CHICAGO FIRE Fall Finale: Derek Haas on Casey’s New Threat, Severide and Stella, and Cruz’s Roller Coaster

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Wednesday, December 5 episode of CHICAGO FIRE, “Always a Catch.”]

CHICAGO FIRE’s fall finale turned up the heat as Casey (Jesse Spencer) found his life in danger, Cruz (Joe Minoso) nearly lost his girlfriend in a tragic wreck, and Severide (Taylor Kinney) could be pushing Stella (Miranda Rae Mayo) away.

Showrunner Derek Haas breaks down the biggest moments of the fall finale…

Casey’s in danger!

As Casey and Naomi (Kate Villanova) were riding high after an apparent win in their trailer-park investigation, the duo took their relationship to the next step and slept together. Unfortunately, the joy was short-lived as Casey woke up to discover his apartment on fire.

“It’s going to be harrowing,” Haas previews of the next episode. “Obviously he doesn’t have his equipment and uniform in his bedroom. You’re going to see Casey have to battle a blaze in his pajamas, basically.”

And with the blaze that big, there will be other problems to deal with: “Casey is going to need a new place to live,” the executive producer teases. “He’s going to be offered a place to stay by a character in our firehouse family.”

Can Stella and Severide survive this conflict?

With Severide still mourning the loss of his father—and lashing out at Stella—the couple ended 2018 at odds, with Stella opting to hang out with her friend Tyler (Tye White), while Severide stayed home alone.

“They’re on the ropes,” Haas admits. ”The arguments they have in the winter finale, which are centered around how Severide perceives Stella’s relationship with Tyler, the way Stella is resentful of this jealous side of Kelly she hasn’t seen before that reminds her of her ex-husband—they say some really mean things to each other. [So going forward,] it’ll be strained. It’ll be heading towards a bad, rocky place.”

As the series has shown, “Severide just doesn’t handle tragedy well,” Haas says. “And these overwhelming feelings of having to wreck things in his life and being powerless to stop them has really come to the forefront. They don’t handle it well. That’s sometimes the way these volatile, heavy relationships can go sour quickly.”

Will Cruz catch a break?

After hearing his girlfriend, Chloe (Kristen Gutoskie), get into a major crash in the fall finale, there was a bit of good news: she survived her major injuries and her parents are already crazy about Cruz. (It helps Chloe apparently couldn’t stop talking about him since the new couple met.) And it seems the two crazy kids might be able to go the distance.

“I love them together,” Haas gushes. “I think they’re a great, really cute fit for each other. We’re going to continue that relationship and see where it goes.”

“There’s a point in the finale where Severide is saying, maybe the people who choose the life of a firefighter aren’t meant to be happy outside of the firehouse,” he continues. “And Casey says, well what about [the successful couples]? And I would put Cruz and Chloe in that box. It can be done. I can’t say we’re going to definitively head toward wedding bells, but I really like them together.”

A chill ahead?

There will be a little change of pace in an upcoming episode of the show: “About four years ago, I got to do the Polar Plunge,” Haas says of the annual charity dip into Lake Michigan. “We’re going to do a Polar Plunge episode on the show.”

One extreme to the other!

CHICAGO FIRE, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC

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• ONE CHICAGO: NBC Orders More CHICAGO MED, CHICAGO FIRE, and CHICAGO P.D.
• CHICAGO FIRE Post-Mortem: Derek Haas on the Unexpected Return
• CHICAGO FIRE: Taylor Kinney and Miranda Rae Mayo on Severide and Stella’s Relationship
• CHICAGO FIRE’s Annie Ilonzeh and Kara Killmer on Their New Partnership
• CHICAGO FIRE: Christian Stolte, Joe Minoso, and David Eigenberg Showcase Firehouse 51, Molly’s Sets

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