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Truck 81 has a new member of the family, but not one who Kidd likes. What is her problem with Sam Carver in Chicago Fire?

Mason isn’t in Chicago Fire Season 11. It turns out that he wanted to go back to Colorado to fight the forest fires, and now Firehouse 51 needs to find a new full-time member of the team. The floater they have isn’t any good.

Boden has a new recruit. Sam Carver comes to Firehouse 51, and Kidd immediately dislikes him. It turns out they were at the Fire Academy together, and they were anything other than friends. The problems for Kidd continue throughout the premiere episode.

Sam Carver is too cocky in Chicago Fire

Kidd explains that Sam was too cocky while at the Academy. This is something Sam agrees with, but he shares that his competitive nature matches Kidd’s, and it’s why they could work together well. However, it’s while they’re catching up over beers that Sam says something to rub Kidd the wrong way again.

Sam wants to know about Kidd’s push for lieutenant. It’s happened fast, and Sam knows that Boden had something to do with it. It certainly did, but then Kidd mentions DC Hill helped. Sam makes a comment about it making sense, and Kidd later goes home to talk to Severide about it.

Did Sam infer that the only reason Kidd went up the ladder so quickly was because she was a woman of color? Maybe. Kidd knows him best from their days in the Academy, but his comments could have meant something else. During the episode on one of the calls, Sam doesn’t argue against turning the music off instead of running into the burning tent, so he clearly respects Kidd’s position of authority.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Kidd and Sam get along. Is he Firehouse 51 material? I’m on the fence right now.

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What did you think of Sam Carver? What do you hope to see in Chicago Fire Season 11? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Chicago Fire* airs Wednesdays on NBC.