It's been a challenging year for the Firehouse 51 team in 2025, which has taken place during the second half of Chicago Fire season 13 and the first half of season 14. There have been deaths, unexpected (and even unexplained) character exits, and plot twists that we never saw coming from a mile away. One in particular ended up overlooked but still changed everything for a certain character.
Last season, Mouch and Herrmann were both studying to take the captain's exam and they wound up landing promotions to lieutenant and captain respectively. However, Herrmann's path to becoming chief took an unforeseen turn when he gracefully accepted a demotion and returned to his usual position as a firefighter along with the rest of his team.
Some fans might not have fully understood why Herrmann opted to take a demotion rather than continuing to further his career at Firehouse 51, but he surrendered the higher position in order for Mouch to ascend to captain without having to transfer to another firehouse. The things you will do for your best friend to achieve their dream and remain together as a duo.
However, Herrmann's storyline struggling to accept his demotion and giving up a role that meant a lot to him quickly ended up overlooked in Chicago Fire season 14 when his family's home burned down. This occurred in episode 4, very early in the season, and changed the trajectory of not only Herrmann's storyline but seemingly also his focus for the rest of the season.
Chicago Fire season 14 has overlooked Herrmann's demotion
In the blink of an eye, Herrmann's family home burning down changed the direction the character took for the rest of 2025. He went from wrestling with giving up his office in the premiere episode to only three episodes later wrestling with something much larger than his job or career. His house burned down his displace his wife and children. Worse, he blamed himself.
Naturally, he beats himself up over the housefire and allows his pride to get in the way when Mouch and the team try to help the Herrmann family. He picks more than a few fights with Mouch over things he either says or does, which were all well-intentioned and meant to be of service, but Herrmann wasn't in any state to handle much more than what was already on his plate.
Perhaps Herrmann biting Mouch's head off a couple times will come back around when season 14 resumes in 2026. There could be much more to Herrmann's anger toward his friend than what he viewed as "charity." He might still resent Mouch for being the reason that he took the demotion. But then again, it's not like Mouch asked Herrmann to give up his new role for him.
It's just odd that Chicago Fire season 14 appeared to set up Herrmann's demotion and the aftershocks of that decision as a driving force of the storyline, but it ended up overlooked. Obviously, his demotion and the housefire changed everything for Herrmann. Still, we need some clarity on the former, and we didn't get that from his absence in the final two episodes of 2025.
Chicago Fire season 14 returns on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 9/8c on NBC.