Showrunner Andrea Newman explains why Kelly Severide hasn’t been promoted in Chicago Fire. Taylor Kinney is arguably the face of Dick Wolf’s One Chicago franchise, considering how long he has been in the universe, not to mention how prominent his character is in Firehouse 51. For years, Severide’s personal and professional arcs have been at the forefront of the first-responder procedural’s storytelling and are expected to continue as Chicago Fire season 13 enters production. Despite how vital he is in the show, there’s one particular character development that he hasn’t experienced.
Ahead of Chicago Fire season 13, Newman explains to TVLine why Severide hasn’t been promoted after all these years. Following more than a decade on Firehouse 51, he remains Squad 3’s lieutenant, with seemingly no plans to move on from the said role. As it turns out, this is because of the character’s personal preference. Read Newman’s full quote below:
In the Chicago Fire season 12 finale, Firehouse 51’s long-time leader Wallace Boden left the house for a bigger role at the CFD. This opened a spot that Severide could have naturally filled in. Prior to this change of leadership, the Squad 3 Lieutenant acted as its ranking officer while Boden was out for personal reasons. Understandably, Boden wanted to leave Firehouse 51 in order, so he was eyeing Severide to be its next Battalion Chief. That all changed when Stella Kidd’s husband revealed that he didn’t particularly enjoy the counseling part of being Firehouse 51’s overall leader
