Last season: “Fire” ended on a major cliffhanger, with Mouch (Christian Stolte) bleeding out in the hospital after being hit by shrapnel. Additionally, Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) left Chicago to go find her husband, Severide (Taylor Kinney), who had left for an OFI case and never returned. Plus, Casey (Jesse Spencer) returned and proposed to Sylvie (Kara Killmer). Needless to say, there are a lot of questions that need answering.
What’s next: The first episode will reveal Mouch’s status, Brett’s answer to Casey and a little bit of what happened when Kidd found Severide. With Taylor Kinney returning after stepping away last season for a personal matter, he’s “centerstage” this season, says showrunner Andrea Newman. Read our full season preview with her here.
Changes: This season is full of changes. Behind the scenes, Newman is running the show for the first time solo, as creator and co-showrunner Derek Haas stepped away last year. Spencer, who left after the 100th episode, will be back partially this season. Killmer will be leaving this season, but it’s not yet revealed how many episodes she’ll appear in — but it will be a “good chunk,” says Newman. “She’s got a journey of her own to take before we let her go.”
Alberto Rosende, who portrays Blake Gallo, will leave this season as well, with the season premiere serving as his final episode. Rome Flynn is joining the cast as Jake Gibson, who is described as a “fun new element to rock 51.”