Spoilers ahead for the midseason premiere of Chicago Fire Season 10.
Chicago Fire returned to NBC with an episode called “Back With a Bang,” and it certainly lived up to the name. Miranda Rae Mayo was back as Stella Kidd, 51 had to deal with one of the most dangerous crises of the season so far, and Pelham connected the dots about Stella as the person who had been primed for the lieutenant slot. Throw in Boden getting yet another warning about Pelham, and it seems like he could be on the way out now that Stella is back. That said, he’s probably not going anywhere just yet.
Boden had made his decision about keeping Pelham at 51 after Stella didn’t return ASAP to claim the lieutenant spot, and Brett Dalton's character did seem to be fitting in pretty well. So, it was somewhat surprising when Deputy District Chief Don Kilbourne called out Boden for not vetting Pelham and said that he’d come to regret giving him a permanent spot. Pelham later acknowledged an “animosity” between them and was overheard by Stella, who asked Severide if he’d heard of Pelham having problems with a “CFD bigwig.”
She seems suspicious, but despite what the promo indicates for the next episode, I’m guessing Pelham isn’t going anywhere based on what actress Mirandra Rae Mayo and showrunner Derek Haas had to say. When I spoke with Mayo ahead of the midseason premiere, she shared her thoughts on Stella’s dynamic with Brett Dalton’s character now that Jesse Spencer is gone as Casey:
I mean, bizarre! [laughs] Brett is lovely though. Brett is really sweet. He's been wonderful to work with. It's just bizarre not having Jesse on set… Casey was family and Pelham's a stranger. That's all. There's not as much trust in who he is, as there was with Casey.
Although the actress didn’t give an episode count for Pelham on Chicago Fire, it certainly sounds like she has worked with Brett Dalton a fair amount. Since “Back With a Bang” was Stella’s first full episode since he made his Fire debut, it seems safe to say that she works with him beyond just the second episode of 2022 that airs next week.
Plus, showrunner Derek Haas dropped some comments ahead of the midseason premiere as well regarding Pelham’s future on the show. When I asked if Brett Dalton would be sticking around for a while, Haas previewed:
He will, yeah. That's one of the big storylines in this [midseason finale] is he's looking for a permanent place and we really like him. And he wants to be lieutenant at Firehouse 51 in the same spot that Stella should be planting her flag. So Boden's got some tough decisions to make. We'll definitely keep seeing Pelham as the season continues. We really like him.
Again, the showrunner didn’t come out and explicitly say that Pelham has a future on Chicago Fire beyond what looks like an intense episode for the character next week, but I’m guessing that fans shouldn’t prepare to say goodbye to his character just yet. Plus, Fire doesn’t even have a replacement lined up, since Stella has her reservations about committing to a position as a lieutenant.
The episode description for next week reveals that a firefighter from Station 37 will be struck by a power line and lash out following the incident, and the promo for the episode indicates that she’ll be pointing the finger at Pelham. Check it out:
How much longer Brett Dalton’s Pelham will remain the lieutenant of Truck 81 remains to be seen, and it’s not impossible that whatever happens with the Station 37 firefighter (plus the warning that Boden received) results in him leaving sooner rather than later, but I’m pretty confident that he’ll be around for a while yet into Season 10.
Find out with new episodes of Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. All three One Chicago shows ranked as some of the biggest hits of the fall season, and the odds are good that the success streak will continue into the new year.
