Here’s Our First Look At Chicago Fire’s New Chief
Chicago Fire is moving on from Chief Boden. As expected, the long-running Dick Wolf procedural is bringing in a new person to oversee Firehouse 51 after Boden’s promotion to Deputy Commissioner. And though, for a while, it seemed like whoever was coming in might be a temporary replacement to pave the way for Herrmann to take over as Chief, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. So, who’s the new chief on Chicago Fire after Boden’s Exit?
Who’s the New Chief on Chicago Fire After Boden’s Exit?
Deadline was the first to break the news that Dermot Mulroney, whose breakthrough role came in My Best Friend’s Wedding had been cast as Chief Dom Pascal. The character has been described as a “cheerful person who works well under pressure, and whose leadership style differs from Boden’s.” He also reportedly started his career with the CFD but spent the last decade as chief in Miami and is estranged from his wife. KaDee Strickland has been cast as Monica Pascal.
Our first glimpse at Mulroney in uniform came courtesy of the Franklin Park Fire Department Instagram account, which posted two pictures, one with the cast of the show and one featuring Mulroney. Other actors visible in the cast picture are Miranda Rae Mayo (Stella Kidd), Jake Lockett (Sam Carver), Joe Minoso (Joe Cruz), Hanako Greensmith (Violet Mikami), Daniel Kyri (Darren Ritter), and Randy Flagler (Capp).
Mulroney will be stepping into the role of Chief left vacant by Eamon Walker’s departure as Chief Boden. Boden was promoted to Deputy Commissioner and is expected to still appear in the series in some capacity.
When Boden left, he expressed his desire for Christopher Herrmann to follow in his footsteps as Chief, telling him that all he needed to be was a person “who looks out for people, who listens, who always leads with his heart.” That, of course, was logistically impossible, as Herrmann could not just go from Lieutenant to Chief, but there was some expectation that the series would perhaps bring in a character that could serve as a stopgap until Herrmann could one day become the Chief. Bringing in a big name like Mulroney changes the calculations completely.
Mulroney isn’t a stranger to broadcast TV. He isn’t even a stranger to firefighter dramas, as he had a stint on ABC’s Station 19. He has also appeared in Marvel’s Secret Invasion, The Righteous Gemstones, and Arrested Development, as well as in movies like Anyone But You and Scream VI.
The Season 12 finale of Chicago Fire didn’t end with anyone almost dying, as the show has been known to do — but it did reveal Jack Damon as Severide’s half brother and it left the fate of Carver at Firehouse 51 very much open-ended after he took another leave of absence after telling Violet he was in love with her. So there’s plenty of drama for the show to delve into outside of the new Chief when Chicago Fire returns for Season 13.
Chicago Fire also stars Taylor Kinney, Miranda Rae Mayo, Joe Miñoso, Christian Stolte, Daniel Kyri, Hanako Greensmith, and Jocelyn Hudon. The show is expected to return to NBC this fall.
