Initially, Boden was thinking of choosing Severide as his successor, which made sense, since he stepped in as ranking officer while the Firehouse 51 chief was out of office. Eammon Walker’s character asked Severide what he thought about his experience, effectively showing Boden that Severide wasn’t the man for the job because he didn’t particularly enjoy the counseling part of it. Instead, however, it was Engine 51’s Commanding Officer who had a knack for it, hence why Boden officially chose Hermann to become Chief. Even then, however, the path to this was already long.
That said, there were still hopes that Chicago Fire season 13 would find a way to make the set-up work. There are so many benefits to having Hermann replace Boden. For starters, it would make the transition easier for the rest of the team. Boden had been the house’s unwavering and principled leader for 12 seasons. Replacing him would be very difficult. While Hermann will not be able to fill Boden’s shoes right away, at least Firehouse 51 is assured that they have someone who is fully committed and loyal to all of them.
With Hermann becoming Firehouse 51’s new leader now ruled out, the question now shifts as to who Boden’s replacement may be in Chicago Fire season 13. NBC and Wolf Entertainment are reportedly casting someone new to join the house. Depending on what the writers are planning for the show, this fresh character can either be very helpful or detrimental to the overall health of the team.
