It looks like a change is coming for one of Chicago Fire's newest firefighters, as Gabriela Dawson will be making her way back to her paramedic seat on the ambulance soon. Considering everything that Dawson has been through to secure her position as candidate in the firehouse, it's going to be a big decision for the character to back down and change her mind about being a firefighter. But, co-creator Michael Brandt has given us an idea of why, exactly, Dawson might make such a decision in Season 5.
It's kind of been the rotating chair in that position on ambo. We've had different people there who it hasn't worked out for. So Dawson as a paramedic is such a strong character. Dawson and Shay, our duo as we called them, were strong in the first couple of seasons of the show. While not wanting to give anything away, we really would like to try and find that dynamic again and Dawson as paramedic is interesting and if the fans want to read into this --- there's actually a rule in the Chicago Fire Department that two people that are married cannot be on the same truck together. So I'm not saying they're getting married, but that is a rule.
OK. Wait a minute. It sounds a lot like the reasons for the writers putting Dawson back on her former ambo duties might really be two-fold for them, and, while the second possible reason is the most intriguing, let's look at that first reason for a minute. Chicago Fire co-creator Michael Brandt spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about their desire to move Dawson back to her former position as a paramedic in Season 5, and revealed that they seem to think that Dawson, as a paramedic, is a stronger character than she is as a firefighter. As he mentions, some of that is certainly due to the nature of her strong friendship with her ambo partner in the first two seasons of the show, Leslie Shay. Even when the characters weren't on the outs, the duo provided lots of good emotional stuff for the show, and they were generally an unstoppable twosome. It the people behind Chicago Fire are looking, overall, to get two steady paramedics back on ambo that the firehouse (and the audience) can count on, putting Dawson back there would certainly help.
Now, let's take a look at that second reason that was given for Dawson moving back to ambo. According to Brandt, there's an actual rule in the Chicago Fire Department that says you can't be married and work as firefighters from the same truck. Right now, Dawson and her on-again/off-again love Matt Casey work on the same truck, with her as one of his underlings. If the once engaged couple manages to make their way back toward the altar, or, you know, even make it all the way down the aisle, they would not be able to work together in the same capacity anymore. If Dawson wanted to keep fighting fires she'd have to transfer to another house, and that would not bode well for keeping the character as a regular presence on Chicago Fire. So, while Brandt isn't officially saying that Dawson and Casey are getting married, he sure does seem to be implying that having Dawson become a paramedic again is at least clearing the way for a Dawsey marriage to happen. Yay! Finally!
Ahem. I mean, well, it definitely sounds like Chicago Fire is giving us some things to think about when it come to Dawson's future on the show. You can catch all the latest Chicago Fire happenings when Season 5 debuts on October 11 at 10/9 CST on NBC.
