Spoilers ahead for Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 3, titled “All Kinds of Crazy.”
The big cliffhanger from Chicago Fire Season 12 (streamable with a Peacock subscription) was the reveal that the seemingly shady Damon is actually Severide’s half-brother, and he’s only keeping it a secret to learn about the Squad’s lieutenant. However, in “All Kinds of Crazy,” set in the 2024 TV schedule, Damon is just downright shady when he lies to Chief Pascal to imply that Stella Kidd is a bad officer, which could get her fired from the 51. Apparently, the Damon/Severide cliffhanger from last week’s episode isn’t something we need to worry about! Fortunately, Pascal didn’t let Kidd’s reaction to him or Truck’s turnover sway his opinion after Mouch assured him he had all the information, and Damon was removed from 51 and had to leave… but not before a farewell scene with Severide that made me nervous. In a confrontation before leaving, Damon told Severide this: Trust you? I came to 51 because I wanted to get to know you, learn from you. But you abandoned me the first chance you got. And you were too busy with an arson case to help me when I needed you the most. You think you put Benny in the past? You’re Benny.
Objectively speaking, all the problems Damon complains about are problems of his own making, since Severide has no obligation to help him in any way, let alone shield him from Kidd and Pascal. Damon was dishonest from the start, and they’re both adults. If anything, his time at 51 is just a big consequence for a lot of small actions, and just being back on the surface doesn’t seem so bad after what he tried to do by lying about Kidd to the new sheriff.
Even so, Damon being wrong about what he said doesn’t mean the parting shot won’t hurt Severide. When I spoke to showrunner Andrea Newman ahead of Season 13, she mentioned that one of the problems the good ol’ Stellaride is facing and the possibility of starting a family is “the consequences of Benny Severide’s son.” When I mentioned that I caught a few Benny Severide Easter eggs while rewatching the Season 12 finale, Newman also commented that “it’s fun to see all that.”
And given all of this, I’m worried that Severide might start to fall apart a little bit when it’s implied that he’s exactly like his father. While Stella has made it clear that she’s not ready to start a family, it would be bad if Severide decided that he wasn’t worthy of being a father because he’s Benny’s son. Severide feeling ready to be a father is a sign of great maturity. How sad would it be if he started doubting himself again just because of something Damon said to him in a fit of rage?
Unfortunately, the promo for the next episode doesn’t shed much light on the matter, though it does suggest that fans might want to start praying for Violet. Check it out: New episodes of Chicago Fire air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET, right between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET, all on NBC. The three showrunners of One Chicago have kept their perspectives to a certain extent through text messages, but the series has largely remained separate except for a few small crossovers. If you want to catch up on previous episodes of any or all three seasons, you can find them streaming on Peacock.
