Official announcement regarding the passing of actor Charlie Barnett
Chicago Fire fans know that no character is safe when it comes to the long-running series, even favorites like Kelly Severide — so everyone should be on alert after the season 14 fall cliffhanger.
“Severide has been in this situation a lot where he ends up in a position [where] he has to MacGyver his way out of it,” Chicago Fire executive producer Reza Tabrizi exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the show’s winter premiere on Wednesday, January 7. “And in this case, the fact that we have two of our own in there, in peril, and the fact that these two characters have become closer [there’s more at stake].”
During the fall finale in November, Severide (Taylor Kinney) teamed up with arson investigator Tom Van Meter (Tim Hopper), whom he considers a close friend, to solve a case involving a fire at a high school targeting the principal.
After discovering something about the case, Severide and Van Meter went to the principal’s house where a fire broke out with all three stuck inside.
“There’s a fire right underneath their feet [so] it’ll be interesting to see how they get themselves out of it,” Tabrizi teased, warning fans “there’s heart heartache coming in.”
He also noted that there will be some “coming together” by Firehouse 51 as Severide and Van Meter’s lives hang in the balance.
“The idea of having one of our own in the fire in danger is always interesting and brings it to another level,” the EP added.
The show’s winter return is titled “A Man Possessed,” and the logline is a bit ominous when it comes to who will survive the building fire.
“When an act of arson harms someone close to the Firehouse 51 family, Severide must track down the perpetrator,” NBC teased, hinting that Severide will make it out safely, but Van Meter could get injured.
Despite a possible near-death experience on Severide’s part, the show’s EP told Us that the character was “born with arson in [his] heart” after his late father, Benny (Treat Williams), worked in that department after his firefighting days ended.
“Even though he had a difficult relationship with his father, that’s something that he wants to be — a better version of that,” Tabrizi explained of Severide’s passion for investigating fires. “So I don’t know that he will ever step away from arson. But there’s definitely elements of learning how far you should push and how far you can go.”
Wednesday’s all-new episode will also show what happened to Randall “Mouch” McHolland (Christian Stolte) after budget cuts threaten his job and Truck 51. According to Tabrizi, the threat to his livelihood will actually bring Mouch and Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) closer together.
“There’s a lot of twists and turns coming up regarding that story line,” the EP shared. “Some of it is winning, and some of it is losing, as life is.”