SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Chicago Fire Season 15, Episode 1.
The Chicago Fire Season 15 premiere is the start of the Kelly Severide era. It’s also the start of the Victor Teran era, after he became showrunner of the NBC drama. With all that in mind, “New Blood” is a very apt title for an episode that throws out a lot of possibilities for the future.
First things first: the episode resolves the fire cliffhanger from Season 14 in the worst possible way for the characters. Joe Cruz winds up breaking his spine while rescuing almost a half-dozen people trapped in the fire, and a large part of the episode deals with Cruz’s recovery or lack thereof. One Chicago fans have already been told that actor Joe Miñoso is on his way out, and now they know how Cruz is leaving. It is painful, but it’s also not entirely terrible. Miñoso gives an incredibly moving performance throughout the premiere, and at least Cruz wasn’t automatically killed off. Plus, there’s a parallel between what happened to Cruz and the tragic loss of his best friend Otis that makes this plotline resonate further. It’s not the first plotline Chicago Fire has done about an injury derailing a firefighter’s career, but it’s certainly powerful and feels better for this character than an off-screen death. That being said, Cruz’s recovery ought to be explored in the rest of the season to not only give Miñoso a proper sendoff, but also because it’s worth exploring. Oftentimes when TV characters suffer major injuries, the series doesn’t show what they’re like to live with long-term. This is a plotline that could go to compelling and meaningful places beyond the initial shock, if there’s enough time to devote to it.
The majority of “New Blood” deals with Severide once again breaking out his investigator skills, as he works to prove that Cruz was not at fault in the fire, with a nosy reporter nipping at his heels. This is classic Severide—but what makes the plot interesting is everyone else’s response to it. Dominic Pascal (an also exiting Dermot Mulroney) pops up for a scene to remind Severide that since he now runs Firehouse 51, he can’t just do whatever he wants. Likewise, Severide and his wife Stella Kidd butt heads slightly. For Severide to become Captain of 51 is a step forward that’s been so many years in the making, but it’s also important that he has a learning curve, and he’s learning those lessons from and with the most important person in his life. It means more hearing that feedback from Stella than it would from anyone else, and adds a new dimension to their relationship.
That’s good, because Stellaride fans may not be thrilled about how the episode resolves the Isaiah situation: by once again doubling back on it. After Season 14 teased the idea of Isaiah moving in with Severide and Stella, Season 15 mentions early on that Isaiah’s mom came back to Chicago—so viewers’ hopes for Stellaride having a family of any kind are once again dashed. The back and forth on the subject is understandably frustrating, and hopefully the next time it’s revisited, there’s a definitive path forward.
The subplot in “New Blood” is the introduction of the new firefighters who were revealed during the offseason. The one to watch is Marcus Burke, since actor Da’Vinchi has already been announced as a series regular. He immediately butts heads with Brandon Larracuente‘s character Sal Vasquez—which is fun since Vasquez was the previous “new guy,” so it’s a chance to see how much Vasquez has grown. He may not have entirely matured, based on his admittedly understandable anger when Burke’s useless squabble with another candidate results in Lizzie Novak being hit by a passing car. But it’s kind of an unofficial Chicago Fire tradition for the new character to do something unexpected; Burke is just getting on the radar in a negative way.
Speaking of Novak and Vasquez, the Chicago Fire Season 14 premiere throws a curveball by revealing that not only did they not get together, but they’ve both hooked up with other people. On top of that, Vasquez’s other possible love interest and Novak’s partner Violet Mikami might be getting paired up with the reporter who briefly accused the CFD of a cover-up. It’s the latter that is the most eyebrow-arching, because Jacob has already not endeared himself to viewers with how smarmy he came across to Severide. He’s going to have to do more than compliment Violet about their shared time in high school for the audience to want to see them together. As for Novak and Vasquez, hopefully they find their way back to each other, as they both deserve some stability—particularly Novak, whose major romantic storyline was the short-lived and rushed attempt at pairing her with Dr. John Frost from Chicago Med. And a relationship just starting out and having its growing pains might be an interesting contrast to Severide and Stella navigating the new layer to their dynamic.
“New Blood” is, with the exception of Cruz’s prognosis, a very self-contained episode. Teran utilizes the premiere to resolve the cliffhanger and establish the boundaries of a new Firehouse 51, almost like a prologue. As a result, it’ll take another week to fully see what he has in mind for his tenure as the new Chicago Fire showrunner. But the audience can tell that ideas exist, from confirming Severide as captain, to Stella working as a training officer, to bringing in new characters. The squabbling between candidates will get old fast—hopefully they listened when Stella took them to task—and there’s a big question mark over the two paramedics’ personal lives. But there’s also an awful lot of potential here, with more than enough reasons to be excited about Season 15.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
