CHICAGO FIRE: Andrea Newman Teases Stellaride’s New Dynamic, Herrmann’s Struggles, and the Premiere’s Dangerous Serial Arsonist

January 15, 2024 by Marisa Roffman

CHICAGO FIRE — “Barely Gone” Episode 12001 — Pictured: (l-r) Taylor Kinney as Kelly Severide, Daniel Kyri as Darren Ritter, Jake Lockett as Sam Carver — (Photo by: Adrian S Burrows Sr/NBC)

“The theme of this season is change and evolution,” CHICAGO FIRE’s Andrea Newman previously told Give Me My Remote of season 12, which finds Severide (Taylor Kinney) finally back home and Brett (Kara Killmer) and Gallo (Alberto Rosende) on the verge of leaving.

So what’s in store for the charcters? Newman offers up a few teases…

Severide is back—but the show also jumped forward six months. Are we seeing him as he’s just returning to Chicago or has he been back for a while? And where does his marriage to Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) stand now?
He has been back and there’s a lot to play with, with the two of them. There’s a new dynamic. It’s kind of obvious right away that they still can’t keep their hands off each other, there’s still a lot of heat. But there’s this new kind of edge between them. And the case that Severide dives into in the premiere, which is a big serial arsonist case, is going to bring up a lot of stuff between them that they hadn’t really faced yet. So the viewers won’t really miss much in terms of that. There’s been a lot of kind of not talking between them. And it’s all going to kind of explode literally in the premiere. [Laughs.]

OFI is something that he has been drawn to time and time again. What can you tease about how he’ll be balancing his connection to that this season?
That’s kind of his big dilemma. Kidd sees OFI, his draw to arson, as a drug, basically; it’s like his addiction. He kind of can’t stay away from it. And there’s a lot of reasons for that—one of them being it’s in his blood, as his father was in OFI.

So this is their struggle. Can she stop him, does she want to stop him? How does it affect them? That’s all gonna be explored; what it does to their relationship and the little journey that they’re on together. They’re magnets to each other and they can’t stay away and yet this is the thing that sits between them.

Last we saw Mouch (Christian Stolte), he was catastrophically bleeding. What can you tease about how that injury will impact the firehouse?
The case [they’re dealing with] in the premiere, a serial arsonist is coming after firefighters. Our house 51 guys and other firefighters are all kind of grappling with what it feels like—after being the hero and putting your life on the line constantly for others and losing people you love—to have somebody after you. And how they deal with that, how they come together to rise above it.

CHICAGO FIRE — “Barely Gone” Episode 12001 — Pictured: (l-r) Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella Kidd, Kara Killmer as Sylvie Brett, Hanako Greensmith as Violet Mikami — (Photo by: Adrian S Burrows Sr/NBC)

Violet (Hanako Greensmith) keeps losing people—and she’s close to both Brett and Gallo. What can you share about how she’s handling it?
I think that Violet is a rockstar—it’s been a journey that brings her to this season. She’s so strong. It’s funny, I have this image of when she walked out in Severide and Kidd’s wedding—she walked out in this green silk dress and with the long hair. And I had this image of her walking through this fire, coming out on the other side of it in that dress. [Laughs.] It’s all very Violet-y.

She gets stronger. [That] is what she does when she has adversity and all these things get thrown at her. So we’re gonna get to see Violet really come into her own this season, which is really exciting for the character and for us as writers. She’s so great; Hanako is so great.

Daniel Kyri spoke about how important it was to see Ritter have stories about his love life this season. How is that coming into play in season 12?
Yeah, I mean, we have fun with the idea that our single characters—it’s not easy. So they all have their struggles. [Laughs.] And [Ritter] definitely has some fun ones and then he has some emotional ones. We’ll definitely see more of his relationships; we were just talking about a story related to that in the [writers’] room before I [left to do this interview]. He’s definitely going to have fun with that this season.

CHICAGO FIRE — “Barely Gone” Episode 12001 — Pictured: (l-r) Hanako Greensmith as Violet Mikami, David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann, Daniel Kyri as Darren Ritter, Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella Kidd, Kara Killmer as Sylvie Brett — (Photo by: Adrian S Burrows Sr/NBC)

Herrmann (David Eigenberg) finds himself in trouble in the premiere. What can you tease about the fallout from his close call? And, importantly, how is Cindy (Robyn Coffin) doing after her health issues last season?
Yes! Cindy, we’ll definitely see Cindy this season. And Herrmann has a really heroic moment—puts his life on the line—for the firehouse in the premiere. And it’s going to have long-term ramifications. It’s gonna affect him permanently, in a lot of ways, going forward. So that’s going to be something that Herrmann deals with, and the house deals with, as well, in their classic 51 way.

Rome Flynn is also joining the series. What can you share about his addition to 51 and how he fits in with the group?
I think any new blood is gonna shake things up. Gibson is a particularly intriguing character with a lot of layers to peel back. So I think when he comes into the firehouse, no one knows what to expect at first. There’ll be some unlikely friendships and some unlikely tension that come out of his arrival. And the question, as always, is 51 is a very unique and special place, so not everybody can fit in there. Is Gibson going to be one that fits in, in some unique way? Or is that going to blow up? So we’ll have to see.

CHICAGO FIRE — “Barely Gone” Episode 12001 — Pictured: delivery truck — (Photo by: Adrian S Burrows Sr/NBC)

Episode 250 is around the corner. Will the show be acknowledging that milestone?
We have our beloved technical consultant, Steve Chikerotis, who knows—he’s really the heart of the show in so many ways, and was the Deputy Fire Chief in Chicago. And he knows every episode. Every production, he announces it and everybody parties like it’s the 100th. So that’s probably what will happen, how we’re going to celebrate: Steve Chikerotis telling us it’s 250 and we all cheer.

But it won’t be anything on-screen?
I don’t think so…it’s a short [season], there’s so much to cram in.

The MED showrunners mentioned a crossover may be coming. Where do things stand on your end, either with the bigger or smaller moments of the shows intermingling?
Oh, we love the crossovers. We love working with those guys. I don’t have one on the books, as of now, that I know of; there’s no big one, as of now—but we’re still just really getting going in terms of the middle of the season. So who knows? It’s totally a possibility. I would not be surprised if there’s at least one crossover event.

You were clear that Casey (Jesse Spencer) will be returning, but are there any other familiar faces fans can expect to see this season?
As Boden says anyone who’s ever been a part of 51, will always be a part of 51. So that door’s always open for characters who have been with us before. We love that; we love doing that.

CHICAGO FIRE, Season Premiere, Wednesday, January 17, 9/8c, NBC

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CHICAGO FIRE: Andrea Newman Teases Stellaride’s New Dynamic, Herrmann’s Struggles, and the Premiere’s Dangerous Serial Arsonist

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