With Carver gone, Chicago Fire welcomes a new firefighter to the family, but their introduction is rather disappointing, as it continues a predictable pattern. The NBC procedural drama TV series is losing three characters in season 13 — Carver (played by Jake Lockett), Ritter (played by Daniel Kyri), and Damon (played by Michael Bradway). As such, Firehouse 51 has open spots to fill.
At the end of Chicago Fire season 13, Damon put in a transfer request to the Denver Fire Department. As such, he’s gone by the time the season 14 premiere opens. Even though he exchanged “I love yous” with Violet, Carver seemingly decided it was best for him to move on from Chicago. And in his absence, Chief Pascal needed to find his replacement.
Vasquez Replaces Carver On Truck 81 In Chicago Fire Season 14
Brandon Larracuente Joins The Cast
One of the higher-ups in the Chicago Fire Department calls in a favor at the beginning of Chicago Fire season 14, episode 1, “Kicking Down Doors.” They want Sal Vasquez to replace Carver in Firehouse 51 as Truck 81’s driver. Chief Pascal doesn’t get much of a say in this “request,” so he has no choice but to take Brandon Larracuente’s character in.
Vasquez doesn’t have much time to introduce himself to the Firehouse 51 team once he arrives, because everyone gets called away to a car burglary gone wrong. He does meet his new lieutenant, though, and doesn’t exactly make a good first impression. Kidd informs Vasquez that he has big shoes to fill, as Carver was a great driver. Vasquez counters that he’s better.
After, Vasquez is quite reckless while driving Truck 81 to the aforementioned scene in the season 14 premiere. Kidd later chastises him for not listening to her orders, and Vasquez all but shrugs her off, further frustrating his lieutenant. Given her innate skepticism of Carver’s Chicago Fire replacement, Kidd digs deeper into the recruit’s background and doesn’t like what she finds.
Vasquez has multiple reports of insubordination, which sets off red flags for Kidd. So, after learning that the CFD is making budget cuts, she urges Chief Pascal to fire Vasquez from Firehouse 51. However, what she doesn’t know is that Chief Pascal isn’t the one who decided to bring Vasquez to Firehouse 51. As such, he tells Kidd that Larracuente’s character is staying.
Firehouse 51’s New Recruit Is Too Similar To His Predecessors
Almost Every New Firefighter Has Been Trouble
Unfortunately, Vasquez isn’t the first arrogant recruit to ruffle Kidd’s (or any lieutenant’s) feathers in Chicago Fire. As Ritter and Violet point out in the season 14 premiere, Carver was also trouble for Kidd when he first joined Firehouse 51. Of course, the two of them had a history that only increased the tension between them, as they attended the fire academy together.
It was still Carver’s arrogance that bothered Kidd and had them start on shaky terms, though, which is why it’s frustrating to see the original One Chicago TV show tell the same story with Vasquez. It’s even more disappointing to realize that neither Carver nor Vasquez is the first of their kind, as this character trend dates back to season 8.
Gallo, who replaced Otis after he died in Chicago Fire season 8, was also a problem for his superiors at Firehouse 51. He had a tendency to disobey orders and be reckless. Flash forward three seasons later, Carver mimicked that behavior. Then, Damon did the same when he disobeyed Kidd and lied about it at the beginning of Chicago Fire season 13.
Now, Vasquez is continuing the trend of arrogant, reckless, and disobedient Firehouse 51 recruits in Chicago Fire season 14. It’s a shame because Larracuente’s character has a lot of potential. However, instead of garnering much intrigue in his first episode, Vasquez’s introduction just feels like a repeat of Carver’s, Damon’s, and Gallo’s. But there is still time for the show to rectify this mistake.
How Chicago Fire Can Still Break This Trend With Vasquez In Season 14
Vasquez Still Has Potential
Even though Vasquez’s initial character traits mirror those of Carver (and his other predecessors), all hope isn’t lost for him yet. We’ve only seen him in one episode, after all. Perhaps Vasquez will become more intriguing and unique in the episodes following the Chicago Fire season 14 premiere, proving he’s more than just a duplicate of Carver.
The good news is that the writers aren’t trying to initiate a romance between Vasquez and Violet. If they did, it would only make viewers wonder why NBC got rid of Carver and replaced him with practically the same character in a different font. Instead, it seems as though Chicago Fire is pairing Vasquez up with a different paramedic, Novak.
Novak and Vasquez’s romance (which might become a love triangle, if the reports about Novak and Chicago Med’s Dr. Frost are true) could separate him from the crowd. Additionally, there is obviously more to Vasquez than meets the eye. Chicago Fire still has to answer why strings were pulled to get him to Firehouse 51, which could break this disappointing six-year trend.
New episodes of Chicago Fire season 14 air on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET on NBC.
