‘Chicago Fire’ to Get New Battalion Chief: How Will Pascal’s Absence Be Explained?

There’s another shake-up coming to Firehouse 51 on Chicago Fire.

For part of the latter half of Season 14, the firehouse will have a new battalion chief. As we’ve seen this season, cast members are not appearing in every episode, and this time, there will be a few coming up without Dermot Mulroney.

According to Deadline, his last episode is slated for the one after the three-show crossover with Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. — he’ll be in that — and that’s the 14th of the season. Mulroney “may return” as Pascal as the season’s wrapping, the outlet reports, with those scripts still being completed.

As for who will serve as battalion chief during that time, Rob Morgan will recur in three episodes and the season finale as Hopkins, “who has a long, haunted past in overseeing several Chicago firehouses and is quick to assert authority over his colleagues.” His first episode is the 16th of the season, meaning there will be one without someone as battalion chief. Deadline notes that there will be an in-show reason for Pascal’s absence and the addition of Morgan as Hopkins. It’s unclear what this might mean for a 15th season, should the series be renewed.

So, how could Chicago Fire explain all this, given what’s happened so far? Well, Pascal has been butting heads with city hall, specifically the mayor’s chief of staff, Annette Davis (Annabeth Gish), over the changes being made to the CFD, specifically 51’s engine being decommissioned, resulting in a transfer for Mouch (Christian Stolte). That has also soured Pascal and Annette’s budding personal relationship. It was in the midseason premiere that Pascal got conflicting reports — Annette claimed the CFD made the call regarding which rigs would be decommissioned, while the CFD said it came from the mayor’s office.

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Annette has also been pushing for Pascal to look at his future beyond being a battalion chief and what they could do for the city together, but he hasn’t been interested. But could the way he’s been pushing to help Mouch lead to the CFD brass forcing his hand in doing just that, having to unwillingly consider a job change? And could the CFD be bringing Hopkins in for some reason? There has to be a reason for the mentions of him overseeing multiple firehouses and asserting his authority in the character description.

But what’s your theory? How do you think Chicago Fire will explain this battalion chief switch? Let us know in the comments section below.

Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC