The lives of many members of Firehouse 51 are on the line when Chicago Fire returns for season 8 and one of them may not survive the horrific mattress fire. āOne of our principal cast members for the first seven seasons is involved, but thereās also an injury to a main cast member and several other people who were involved in the fire,ā Showrunner Derek Haas told HollywoodLife. āRamifications of this tragic event will be spread out over the whole season, really.ā The Chicago Fire crew faces life-or-death situations every day but the fallout of this tragedy isnāt going to be felt in just one episode. This time, things are different.
āWeāve done it where our team faces a tragic event, and they have to deal with it as a group almost. And this time we wanted to do it where we see the ramifications of this major tragedy,ā Derek continued. āHow does each one individually take on the burden of what happened? It will have an impact on everyone, but it affects everyone differently. Sometimes a season will start and you cap off whatever was happening in the previous season, and then you just kick off your new season like it didnāt happen, almost resetting the show. We didnāt want to do that. We wanted to treat this like the way it really would affect people. It takes time to get over these things.ā
On a lighter note, Stella and Severide are going to be in a good place in season 8 after last seasonās major obstacles. āSeveride and Kidd are going to be great,ā Derek teased. āSeverideās definitely going to fulfill his wishes to be a better boyfriend to her. Youāre going to see more of that. But at the same time thereās going to be some outside pressures and forces that are going to be on both of them.ā
Big changes are ahead for Brett as well after accepting Kyleās proposal. āThat was a definite choice and a determination to not reset that story,ā Derek said. āHe proposed at the end of the finale and she accepted. I think a lot of shows and a lot of viewers of TV will think that weāre going to just reset that immediately, based on the events that happened at the fire. We, as a writers room, weāre like, āNo, letās see what happens.ā Sheās moved. She moved to Indiana like she said she was going to, with her fiance. Youāll see that play out over the first part of the season.ā
Alberto Rosende, best known for his role on Shadowhunters, is joining the show for season 8. Derek raved that the writers are āso excitedā to have him on board. He also teased Albertoās character, Blake Gallo: āHeās a bit of a diamond in the rough. He is waiting to explode on any call that theyāre on. Heās waiting to jump in and willing to risk his own life to save Chicagoans. We just wanted to play him as you can see what his career trajectory could be if he has the right mentors in place. Itās Casey who looks at him. The name of the second episode is āA Real Shot in the Arm.ā This is a chance, on the heels of what happens in episode 1, to have a real energy brought to the firehouse that Casey recognizes and goes to bat for.ā Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.