The seventh season of Chicago Fire, an American drama television series from executive producer Dick Wolf and producers Derek Haas and Matt Olmstead, was ordered on May 9, 2018, by NBC.[1] The season premiered on September 26, 2018, with a timeslot change from Thursday at 10:00 p.m. to Wednesday at 9:00 p.m.[2] The season concluded on May 22, 2019, and contained 22 episodes.[3]
Casey deals with the fallout of Dawson's trip to Puerto Rico for relief help. Meanwhile, Firehouse 51 welcomes a new paramedic, Emily Foster to the team, replacing Dawson on Ambulance 61. Boden clashes with new Assistant Deputy Commissioner Gorsch—an obvious sycophant to the new Commissioner, Grissom—when he tries to clean up the Firehouse's reputation. Later, Casey is surprised when he returns home to find Dawson there to say goodbye.
The firefighters and the paramedics of Firehouse 51 deal with a 25-story apartment fire that creates chaos. Detective Jay Halstead and Dr. Will Halstead’s father is one of the victims trapped inside. Meanwhile, the new Assistant Deputy Commissioner keeps his eye on Boden. Casey and Brett continue to deal with Dawson’s departure and Brett gets a special gift that helps her cope. Foster opens up about her past. One of the firefighters gets into trouble while trying to save another firefighter. Severide makes a daring rescue of a small boy from the upper floors.
This episode begins a crossover with Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. that continues on "When to Let Go" and concludes on "Endings." It is included in the Chicago Med Season 4 and Chicago P.D. Season 6 DVD sets.
Severide gets put into a difficult situation following a call when a car drives off an overpass. Criminal charges are filed and this is classified as an attempted murder/suicide rather than an accident. Meanwhile, the Assistant Deputy Commissioner suggests a new Lieutenant to Boden for Engine 51. However, the suggested Lieutenant turns out to be his brother in law. To the dismay of the ADC, Boden ignores the suggestion and appoints Herrmann as the new Lieutenant. Cruz receives unexpected romantic attention—from a young woman he rescued from the 25-story fire. Mouch tries to reach out to a Firefighter candidate who was kicked out from his firehouse following the apartment fire. Also, Foster bonds with the firehouse. Severide discovers the truth about the overpass accident after clashing with a divorce attorney involved with the family.
Firehouse 51 deals with a call that involves a series of explosions from hand grenades. Herrmann deals with his first week as Engine 51's new Lieutenant and Mouch lends a hand to a fellow firefighter. Brett and Foster suspect that a child might be getting performance enhancing drugs at a gymnastics club and Foster accuses the mother. Stella’s old high school friend visits Chicago however, Severide believes that the friend might have feelings for Stella. Foster and Brett discover who really supplied PEDs to the injured young gymnast. Herrmann finally loses his patience with an insubordinate engine crewman.
The firehouse responds to a fire at a trailer park. At the firehouse, Gorsch berates everyone for the smallest of things. A reporter, Naomi, asks Casey to look into the cause of the trailer fire after discovering six similar fires. Meanwhile, Boden and Gorsch hit a new low when Boden finds out that Gorsch is trying to remove him from the firehouse—based on a less-than-flattering assessment Boden wrote when he was a captain and Gorsch a firefighter candidate. Herrmann, Kidd, and Otis try to find the person responsible for posting a negative review about Molly’s on Yelp. Severide reaches out to his father for help. Meanwhile, Brett learns more about Foster.
Gorsch continues to clash with Boden at the firehouse and escalates his efforts as he takes Boden’s place as Incident Commander when 51 responds to a call of a poisonous gas exposure at a hotel. After the call, Gorsch (clearly over his head as an IC) threatens various insubordination charges against the house and against Boden. Severide receives devastating news about his father. Cruz tries to teach everyone Spanish following the hotel call. Casey and Naomi continue working together when she discovered more problems with the trailer manufacturer. Foster tries to get Brett in the spirit of Halloween. Chaplain Orlovsky announces his retirement and introduces 51 to his successor, Chaplain Kyle Sheffield (Teddy Sears). Later on, Severide gets emotional after Boden reveals to him that his father did one final act of kindness. Gorsch is removed from 51 for good.
Severide struggles with preparing the funeral for his late father Benny and takes it out on others. Stella goes the extra mile to help find a medal that Benny earned while he was a firefighter. Meanwhile, Brett contemplates a decision to turn in a teen driver who may have caused a car accident by texting and driving. Also, Otis is reunited with Severide's half sister Katie.
While still grieving his father's death, Severide gets caught up in a moment and is saved while at a call. Later on, Severide turns to Foster for support after she reveals that she has also lost a parent. Meanwhile, Casey and Naomi reunite on the same trailer park fire which later turns out to be intentional. Also, Herrmann, Mouch and Otis look into finding a firefighter calendar from 1990 with Boden in it.
51 responds to a call of a major highway car pileup, and Cruz discovers that his girlfriend Chloe is among the victims. Meanwhile, Casey grows closer to Naomi as they continue the trailer home story. Foster contemplates an offer to return to medical school, but ultimately decides to stay with 51. Also, Severide's jealousy of Stella's friend puts a strain on their relationship. At the end of the episode, while Casey and Naomi are sleeping, he is woken up to find his apartment on fire leaving their lives hanging in the balance.
Casey and Naomi escape the apartment fire. Casey immediately suspects that it was arson. Meanwhile, Severide and Stella's relationship hits a breaking point when Severide takes up restoring an old boat instead of being with her. Also, Brett, Foster, Otis and Herrmann organize a fire safety demonstration for high school students, but they are later surprised to see a group of seniors instead. The firehouse responds to an accident and Severide nearly gets killed. Later, Casey and Naomi say goodbye as she is going to Zurich.
Severide and Stella deal with the aftermath of their breakup. Severide's boat job takes a dramatic turn when the garage the boat is stored in is set on fire and he is accused of arson. Meanwhile, Brett volunteers to help Casey find a new apartment. Foster suspects that one of her victims at a call is being overmedicated by her doctor after the victim suffers a seizure. Also, Stella trains the firehouse dog, Tuesday in a dog show.
Casey and Severide grow suspicious following a call to a single motorcycle accident where no other vehicle is involved. Meanwhile, Mouch grows tired of Otis' old man jokes and Ritter tries to get them to make amends. Also, Foster goes on a date with a doctor. Stella, Brett and Foster try to get a dent out of the Ambulance. Later, The Firehouse responds to an art museum call where a young boy is stuck inside a piece of art.
While responding to a call, engine 51 gets into a collision with a teen driver. The accident hits Herrmann hard as his son just started to drive. Later, Herrmann takes out his stress on his family. Meanwhile, Foster continues to get harassed by the doctor she went out with and it begins to affect her job. Also, Cruz organizes everyone to attend the polar plunge. Severide takes Casey for a night out.
Brett, Foster and Stella travel to Indiana for a girls getaway when they get involved in a car accident involving an overturned school bus full of student hockey players with serious injuries. Brett and Foster race against the clock to treat them with the resources they have. Meanwhile, the rest of Firehouse 51 compete against each other in the annual chili cook off.
A string of robberies happen at apartment complexes when a firehouse lockbox containing a key goes missing. The Intelligence unit asks Cruz to go undercover at another firehouse because Hank Voight suspects that a fellow firefighter might the culprit. Meanwhile, Kidd goes on a date with one of her call victims. Cruz discovers the lockbox robbery culprit unexpectedly.
While at a suicide call Casey gets ambushed by a gunman and dodges death closely. Later on, Brett tries to get Casey to show his grief and she is met with challenges in her personal life. Commissioner Grissom comes to 51 and asks them to show their support for him as there are rumors of him getting forced out of his job due to internecine politics. Otis wins a contest however, he has to shoot a hockey puck into a goal in order to receive it. A task force observing Grissom closely gets a look at his real commitment when he joins 51 on a difficult home fire and pitches in on the rescue.
As Casey continues to deal with post-traumatic stress, he begins to take it out on Herrmann following a call that injures Ritter. Meanwhile, at the same call, Stella suspects that the victim might be keeping kidnapped children locked in a secret room. Herrmann’s wife Cindy redecorates the common room. Later, Stella is credited after following her instincts. Casey makes amends with Herrmann.
Boden is stunned to discover the woman extricated from her bathroom at a home fire is his now-divorced high school sweetheart, Jasmine. Casey and Severide suspect that the fire was intentionally set. Cruz learns he'll receive an award for helping solve the lockbox robberies—before being berated by Severide when an order is ignored during a fire call. Kidd goes searching for a mug that is a decoration at Molly’s after it goes missing. Boden is even more shocked to discover who set fire to Jasmine's home, and Severide and Stella separately acknowledge they still have feelings for each other.
During a stormy night, the firefighters and paramedics rally together to search for answers about a lost child found in their fire truck. Otis grows suspicious of a man who comes to the firehouse, claiming to be a "firefighter from Detroit" but he can't seem to get his story straight. Meanwhile Brett and Casey realize that they have feelings for each other.
51 responds to a call at a hair salon. Later on, the investigation of the fire leads to arson. OFI looks towards the owner as the arsonist for insurance purposes. Severide suspects that the person responsible might be the same suspect in a cold case his father was working on. Meanwhile, another firehouse suspects that 51 might have stolen their nozzle which they deny. Later on, Cruz finds the nozzle and tries to sneak it back to the other firehouse. Later, Matt talks to the Chaplain about Brett.
Severide’s investigation into the arson case takes a turn when he gets suspended from duty for insubordination. Later on, Severide discovers who the arsonist is and immediately tells 51 that she is going to blow up a church. Meanwhile, Herrmann grows suspicious of a fellow firefighters wellbeing following their retirement. Also, Brett questions her feelings towards Casey.
Severide and Kidd continue to work the arson case. Later on, she and Severide rekindle their romance. Meanwhile, After helping a woman who is pregnant, Casey begins to develop feelings towards Brett only to find out that she and Chaplain Sheffield have become engaged. Also, Herrmann teaches Ritter how to bust the chops of the other firefighters at the house. At the end of the episode, everyone's lives hang in the balance while at a massive factory fire.
Production
Cast changes
On May 15, 2018, longtime cast member Monica Raymund who plays Paramedic Gabriela Dawson, announced her departure from the series citing her desire to get on with the "next chapter in life."[26] On September 21, 2018, NBC announced that newcomer Annie Ilonzeh would join the series as a regular playing Emily Foster replacing Raymund on Ambulance 61.[27]
Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of Chicago Fire season 7
