Spoilers ahead for Episode 17 of Chicago Fire Season 11, called "The First Symptom."
Firehouse 51 is currently missing its usual Squad lieutenant on Chicago Fire, with Severide still absent from the Windy City (to accommodate a leave of absence for actor Taylor Kinney). According to Stella Kidd in "The First Symptom," he won't be back for another month and a half, and there's no saying at this point when fans can expect to see him again in the flesh. The good news is that none other than Jesse Spencer will be back as Matt Casey in the very next episode, and the show is delivering the kind of reunion that I've been hoping for since Spencer left as a series regular.
Jesse Spencer's first episode of Chicago Fire since he returned as Casey in the Season 10 finale is called "Danger Is All Around" and will air on April 5. The episode description from NBC reveals that a "familiar face" is returning to Firehouse 51 to work with Stella on "a special task force." While that doesn't exactly shed a ton of light on what to specifically expect, I've been hoping to see Stella and Casey working together ever since she became the lieutenant of Truck 81. His exit opened up the slot on 81, and she has risen to the challenge of leading.
I've especially been hoping to see Lieutenant Kidd and Captain Casey working together in light of the fact that Stella was actually absent from Chicago in the 200th episode that was Casey's big farewell. She obviously had larger concerns when Casey returned at the end of Season 10 to stand up as Severide's best man in the Stellaride wedding. If anything, it's possible that Severide's absence in "Danger Is All Around" could mean more scenes between Casey and Stella.
We can only speculate at this point, but I'm optimistic about finally getting an on-the-job reunion between Stella and Casey, now that their roles have changed. It's not clear what this task force will be that evidently brings Casey back from Oregon, but the promo suggests that Stella at least had no idea that she'd be joining forces with her former captain. Take a look:
The promo doesn't give away many details, although it seems that there will be some focus on Brett and Casey's reunion as well as whatever brings him to work with Stella. Brett has been doing an admirable job of moving on from Casey in Season 11, so if Jesse Spencer is just coming back for one episode and Kara Killmer isn't leaving, I just hope that the reunion doesn't ruin everything Brett has done to get over him.
On the whole, I'm excited to see the new dynamic between Stella and Casey on the job now that she's Truck 81 lieutenant, even though I'm guessing that I'll also be a bit bummed that Severide won't be around for a good dose of bromance. Before the reveal that Severide was going to an arson investigation training course, I'd been hoping that Taylor Kinney's absence would be explained by the character taking a break from the stresses of the Windy City to go visit Casey in Oregon for a while.
Find out all the details of what brings Casey back to Chicago with the "Danger Is All Around" episode of Chicago Fire on Wednesday, April 5 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. The episode will also see Tony on the verge of breaking the perfect attendance record for the Chicago Fire Department (with Mouch and Capp ready to help him get there), while Gallo will reunite with a family member. Revisit past episodes of Fire streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription.
