Contains spoilers for “Chicago Fire” Season 14, Episode 1 — “Kicking Down Doors.”
As it enters its 14th season, “Chicago Fire” is once again in the position of having to replace several important actors who are in the midst of departing the show. As it stands, Daniel Kyri’s Darren Ritter, Jake Lockett’s Sam Carver, and Michael Bradway’s Jack Damon are all slated to leave the series this season. But it looks like only Ritter’s exit is going to be pulling much narrative attention, at least for the first few episodes.
During “Kicking Down Doors,” Darren Ritter’s boyfriend, Dwayne (Samuel B. Jackson) — who moved to New York City during Season 13 — fails to meet him for a prearranged Skype meeting. He asks Mouch (Christian Stolte) to call his wife Trudy (Amy Morton) and pull files to find out what’s up. It turns out that Dwayne was shot on duty and is now in the hospital. Darren flies out to be with him at his hospital bedside, and Dwayne is clearly moved that he made the effort. This gives the show narrative space to have Darren move to New York to be with Dwayne, a story which will apparently stretch out over Season 14’s first few episodes. But as for our missing firefighters, little is mentioned of them.
As Vasquez enters the scene, we have some idea of where Damon and Carver are
Our other two missing firefighters don’t get much shine. “Kicking Down Doors” does hint that Sam Carver’s storyline is basically over. The episode opens with a flashback to the Season 13 finale, where Carver told Violet (Hanako Greensmith) that he’s putting an application in with the Denver firefighting department. But he also returned to kiss her, leaving the door to their relationship wide open. The Season 14 premiere indicates he is completely gone, though his name isn’t mentioned aloud — when Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) meets Sal Vasquez (Brandon Larracuente) for the first time, she tells him he’s “replacing a hell of a good driver.” Vasquez shrugs at the comment, saying that Carver isn’t as good as him. Kidd and Vasquez immediately enter into conflict. The metatextual issues are addressed by Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney). “We’ve lost a lot of good firefighters lately. I suggest you take a beat before we lose another,” he tells Stella.
Jack Damon isn’t mentioned at all, either, though his name is still on his locker when Vasquez puts his own name on Carver’s own now-empty equipment holder. Since Vasquez seems to be taking over the role of team hothead from Damon, that’s fitting. Whether he’ll actually last remains an open question as of this writing. But hopefully, if fans bond with the character, they’ll be rewarded with a long stay from him.
