As a longtime Chicago Fire viewer who has watched the show from the very beginning, there is one trend I have picked up on over the last decade when it comes to the show’s promos. If a character is truly in danger and about to be killed off, they are not featured in the promo for the episode ahead of its release.
This is a trend that goes back years and isn’t just some theory; it’s a fact. Whenever the show has teased the death of a character or left characters’ lives up in the air as a cliffhanger, the promo never will feature the character in actual danger. In fact, the only real instance of a trailer doing so was the season 3 premiere promo, and that made sense given every character was in danger except Chief Boden, and even then the show only recycled footage from the finale instead of new footage.
Throughout the years we’ve seen this trend continue season after season. The season 8 promo failed to feature new footage of Otis, who died in the premiere; there was no clip of Chief Hawkins in the promo ahead of his death in season 11; and most recently there was no footage of Monica Pascal in the season 13 promo in the episode featuring the death of Chief Pascal’s wife. These are just a few instances from over the years, and they’re the reason that I am convinced more than ever that the character in real danger might not have been in the fire when season 14 came to a close.
The Chicago Fire character we should really be worried about isn't who fans think
Earlier this week, NBC released the first trailer for the new seasons of the One Chicago shows to feature new footage from the upcoming seasons of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD. While each show is featured throughout the promo, it's Chicago Fire that gets the most screentime and takes the spotlight.
Across the footage we see shots of nearly every core member of the team whose lives were on the line when season 14 came to an end, including Cruz, Kidd, Vasquez, Herrmann, Ballard, and Severide. Given the show’s history of not featuring characters who are killed off in promos, this seems to suggest all of these characters will make it out of the fire alive—which tracks given most of the actors in this group have already been seen on set filming new episodes.
That, of course, leaves us with Violet, Novak, Pascal, Capp, Tony, and Mouch. Of this group, we know that only one of these actors has confirmed their exit from the show and that the others have been spotted filming new episodes, with some appearing in set photos with fans around the time when filming occurred on episodes 4 and 5. For this reason, I’m beginning to expect that if Chicago Fire follows through on killing off a main character as fans expect, it’s 51’s former chief, Dom Pascal, who we should be the most worried about.
All summer long, we’ve been worried about the firefighters who were already inside the building or attempting to get down to safety when the explosion occurred. This was exactly what the writers wanted, and the finale cliffhanger was designed to keep us talking all throughout the summer break. It makes sense that our focus would be on the characters whose lives seemed to be in imminent danger; however, this show has taught us to expect the unexpected.
We should remember that when the show teased a character death back in season 11, no one was talking about Chief Hawkins as a character in danger as he was not featured in the promo. We had no reason to believe he was the character in danger of being killed off, as our attention was misdirected to other characters. Hawkins was out of sight and out of mind, much like Pascal has been and continues to be. And that’s why we fear the worst for 51’s former chief.
Knowing that Dermot Mulroney is only set to appear in the first episode of the season before exiting the show, and knowing that he’s described his exit from the show as more bitter than bittersweet, we have to wonder if the show’s writers decided to kill Pascal off in the opening moments of the premiere. While Pascal is no longer a member of the CFD, he was on the scene when the explosion occurred, and there is no way we can’t see him standing on the sidelines when his former team is in danger and in need of help. It would be very much in character for Pascal to race into action without thinking of himself to try to save the others trapped inside.
Pascal's death would give the show the ability to tackle the fallout of a sizable death without making too many ripples in the dynamics of the firehouse. This is because, while his death would absolutely impact the members of 51 and give the show the chance to explore the emotional fallout of his death, it would not change the hierarchy of 51 with the need for a new character to fill his shoes, as Pascal had already exited 51 and the CFD.
It’s almost the best of both worlds for the writers, as it would allow them to deliver on the cliffhanger with a shocking death without then needing to bring in a replacement that viewers might not embrace, as the plan was already in motion for Severide to succeed Pascal as the head of 51. In fact, we could see Pascal’s death fueling Severide’s decision to remain at 51 rather than taking the OFI job, in wanting to honor Pascal’s legacy by taking the captain position at 51, as Pascal had encouraged him to do.
Now, of course, the best-case scenario would be that no character is killed off as a result of the season 14 finale cliffhanger; however, if a major death is truly coming, the latest promo might be yet another red herring distracting fans from the character in the real danger.
Chicago Fire season 15 premieres Wednesday, October 7, at 9/8c on NBC!
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