Chicago Fire viewers have been waiting nearly four months to find out what happens after the Season 10 finale. Although the more dangerous cliffhanger is the one facing Severide and Kidd on their wedding night (and the showrunners previewed that there will be “prices paid” in that storyline), Brettsey fans have only been able to wonder what the future holds (or doesn’t hold) for Brett and Casey. Showrunners Andrea Newman and Derek Haas previewed the answers on the way, and how soon fans will get them.
While the Stellaride wedding was a happy affair once they were finally able to tie the knot back in the spring, Brett was nearly in tears when she and Casey (with Jesse Spencer back for the first time since the 200th episode) had to face the reality that her life and work are in Chicago while Casey is going back to Portland. She wanted to know how much longer they could keep it up with so much distance between them and so much time apart; Casey didn’t have an answer other than that they were “together tonight.”
It seemed like they were on the verge of a breakup but didn’t want to make it official while at the wedding of two of their best friends, but the conversation was pretty ambiguous. When Chicago Fire showrunners Andrea Newman and Derek Haas spoke with CinemaBlend, I asked about Brettsey’s status and how early fans can expect to see some answers. Newman shared:
Long distance relationships are just very painful and difficult. That love between them, the connection between them, is so profound that they both thought that they can make it work, but they both have their very different lives that they're leading. That's going to come to a head in the premiere for sure, and difficult decisions have to be made.
For better or worse, the “difficult decisions” that have to be made will evidently come about in the Season 11 premiere on September 21! There has been no news of Jesse Spencer returning, so it’s possible that any hard conversations will be phone calls with fans just hearing Brett’s side of the conversation.
That was how Fire was able to deliver updates on their relationship during the span of Season 10 between Casey’s departure and Brett’s decision to spend a longer chunk of time in Oregon with him, and it could work again. Whether their relationship can work after Brett’s realizations in the Season 10 finale is less certain.
Derek Haas explained his own thoughts on the Brettsey love story and the challenges of long distance:
I think they both went into the long distance of it all with the best intentions and love and all of that, and you get in these marathons and mile one and two don't seem like this is going to be too much. But then the headwinds come and it gets harder and harder as it goes.
As somebody who thought that Brett and Casey’s relationship was doomed pretty much as soon as the news broke that Jesse Spencer was leaving, I have to say that the two really worked at their long distance romance for a long time. Fans will have to tune in to the Season 11 premiere to see what comes of the difficult decisions that the two characters have to make (even if Casey is making his off-screen), but it seems that Brett is back to stay. That’s certainly good news for Violet, after her experiences with Emma last season!
While answers about the future of Brettsey are coming in the Season 11 premiere, it’s probably not the plotline that will be addressed right off the bat in the episode. The cliffhanger saw a pickup truck arrive at the secluded cabin where an obliviously happy Severide and Kidd were ready to enjoy their wedding night. In light of the mess that Severide found himself in with some very bad people, it seems like a safe bet that Season 11 will be off to an exciting start.
All three shows of One Chicago return to NBC on Wednesday, September 21, starting at 8 p.m. ET with Chicago Med (which was the One Chicago show with a fiery cliffhanger last spring), Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. embracing its new theme at 10 p.m. ET (and getting messy in the process). You can revisit past seasons of the three series streaming with a Peacock subscription now.
