Lyla Novak is staying in Firehouse 51. To no one’s surprise, Deadline has confirmed that Jocelyn Hudson has been upped to series regular for the upcoming Season 13 of Chicago Fire. But who does Jocelyn Hudson play on Chicago Fire? Who is Lyla Novak?
Who Does Jocelyn Judson Play on Chicago Fire?
Jocelyn Hudson plays Lyla Novak, the new paramedic, and partner to Violet Mikami on Ambulance 61. She is not the first paramedic who has come in to try to fill in the hole Sylvie Brett left when she married Matt Casey and left for Portland, but she is the only one who has felt right.
Part of that is not just that she is much better than Lennox, the first attempt at replacing Brett, but also that her dynamic with Violet Mikami has been very intriguing. Violet is now the PIC and fans were hoping that whoever came in to replace Brett could become a true friend to her, particularly since Season 12 saw the two closest characters to her, Brett and Gallo, depart the show. And there were flashes of that in Season 12 that made it seem like Novak could be that person.
But Lyla Novak is, in many ways, a mystery wrapped in an enigma. That is very much the Chicago Fire way. The show likes to keep character backstories very close to the vest, so we don’t know all that much about her yet other than some flashes here and there. We do know that when Violet originally approached Novak with the offer to stay full-time at Firehouse 51, instead of jumping at the opportunity, Novak indicated she’d like to remain a floater. It wasn’t until Violet made a personal appeal to her that Novak changed her mind, agreeing to stay at 51.
Then, of course, there’s Novak’s growing relationship with Jack Damon, who we now know is Kelly Severide’s half-brother. Whether that goes somewhere or not is too early to tell, but the show does need another burgeoning romance, considering it bit the bullet with Violet and Carver very fast. Novak and Damon could be the will they/won’t they romance fans can get invested in.
Either way, what we know of Lyla Novak so far is very little. She once had an affair with a married instructor. She can disarm a gun very, very fast. She’s very empathetic. She might have some commitment issues. And deep down, it seems like she wants somewhere to belong just as much as all the people who have made Firehouse 51 their family. So, in some ways, it feels like she might have ended up right where she belongs.
