Spoilers ahead for the January 12 episode of Chicago Fire, called “Fog of War.”
Chicago Fire raised the stakes with the vendetta against Pelham by costing him his job after being falsely accused of making a bad call, and Stella and Severide are continuing to mend their relationship after she went MIA on him, but the element of “Fog of War” that is making me nervous is actually all about Brett. Her long-distance relationship with Casey is evidently going very well, but with Jesse Spencer gone as a series regular and no signs of a return as even a guest star at this point, what is Fire doing with Brettsey?
Brett showed some frustration earlier in Season 10 about the challenges in connecting with Caesy after his move to Oregon, and those challenges seemed inevitable as soon as the news broke that Jesse Spencer was bowing out of the show early in Season 10. The Brettsey relationship was going fairly strong before he made the decision to relocate and care for the Darden boys, but the distance put a realistic strain on them.
As of “Fog of War,” however, Brett and Casey have evidently been spending a lot of time together off-screen, with Casey even visiting Scott and little Amelia with her. Everything seems to be going swimmingly, but it also seems like just a matter of time before Fire has deal with the absence of Jesse Spencer beyond off-screen visits. Unless Kara Killmer is leaving the show, it’s hard to imagine Fire keeping Brettsey going indefinitely as is. Honestly, it wouldn’t be fair to Brett!
Admittedly, I’ve been expecting a Brettsey breakup pretty much ever since the news broke that Jesse Spencer was leaving Chicago Fire, so this is nothing new, but I was also expecting for significant cracks to show earlier than Episode 11. If I’m right and it’s only a matter of time before the absence of Casey means a Brettsey breakup, then I’m just nervous that Brett’s heart will be very badly broken. It’s going so well that something going wrong could be even more awful for her than Casey leaving in the first place.
Even Scott joined in on the encouragement for the Brettsey relationship in “Fog of War,” volunteering to come to the city more often so that Brett can spend more time with little Amelia without distracting herself from Casey. He said that Brett should use her furlough to spend as much time as possible with Casey, not travel to visit them. Scott cited the death of his wife and his regret that they didn’t spend more time together because of his work.
If Casey’s absence was similar to Stella’s in that we knew that he would be back within a few episodes, then I wouldn’t have so many reservations on Brett’s behalf about Fire continuing to build up Brettsey. Showrunner Derek Haas has expressed his hopes that Spencer will show up again in Season 10, but that’s far from a guarantee. I’m still hoping that Fire rips off the band-aid and ends the relationship soon for Brett’s sake, rather than drawing it out and potentially making a break all the more painful.
That said, I could be wrong, and Chicago Fire might have no plans to break up Brettsey and just keep the relationship going strong. I just don’t think it’s fair to Brett for such a huge part of her life to remain off screen, and fans might get tired of her talking about her relationship without ever seeing it on screen. Find out what happens next 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. For more of what’s on the way to the small screen, check out our 2022 winter and spring premiere schedule.
