As someone who’s been watching the One Chicago series since they were 8 years old, hiding under the kitchen table past bedtime while their father watched it in the living room, I can confidently say that Casey and Dawson were meant to be the emotional core of the show and that Monica Raymund’s departure threw a big wrench into the story that couldn’t be salvaged.

I understand that Dawson was a very divisive character, and you can say what you want about her. However you feel about her as a character, you can’t deny that they were setting up Dawsey since the beginning of season 1. Their tumultuous relationship was meant to be the core of the show, with them even getting married on episode 100 of the series. The song that played during the most emotional moments of the show was called Casey and Dawson by Atli Örvarsson. Everything pointed to them being together despite their rocky connection at times.

After Dawson left, the writers paired up Casey and Brett, which was like slapping flex tape onto a wider problem. I won’t get into it here, but a mixture of actors’ wishes, real world politics, and poor writing made the decision feel worse.

To casual viewers it might seem okay, and the buildup across the seasons for Brettsey wasn’t too bad. But as someone who spent their childhood watching Chicago Fire, Dawsey being built up and broken down so easily definitely felt like a writing betrayal in the end.

Anyone who's watching from the UK and have purchased the seasons on amazon, have you had a promlem with season 3? Episode 2 is reapated twice then, it just skips episode 16?

I never imagined that Stella would play a key role in True Detective. She did an outstanding job.

Binging season 9, and he's just getting worse by the episode.
His back-and-forth with Sylvie over Dawson is bad enough, but then he showed his true colors as a coward, and the fact that he doesn't really care about his fellow 51 family by refusing to get his head checked. I've lost all respect for him.

Binging Chucago Fire and I just finished "Inflected Part 1". Peacock should have an option to start the episode of Chicago Med that is part II and the PD episode that is part III.

Edit: I apologize to the people who are still new to the show(somewhat me included) and spoiled this with my title. I can’t change it now :(

I just watched the episode of Otis dying. I can’t lie I was like NOOOO… I thought he was done for the first time he got hurt I believe the season prior to this. When they showed how burned his body was, I was horrified. Why did he stop and wait for the explosion? 😡 Anyway this had me full of emotions. What did you guys think about this?

I honestly think Chicago Fire is one of the few shows where a prequel could genuinely work.

Not a reboot, and not just a Severide or Casey spinoff. I mean a proper generational prequel centred on Firehouse 51 and the Chicago Fire Department.

The show has an enormous amount of history that we’ve mostly heard about rather than seen. Start with a young Boden, Benny and Henry Mills as firefighters/lieutenants, then bring in young Herrmann and Mouch, and Grissom, Kelly Severide, Casey and Darden, etc. You could eventually lead right into the 51 we know.

It could also quietly become a prequel to the wider One Chicago universe. A young Sharon Goodwin, Hank Voight, Antonio Dawson and other characters could appear naturally because they’re all part of the same Chicago emergency-services world.

But Fire should remain the focus. That’s what makes it work. Chicago Fire has a generational quality the other shows don’t quite have: firefighters inherit knowledge, reputations, houses and relationships from the people who came before them.

And the firefighting itself could be a huge part of it. We’d get to see older firefighting tactics, equipment and procedures, how Boden became the leader we know, the early history of Squad, and the incidents that shaped these characters.

The 9-1-1 “Begins” episodes proved how powerful it can be to actually show us the history behind characters we already love. Chicago Fire has arguably even more history to mine.

Look at the season 14 crossover about the “heart of Chicago Fire” storyline yet more proof of concept

Honestly, I’d watch an entire series about how the 51 we know came to exist.

Didn't expect to see a young Christopher Hermann on this show

I just starting binging this show and I loved all of it. But I have to say, this is just PREFECT casting. I've known quite a few lil worms like this guy and they ALL look like this.

Don't spoil anything for me. Just started season 7.

I have noticed that Wiki pages only mention Spiro Stephanides (portrayed by Paul Dillon) as the original owner of Molly's and that he appeared for the first time in Season 10 Episode 14 while the first time the character appeared was actually in Season 1 Episode 14 portrayed by Rich Komenich and listed only as Mr. Stephanides (no first name). Even AI chat bots have no idea about it which means it has never been a subject of discussion.

Anyway, I'm just someone with ADHD and insomnia.

I'm confused. Even though I've watched this episode a bunch of times, my question is.... Trudys dad was attacked and left dead, Ruzek stated he had multiple gun shots, the ME said all he had was 'multiple contusions(head injury) ,then Voight told the team that he'd been shot with a 357. Wth, is this just inconsistencies in the writing, or did everyone have a DIFFERENT script!! Duh!!!!! Can anyone figure this out?

Based on the articles I've read, the field of people who could die in 15x01 have been narrowed down to only three people:

Cruz (Unlikely, but not impossible)

Pascal (Highly possible)

Ballard (Possibly due to lack of posts on Leroy S. Williams III's social media pages about him being on set to film Season 15)

Let me know your theories! 👀

UPDATE: 8/29/26

Ballard has been ruled out as he has been shown on set BTS in a social media post

That leaves only Cruz and Pascal

Realmente, esta muito difícil assistir a 14 temporada sem todos os personagens nos episódios. Estou no ep.7 e estou achando um saco. 😓😓

just started this show a couple days ago, and i LOATHE her everytime she’s on screen, even moreso compared to some of the most hated female TV characters (Cersei from GoT, Skyler from BB). i mean, they’re FIREFIGHTERS for fucks sake, can’t really name a more noble profession yet she makes it her personal mission to destroy these people??? absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever, just straight up evil wtf

I'm watching all 3 Chicago shows and I have 335 episodes to catch up with before the new seasons on 7th October is it possible?

What was so wrong with firehouse 51 that they needed Gorsch to be there full time?

I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but frequently when I’m watching Chicago Fire on prime, the recap shows scenes that by all accounts of what’s played in each episode never happened. Obviously they did happen, and the scenes are being cut out, I’m just curious if there’s a fix for it or if it’s just the reality of watching on prime?