‘Chicago Fire’ Introduces Pascal’s Replacement — Why Hopkins Hates Severide

Firehouse 51 has a new battalion chief in the Wednesday, April 1, episode of Chicago Fire — and he could mean trouble for some of the characters.

Following Pascal’s (Dermot Mulroney) termination for what he did during the three-show crossover’s investigation, he told 51 that Hopkins (Rob Morgan) would be coming in to oversee their house and five others. Severide (Taylor Kinney) later described him as “a real hardass” when Cruz (Joe Mińoso) asked about him. So, how does the first shift with the new boss go? Warning: Spoilers for Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 16 ahead!

Severide is “ready to step up” as ranking officer at 51, he tells Van Meter (Tim Hopper) as he awaits the captain exam’s result. He’s heard that Hopkins is “tough but fair,” and Van Meter wonders how 51 ended up under his purview since it’s out of his district. Simple: budget cuts.

This comes as everyone except squad is off at 51; for example, Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Truck are in Colorado for wildfire training. Severide’s planning on “easing” into using Pascal’s office, as the former battalion chief had wanted, but then Hopkins shows up and very quickly reminds him that it’s a chief‘s office. It’s “irrelevant” if one is using it or not. He also takes note of Lucy (Jeanine Mason) being there; Severide explains the assistant works for the whole house, and Hopkins tells her to give him a tour. (He also wonders if he knows her, and she says she must have one of those faces. Interesting.) He quickly makes clear he wants to see for himself if Squad 3 lives up to its elite reputation, and he’s not happy to see Severide and Kidd’s wedding photo in the former’s office.

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Hopkins has Severide come into his office and reveals he’s no longer going around to the other houses under his leadership that day to instead get a sense of 51. He also shares his concerns about Severide — namely that he doesn’t seem to think he has to follow the rules, since he and his wife work the same shift, which is against protocol. When Severide tells him that has been reviewed and approved by multiple chiefs, Hopkins doesn’t care. Pascal’s no longer battalion chief, Hopkins is, and he needs to make sure the place is in good hands when he’s not around — or there will be changes.

Hopkins also isn’t a fan of family members stopping by — like Chloe (Kristen Lee Gutoskie) to see Cruz about Javi’s (Carlos S. Sanchez) reaction to their pregnancy news and him trying to track down relatives in Honduras and Cruz missing a squad drill, which the chief critiques, for it — and doesn’t inform Severide that he aced the captain’s exam (he was number one). As he sees it, Severide’s not officially captain yet, and it doesn’t matter if he’s promoted or not since Hopkins is still his superior. When Severide tries to dig for answers about a possible personal problem, Hopkins just says he’s been in this position before and isn’t making the same mistake twice.

And so Severide begins looking at Hopkins’ personnel record, hoping for answers, but he’s interrupted by a call on which Hopkins joins squad: a man pinned in a grave by an excavator. Severide argues against Hopkins’ suggestion, and the chief stands back to let him work, even telling squad “nice work” after the successful rescue.

Peter Gordon/NBC

But then Severide discovers, while continuing to read through his personnel record, that his father Benny (the late Treat Williams) once suspended Hopkins. He argues to the chief that if he has beef with his dad, that has nothing to do with him, but Hopkins disagrees. He sees Severide as the “type” brought into the fold by his father and propped up by him and his friends while some of them had to fight and bleed to get to their positions. Since Severide has his last name, Hopkins sees him as part of the problem. He couldn’t do anything about Benny then, but now, with his position and the new CFD restructuring, he sees it as his chance to make things right, get rid of nepotism, greased palms, and playing favorites, and wipe it all clean. Furthermore, he’s decided to make 51 his permanent home base since that’s where he’s needed the most.

After Severide fills Cruz in, the other firefighter suggests going up the chain and showing that he can’t be an impartial leader, but with everything going on at the CFD, Hopkins isn’t going anywhere, Severide knows. Cruz argues that Severide’s number as captain will come up soon — someone’s retiring — and Hopkins can’t change it. Either way, Severide says, there isn’t room for both of us at 51. Uh-oh!

Meanwhile, Hopkins reveals why he recognizes Lucy: She was the drunk driver of an accident that left her with a partially severed arm (it was saved) and the other driver barely alive. She only had her license suspended. She hasn’t told anyone at 51, she tells him. He says she can stay there but makes it clear that she works for him, not 51. We know that’s going to end up being a major problem.

At the end of the episode, Severide goes to see Van Meter, upset about Hopkins. “It’s the best house in the city. He doesn’t know it. I do. 51 is my home. I’m not going to just sit back and watch him burn it down. Hopkins wants a fight? He’s got one,” he says. Van Meter admits that he wasn’t sure how much Severide wanted the keys to 51 that Pascal left him, until now, when he’s seeing his anger and conviction. That’s the kind of leader 51 needs, Van Meter says.

What’s your first impression of Hopkins? How do you think Severide’s fight is going to go? Let us know in the comments section below.

Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC