Will Her Birth Mother Bring Brett & Casey Together on ‘Chicago Fire’?

Meredith Jacobs February 27, 2020, 10:45 am

Chicago Fire Season 8 Casey Brett Birth Mother — NBC

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 8, Episode 16 of Chicago Fire, “Off the Grid.”]

While the focus of Wednesday’s Chicago Fire was very much on the crossover with P.D. featuring Brian Geraghty’s return as Sean Roman, “Off the Grid” included a major moment for Brett (Kara Killmer).

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Facing the prospect of meeting her birth mother, the paramedic was nervous. “First impressions are so important, and I just want to get it right,” she told Casey (Jesse Spencer). Because of that, she had been unable to go through with a call, but she was ready to try to see her in person. Continuing to encourage her, as he has throughout this storyline, he offered to drive her. “Thought it might help to have a buddy,” he said.

On the way, she admitted to having “a bad case of Disney princess fever” when she was young; she was convinced her real parents were British royals. As she got older, she never looked for them because she loves her parents and figured the reality would never live up to the fantasy. The reality was messy, not a fairytale. Because he was with her, he had a front row seat to her disappointment. The man at the door told her no one by the name of Julie lived there. Was that the universe’s way of telling her to leave it alone, she wondered.

Kara Killmer Chicago Fire Brett Birth Mother

(NBC)

No, it was just her birth mother’s husband still processing just learning about Brett’s existence. Julie showed up at 51 to offer Brett an explanation and an apology. “I wasn’t ready to be a mother,” she told her. (She’d been 16 when she had her.) She thought someone else would do a better job, and as she could see, they did.

Whether or not Brett planned to let Julie (and her husband) into her life was up to her, but her birth mother had something else to tell her: she’s pregnant. Brett has a half-sibling on the way. How did that news affect her? A call interrupted their conversation, giving her little time to process. Casey only caught the end of the conversation, but it was clear he had a pretty good idea of who the woman was.

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Might this be what brings Casey and Brett together? The introduction of Brett’s birth mother is “a nice way to dovetail Casey and Brett’s friendship,” Jesse Spencer previously told TV Insider. “We’re not rushing into it very quickly. The slow burn is the perfect way to play this.”

Could Casey help her decide if she wants to have Julie and her husband be part of her life? Will he be by her side if she does decide to see her birth mother again? And could Julie be the next to wonder exactly what’s going on between the two? If someone who just met her (and him) notices something, could that be what spurs them to do something about their will they/won’t they dance?

Whatever happens next, Fire does seem to be continuing on the path of eventually putting Casey and Brett together. But for now, it looks like fans should just take note of moments like the ones about following up on patients and her birth mother.

Chicago Fire Season 8 Episode 15 Brett Birth Mother Casey

(NBC)

“They have a deep friendship that’s going to get deeper as the season goes,” showrunner Derek Haas said in November. “Beyond that, I do think Brett’s the kind of person who puts others’ feelings in front of her own at all times, and she had a front-row seat to the Dawson-Casey relationship for years. You saw it in this episode and you’ll see it going forward, the question of, ‘Do I subdue my own feelings because I know where somebody else’s heart and thoughts lie?'”

There’s only so long a slow burn can last; let’s hope they, at the very least, address the sparks that others have noticed between them sooner rather than later.

Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC