Warning: spoilers are ahead for the Season 13 premiere of Chicago Fire, called "A Monster in the Field."
Chicago Fire is officially back in the 2024 TV schedule, but the Season 13 premiere wasn't just back to business as usual for the firefighters and paramedics of Firehouse 51. On top of last season's finale bombshell reveal that Damon is Severide's half brother and Kidd dealing with Severide's suggestion that they start a family, Dermot Mulroney debuted as new Firehouse 51 Chief Dom Pascal, recently returned from Miami to start running 51 differently. Following the finale, showrunner Andrea Newman's comments about reactions to Pascal hit a little harder.
When I spoke with Andrea Newman ahead of Season 13, Dermot Mulroney's casting had been announced but there was still no saying how the firefighters who had worked with Boden for so long would react to him. When asked who at 51 would be most affected by Boden's absence in the new season, the showrunner previewed:
That is a great question, and I don't want to give too much away, because what was really fun about having Boden leave, and then this big shadow hanging over the firehouse of his absence, and then bringing someone new in, and how that affects everybody, there's some twists and turns to that. There are people that are okay with it that are surprising, and then there are people who have a real problem with it that are a little surprising. But I think it's hard for everybody in different ways, and everybody will have, because of that, different relationships with this new chief.
At the time of the interview, I assumed that we could count on at least Herrmann's reaction to Dom Pascal. After all, Boden specifically told Herrmann that he wanted him to take over as chief of 51, and the Engine lieutenant seemed more than willing to put in the work at the time. Surely he would be the one who would chafe the most at somebody else sitting in the chief's chair, right?
As it turns out, no! Herrmann warmed up to Pascal sooner than anybody else at 51. Kidd had the most trouble opening up to the idea of Pascal as Boden's replacement, which does make a lot of sense in hindsight. As she noted in "A Monster in the Field," Boden hadn't just encouraged her on her path as a firefighter; he walked her down the aisle. (You can revisit Stellaride's wedding episode streaming with a Peacock subscription.)
But the biggest surprise reaction for me was actually Mouch, who didn't really appear to have a genuine issue with Pascal until he saw Herrmann's reaction. Herrmann seemed impressed enough by the new chief to willingly stay as Engine lieutenant and not reach for the role that Boden had wanted for him. This poses a problem for Mouch and his goal of becoming a lieutenant and taking Herrmann's slot so he wouldn't have to leave 51. While I didn't see it coming at all from Mouch, it made sense.
Andrea Newman went on to share what exactly the Chicago Fire team was looking for in an actor to play Dom Pascal, saying:
I was going to say Dermot Mulroney is what we were looking for! [laughs] Well, one big thing, is that we obviously wanted him to be very different from Boden, and to have a very different feel from Boden. And part of that was that we wanted this character to be really mysterious and unknown to these guys, not the familiar face, not the open kind of 'Let's talk it out' personality, much more of an inscrutable, mysterious guy. That's what we found in Dermot. Dermot brings all that. He's got so many layers to peel back on that character, and that'll be a lot of fun this season. We're really excited about writing him and about where he's taken the character.
The Season 13 premiere did drop some details about the new chief, ranging from how he was a firefighter in the CFD before working in Miami to his very strained relationship with his wife. There are still more questions than answers, though, particularly after the visit he received from an old coworker from his first stint in Chicago's Fire Department. Still, we can say with confidence that Dom Pascal is no Wallace Boden, for better or worse. When I noted to the showrunner that a chief not fitting in is very different from a floater not fitting in, Newman responded:
It's so true. It's that whole feeling in the first episode of him just striding to the firehouse saying, 'I'm not Boden. I'm not trying to be Boden. New rules. Get ready. There's gonna be some new rules around, some changes around here,' and that's just fun. It shakes everything up, and everybody's affected by it. It really is different than bringing somebody, like you say, a floater or even just a new member on Truck or Engine. This is the whole tone of the show, in a way, and it's an earthquake.
Well, Chicago Fire did tease a need for fresh blood back in Season 12! I'm looking forward to seeing more of what Dermot Mulroney's character brings to the firehouse after getting some surprises out of the reactions in the Season 13 premiere, although it would be nice to get at least a cameo from Eamonn Walker as Boden sometime. For now, keep tuning in to Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET, between Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET, all on NBC.
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