Spoilers ahead for the April 8 episode of Chicago Fire Season 8, called “Light Things Up.”
Only one episode of Chicago Fire is left before the end of Season 8 thanks to the production halt, so some stories will likely go unfinished, at least for now. While Foster didn’t actually have the biggest of roles in “Light Things Up,” which finally saw Cruz get married despite his heartbreak in early Season 8, one scene may point toward Annie Ilonzeh jumping from Chicago Fire to Chicago Med. While Fire wouldn’t be the same without Foster, I for one would be on board with Foster joining the Med team.
In “Light Things Up,” Foster performed a maneuver in the field that paramedics aren’t trained for, but she knew how to do from her days as a surgical resident before she was kicked out of her program for cheating on her boards. At Med, Will was so impressed with the procedure that he asked Foster about the trauma surgeon who performed it, then said that she’d missed her calling when he learned that a paramedic had pulled it off.
Now, if Will’s casual remark about Foster pulling off a procedure fit for a trauma surgeon had happened in another season of Chicago Fire or even earlier in Season 8, I wouldn’t interpret this as any more than Foster getting due credit for going above and beyond to save a life. Given that Foster in Season 8 has been shown thinking back, seemingly with some regrets, on her time as a doctor before being kicked out, I can see Fire sending her to Med.
Honestly, that could be a really good thing, even if I would be sad to lose Foster’s dynamic with Brett and Kidd on Chicago Fire. Chicago Med has, in my opinion, been missing a big personality in surgery (and trauma surgery) since the death of Ava and departure of Connor. Admittedly, Crockett Marcel wasted no time in making a splash, but Med lost two major surgeon characters and only gained one in replacement.
Foster is an established character with a medical history; why not bring her into Med, where she could have a more distinct role than she does on Fire? It’s worth noting that a Fire character has jumped to Med earlier in both series’ run, when firefighter Jeff Clarke was injured on the job and then popped up on Med as an intern.
Although Clarke was never nearly as major a character on Fire is as Foster, I think Foster could fit in and have a chance to develop further. The stars of Fire will likely always be Casey and Severide, and the people in their immediate periphery, and that may never be Foster. Med spreads the stories around the ensemble a little more.
It’s also worth noting that all three One Chicago series have been renewed for three more seasons, bringing Chicago Fire to at least an eventual 11 and Chicago Med to at least eight. (Chicago P.D. is currently guaranteed through Season 10.) The series are going to need to mix things up to remain interesting and dominant in the ratings, and the three-season renewals present opportunities for planning a long game. Just think how far Foster could go in three years on Med vs. three more years as a paramedic on Fire!
The departure of Foster to Chicago Med would, if it happened, leave a hole in the Fire ensemble. That said, Fire has survived changes to the paramedic team several times throughout the eight seasons so far.
In fact, Fire could theoretically just pull one of its EMT-certified firefighters into the ambulance to become Brett’s new partner. Kidd was helping Brett and Foster in “Light Things Up,” after all, and has filled in for one or the other in past episodes. Alternately, a new character could be brought in, and Blake Gallo in Season 8 has proved (to me, at least) that fresh blood on a long-running series like Chicago Fire can be a very good thing.
Could my dream of a long-lost Halstead emerging from nowhere to join Fire, and therefore give every One Chicago series a Halstead, finally come true?!
In all seriousness, moving Foster from Chicago Fire to Chicago Med wouldn’t be something that couldn’t be undone, or even as complicated as moving a Chicago P.D. character to FBI despite the close ties between those two shows courtesy of a recent crossover. If Foster on Med didn’t work out, she could just return to Fire. Losing Foster from Fire wouldn’t really be losing her. Just moving her!
Unfortunately, fans will likely not find out what the full plan was for Foster’s current arc until Season 9, whenever production is able to resume on Chicago Fire. Unless the April 15 Season 8 finale is the game-changer for her, several episodes ahead of the intended finale, Foster probably won’t be going anywhere just yet, if at all.
The Season 8 finale of Chicago Fire will air Wednesday, April 15 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, in between the Season 5 finale of Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and the Season 7 finale of Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. (with both of those series packing a Halstead) in primetime.
