Chicago Fire's Jesse Spencer Previews Casey's Return… and His Attempt to 'Restoke the Flame' With Brett?

Jesse Spencer‘s return to Chicago Fire this Wednesday (NBC, 9/8c) is coming under very different circumstances than Captain Matt Casey’s previous trip to the Windy City.

Whereas the firefighter came back in last season’s finale to attend his best friend Severide’s wedding, this time around, it’s a rather weighty and far-reaching work issue that brings Casey back into the fold.

“He’s working with the Department of Homeland Security, and there’s a potential domestic terror attack, which could target Chicago and a number of other cities,” Spencer tells TVLine. “But Chicago is still his hometown in his heart. So he wants to come back and help them organize a first-responder liaison with Firehouse 51, Truck 81 and Lieutenant Kidd to make sure everything is in line in case that attack actually happens.”

Dealing with such a threat on a national scale is a far cry from anything Casey has faced before, “which I really loved,” Spencer says, adding that Casey is “coming back with a pretty serious job.”

At the same time, Casey has a personal objective while he’s in Chicago, and it involves his ex-girlfriend Sylvie Brett, who definitely isn’t expecting to see her former beau back in the firehouse. So their interaction could be described as somewhat awkward.

“I think in his head, he thought there would be a different reaction… He thought her reaction would have been a little warmer, but it’s not good because they didn’t end on good terms. I think it’s a classic guy move. I think he thought she would be happy to see him,” Spencer shares with a laugh.

Unbeknownst to Casey, Brett has been attempting to move on, romantically, with her new guy Dylan. But her ex may still be holding onto the past as he looks to his own future.

“It feels like [Casey’s] time in Oregon could be wrapping up at some point in the future because the kids, Griffin and Ben Darden, that he’s been looking after… they’re getting into schools and [his] whole reason for being there might be wrapping up, coming to an end,” Spencer reveals.

“So I think he’s come back to sense where Brett is at, which is almost a little bit mean since they’ve already moved on,” the actor continues with a laugh. “But he’s doing it genuinely. But as we all know, with old flames returning, it can bring up a lot of different feelings. Can you restoke the flame that you once had? Can you make it work again? Or is it too back and forth? Is it over?”

Even though Casey and Brett’s split has caused them both plenty of heartache, “I don’t think he regrets it, because he’s that guy that’s always put everyone else first,” Spencer says. “I think his own relationships have sort of always come second to his oath as a firefighter and a first responder. Those people, their work lives can be tremendous, and their home lives can be not so good, which is a little bit tragic. But maybe one day he can come and and make it work, because he obviously still has feelings for this girl. They didn’t break up because they fell out of love. He had to go and help his best friend’s children. So it’s a very noble cause, but it still creates drama in his personal life.”

While Casey is the Windy City, he’ll also have an opportunity to get involved in a rescue call with Truck 81. But there’s one aspect of that particular storyline that Spencer says that he did not miss “not even one little bit” since his departure from the show in 2021: having to put on his heavy firefighter gear.

“I knew exactly where everything was and my equipment. It wasn’t like getting dressed for the first time. But man, I didn’t miss the weight of that equipment and taking it on and off 30 times. I was like, ‘Oh, I forgot about this. I don’t do this anymore,’” Spencer recalls with a laugh.

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