Chicago Fire's new firefighter continues to weird us (and Ritter) out

Chicago Fire has spots to fill. It lost a medic and a firefighter at the start of season 12, and it has been quite the ordeal to find new ones. Well, good new ones. Fans were given to a medic who was actually plotting against Firehouse 51, and a firefighter who succumbed to a painkiller addiction. It's evidently harder than ever to find characters who mesh with the team we know and love.

The show took a step towards correcting this by bringing Lyla Novak (Jocelyn Hudon) on full time as a medic. She is well-liked and capable in the field, so the decision seemed like a no-brainer. The same cannot be said for firefighter Jack Damon (Michael Bradway). The guy is eager to please, but there's something unmistakably off about him.

SPOILERS for the episode "Inside Man" ahead

For starters, he seems way too invested in Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney). He claims to have taken a class that Severide taught in his debut episode, yet in his second appearance, "Inside Man," he changes his tune and says it was a class he wanted to take. Viewers aren't the only one who have taken notice of Damon's odd behavior. Ritter (Daniel Kyri) caught him making a pretty suspicious phone call at the end of his first shift:

"That isn't the only reason why I'm here... No, no, nobody here knows. And I'll keep it that way for as long as I want."

Something is definitely up, and this phone call informs a lot of Ritter's actions in the episode "Inside Man." When Severide goes missing during a late shift, and Damon is the last person to see him, Ritter makes a point of getting the newcomer investigated. He gets questioned by police, and reacts pretty aggressively in the process.

Jack Damon has designated Ritter as an enemy

Ritter, being the nice guy he is, changes his mind about Damon towards the end of the episode. He approaches the firefighter and admits that he was the one who pointed the police his way. He also said that he overheard him making a phone call, which is what prompted his suspicion in the first place. All good, right?

No. Not at all. Instead of taking the news in stride, Damon's friendly expression fades and he stares Ritter down. There's a long, uncomfortable silence after Ritter finishes explaining himself, and he soon realizes that his gut instinct was right. Something is going on with Damon, and the show is doing a very good job of keeping us guessing as to what it is.