One Chicago fan favorite Lt. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) has landed in hot water on Chicago Fire.
Season 14, Episode 19’s “Exit Point” was an intense battle for Severide, who, after arriving home from Captain’s training, was shocked to discover he’d been reported to Internal Affairs for “dereliction of duty.” Severide had been pumped to hit the ground running with his pending promotion. All of that came under fire as his new boss, Interim District Chief Andre Hopkins (Rob Morgan), doubled down on his multi-decade grudge against Severide’s late father, Benny, and the son who followed in his CFD footsteps. Severide had whiplash after showing up to HQ in hopes of a promotion order, only to gain a troubling meeting with IAD: Severide was under formal review.
Severide faced suspension or termination following IAD’s investigation, giving him and his colleagues great cause for alarm.
Chief Hopkins is looking for Severide’s replacement at Firehouse 51
After filing his formal complaint, Hopkins wasted no time touching base with his assistant Lucy about collecting CFD resumes. Hopkins was looking for a new Lieutenant to lead Squad as Severide’s replacement. Before a troubled Lucy could respond, Severide arrived at Hopkins’ office with a bone to pick.
Severide sternly reminded Hawkins that he had only ever veered from his Firehouse 51 duties to work within the CFD’s Office of Fire Investigation (OFI). Still, Hopkins remained fixed on the laissez-faire protocol: Severide never received formal authorization from HQ to work his many OFI cases. Severide’s former Chiefs may have “turned a blind eye,” but it had been Severide’s job to get authorization from HQ before leaving 51. Furious, Severide promised Hopkins he’d “fight this.”
“On what grounds? Maybe you’ve hurt 51 more than you realize. Maybe you should have transferred to OFI before it came to this,” Hopkins said. “You break the rules, you pay the consequences. Nobody in the CFD is above them, not even a Severide.”
Severide updated his wife and fellow 51 Lieutenant Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) on the madness. During Severide’s absence, Hopkins had treated everyone at 51 with the utmost respect and praise, so Stella was surprised Hopkins was looking for a fight. But Severide knew the truth: the tension was rooted in his father suspending Hopkins decades ago. Ironically enough, 51’s latest rescue turned into a textbook case of arson. After getting approval from Hopkins, Severide worked with OFI on the investigation.
Meanwhile, Stella made a request to review a valuable file: Benny’s incident report against Hopkins. Lucy picked up the call from HQ, learning Stella would need Hopkins approval to review the file. Wanting Severide to keep his position, Lucy pulled some strings, cleverly dropping the case file at Stella and Severide’s doorstep.
Why Severide might voluntarily leave Firehouse 51
After expertly wrapping up another case with OFI, the interim OFI Captain brought up the charges against Severide and explained that she had a way to potentially help.
“As you know, I’m only the interim head of this department; my plan’s always been to go back to Forensics,” she explained. “But if I recommend you as my permanent replacement, I can fast-track it.”
“So you’re saying OFI can shield me?” Severide asked.
“I’m saying they’re not going to drag the newly appointed head of OFI through a public IAD investigation,” she explained. “Not with your arson record, your conviction rate, your reputation. It would be a bad look for the CFD. You step into the job before they get their footing, you leave 51, take the position. You’d be free and clear.”
“So I just outrun it,” Severide said, musing over the idea.
“It won’t look like you’re running,” she assured him. “It’ll look like a promotion.”
What course of action will Severide take to preserve his CFD career? Find out by watching Season 14 of Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.