It’s starting to feel like Firehouse 51 is on the brink of a major shift.
Chicago Fire entered season 13 as a brand new firehouse. Well, the characters we know and love were still there, but there were a few crucial newcomers. There was Lizzy Novak (Jocelyn Hudon), there was Jack Damon (Michael Bradway), and of course, Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney).
Novak has integrated herself seamlessly with the rest of Firehouse 51. The other two? Not so much. It’s been a tough road for both Damon and Pascal, with the former getting transferred and the latter losing his wife in a car accident. Just when it felt like we had a grasp on both characters, though, the tables turned.
Jack Damon was transfered back to 51
Damon, the liability who almost got Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) fired, secured his transfer back to 51 in the episode “In the Rubble.” The character has matured into a valuable firefighter, and Pascal gave him the thumbs up in terms of resuming his 51 duties. It was an easier task than we initially thought, as both Severide and Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) voiced concern about the process.
Pascal may have been instrumental in bringing Damon back to 51, but the Chief may very well be at the end of his firehouse tenure. The character went on a self-destructive bender for the ages in the episode, lashing out at peers, accusing people of murdering his wife, and generally putting himself in harm’s way on the job.
It got so bad that “In the Rubble” concluded with Severide confronting Pascal and demanding he put an end to his erratic behavior. The Chief had resorted to stalking the man who accidentally caused his wife’s death, and it took a wake up call from Severide to realize how damaging his trajectory was. He seemed to have found some clarity by the end of the episode, but we’re not totally convinced.
Chief Pascal has the rest of 51 worried
Pascal flew so far off the handle that we think there’s still more issues that will need to be ironed out in subsequent season 13 episodes. We know for a fact that Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker) will return, and confront Pascal about his behavior during an incident that has yet to happen, so that spells out a relapse of poor judgment.
Then there’s Herrmann (David Eigenberg), who floated the possibility of having to disobey Pascal in the future. It didn’t come to fruition in “In the Rubble,” but this was definitely Checkov’s Gun, in that the writers would not have introduced this concept if they didn’t plan to follow through on it another time. At this rate, we’d be surprised if Pascal makes it to season 14.
