What Do Severide’s Heroics Mean for His Career on ‘Chicago Fire’? (RECAP)

Meredith Jacobs January 8, 2020, 10:00 pm

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Chicago Fire

Hold Our Ground

Season 8 • Episode 10

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 8, Episode 10 of Chicago Fire, “Hold Our Ground.”]

Last we saw Severide (Taylor Kinney), he’d been transferred to OFI (the Office of Fire Investigation) and still managed to find himself in a life-or-death situation on Chicago Fire.

But he’s not trapped in the basement with the arsonist for long. That’s resolved relatively quickly — as is Severide’s time at OFI. But first, Severide saves himself and the arsonist from a fire. “Why’d you come back?” the arsonist asks once they’re outside. “I’m a firefighter,” Severide tells him. That he is.

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He’s quickly cleared for duty, and once back at OFI, Van Meter notes his “flair for the heroic.” In the process of catching an arsonist and freeing an innocent man, Severide broke “1000 standing orders, maxed out your overtime for a year, nearly got yourself killed, to close a case that was already closed.” And while he’s “one of the most gifted investigators” Van Meter has met, he fires him, so he’s free to return to Squad 3. “Now go back to 51 and do what you do best,” he says. Welcome back, Severide.

And once back at the house, he gets right to it, putting his squad through a drill to see how they’ve been in his absence. But he doesn’t leave OFI behind entirely. On his way out, Seager notes she may need his help. “You also strike me as a guy who has a hard time being tied down to one thing,” she says. And she does ask him a few questions about some cases they didn’t close, sending a “thanks again” text Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) sees.

(Adrian Burrows/NBC)

But Kidd remembers the hard time she gave Severide about his jealousy regarding Tyler. Because of that, she doesn’t think she can say anything about the bad feeling she’s getting from Seager. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to. When Seager brings Severide another case and suggests they discuss it over lunch, he turns her down. “I need to put my focus back where it belongs: Squad 3, House 51, sort of keep myself tied down to one thing,” he tells her.

So, Severide is back where he belongs, but fans probably shouldn’t get too comfortable. After all, “There will definitely be a time where everyone is out of 51,” executive producer Derek Haas told TV Insider about this season.