Big changes are in store for Firehouse 51 in the Season 13 premiere of Chicago Fire, starting with the introduction of Dermot Mulroney, the “larger than life” Chief Dom Pascal, who will shake up all the relationships at 51, showrunner Andrea Newman tells TVLine.
In addition to contending with the new chief’s different leadership style, Severide and Stella also enter the new season (premiering this Wednesday at 9/8c on NBC) with two big questions hanging over their heads: Will Severide accept his newly revealed half-brother, Damon? And will Severide and Stella start a family this year?
Luckily, Severide has some experience with secret half-siblings—thanks, Benny—but Damon’s situation is different than what Severide went through with his half-sister Katie, Newman said in the following Q&A. As for Severide and Stella’s family prospects, there are challenges, especially for Stella, that will be addressed.
Read on, as Newman also previews a big season for a particular firefighter.
How does Severide react to the news that Damon reveals to him?
It really shocks him in a lot of ways, and he has to make some big decisions, and Kidd does too, about the next steps in their relationship, about work and all that. So I think he sees it as a bombshell that’s dropped on him, and he has to manage a lot of different things that come out of it, including what kind of relationship he wants to have with Damon.
This isn’t the first time he’s had a half-brother.
Yeah. Like he said, it’s classic Benny Severide. [Laughs] Benny’s lived his life a certain way, so it’s not unusual for Benny to leave secrets like that behind. In fact, he mentions Katie, too, when he finds out about this. So yeah, he’s got a lot on his plate when it comes to Benny.
Given that he’s been through this experience before, is he handling it a little differently this time? Is he applying any of the lessons he learned from the first time to this experience?
This situation is different because of how he learned it, and also because Damon is so close to him now. When [Damon] tells him that information, he’s not just telling him from afar. He’s in the firehouse with him when he tells him, when he drops this bomb. So both the intimacy and the emotions are like a roller coaster of him getting to know this kid, and not knowing anything about it, and now having the shadow of Benny hanging over him, about how he wants to move forward, and then feeling all the pressure of what Damon isn’t in his life, about Benny, and whether Severide is going to try and take that role for him or not? So it’s a big responsibility.
The synopsis for the season premiere says that “Cruz has always kept an eye on Severide and Damon’s evolving relationship.” Can you talk a little bit about why Cruz is so nervous? What is he looking for?
Cruz has a very tumultuous past in terms of his relationship with his brother, Leon, and all the things he’s done to Leon, all the tragedies he’s had that are related to Leon. And so he knows that being close, having a brother, is a whole new experience and it could have its own dangers for Severide, in terms of the emotional weight of it, and what Cruz is willing to do for his brother. It just raises all sorts of flags for him about Severide and Damon’s relationship.
Where do Severide and Stella stand after his announcement that he wants to start a family?
It’s definitely resolved pretty quickly. There’s a lot to explore about that, and the emotional stuff about it, but also just the difference between what a male firefighter who decides he wants to start a family faces and what a female firefighter who decides he wants to start a family faces, how those two situations are different and the pressures that it puts, in different ways, primarily on Kidd. But they definitely deal with that.
You have a new chief coming in, played by Dermot Mulroney. What does this character bring to the fire department and what is his relationship with the rest of the characters like? Is there anyone in particular that he conflicts with?
I think what’s really interesting to see, and for the audience to see, is how this completely new person [appears], trying to fill Boden’s shoes, what his relationship with people is like. It’s going to be different for everyone. There’s going to be surprises in terms of who he bonds with and who he conflicts with, and I think the main thing about the Pascal character is that he makes it clear from the beginning that he’s not Chief Boden, and he doesn’t intend to [be]. He’s his own kind of leader, and that’s going to create all sorts of drama.
