The number “13” is associated with horror or otherworldly happenings, and when Chicago Fire writers began writing, it became clear that the season would also be haunted. “It’s funny, because it is season 13. And in the beginning we kept calling it Lucky 13 or Spooky 13, all these different things. And then we realized that thematically shadowed a huge part of this season,” showrunner Andrea Newman told The Hollywood Reporter of this development. The season teases an air of shadows from the past hanging around and some visiting the characters. Newman previewed what these shadows look like for several characters, saying,
“It’s the shadow of Boden hanging over the firehouse, and Severide has the shadow of Benny [his father] always hanging over him. Finding this brother in this relationship with half-brother Jack Damon really reminds us of that shadow. We’ve got Carver with the shadows of his past. And now Cruz is going to be haunted by a ghost from his past in the season, too. So, we have a lot of ghostly, spooky happenings going on this year.”
The Haunting of ‘Chicago Fire’ Season 13.
From the bigger picture, the arrival of a new chief will keep Boden’s memory alive. Chief Dom Pascal is nothing like Boden, and his methods differ. Some characters, like Stella, yearn for the Boden days, which will be felt throughout the season. But with Severide, it is the sudden appearance of another one of Benny Severide’s children, reminding him of the man he had worked so hard to get past. “Severide, . . . [has] worked really hard to put his father in the rearview mirror and become his own firefighter. So to suddenly have Benny’s son, his half-brother, appear in his life, it makes him have to re-explore all of that stuff. So it brings up a lot for Severide . . .,” Newman told Entertainment Weekly of this arc.
Damon’s appearance also brings up the ghosts of Cruz’s past. Watching Severide and Damon interact reminds him of his own relationship with is brother Leon. He had gone through a lot with Leon and knows how someone can lose themselves to their sibling. It makes him apprehensive about the direction in which this is going. “He knows that getting close, having a brother, is a whole new experience, and could have its own perils for Severide, in terms of just the emotional weight of it, and what Cruz was willing to do for his brother,” Newman previously talked to TV Line about this arc.
The haunting will continue with Carver, who is entangled in a multitude of secrets from his past. His brother appeared in Season 11 of Chicago Fire, reading complicated family dynamics for the character. This dark past leers its head in again this season. Closely related to Carver is Violet, who has been trying to pursue a relationship with Carver. She had to work through losing Evan, but what if she hasn’t succeeded yet? “Violet’s haunted by Hawkins and what happened with Hawkins and that relationship,” Newman said about Violet’s arc in the same interview with Entertainment Weekly.
