“The one thing he never asks himself as the snowball starts rolling down the hill is like, do I want this?” Newman continued. It took someone who did not know him well to realize that Herrmann is a boots-on-the-ground firefighter. “Pascal senses that and sensed that from the start, and so he’s sort of testing him along the way, ‘Try this, come to this event, try leading here.’ During the crossover he said, ‘You don’t get to be boots on the ground, you got to stand here.’ And in that moment Herrmann was like, ‘I can’t. I’ll never forgive myself,'” the showrunner explained. She added:
“So Pascal’s been watching and that was something we wanted to see, is Pascal turning the screws a little bit. And is he doing it for his own purposes or is he doing it to help Herrmann was always the question. And I think that’s what leads all those roads to the finale and the decision that Herrmann makes.”
How Herrmann’s Decision Affects Him Going Into ‘Chicago Fire’ Season 14
The obvious effect on Herrmann after letting go of the aspirations is that he will be more relaxed. However, that might be short-lived because he still has his family to provide for, and a man with that many children can never make enough, let alone take a pay cut. “What Herman will do now that he’s taken a pay cut to make money — because we know he’s not the best with money and finances, so he’s going to try and find all sorts of new ways to make up the difference — and yeah, Mouch is going to feel bad about that and try and help and that sounds,” Newman said, teasing the character’s problems in the new season. Will he take other jobs to compensate for the lost income, or fall for another get-rich-quick scheme?
