Move aside, Pascal. Chief Boden is back at Firehouse 51. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed on March 5 that Eamonn Walker — who played Chief Wallace Boden from Seasons 1 to 12 of Chicago Fire — is set to make his long-awaited return to the NBC after leaving the One Chicago franchise a year ago.
Is Chief Wallace Boden coming back to Chicago Fire for good?
As of now, Walker is set to appear in only one episode of Chicago Fire Season 13: Episode 19, “Post Mortem,” which is scheduled to air on April 16, 2025, at 9 p.m.
According to the logline of the episode, Boden returns to Firehouse 51 after he’s “tasked by Commissioner Grissom to run a post-incident analysis following a house fire that collapse with a firefighter inside.”
Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman also confirmed Walker’s return in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “We’re so excited to have our beloved Chief Boden back, and the episode, titled ‘Post-Mortem,’ is a thrill ride unlike any we’ve done before. Told with flashbacks and unique POVs, Chief Boden leads our team on a search to discover the how, who and why of a fierce firefight that ended in disaster,” she said.
Newman also previously teased Boden’s return in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in January 2025, in which she confirmed that he wasn’t in Chicago Fire’s three-way crossover with Chicago Med and Chicago P.D., but there could be a chance of a comeback in the future. “He’s not on the crossover because that’s Pascal’s leadership, but we’ve got a great twisty-turny, unique format episode where he is the centerpiece. Boden will be back, that is the plan,” she said at the time.
Boden left Chicago Fire in the Season 12 finale after he accepted a promotion as the Chicago Fire Department’s new Deputy Commissioner, forcing him to leave his post as chief of Firehouse 51. Though Boden recommended Senior Firefighter Christopher Hermann (David Eigenberg) to succeed him, viewers learned in the Chicago Fire Season 13 premiere that a new chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) had been hired as Boden’s replacement instead.
As for whether Boden could come back to Chicago Fire full-time, Newman hinted to The Hollywood Reporter in 2024 that, while Boden still exists in the world of One Chicago, his role as chief of Firehouse 51 was over and done with. “Boden had a speech at the end of last season, about change being inevitable. We try to keep it real, and people do come and go from firehouses. But the big change is obviously the new chief coming in,” she said. “He is a part of our world, still.”
That said, fans speculate that Chicago Fire could be writing off Pascal to make way for Herrmann to be the new (and full-time) chief of Firehouse 51. A promo for Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 15, “Too Close,” confirmed the death of a character, with many believing that Monica Pascal, Chief Pascal’s estranged wife, is who’s set to be killed off. If Monica is killed off on Chicago Fire, the emotional moment could be enough for Pascal to resign as chief of Firehouse 51, which would give the opportunity for Herrmann — who originally turned down the position because he wasn’t ready to take the chief test— to finally step up and lead the Firehouse 51 team he’s worked with since Season 1.
