Going into Chicago Fire season 15, we knew that certain characters’ time on the show would be limited.
It was confirmed over the summer break that Dermot Mulroney would exit the series in the season 15 premiere, making a final appearance as Dom Pascal before leaving the show. Joe Minoso was announced to be exiting early in the season, and we’d eventually come to learn his exit would come just five episodes into the season. And then there was the introduction of a new probie class at Firehouse 51, whose time always had an expiration date due to the nature of their arrival.
In the season 15 premiere, we learned that this class of firefighter candidates was on their final training rotation with Firehouse 51, serving as their last training house before they’d get their permanent assignments. While we never got an exact timeline for how long their time at 51 would last, we anticipated that this probationary period would keep the group around for a good portion of the season. Perhaps that’s why it was so surprising that just three episodes into the season, one candidate’s time at 51 seems to have already ended.
Warning: spoilers are ahead for Chicago Fire season 15, episode 3!
Matthew Daddario's time on Chicago Fire seems to be over (at least for now)
Heading into episode 3, it was clear that one of the candidates would make a costly mistake on the job that would land a fellow firefighter in the hospital. The question was what would the mistake be, who would end up in the hospital, which candidate would be responsible for the mistake, and what consequences would their mistake have?
The beginning of the episode answered many of these questions with Tony being injured on the job after one candidate disobeyed orders and turned a valve that redirected the gas leading to the explosion that sent Tony to the hospital. After the ordeal, Kidd gave the responsible party the chance to take responsibility for their mistake, but McCaffrey, who we’d come to learn was the guilty party, opted not to come clean. Instead, he tried to use his connections within the CFD to sweep the whole ordeal under the rug.
By not coming clean and choosing to go around Kidd and Severide, McCaffrey signed his walking papers as Kidd made the decision to terminate him from the program for his actions. The termination request was approved, and McCaffrey’s time at Firehouse 51 seems to have come to an end, though we’re not certain we’ve seen the last of Matthew Daddario’s third-generation CFD washout.
On his way out, McCaffrey made it clear to Kidd and Severide that this is not over, hinting he plans on fighting their decision. Given we know he has strong family connections, it seems likely that he might indeed find a way back into the CFD; however, we’re not sure if that will come at 51 or whether he’ll simply get a second chance elsewhere in the CFD. It would certainly be interesting to see McCaffrey reinstated at 51 as a result of his connections, a play that would likely not sit well with Kidd, Severide, or anyone at the firehouse.
As much as we’re annoyed by McCaffrey, we would love to see Daddario stick around and appear in more episodes this season. And who knows, maybe he’ll end up surprising us, and the writers will craft a redemption storyline that proves to us there is more to McCaffrey than what meets the eye. Or maybe he really is an arrogant nepo baby, and his purpose is to give us a new antagonist that we love to root against.
For now, Daddario’s time seems to be over as he’s not credited for appearing in the next few episodes of the show, but we’d be shocked if this is truly the last we’ve seen of McCaffrey this season on Chicago Fire.
Add us as a preferred source on Google