Warning: spoilers ahead for the May 3 episode of Chicago Fire, called “Take a Shot at the King,” and promo materials for the May 10 episode.
The eleventh season of Chicago Fire is winding down, which tends to mean the intensity ramping up for the long-running first responder drama. While there are still a couple episodes to go before Jesse Spencer’s return as Matt Casey for the finale, the next episode – called “Never, Ever Make a Mistake” – will feature a storyline that I think could be in service of saying goodbye to a major character: Kara Killmer’s Sylvie Brett. So, let's get into some pre-finale speculation!
Now, I should start by mentioning that Brett’s potential departure in Season 11 has been on my mind ever since Jesse Spencer’s first return in 2023, which was an “amazing” experience for the director but cause of a complicated turn of events for Brettsey. As of the end of that episode, all signs pointed toward Casey and Brett still having strong feelings for each other.
With no indication that Spencer is coming back as a series regular for the 2023-2024 TV season, a rekindling of Brettsey seems like it could happen for one purpose: Brett deciding to go back to Oregon with Casey. With the news that he’s returning just a couple of weeks after Brett will evidently have serious doubts about remaining at Firehouse 51… well, the dots are starting to connect for me.
If you missed that Brett has doubts about her future at 51, you may not have caught the promo that aired after the end of “Take a Shot at the King” (available streaming now with a Peacock Premium subscription) on May 3. Take a look:
While we shouldn’t jump to any definitive conclusions based on less than half a minute of footage for the May 10 episode, it appears that the paramedics of an earlier shift at 51 failed to restock the ambulance, leading to some serious problems for Brett and Violet on a call. Brett wants charges filed enough to threaten that she’ll quit, so is this a sign that she is going to start considering a future elsewhere than Firehouse 51? Perhaps a couple thousand miles to the west?
It should be noted that the editing of the promo initially makes it seem like she’s threatening to quit to Boden, but it looks like she’s actually speaking to a woman with brown hair, so the episode is undoubtedly going to go in some directions that we can’t necessarily predict from the preview. The NBC episode description doesn’t give much away, as it only says this about Brett’s storyline:
A harrowing call takes a toll on Brett.
Of course, the first responders of Firehouse 51 face harrowing calls on a regular basis, and it’s entirely possible that Chicago Fire is just raising the stakes ahead of the finale about Brett’s future. I’d hate to lose Kara KIllmer as an actress and Brett as a character, but I can’t shake the feeling that the show may revisit the idea of Brettsey having a future that would involve Brett moving to Portland.
For now, you can keep counting on Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET, between Chicago Med (which may have just set the ED up for a loss as well) at 8 p.m. and Chicago P.D. (which has LaRoyce Hawkins “optimistic” about the future) at 10 p.m., all on NBC. The season finales for all three shows will air on May 24 in their regular time slots, with Fire sadly ending Season 11 without Severide.
