Chicago Fire On Season 12’s Exciting Returns, Big Changes & The Loss That Made Everyone Cry

It may be hard to believe, but “Chicago Fire” has been on the air since 2012, with its 12th season set to premiere January 17 on NBC. The firehouse-based series has been such a hit during its run that it spawned what’s called the One Chicago franchise, which also includes “Chicago Med” and “Chicago P.D.”
Despite being an ensemble cast, the series has managed to hold onto several high-profile actors since the very beginning, including Taylor Kinney as Kelly Severide, David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann, and Eamonn Walker as Wallace Boden. It has also been successful at integrating rising stars like Hanako Greensmith as Violet Mikami, Alberto Rosende as Blake Gallo, and Daniel Kyri as Darren Ritter. Through it all, Andrea Newman has been on board as a writer and executive producer, moving up to sole showrunner for Season 12 after the departure of “Chicago Fire” creator Derek Haas.

During an exclusive interview with Looper, Newman revealed how Season 12 will deal with Firehouse 51’s changing personnel, including the previously announced exits of Rosende and Kara Killmer (who plays Sylvie Brett), as well as what to expect now that Kinney has returned after having stepped away for multiple episodes during Season 11.

‘There’s a theme this year of change and evolution’
This interview has been edited for clarity.
The big news heading into Season 12 is that Severide is back. What was it like writing around his temporary exit, and were you ever worried you might have to write him off permanently?

You never know. That was always a question, but he’s such a part of the show and such a heart of the show that we always felt that Severide would be back. We were so excited to have him back and to be able to write for him again.
It’s no secret that the series will be losing two beloved characters this season, Gallo and Brett. What can we expect from their departures, and how do you fill that void once they’re gone?
Well, we have people leaving, but we have people coming in too, and that kind of shake up is always fun and good for the characters and the show. For Brett, it’ll be sad to see her go, but we have her for a chunk of this season — and knowing that her time is limited, the character really throws herself into the job, and she has some exciting saves and action. She takes some big risks this season, one of which may be a little too big and might create some serious wrenches in the plans that she’s got going. We’ll see.

She now has a kid, and your mindset changes at that point. Does that have anything to do with her leaving?

I can say that we definitely show that challenge to be a working mom. She’s trying to make it all happen, but she’s got childcare issues, she’s got balancing work-life issues … She’s dealing with all of that in the early part of the season.

With her leaving, it feels like Matt Casey (Jesse Spencer) is exiting the show again too, as she was a big connection between him and Firehouse 51 since he left. Should fans be worried that means there will be fewer Casey cameos in the future?
There’s a theme this year of change and evolution, but there’s something that Boden says in the premiere, which is: “Once you’re a part of 51, you’re always a part of 51.” We love Matt Casey — we love Jesse — and we will definitely see him this season. He’s always welcome to come back to the show.

Assuming Brett and Casey get married, maybe we’ll see some Portland action, or they’ll come back to Chicago for a wedding at some point?

We’ll see Chicago action, and we’ll see those two together. But there are plans in place that go awry. Things don’t go exactly how anyone thinks it’s going to go, as you know how it goes on “Chicago Fire.”

Saying goodbye to Gallo was harder than expected in real life
There’s surely a lot to be addressed with how Gallo’s departure affects Violet, but how does Gallo leaving affect Ritter?
The goodbye is hard for everybody, but it’s especially difficult for Ritter and Violet. That trio has become such a center point of the show, and they’re so close. They’ll be leaning on each other a lot more; Violet will be leaning on Brett a lot more. But that goodbye is a special moment for the three of them in particular, and the three actors were really close too. That day on set when we shot that goodbye was very emotional. There were a lot of real tears.

I’ve interviewed all three of them, and they always talk about how they hang out outside of the show …

Over the break they went to Europe together — Greece and Italy — and there were Instagram pictures everywhere. Those three are tight, and they’re very much like their characters in terms of that relationship. The trio affection is very real, and man, do you feel that in the premiere, and we felt it on set when we were filming it.