‘Chicago Fire’: Stellaride’s Honeymoon Goes Sideways and 3 More Key Moments From the Season 11 Premiere
Chicago Fire is back, and the show wasted no time in diving right into the action in the September 21 season premiere. Season 11 of the NBC show picked up immediately after the season 10 finale, when a mysterious – and unwelcome – visitor was lurking outside Severide and Kidd’s honeymoon cabin.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Chicago Fire Season 11 premiere, “Hold On Tight.”]
Severide is outraged when he learns there’s a mole in the police department
Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) tied the knot at the end of season 10. But their newlywed bliss is short-lived. As the pair are enjoying a romantic fireside moment during their honeymoon, someone breaks into their cabin. It’s Thomas Campbell (Eric Slater), the drug dealer who Severide had agreed to testify against.
Things are looking dicey for Kelly and Stella, but then, the cavalry shows up. How did the police know what was going down? It turns out Detective Pryma (Troy Winbush) discovered a mole in the department, who tipped him off about the attack.
The good news is that Kidd and Severide are both safe, and soon back at work. Severide goes through with his testimony, fully expecting that the police department mole will soon be outed. But that’s not how things work at Chicago P.D., Pryma explains to an outraged Severide. Getting rid of dirty cops is a challenge; plus, using the mole as a source has its advantages.
Severide pulls in a favor from one of his dad’s old colleagues and gets the mole exposed, burning a bridge with Pryma in the process. But more importantly, the situation with Campbell is a wake-up call that his actions now affect Stella just as much as they do him. He realizes he might have to approach situations differently now that he’s a married man.
Stella clashes with a new addition to Firehouse 51
As Severide wrestles with the fallout from the Campbell situation, Stella is dealing with her own challenges at work. There’s a new addition to Firehouse 51, and he and the lieutenant have history. Carver (Jake Lockett) and Kidd were at the academy together, where he didn’t make the best impression. She thinks he’s arrogant and “not 51 material,” and she tells Boden (Eamonn Walker) as much.
Boden thinks Kidd could be an influence on Carver. Kidd’s skeptical, especially after Carver hints that she only got her promotion because of her gender and race. But does she have the right read on him? He’s done good work in the past (and has the scars to prove it). And he doesn’t seem upset when she gives him a less-challenging assignment when the crew responds to a devastating fire at a wedding, suggesting he has what it takes to be a team player.
Will Carver and Kidd get over their differences? Integrating him into Firehouse 51 likely won’t be an easy process, and we expect to see some bumps along the way as the season continues.
Did Brett just end things with Casey for good?
Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) and Matt Casey (Jesse Spencer) have been in a long-distance relationship ever since he moved to Portland last season. The two reunited at Stellaride’s wedding in the season 10 finale, but there was a sense in those scenes that the pair were saying their goodbyes.
The Chicago Fire Season 11 premiere dances around the “Brettsey” question until the final moments of the episode. Earlier, Brett reconnects with her old flame Kyle (Teddy Sears), who’s now engaged to a woman he knew from high school.
“The stars aligned,” Kyle tells Brett of how he knew his fiancée was the one. Those words lead to a moment of clarity for Brett. Just before the credits roll, we see her on the phone with Casey.
“Our stars just didn’t align, that’s all,” she says. “The timing just wasn’t right. But Matt, maybe someday…”
That certainly sounds like Brettsey is done, at least for now. That’s no huge surprise. Spencer left Chicago Fire last season, and Casey and Brett’s relationship has been on life support ever since. It’s better to pull the plug than to keep teasing fans with a reunion that’s unlikely to happen.
Hawkins and Violent are back on
While Casey and Brett don’t appear to be getting a happy ending, things turned out better for another Chicago Fire couple. Hawkins (Jimmy Nicholas) and Violet (Hanako Greensmith) split last season following the drama with workplace blackmailer Emma. That seemed to open a door to a Violet and Gallo (Alberto Rosende) relationship. But Hawkins and Violet are very much back on in this episode, once she realizes that he took the blame for the Emma debacle and requested a transfer away from 51. Not working together directly is actually better for their relationship. But it’s hard not to feel for Gallo when the two start canoodling at Molly’s at the end of the episode.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
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