Heading into Chicago Fire season 14, episode 15, “Do Not Resuscitate," we expected that things would be off at Firehouse 51 as it would mark the first shift without Chief Pascal present and overseeing the firehouse after he was fired from the CFD. What we did not expect was that the episode would also be without Severide as well.
As the episode began, the various members of Firehouse 51 arrived for their shift and began settling in for the day. This included Novak and Vasquez, who (in addition to Violet) were out the previous episode for varying reasons and therefore missed all that went down with Pascal’s exit.
“So crazy the chief’s gone,” Vasquez comments as he walks up to Novak, who was standing by looking into the empty office.
“I’m going to miss him. He really went out of his way to make me feel like a part of this place,” Novak replies as Violet walks in and asks the pair if they’ve met Lucy, the new assistant.
They both agree that Lucy is great, though Vasquez questions how long she’ll be able to stick around, given that Pascal has left. That’s when Novak points out that she heard Pascal wants Severide to move into his office. When Vasquez asks if Severide is going to actually take the office, Violet replies with a major update that furthers the storyline set up in the closing moments of episode 14.
“Kidd isn’t sure yet. But Severide’s out this week because he’s studying for the captain’s exam,” Violet explains as she acknowledged the elephant in the room of how so much has changed with them just missing one shift at 51.
The line was used to explain Taylor Kinney’s absence in the episode, as Severide did not make any kind of appearance across the episode. While it was disappointing not to see Kinney in the episode and to go without Severide, the way in which the show chose to write him out of the episode could not have been better!
Severide taking the shift off to study for the captain’s exam means that he’s committed to pursuing the captain position, which would indeed allow him to be commanding officer in 51 without a chief present. This also means the storyline introduced in Pascal’s sendoff episode, in which he left the captain’s exam study guide on the desk as a not-so-subtle nudge of encouragement, worked, and it's a storyline the show is going to see through.
This is a major step for Severide in his journey within the CFD and within the show, and we’re so excited to see him going on this journey. Though, as the promo for episode 16 made clear, this isn’t going to be an easy journey.
Episode 16 welcomes Rob Morgan to the cast as Chief Hopkins, and it’s made clear immediately via the promo that his reputation as a hardass precedes him.
As Severide notes that he’s ready to step up, Chief Hopkins points out that Severide is not officially a captain and notes there are some concerns. “You don’t think you have to follow the rules,” Chief Hopkins coldly tells Severide in a later conversation in his office.
While Chief Hopkins is about to become an unexpected hurdle for Severide in his path to becoming captain, fans shouldn’t expect Severide to be discouraged or abandon the goal.
“Hopkins wants a fight. He’s got one,” Severide boldly remarks as the promo comes to an end in a moment that assures fans he’s not about to give up on pursuing the rank of captain, which is certainly a relief!
We’re eager to see how things play out, but it’s exciting to see that Severide is committed to becoming captain and overseeing 51. He likely has a battle ahead, but hopefully he’ll prevail, as there is nothing we’d rather see as Chicago Fire season 14 comes to an end than Severide becoming captain and taking over as the leader of 51 as we head into season 15!