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“Completely Shattered” was the title of Wednesday’s Chicago Fire, but it was also an apt description of viewer response to the hour.
The episode concluded with the tragic death of Paramedic Field Chief Evan Hawkins, played by Jimmy Nicholas. The actor — who joined the NBC drama last season — took to social media on Wednesday in the wake of his character’s passing to console grieving fans.
“Take deep breaths and we’ll push through together,” Nicholas wrote on Twitter late Wednesday. He also thanked fans fo their “unbelievably kind” messages of support following the episode, adding, “I feel truly spoiled and incredibly grateful.”
In Wednesday’s episode, Firehouse 51 was called to the scene of a four alarm movie theater fire. Hawkins gets caught in an avalanche of debris while trying to rescue a man who was trapped. Despite his main squeeze Violet’s (Hanako Greensmith) efforts to save him, Hawkins dies.
On Instagram Thursday morning, Nicholas gave his leading lady a shout out, writing, “My girl Hanako was sensational, wasn’t she?”
It was a rough night overall for #OneChicago acolytes. After mourning the death of Hawkins on Fire, franchise diehards had to then say goodbye to Jesse Lee Sofer’s Halstead on Chicago P.D.
Did Hawkins’ demise leave you completely shattered? Or did the NBC promo department’s advance warning that someone would not make it out of the episode alive blunt the impact? Sound off below!
This sucks, I loved Hawkins character on Fire. So bummed. Thanks for the memories Jimmy, you’ll be missed!
I agree with you. After what happened with that Emma character, I wanted to see these two make it.
I want to know where the writers are headed this season. Its kind of interesting that they are now taking risks in terms of their storytelling and this is just the third episode of the season. I am actually excited to see where they go and what risks they are going to take since it seems like no one is safe.
It is sad to see a well liked character leave but I kind of understand why the writers were going in this direction because besides Violet, Hawkins does not really have ties to anyone at 51 to keep his storyline going (besides his relationship with Violet) and although relationship stories are fun it doesn’t push the storyline forward overall.
I really loved Hopkins, he’s best man, that’s truth but I think that when Hopkins died, on that scene of Chicago Fire, all fighters they just what happened, Chief Hopkins, he’s one ours, Violent she is really upset, and also screaming, and also, crying, so what happened next, next Wednesday.
Love Alena Kennedy
I was totally shocked and sad at Chief Hawkins demise. Violets reaction was heart wrenching. Hawkins will be missed. Love this show!!
Her reaction was so gut-wrenching. And having Boden pick her up and hold her back so they could remove Hawkins from the rubble upped it even more.
I must have missed the promos cause I had no idea someone wasn’t going to make it. TOTALLY shocked and devastated. I loved Evan and Violet. To see her reaction was gut wrenching 😢
She was amazing. She better get a nod from Actor of the Week.
After Otis died, I never assume someone is safe.
The sad thing is, everyone SHOULD be safe. No main character of a make believe story should ever die permanently. It’s bad writing, and most importantly, fans don’t like it.
Never expected Hawkins to pass . Him and Violet were so much in love .. he was so handsome & played a great character ( taking the heat off of violet , transferred so they could be together) the gut wrenching scream violet let out was horrifying because she yells out “ Chief he needs help “.. never ever thinking he’d die helping someone . He went back to help the old man .. very tragic .. and Brett was so happy for them . They loved Brett to for setting up the lunch for them ..
No I knew someone wasn’t going to make it out , put I never expected him to show up at the scene .. again great handsome actor & played a decent respectful Chief Hawkins ………… his loss is so tragic . Violet will eventually wind up with Gallo ♥️ But will take his loss terribly , poor thing 😢🙏🔥
I was hoping it was Gallo that was gone. But I hope to hell the writers DO NOT put him with Violet!!
Yep. I was hoping Gallo was the one leaving the show, too. Oh well.
Agreed, brought tears to my eyes
Not mine. I love this show and cried buckets when Shay and Otis died, but this just made me angry. Chief Hawkins was a great new character, the actor was fantastic and the producers captured lightning in a bottle with the Violet/Hawkins pairing. They had incredible chemistry and the fans LOVED “Hawkami.”
So why kill him off like this? The old idea that happy couples are “boring” was disproved by Severide’s marriage. Was this done just to pair Violet with Gallo, even though they have no chemistry together? Sorry, but Dick Wolf made a big mistake with this decision…
100%
I wish they hadn’t written Hawkins out – I liked his character. If they had to get rid of someone, I wish it was Stella………
Couldn’t agree more! Sick of her character always getting what she got The LT position, the guy that was in that position went to another fire house so she could stay at 51, the laundry room office, the wedding plans.. she thinks she is superior to the men. The way she treats the new guy! Always competitive! Wish the writers would focus on the other characters instead of stellaride. Getting sick of the two of them being heros! It was nice to see Violet and Hawkins and their relationship instead of focusing on stellaride all the time! Very disappointing how the show ended with Hawkins dying..not to mention how they carried him off, dead, with his eyes wide open. Very distasteful, couldn’t get that image out of my head! Fire used to be my favorite out of the three shows but I’m reaching a point where I’m losing interest. Very disappointing! Focus on the good, like Joe and Chloe. Just sick of constantly seeing Stellaride. They should not be able to work together. Send Ms Superior to another fire house!
I love Stella. I don’t know why there are some haters out there, but she has brought out such a refreshing side to Severide which was years in the making. Who ever thought that the womanizer could ever settle down and be happy with one woman? Stella is the perfect woman for him. Love Stellaride!
I also agree 100%. I had gotten so used to seeing Violet & Hawkins together, I thought they were so cute, and was looking forward to a whole new season of seeing them, without having to worry about anyone knowing they were a couple. And while I like Gallo, I never thought he and Violet would make a good anything except as good platonic friends. They have zero chemistry in the romance department, but it’s obvious that’s what the show is going to try forcing on us. Let Gallo find his own loves, I’m not interested in seeing anything with him and Violet. This just totally stinks.
“It was a rough night overall for #OneChicago acolytes.”
No. Sh**. Sherlock. I don’t even go here but the “developments” last night made me involuntarily go “BRO WTF!?!?!”
Seriously though, thoughts and prayers to fans over there.
I’m kind of upset they went this way. Is this to open the door back up for Gallo? Hawkins was a much better fit for Violet. Sorry to see the character of Hawkins go.
I hope not. My favorite couple was Hawkins & Violet. I like the friendship between Violet & Gallo & don’t want to see them together. Ever.
Exactly! It totally sucked that they killed off Hawkins, only to leave us with what will likely be the shows efforts to force Violet & Gallo as a couple with zero chemistry together. I like both of them, but not as a couple. They can be great friends, let Gallo keep looking for his real love, and I don’t mean Violet.
Me too. I wanna know why spend nearly all of last season going back nd forth with their storyline to FINALLY get them back together so they can kill him off out of nowhere. I never really cared for gallo character. It’s better now but still..he’s so-so. I don’t get these writers sometimes. Take out hood characters nd leave on some that should’ve been gone long time ago.
It amazes me how week after week this Chicago Fire crew fight horrible fires and accidents then wham out of nowhere they again destroy a happy couple. I have watched this from the beginning but after last night I am just done! This actor who played Hawkins was great and so in only a couple episodes they knock Brett with Casey and then give Violet tragedy to deal with ????? It seems the writers cannot stop disrupting this group? So disappointed in The Whole Chicago package anymore very stale writing… best part this whole year was the two dudes moving the washer and dryer around!!!
Don’t act like it’s real if you watch enough TV he moved over to CBS ,and plays on the Equalizer and works for the
Government you can’t hardly play on 2 different shows on 2 different stations
Jimmy Nicholas is not on The Equalizer unless he’s coming in to play a new character. Brett Dalton who was on Chicago Fire is on The Equalizer.
Yesss!! The washer dryer deal was funny
And also stupid. No one would drag the machines all over the station; they’d scope out locations first.
Yes. It needs more happy storylines now. Don’t want it to get too depressing.
“[B]est part this whole year was the two dudes moving the washer and dryer around!!!” Agree. I also wondered–In real life; the pair would first consult w/ the firehouse, (Boden?) and then relocate the appliances to a predetermined location. (I did appreciate the comedy value.) Hawkins death–That’s another thing altogether. Hope the writers know what they’re doing….It seemed rather pointless. We start season 11 w/ a honeymooning Kidd–walking away from a gun pointed at her head. A mere three episodes later; A strong; blossoming relationship w/ Hawkins and Violet ends under a pile of rubble. I thought they’d marry, and have kids. Like the real world. TV viewer abuse!!
Did not see this coming! Really sad to see Chief Hawkins die. Loved, loved this couple. Violet’s loss was gut wrenching. I hope they do not ship her with Gallo. He’s too immature. No chemistry at all.
Writers, why mess up a good thing? Darn
I was shocked and saddened to see Hawkins and I’ll stay in Dar oliva episode why do you people keep taking off the good actors in the movie in the shows it’s so sad that you can’t find a project for them to do or something just seeing their faces not them not doing much it’s still good to see him there
I love Chicago Fire but I sure hate the way the writers seem to never leave room for any kind of happiness except for Kelly S. I would have loved a bit more real life goodness for Hawkins and Violet. That relationship was blazing. Gallow is not a good fit!!
Yes I was sad and devastated when Hawkins died. I love the love story at Chicago fire. Violets and Hawkins love story is so emotional and always looking forward to their scene. Really sad he left. He’s a good looking and amazing actor. Love love love all these Chicago shows.
OMG did not see this coming. Kind of pissed me off that you would kill him off. You took him away from Violet and moved him further away. Ok they still got to see each other. Now you kill him off. Yikes what were you thinking. The actress that played Violet was amazing. You felt everything that she did.
Hope it was worth it… We’ll miss you!!
I loved Hawkins, so good looking, I had a feeling it would be him that would be leaving because he was so good and interesting. Very sad day!!
I wish they hadn’t killed him off, they finally got to be seen together, why can people be happy on these shows
I haven’t been this shocked in shaken in a long time. I loved Violet and Evan’s relationship. They were so fun and cute together. And watching Violet watch him be killed, I felt her pain. The way she was fighting to get out of Boden’s arms, begging him to let her help him, and him quietly telling her, “We got you.” There was no way she was getting out of his arms. You felt her pain and the entire fire house’s anguish at losing a brother. Kudos to Hanako Greensmith and Jimmy Nicholas. Will miss Evan and wish the best for Jimmy in his future endeavors.
Really didn’t see this coming. So sorry that Chief Hawkins is gone. Violet’s reaction just overwhelmed me and made me cry.
Devastated, Hawkins gave up so much to be with Violet. I wanted to see a budding relationship between 2 decent people. Actor Jimmy will be missed.
It may take a while for me to get over it..
Right before it happened I felt a pain in my gut. I was screaming oh my god. No no no. Not him. I was bawling so hard.
His passing sets the stage for her and Gallo to get together. Just loved Evan.
This is Ripley allover again and I’ve a feeling we’ll get a beautifully heartbreaking flashbacks based on jimmy and Hanako recent posts.
My thoughts exactly, felt like Ripley and that show to me was never the same. I was so mad when they killed Ripley. But I didn’t like how they handled his passing afterwards. I have a feeling Chicago will the aftermath better.
Did they seriously kill Hawkins off so Violet can get with Gallo? NO chemistry between those two. Hawkins and Violet were good. :/
I totally agree with you I think this opens the door for her to be with Gallo I also think it comes down to money think about it they don’t have to pay Jimmy Nicholas another actor when they can fix the character up with an existing actor who’s been there longer ..it’s happening all over TV..
At least with Jesse Lee Soffer we knew he was leaving the show we had no idea about this and broke my heart.. I think most of the fans are upset
Horrible! Beyond Sad! What are they thinking killing Hawkins? Not happy at all. I loved Violet and Hawkins! Such wonderful chemistry between them. Now all gone:((((
Why?
Totally blown away…the episode in my opinion was more hype throughout than what was necessary.. so difficult to follow what was going on.. too many dramatic glimpses of him n his partner ( esp of her) that were totally unnecessary..
Sorry it just was not up to par n disappointing
Hawkins’ death was completely unexpected. I as definitely shattered as a viewer. He was my favorite new character. While Jay Halstead’s exit was sad I knew it was coming. I thought it was weird that he didn’t say goodbye to all his other colleagues, or even his brother, Will Halstead from Chicago Med.
I too thought it was odd that he didn’t go back to his squad or to talk to Will.
I didn’t like him with Violet but I’m sad he was the one who got the boot.
I was shocked, when I saw him, I said he is dead.
Blindsided!! The previews led you to believe that someone was in peril, but…..not Chief Hawkins. So sad . Just when Violet and the Chief figured it out. Too much going already and we are just getting started. Not sure I will make it through the season😞