Chicago Fire Wasted a Potentially Amazing Storyline — And Season 15 Needs to Rectify That

Look, we all hated Battalion Chief Andre Hopkins on Chicago Fire Season 14.

He immediately came in with a grudge against Severide, creating tension within the firehouse.

However, Hopkins’ arc could have been a potentially amazing one, touching on a very real problem, and it’s something Chicago Fire Season 15 needs to revisit.

Nepotism and Favoritism are Very Real Problems

As soon as Hopkins revealed he had a problem with nepotism, we knew he would become a problem for Severide on Chicago Fire.

After all, Severide was always known as Benny Severide’s son, which led to expectations he didn’t ask for.

What Hopkins didn’t realize was that the nepotism didn’t work in Severide’s favor in this case, as he constantly had to prove he wasn’t his dad. Severide carved his own path in the CFD with Squad.

Had Hopkins accepted that right away and continued his fight against nepotism, we could have gotten behind it collectively.

I don’t want to speak for everyone, but we have seen how favoritism can become a problem, such as with Jerry Gorsch. He felt untouchable thanks to Grissom’s favoritism.

Gorsch was getting people written up for slight infractions, such as Ritter leaving his pants on the floor, and he was punishing the idea of a team being a family by having Herrmann do the write-up.

There was an element of nepotism in bringing down Gorsch, as Benny Severide stepped in to assist.

When it came to taking Gorsch down, nobody would have lent a hand had it not been for Severide mentioning it to his dad. Once Benny learned the truth, he pulled in his political favors.

It showed that if you knew the right people, you could ruin other people’s careers, whether for the right or wrong reasons, and that it is a problem in the real world as well as on TV.

Hopkins could continue this fight, and he should, throughout Chicago Fire Season 15.

Unfortunately, it looks like Hopkins’ arc on Chicago Fire Season 14 is over, as he decided it was time to leave Firehouse 51’s office and return to where he came from.

Favoritism Can Lead to the Right People Missing Out

One of the best things Chicago Fire did was to have Jack Damon come in with a completely different surname.

Although he turned out to be Benny Severide’s son, Benny didn’t encourage him to become a firefighter.

It was the chance to meet Kelly Severide, and Damon proved himself as a firefighter on his own terms.

However, he would eventually benefit from nepotism (in a way) in finding a permanent home. Kelly was the one to put in some good words for his half-brother.

Did Damon deserve that permanent home? Of course he did. He was a loyal firefighter who had proven he had what it takes to be a good team player.

He was somewhat young and brash at times, but many others before him have been the same way, such as Gallo and Carver, and ended up proving themselves.

However, that permanent position could have gone to someone else who may have deserved it more, and we’ll never know, because when it comes to finding a great job, it’s often about who you know rather than what you know.

That’s where the problem with nepotism comes in, and it’s the part that Hopkins should fight.

Now, the only way for Chicago Fire to rectify what could have been an amazing storyline by changing up the CFD is to revisit it during Season 15.

I would like to see it done with Hopkins, even as much as he annoyed me. It could be a redemption arc in which he realizes that while he had the right idea, his execution was wrong.

This time, he could turn to Severide for help with how to wipe out nepotism.

Severide didn’t initially have any qualms about Hopkins’ push to remove the nepotism problem until it turned out to be personal, so he could join in the fight if it was done for the right reasons.

I will say that Severide probably has a lot more on his plate right now, as we still don’t know if he’ll make it out of the building fire from the Chicago Fire Season 14 Finale alive.

If he does make it out, we don’t know whether he’ll choose to remain with Squad or move over to OFI. This decision could affect other storylines coming his way.

It’s going to be a long, hot summer waiting for answers!

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