series regulars missing a few episodes throughout the season, but this could not have been a worse episode to write the trio out.
First and foremost, it feels wrong to have three key characters absent on the day that Chief Pascal’s career with the CFD comes to an end. While Vasquez missing the episode makes sense given he’s new to the firehouse and hasn’t had quite as many strong interactions with Pascal, it felt very strange for Violet and Novak to both be absent, as the duo have formed strong bonds with Pascal since his arrival.
Novak was one of the first characters at 51 to embrace Pascal upon his arrival, and there was even a little flirtation early on that turned heads. Nothing would come of it, but the pair formed a strong bond, and it was Pascal who helped to save Novak’s life by putting his career on the line to disobey the FBI order, which led to the discovery of evidence that broke the case.
Pascal was also a strong supporter of Violet and even helped to save her job by calling in a favor from a Chicago alderman from their district to speak on Violet’s behalf when her medical license was on the line after Violet performed a risky procedure in the field to save the life of an unborn child. He also was a strong supporter of Violet’s firefighter paramedic floater program, which recently launched and has made a major impact in the CFD.
For Novak and Violet to both miss Pascal’s sendoff was a disservice to the fans, as it would have been amazing to see some final scenes between the trio, and we know Violet and Novak would have been just as riled up about Pascal’s firing. We’re sure they’ll address his firing when they return in episode 15, but it’s a shame we didn’t get to see Violet and Novak say goodbye on-screen.
Taking the Pascal of it all of the equation, it was also disappointing not to see some of the immediate fallout from Novak’s near-death experience in the immediate aftermath of the crossover. We’re certain it will have ramifications and play info her story arc as the season continues, but we were hoping for some immediate reactions after Novak went through so much. It almost would have been better if they explained that Novak was taking some personal time, as at least that would have felt more natural in that we’d have understood her taking some days off after all she went through.
The good news is that Violet, Novak, and Vasquez will all return in episode 15, airing on March 18. We just wish they had also appeared in episode 14 and weren’t sidelined in such a big episode for Chicago Fire.