Much of the first half of Chicago Fire Season 12 was spent on building up to the Brettsey wedding as actress Kara Killmer’s swan song on the hit NBC show. Unlike Alberto Rosende as Gallo, Killmer returned to Fire for several episodes in the 2024 TV schedule to set up Brett’s departure, and Hanako Greensmith’s Violet had a heavy hand in miraculously transforming the fishy venue into something lovely for her best friend.
In “Red Flag,” Violet suddenly found herself without her longtime partner, her best friend, or even the preoccupation of planning Brett’s wedding. In her new position as PIC, she not only had to settle into her role as a leader but do so with a partner she’d never met before. It was the first time fans really got a look at post-Brett Violet, and it left me flashing back to when Kara Killmer recently spoke with CinemaBlend. At the time, I asked the actress how important it was to her to come back for part of Season 12, and Killmer shared:
It would have been so easy for the writers to have had Violet just have a conversation with a few people in the locker room. Like, ‘Oh, I just talked to Brett. She’s settled in Portland with Casey and Julia,’ and it would have been so easy for them to do that. It’s such a privilege and I’m so grateful that they brought me back for six episodes to help transition Sylvie into her exit. I think it really does justice to her and gives the fans a treat, especially to end it in this way.
While Chicago Fire didn’t take the “so easy” way out for Brett with the six-episode set up for her exit, I do think that having such a long goodbye made the loss hit Violet a lot harder than if she’d just bowed out over hiatus and not returned. So much of Violet’s screentime was centered on Brett that there was no way she’d have an easy transition into working with a new partner, even if the new partner had gelled a lot better than Jared Lennox, played by Wesam Keesh.
Conflict seemed inevitable once Paramedic Chief Robinson – who seems to have it out for Violet – told her that she’d be choosing the new EMT for Ambo 61, rather than Violet having any say in the matter. Lennox seemed nice enough at first, coming to 51 from a gig in the suburbs of the Windy City. He did take issue with Severide offering a young woman a place to stay at Firehouse 51 when she was in an impossible situation and misspoke a few times, which didn’t look great, but Carver didn’t get off to the strongest start either last season.
Being a bit of a stickler about the rules with some poor word choices didn’t necessarily make Lennox a nefarious plant by Robinson, right? Well, whether or not Robinson is pulling his strings, he’s already causing trouble for Violet after her first shift as PIC. He was subtle enough about it that he could write his comments during shift off as mistakes or confusion, but he definitely undermined Violet more than once, and made the mistake about complaining about her to Carver, of all people.
And by the end of the episode, the other shoe dropped. Boden dropped the news on Violet and Carver that Lennox had filed two complaints: against Violet as “aggressive” and “disrespectful,” and against 51 for harboring a civilian overnight. It appears that Violet isn’t Robinson/Lennox’s only target; 51 is in the crosshairs too. What a way for
How Hanako Greensmith Is Already Crushing It
If five seasons of Violet have convinced me of anything at this point, it’s that Hanako Greensmith can generate chemistry with anybody. That’s not to say that Violet and Lennox have the kind of chemistry that she had with Gallo and Chief Hawkins, or has now with Carver, but there are some nice antagonistic sparks to make this conflict an intriguing one for the back half of Season 12. I’m definitely game to see more of her going up against Chief Robinson as well.
This of course isn’t the first time that Violet has had to deal with drama within the CFD or even a problem partner, but this seems to be a very different situation than she had with Emma, and her personal life isn’t tied up into it… yet, anyway! Greensmith’s performance definitely doesn’t feel rinse-and-repeat, and I’m looking forward to what’s next.
