Sam Carver (Jake Lockett) has caught absolutely no breaks in Chicago Fire season 13. One could argue the character has had the roughest season of anyone not named Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney), between his love life and his personal struggles. Still, there is hope for the fan favorite firefighter.

Carver is coming back in the anticipated episode “Post Mortem.” An undoubtedly bleak title and story to return to, but we are eager to see how the firefighter acclimates nonetheless. He was keen to kick his drinking habit last we saw him, and 51 chatter during his absence confirmed that he had checked himself into a rehab facility. Carver’s troubles are not behind him, however.

Carver’s return will come with a “surprise”

Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman confirmed the character was back in action, but she made it clear something was going to be different about him. What will the something be? Well, she decided to keep that under wraps. “Carver will be back in the next few episodes,” Newman told TV Line. “But he’s coming back with a surprise.”

A surprise could be a positive change, but in the world of Chicago Fire, personal demons are not defeated in the span of a couple weeks. The character has always been tortured, whether looking back on his childhood or his toxic relationship with Tori (Holly Hinchcliffe). The notion that he’s now fixed is a silly one, so we are choosing to interpret the “surprise” as something that’s going to be a source of additional drama in the firehouse. Especially in relation to Violet (Hanako Greensmith).

Violet has a romantic history with Carver (obviously), and her decision to confront the character over what she suspected was drinking on the job ultimately led to his leave of absence. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and the medic has carried the guilt over the confrontation ever since. Violet even attempted to convey her feelings in the form of a letter.

Carver and Violet’s dynamic will likely be impacted

We suspect that whatever shape Sam Carver comes back in will pose some complications for his potential reconciliation/romance with Violet. The two characters have always had tension when they were an item, and one can only assume their experiences over season 13 had added to said tension. We know Violet still has feelings for Carver (despite dating someone else), just as we know Carver has feelings for her.

Jake Lockett confirmed this belief during a 2024 interview with TV Line. “I think it’d be hard to walk away from that and, in a couple months, just completely be over something like that,” he said about his character. “That’s something that, in my opinion, would take a little time.” Some time has passed, but we suspect that we are far from the end of the (complicated) Carver and Violet story.