We’ve been enjoying a streak of high-profile guest spots on Chicago Med, and it seems the Chicago Fire creative team decided to join the party with its twelfth episode!
Chicago Fire season 14, episode 12, “Coming in Hot,” welcomed a notable guest star to the mix with the addition of Max Martini in the role of Deputy District Chief Cranston. One Chicago Center was first to report Martini had been cast in the role when photos surfaced in December 2025 featuring a look at Martini on set alongside the Chicago Fire cast.
At the time, it was unclear who exactly Martini was set to play, just that he would be playing a new chief within the CFD. However, episode 12 finally filled in those blanks with the introduction of Deputy District Chief Cranston.
Deputy District Chief Cranston was brought into the mix to investigate Chief Pascal, after Tony was injured during a fire at a textile market. Upon his arrival at 51, it seems that Pascal and Cranston had some sort of history, and we’d come to learn over the course of the episode that the pair previously worked together back in the day, with Cranston serving as a mentor of sorts before they had a falling out.
We’d learn later in the episode that the fallout was connected to Pascal questioning their actions on a call in which a woman died as they failed to find her hiding in her home. It seems Pascal blamed himself for the woman’s death, and that was what led him to leave Chicago and get a fresh start in Florida. Cranston tried to reach out after Pascal left, but it seems Pascal shut him out leading to a rift between the two.
Sadly, before the pair could fully mend their relationship, Cranston died of a heart attack, but not before looking into Pascal’s findings from the scene of the fire – findings that would prove Pascal was not at fault and could have never predicted the roof would collapse.
Martini is no stranger to the world of television and movies with over 100 acting credits to his name. Among his most notable roles is his turn as Mack Gerhardt in CBS’s military drama The Unit, a role he played across the show’s four-season run. Since The Unit, Martini has taken on many roles including Tracer in the Paramount+ drama Lioness, Detective Don Ellis in Prime Video’s Bosch: Legacy, Ryan Grant in USA Network’s The Purge, and Taylor in the Fifty Shades movie franchise.
Martini’s other credits include FBI, Doom Patrol, The Order, NCIS: Los Angeles, 13 Hours, Covert Affairs, Crisis, Revenge, Criminal Minds, CSI, and Hawaii Five-0.
Katelynn Shennett reprised her role as Kylie Estevez, dropping in to help Kidd with some Girls on Fire preparations. Amanda Calabrese returned as Herrmann’s daughter, Annabelle, in a storyline that ended in her applying for the Girls on Fire program. We also welcomed Robyn Coffin back as Cindy Herrmann as part of the Annabelle storyline, which was a treat! And finally, Ashley Bryant was back as Captain Hargrave, working the investigation into Pascal for OFI.
