NBC Insider spoke with Chicago Fire’s producer about Mouch’s future at Firehouse 51.
One Chicago fans are rooting for Mouch McHolland (Christian Stolte) after the seasoned firefighter’s job landed in jeopardy on Season 14 of Chicago Fire.
The Chicago Fire fan favorite has been fighting to keep his job at Firehouse 51 after catching wind of the CFD permanently decommissioning his rig at the station. This devastating update came after a myriad of sacrifices. Not only did Mouch work tirelessly to earn his bugles and become a lieutenant last season, but his good friend Herrmann (David Eigenberg) even stepped down from his superior officer post in order to give Mouch a chance to lead at Firehouse 51. After so much toil, the idea of Mouch being forced to retire has viewers worried about what might happen to him.
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“Like anything in life, as soon as there is an element of hopefulness or success, there’s a hammer that drops,” Chicago Fire producer Reza Tabrizi told NBC Insider. “That’s obviously true with Mouch, as far as him just being promoted to the position that he wanted for so long. And then now there’s a danger of him not having that.”
Mouch is troubled by the CFD overhauls
At the top of Chicago Fire Season 14’s midseason premiere (“A Man Possessed”), Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) was forced to give Mouch the devastating news that his rig was due to be permanently decommissioned. Knowing of the bureurcratic hurdles ahead of him, Pascal warned Mouch that getting his job back would be a challenging effort.
But Mouch wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Instead of wallowing over the troubling update, Mouch touched base with his CFD union rep to highlight all of the injustices of the situation. He’d done nothing wrong, so what was the justified cause? But with city-wide budget cuts being deemed as “just cause,” Mouch was trapped inside a loop hole that he could see now way out of. Feeling hopeless, Mouch’s union rep suggested he make an appeal with the civil services commission to make some headway.
Feeling utterly dejected, Mouch touched base with his dear friend Herrmann, clueing him in on the seismic shifts occurring at City Hall. Fully aware of all of the work Mouch put into his earning his bugles — not to mention making his own sacrifices to let Mouch stay at his longtime post — Herrmann was just as fueled as Mouch to save his job.
Mouch and Herrmann then teamed up to prepare an appeal for the employment board’s review.
“This appeal is going to sing like Pavarotti by the time we’re done with it,” Herrmann said, giving Mouch the boost of confidence he needed.
Chicago Fire‘s producer talks about Mouch’s future at 51 being “on the spot”
So, what’s going to happen to everyone’s favorite part-man, part-couch? During NBC Insider‘s chat with Tabrizi, he revealed Mouch’s chance of a happily-ever-after won’t be an overnight ordeal; it will be a multi-episode storyline with many twists and turns along the way.
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“Even though we thought everything was gonna be okay — now that Mouch is in his spot he wanted, and the loving relationship that Mouch and Herrmann have, and how much Herrmann sacrificed to help get Mouch to this point — it’s all gonna be on the spot. And we’ll be exploring that,” Tabrizi revealed.
Find out what happens to Mouch by watching Season 14 of Chicago Fire on Wednesdays on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
