After what has felt like the longest few weeks ever, Taylor Kinney is finally back in action this week on Chicago Fire, and it seems fans are in store for a Severide-heavy episode!
Episode 19, “Exit Point,” sees Severide returning to 51 after missing the last two episodes while partaking in captain’s training. Upon his return, Severide is going to have a lot on his plate, as the promo for this week’s episode makes it clear he and Hopkins are about to go to battle.
“You put me under review?” Severide questions at the top of the promo as he walks past Lucy into Hopkins’ office at 51 to confront him about filing the internal affairs report. Severide is understandably both surprised by Hopkins’ actions and furious as he makes it clear that he will fight this.
We hear Hopkins telling someone, “Nobody is above the CFD, not even Severide,” over a series of shows from the fire at the heart of this week’s episode, including multiple glimpses of Severide on the scene. There is a moment in which we see Lucy asking Kidd how they’re going to punish Severide for helping before ending with a moment in which Kidd remarks, presumably to Severide, about how “This is retaliation.”
Kidd’s remark seems to be connected to the Severide storyline, which we know is indeed Hopkins’ way of seeking revenge against Severide for the sins of his father, but there’s always the chance it could be about this week’s central fire.
Not only will Seveide be going to bat against Hopkins after he files the formal complaint against him that puts him under review with IA, but he’ll also be spearheading an investigation into the fire 51 responds to early in the episode at an abandoned store inhabited by squatters.
There are multiple photos from episode 19 that show various members of 51 on the scene responding to the fire, including shots of Herrmann, Cruz, Hopkins, and Severide. Among the shots from the scene of the fire is one in which Severide is seen kneeling down on the ground in what appears to be the parking lot outside the store, trying to catch his breath in the smoke-filled air around him.
We also get a photo of a moment from the promo in which Severide is seen back at Firehouse 51 holding an unidentified object that seems to be connected to the store fire, a puzzled look on his face. If Severide is investigating the fire, there is clearly something about the scene that didn’t sit well with him, leading him to take a further look into the origins of the fire.
It seems he might enlist the help of Squad 3 for this investigation, as we have a shot from the episode that finds Cruz, Capp, Tony, and Holt working on what first appeared to be a drill, which might actually be a recreation of the fire. We see multiple pallets spread across the floor of the firehouse, with a dummy appearing trapped underneath. This seems to suggest that perhaps a victim at the fire was trapped under pallets, and this moment may be the key to figuring out what happened.
Given that Severide’s arson investigation is what Hopkins used as ammunition for his IA report, it’s interesting that the episode will see Severide working a fire investigation case in the same episode that he learns that Hopkins has put him under review. With just three episodes left this season, it’s clear the Severide and Hopkins storyline will be coming to a head soon, and that begins in episode 19 which airs April 29 at 9/8c on NBC!
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