Suiting up to join the crew at Firehouse 51 in the “Chicago Fire” pilot episode back in 2012, Yuri Sardarov’s mustachioed firefighter Brian “Otis” Zvonecek was a recurring presence on the show until his tragic death in the Season 8 premiere episode in 2019. With a ready sense of humor and a tendency to feel a bit overlooked at the firehouse, Otis was a guy willing to attempt (and largely fail) to impress his colleagues with off-center ideas like a less-than-capable firefighting robot and a podcast where he presumed to offer his first responder wisdom to a comically small online audience.
The truth is, for Otis, even his nickname made him feel less than the equal of his colleagues at the firehouse. As the one responsible for always having keys to the elevators in the buildings that the squad might have to access during a call, his “Otis” moniker came not from any heroic action on his part, but from the mundane fact that most elevators in Chicago were built by the Otis Worldwide Corporation elevator company. On the other hand, Otis’s skill and courage in the line of duty were never in question. And in this regard, it was his willingness to risk his life in order to save a complete stranger that defined Otis’s ultimate episode on “Chicago Fire.”
The episode where Otis was shot during a rescue was tops with fans
The highwater mark for Otis during his many years on “Chicago Fire” would come in the sixth season’s 15th episode, “The Chance to Forgive.” Called to a major residential fire, Otis and fellow firefighter Stella Kid (Miranda Rae Mayo) headed up into the blazing building’s second floor to begin their search for victims. But when over-heated ammunition in the building cooked off, shots rang out in the smoke-filled room, and both Otis and Kidd were wounded. Otis’s wound was particularly serious, and he ended up hospitalized in critical condition, only recovering much later.
Commenting on the Reddit discussion titled “Favorite Otis moment/episode?” user u/DomNessMonster07 said Otis’s accidental shooting scene was one of their top picks for the character, writing, “So many favourites:…[Otis] Getting shot alongside Kidd in S6.” Reddit poster u/Muted-Relationships67 agreed Otis taking a bullet and surviving were both high points, saying his fave scenes were, “Otis’s shooting and recovery.” So, while Otis and his trademark mustache may have had numerous memorable moments, some fans considered his being shot in the line of duty in “The Chance to Forgive” as the ultimate Otis episode on “Chicago Fire.”
