It’s not every day that you discover an estranged brother, let alone one who has become your coworker.
While it’s typically the perilous rescue missions that get viewers’ blood pumping on Chicago Fire, the show is equally applauded for its compelling characters. Case in point: the explosive moment during the Season 12 finale when Severide (Taylor Kinney) learned his family is bigger than he believed.
Severide has been doing some soul-searching in Season 12 as he and his wife, Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), settle down amid staff changes at Firehouse 51. As beloved firefighters head for the door, new blood has joined the station. 51 can be particular about who they welcome into their tight-knit family, and while some newbies have easily integrated — like Paramedic Lyla Novak (Jocelyn Hudon) — another has been met with paranoia and concern. No one knows what Jack Damon (Michael Bradway) is up to after he was overheard having a suspicious phone call on his first day.
Fortunately, Chi-Hards finally learned Damon’s motives for coming to 51 in the Season 12 finale. Here’s everything that happened:
Jack Damon and Kelly Severide’s unlikely bond
It all began after Stella learned of a shady phone call Damon made. “That isn’t the only reason why I’m here,” Damon told an unknown caller. “No, no, nobody here knows. And I’ll keep it that way for as long as I want.”
After word of this call spread around the station, the 51 firefighters distanced themselves from Damon. Finally, annoyed with the lack of trust she had in a member of her engine, Stella confronted Damon. She explained that she couldn’t keep him on her rig if he had an issue with 51, but if it was a personal matter that had him acting strange over the phone, that was his business. Damon confirmed the call was personal and set out to clear the air with his Lieutenant.
Despite Damon’s isolation, Severide has taken a liking to him. Anytime Severide is around, Damon’s energy noticeably shifts as he clings to every word Severide says. When chatting with Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker), Severide explained he liked Damon, but Stella found him hard to read. Impressed with Damon’s self-starter attitude, Severide told Stella he might be worth keeping. Stella and Severide’s varying interactions with Damon played a role in a disastrous call she later made with Damon and Sam Carver (Jake Lockett).
Jack Damon was on thin ice after a risky call
Stella had her work cut out for her after the rig arrived at the scene of a restaurant fire, where the firefighters met the owner, a father, and his two employed sons. The scene was chaotic. The father was hurling insults at his youngest son, Mike, after he allegedly burned a dish and used the fire extinguisher to put it out, destroying the meal in the process. The father was furious over the snafu, while Mike’s older brother called him insulting names. The firefighters attempted to de-escalate the situation.
That proved difficult after the father tried to kick them out because the fire was already extinguished. When Carver pointed out that Mike had a nasty burn injury, the father grew even more irritated, telling them to get off the restaurant’s property. Carver encouraged him to allow the paramedics to do their job. However, during the wrap-up, Mike couldn’t give a solid excuse for the cause of the burn, claiming that he spilled a pot of boiling water on his own arm.
Carver was quick to suspect that it was either the toxic older brother or abusive father who was actually responsible. After Carver called the men out for their treatment, the tension reached a fever pitch. The father suddenly pushed Stella, leading Carver to come to blows in her defense. Meanwhile, after Damon jumped in to help Carver, the elder brother joined the brawl.
After the fight finally broke up, Stella told Carver and Damon to leave and informed the father that if there was abuse, it was his responsibility. The father then retorted that Mike was an adult, and if 51 wanted to call the cops, they’d simply explain that they were jumped by firefighters in their business.
Stella had some empathy for Carver — she knows Carver was abused by his older brother as a kid, and that his father ignored the issue. Damon’s behavior, however, was a mystifying headache. After arriving back at the station, Stella quickly updated Severide that she wanted Damon off her rig after the next shift.
“At least, with Carver, I know what sparked it. The dynamics hit a little too close to home,” Stella explained. “But Damon had no excuse. I don’t even know who the hell that guy is!”
Damon dropped a big secret on Severide
If Damon wasn’t already in the doghouse, he certainly landed in bad graces with Stella after the altercation with the problematic father and brother. Severide noticed Damon sulking at his cot, telling him that he heard he acted out of line on the call.
“Yeah, I know, and I want to make it right,” Damon confessed, adding, “But, the thing is—”
Before Damon could continue, Stella entered the room, effectively snuffing out the conversation. Luckily, Damon made one friend at 51 since his arrival: fellow newbie Paramedic Novak. As Damon approached what he thought were his final hours at 51, he was keen to talk to her.
“If I don’t get to stick around here at 51, maybe you and me could get together sometime,” Damon pitched, earning a kind smile from Novak.
“Damon, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about this place, it’s that you can’t really hide stuff,” Novak told him. “So if you wanna stay at 51, you might as well just put whatever’s been weighing on you out there. Just see what happens.”
Stella ultimately chose to keep Damon for a while longer after Carver took some time on furlough. Later, Novak and Damon watched as Firehouse 51 gave Chief Boden a heartwarming send-off. This seemingly inspired some honesty from Damon about his shifty behavior. After Boden’s farewell, Damon asked Severide for a second of his time.
“I wanted to answer the question that you asked me last shift. About why I lost my cool on that call and why I really came to 51,” Damon explained, struggling through his words. “That guy at the restaurant, the father, he was being mean and he was treating that younger kid like dirt. And I had a father like that, too…”
“His name was Benny Severide,” Damon revealed, prompting Severide’s eyes to widen. That’s right: Damon is Severide’s secret half-brother.
This isn’t the first time Severide has learned of an estranged sibling from his infamously unfaithful father, but it’s certainly the most shocking. What will come from this revelation? Chi-Hards will have to find out when Season 13 of Chicago Fire returns on NBC this fall.
