Chicago Fire Boss Talks Stella’s Family Reveal, Violet and Carver’s ‘Torturous’ Future, and Mouch/Herrmann ‘Drama’

Well, there won’t be a baby in Kelly Severide and Stella Kidd’s immediate future.

It was about mid-way through Chicago Fire’s Season 13 premiere that the couple finally addressed the question that was brought up at the end of last season when Severide announced that he wanted to start a family. But is his wife on the same page? After a harrowing rescue that involved two young children, Stella confessed to her hubby that calls with kids fill her with dread (out of concern, presumably). Then she added that she doesn’t feel ready yet to have a child, and Severide seemed to be understanding in response.

As the season progresses, viewers — and Stella, herself — will get more insight into why she’s hesitant to take that next step. In addition to the demands that having a child would put on Stella, professionally, as a woman in the Chicago Fire Department, there are also deeper, personal reasons that will surface.

“We haven’t really explored her background, her family, how she grew up,” showrunner Andrea Newman told TVLine during our Fall Preview Q&A, “and as the question of starting her own family [comes up], she’s going to go on a journey of her own to kind of explore more about why she feels the way she does about family.”

Meanwhile, Severide has his own family drama to deal with in his newly revealed half-brother Damon, and that, too, will impact Severide and Stella’s journey and potentially put their children plans on hold.

“I think it’s inevitable that it does in a way, because there’s, all of a sudden, this family responsibility that Severide’s going to manage that is a little separate,” Newman says. But the Damon/Severide storyline is “its own thing” that exists alongside the Severide/Stella family arc, “so it informs it, but it doesn’t really change it,” Newman clarifies.

Elsewhere in the premiere, new chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) made his presence felt at Firehouse 51 by introducing several changes: no cell phones during meals and individual check-ins with his three lieutenants following calls. During his meeting with Severide, Pascal noted that family members aren’t supposed to work the same shift, so he’ll be keeping an eye on Severide and Stella. (Severide, conveniently, didn’t mention his connection to Damon.) As for Stella, she ended up pushing back against the new chief because of how much she misses Boden, who was like a father to her. Both Stella and Severide also agreed that there was something off about Pascal, who got a suspicious visit from a former colleague who heard about what happened in Miami. As the episode ended, Pascal went home, where he had been locked out by his wife (KaDee Strickland), but managed to charm her into opening the door and kissing him.

Surprisingly, it was Herrmann who warmed up the most to Pascal following their one-on-one. Mouch was dubious of Herrmann’s praise and asked him if he really missed the captain’s test because he was sick. In case Herrmann was doubting himself, Mouch assured him that he could do everything Pascal is doing and that he would be great at it. Because Mouch doesn’t plan to take the lieutenant test until Herrmann moves up the ranks and a spot opens up at 51, their professional futures are now linked in a complicated way.

“There’s definitely twists and turns to that, as well, and they’re kind of inexorably tied to each other in that way,” Newman shares. “What one does impacts the other, and that’s going to create lots of drama for their friendship and relationship going forward.”

Speaking of drama, Violet and Carver will have their fair share of it now that he’s back from his six-week furlough, visiting his family in Texas, with a new girlfriend in tow. Even after Violet apologized to him, Carver said he was done living in the past and that he doesn’t want to pretend they’re anything more than coworkers. Ouch.

Newman says the writers are referring to the new season as “Haunted Season 13 because there’s so much of the past [and] ghosts hanging over all these characters,” which is especially true for Violet and Carver.

For the paramedic, her late love Hawkins “is the ghost that’s kind of hanging over everything, and for Carver, his family and the backstory of his family at home is hanging over everything, and his past hangs over him,” Newman shares. “So they’ve both got a lot to work out, and there’s some torturous, high drama between the two of them.”

“Carver’s whole idea was to go back home and kind of work through some s–t with his family, and then come back and see where everything is at,” Newman describes. But as Carver’s broody mood in the premiere hinted, he’s still “carrying ghosts into the dynamic between [him and Violet], and they have to figure out a lot of stuff. It’s not going to be an easy ride for them.”