Brett Dalton has been added to the Chicago Fire cast in a recurring role as interim Lieutenant Jason Pelham after Jesse Spencer’s departure from the series. Dalton made his debut in this week’s episode.
As Reel Chicago reported in October, during the 200th episode of the series Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) made a “life-altering decision” to move to Oregon with a three-year commitment, which lead to him being written off of the series. In the episode prior, Matt Casey decided that he was going to leave Chicago to look after the Darden boys, whose father was killed in an accident during the premiere episode of the series. His relationship with Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) will remain long distance for now.
Because his character wasn’t killed off completely, both Spencer and Showrunner Derek Haas seem very open to the character returning. Casey is supposed to be the best man at the wedding planned for Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), so there is a strong possibility he will return for that.
Brett Dalton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) will be recurring as Jason Pelham, the interim lieutenant filling Captain Matt Casey’s (Jesse Spencer) spot in Firehouse 51. In a promo photo from Wednesday’s episode titled Whom Shall I Fear, Pelham is shown assisting newly promoted District Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker), who is cradling a child as a car explodes in the background.
(Photo by: Adrian Burros Sr/NBC)
Dalton most notably is known for his portrayal of Grant Ward/Hive in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D from 2013-17. He most recently appeared in the Apple TV+ series Ghostwriter as Captain Vincent. Dalton’s other TV credits include roles in Blue Bloods, Elementary and Robot Chicken as well as appearances in Hallmark Channel projects including Cooking With Love, Just My Type and Once Upon a Christmas Miracle.
He will be, at least temporarily, helping to fill the void left by the departure of Matthew Casey. It still remains to be seen if or when we’re going to be seeing Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) back in the firehouse as she is currently focusing on her Girls on Fire program.
In September, at the beginning of the season, Joe Minoso (Joe Cruz) told TV Insider, “One of the things that’s really interesting coming up in terms of some of the leadership shifts is a visiting acting lieutenant who is, let’s just say, surprisingly enthusiastic. That’s going to manifest itself in a really fascinating way, especially with Gallo (Alberto Rosende) and Mouch (Christian Stolte). It’s a really great, great fun arc that I think you guys would really enjoy.“
Brett Dalton was excited to share that he’s trending on Deadline in an instagram post, exclaiming, “Wait…I’m trending on Deadline? ???????????? Well this is a first! (And hopefully not the last). Tune in this week for my first episode on #chicagofire @nbconechicago. It’s gonna be ????????????”
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
Chicago Fire executive producers include Dick Wolf, Derek Haas, Todd Arnow, Andrea Newman, Michael Gilvary, Michael Brandt, Reza Tabrizi, Arthur W. Forney, Peter Jankowski.
Chicago Fire is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Wolf Entertainment. Filmed at Cinespace Chicago Film Studio.
