From the moment the Chicago Fire season 13 episode 3 promo dropped,

fans had been worrying about who exactly on the cast would be leaving

the show and their panic was understandable.

In the promo for the episode, we see Chief Pascal sitting someone on the team down in his office as he tells them, “You’ve broken my trust, I’m dismissing you from this firehouse,” as he then puts what appears to be a pink slip in the document tray on his desk. The moment left fans speculating about who might be getting the boot and wondering what could lead to Chief Pascal letting someone go.

Given the way the promo was cut, there were three characters in particular that fans were most worried about: Severide, Kidd, and Damon. There were arguments for each theory fans had over who might be leaving the show, but at the end of the day was this all a misdirect or did Chief Pascal really fire Severide, Kidd, or Damon?

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Chicago Fire season 13 episode 3. Be sure to refresh for updates as we’ll be recapping the episode as it airs live. 

As the episode begins, Kidd sits down with Severide and tells him that there is just too much baggage and that 51 is not the best place for Damon. She’s going to go to Chief Pascal and tell him that she wants Damon gone.

When Kidd arrives, she’s surprised to see Damon is already at the house and has been working to clean the truck before shift. He asks to speak to her about what went down on their previous call and Kidd tells him they can speak later, as 51 is called to a multi-floor building fire.

Ritter and Herrmann are first on the scene and race in to save a victim spotted in a window. As Herrmann helps get the victim to safety Ritter does a sweep of the second floor to check for other victims. As Chief Pascal tells him to get out of the building, Ritter is blasted through the window by the force of an explosion and Violet and Novak quickly rush into action to help their friend. Things look dicey, but he’s stable as they load him into the ambulance to take him to Med.

After the fire is put out, Severide and Squad look around the building and it’s clear Severide is suspecting foul play. The family who owns the restaurant arrives and Severide tells them there was a fire in the kitchen that spread and we learn the man pulled from the fire was a renter who they had kicked out

Kidd gives Chief Pascal an update on Ritter and uses it to pivot into her need to put Damon into the floater pool. Chief Pascal is confused as there have been no issues noted in her reports. He says she should have flagged things sooner and points out that this once again means more turnover on his rig. He makes it clear that he’s in charge of determining who stays and who goes, and he’ll decide whether her leadership is part of the problem as he dismisses her.

After the conversation with Pascal, Kidd fills Severide in and he’s ready to go to battle for her but Kidd tells him the best thing they can do is ride it out. Their conversation is interrupted by a call from Arson investigator Captain Tom Van Meter suggesting Severide’s hunch that something was off about this fire and it could be arson. He goes to meet with him and Van Meter when Cody, the man who was rescued from the fire, comes in and confronts Severide saying the family went to the hospital and accused him of starting the fire. He tells Severide and Van Meter he was there to get some stuff he left behind and that he heard a car peeling away when he was there and that the last thing he wanted was to get involved in the drama between the couple who own the restaurant.

Back at 51, Damon is called into Chief Pascal’s office and asked about the issues on the last call. He asks Damon about the issues that apparently happened on the call and Damon comes clean about there being some communication issues… right before throwing Kidd under the bus telling Pascal that he just wants to be the best he can be and that it’s hard to know what Kidd wants sometimes.

Kidd calls Severide and tells him about Pascal meeting with Damon and she’s feeling quite nervous about what Damon told him during the meeting. Meanwhile, Seviride goes full fire-cop and is helping to look into the fire. He meets with the family who owns the restaurant and asks them if they are having money problems as Cody told him about the fights and them raising his rent. Their daughter tells them about how her mom wanted to sell the restaurant. The mom begins to worry that her old rice cooker could have been left on overnight and be the cause of the fire.

Ritter is going to be okay but it’s clear someone is in danger

Fortunately, all of Ritter’s tests come back good and he’s cleared to be discharged from the hospital and to return to active duty.