Chicago Fire began airing in 2012 and follows the lives of the firefighters and paramedics who work at Chicago Fire Department’s Firehouse 51. The show excels at putting together big fires and building the team within the firehouse, but like many of the One Chicago shows, one of Chicago Fire’s biggest struggles is building the relationships its characters have outside the firehouse in a way that balances well with the procedural piece of the show. That’s part of the reason so many of the characters date within the firehouse, even if it’s against the rules. This flaw is never more prominent than when a new character joins the firehouse.
Just two episodes into Chicago Fire’s Season 13, new Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) is already making waves at the firehouse. In Season 13, Episode 1, “A Monster in the Field,” Pascal informed his Lieutenants at Firehouse 51 — Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney), Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), and Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg) — that they would be debriefing calls with him in person, along with turning in their reports, and provided a tub where everyone on the team needed to drop their phones during meal times. Plus, it’s obvious from Season 13, Episode 2, “Ride the Blade,” that he is dealing with some secrets from his past that might make fitting in at Firehouse 51 and keeping his marriage together tougher than he expected.
