CHICAGO FIRE’s Dermot Mulroney on Pascal’s Grief: ‘You Will See a Man Under the Most Immense Post-Trauma Pressure’

March 25, 2025 by Marisa Roffman

CHICAGO FIRE — “Too Close” Episode 13015 — Pictured: (l-r) — (Photo by: Peter Gordon/NBC)

CHICAGO FIRE is no stranger to memorable and traumatic character deaths, and viewers last saw the members of Firehouse 51 reeling from another: Monica (KaDee Strickland), the wife of still-new Chief Pascal (Dermot Mulroney), was involved in a brutal car wreck and succumbed to her injuries on the March 5 episode, “Too Close.”

Though the moment was shocking for the members of the firehouse who responded to the scene of the accident and discovered Monica, viewers were tipped off ahead of time by an NBC promo that a death was coming. Similarly, Mulroney was warned about the loss before getting the script for “Too Close.”

“I was told that I’d be portraying a scene that depicts the death of my wife on the very next episode coming up—I was told verbally by our wonderful producer before I received the script for that show, so I had verbal warning,” Mulroney says with a chuckle to Give Me My Remote in the video below. “I knew what I was going into when I read it. But those of us who have seen it, it’s just as shocking the way it plays out. It’s so brilliantly written.”

In the aftermath of Monica’s death, “I don’t think it would come as any surprise, even the little we know about Pascal, that his choice is to go right back to work,” Mulroney previews of the Wednesday, March 26 episode, “In the Rubble.” “So he does perform, even somewhat past his need to perform—but then begins to really struggle. Not just personally, but on the job, and then really at an incident on the site.”

While responding to a major incident, “you see him go beyond his capacities to try and save a guy,” he teases. “But he really does the hands-on rescue himself. So you know he [normally] wades right in as a chief, but this, really, he goes beyond measure. And really, that’ll read more as a symptom of his vulnerability rather than him being in charge…it’s knit together so beautifully, but you will see a man under the most immense post-trauma pressure on the job as further episodes ensue.”

“So you’ll see him coming through that: How to process loss and grief of that magnitude that struck him so suddenly,“ he continues. “The writers have done such an incredible job of showing a person who has to carry on, even with that recent loss…They deal with it so tenderly and in such a real, gritty way, too, as they’re writing a beautiful part for Pascal.”

CHICAGO FIRE — “In The Rubble” Episode 13016 — Pictured: (l-r) — (Photo by: Peter Gordon/NBC)

Though Pascal is still establishing his relationship with his colleagues, they were the ones who desperately tried to save Monica’s life—and were there when he found out she didn’t survive. And now they’ll be lending their own support to him.

“We who know the show know that Violet also had a sudden loss in her life, and they do such an incredible job of paralleling those stories, and it’s been incredible working so closely with Hanako Greensmith,” Mulroney gushes. “Also Christian Stolte as Mouch is just this towering actor, and has an interesting bond with Pascal. You’ll see the firehouse really come through for Pascal, even [though] they may not know him as well.”

“But remember what you saw leading up to this through the first season of Pascal’s character,” he continues. “[What we have seen] is him kind of backdoor and secretly, somehow, coming through for them. So [he acts like] this real chief [with a] hard front, but all of these storylines show how he comes through for them. So this time the tables are really turned, and it’s done beautifully.”

Check out the video for more from Mulroney, including his praise for how the writers handled the sequence of “Too Close” where Pascal was waiting at the restaurant for Monica while Firehouse 51 was trying to save her life post-crash…

CHICAGO FIRE, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC

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CHICAGO FIRE’s Dermot Mulroney on Pascal’s Grief: ‘You Will See a Man Under the Most Immense Post-Trauma Pressure’

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