Season 13 of Chicago Fire was chaotic, to put it nicely. With Season 12 bringing an end to Chief Boden’s (Eamonn Walker), a new chief took

charge in the form of Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney), and, well, he wasn’t Boden. Terse, short with niceties, and with an aura of suspicion

about him, it took time for Firehouse 51 to embrace Pascal. (They finally did, when his wife died.) Additionally, Cruz’s (Joe Minoso) past

 

 

came back to haunt him. Mouch (Christian Stolte) and Herrmann (David Eigenberg) passed the officer exams, seemingly setting up a scenario which would see Herrmann displace Pascal as chief, adding a season-long tension that laid underneath. Carver (Jake Lockett) battled with alcoholism and with his feelings for Violet (Hanako Greensmith), who, in turn, struggled with her own feelings for him.

 

 

Then there was the epic One Chicago crossover event “In the Trenches”, which was one of the franchise’s best. Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Severide (Taylor Kinney) work towards adopting a baby, coming close before having the rug pulled out from underneath them. Carver and Ritter (Daniel Kyri) aren’t returning next season, adding another layer of speculation as to how they would be bowing out. The Season 13 finale did some great work in tying up loose ends heading into next season — apart from still no indication of how Ritter ends up leaving — and introducing some intriguing new storylines. What I believe Firehouse 51 needs this upcoming season is serenity now (yes, I heard it), and one way to do it is to bring home Matthew (Jesse Spencer), Sylvie (Kara Killmer), and the rest of the Casey clan. And the timing couldn’t be better.

“Sylvie Brett, getting here to this place was the toughest battle of my life, but it was worth every moment because we’re here now. You are my port in the storm.” So began Casey in his wedding vows in Season 12, Episode 1 (titled “Port in the Storm,” oddly enough), in a beautiful ceremony officiated by Boden in an aquarium. (How they get there is one of the series’ funniest secondary storylines). He’s not wrong, given the history of the pair over the course of the tenure on the show. A Brettsey tease appeared in the Season 7 finale, with Brett staring at him adoringly (prompting partner Foster (Annie Ilonzeh) to say, “Jump him already.”) after a call that saw Casey talking to a young boy he rescued from a car wreck. The feeling was clearly mutual, with Casey going to approach Brett about a date, only to see her hug her ex, Kyle Sheffield (Teddy Sears), and assumed they were back together. They did, in fact, get together, with Brett leaving Chicago to join Sheffield in Indiana at the beginning of Season 8, only for Brett to return two episodes later, having broken up, and rejoined the team in Episode 3, with Casey saying, “51 just hasn’t been the same without you.”

Brettsey appeared to be back again, only for Casey’s ex, and Brett’s former partner, Gabby Dawson (Monica Raymund), to reappear and pour water on the simmering couple. But when Brett’s mother, who she had only just reunited with, passed away after giving birth to her half-sister, Casey was there to help her through her grief. The pairing, which still hadn’t been formalized to this point, reached a new level the night following a particularly stressful day that saw her held at gunpoint during a rescue in the Season 9 premiere. She asked Casey to spend the night, and, in what is almost unprecedented in the genre, instead of ripping their clothes off and hitting the sack, they play games and laugh. But Brettsey was still on hold after Casey couldn’t commit to being over Dawson. It would take a serious injury to Casey while on a call to draw them back together, with Brett by his side as he recovered from the start. Finally, in Season 9, Episode 16, Brettsey was made official after they profess their love for each other and kiss passionately.