Call her a speed bump, call her a momentary distraction, or call her a character that disappeared after too brief a time, but it’s hard to deny that Brittany Baker (Serinda Swan) definitely impacted the NBC drama “Chicago Fire” during her short stint on the show. She only appears in four episodes, but that’s more than enough to ensure that audiences remember her.
Brittany’s story starts out with a drunken night in Las Vegas for Lt. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney), who impulsively marries Brittany while under the influence. The two of them try to make a go of things, even moving in together. Since they now share an apartment with Gabby Dawson (Jesse Spencer) and Matt Casey (Monica Raymund), their loud arguments and even louder make-up sex become quite a distraction to their roomies. The show makes a point of giving Brittany layers and showing she genuinely cares for Kelly, making their breakup four episodes later a genuine shocker. After bonding with Kelly over memories of the accident that killed her younger sister — one Brittany confesses to causing — she realizes that she misses Las Vegas too much to stay in Chicago and that their marriage is just an easy dodge out of a difficult situation. She and Kelly split, with Brittany taking his wedding ring along as a memento. He — and the audience — last see her during Season 3’s “Arrest in Transit,” and they divorce off-screen.
Years have passed since Brittany has been in Chicago, and the actor who plays her has found her footing by landing roles on many dramas since leaving “Chicago Fire.”
Serinda Swan has continued to keep an active career together after Chicago Fire
Serinda Swan was in the middle of a successful three-season run on “Graceland” when “Chicago Fire” came knocking. After both gigs folded, she managed to move on to other, equally long-running spots in other series. Swan appeared on six episodes of “Ballers” as Chloe, and then she portrayed Medusa on eight episodes of Marvel’s “Inhumans.” More recently, she was a regular on “Coroner,” which ran for four seasons on The CW, where she was Dr. Jenny Cooper. She also appeared in the film “Devotion” as Elizabeth Taylor.
Interestingly, her latest role waits in the wings; Amazon Studios cast her in the second season of Prime Video’s “Reacher,” where she will play Karla Dixon, a new character who knew Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) back when he was in the Army’s unit of Special Investigators. Dixon is now a very tough PI who’s set to help Reacher out on his latest case. Swan’s career is on the rise, and her role on “Chicago Fire” only helped things out.
