'Chicago Fire' Showrunner on Tonight's Major Shake Up at Firehouse 51

Hanako Greensmith

Just when you thought—or hoped—that Chicago Fire would end its 12^th season without another appearance by Paramedic Chief Jude Robinson (Laura Allen) to stir things up, back she is again and it’s Violet Mikami (Hanako Greensmith) and Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) that are her targets. And, of course, it’s Jared Lennox (Wesam Keesh), who made a dangerous decision on a call, that is the cause of it all.

When Violet convinced Novak (Jocelyn Hudson) to commit to a permanent position as her paramedic partner at Firehouse 51, it seemed that that was the last we’d see of Lennox, but, according to Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman, Lennox’s story had only been told in an abbreviated way, so he’s back.

“As the Chief Robinson story comes to a head, Lennox’s going to be a part of it,” Newman tells Parade in this exclusive interview. “He wasn’t kicked out of the CFD, he was just kicked out of House 51, so they’re going to cross paths. Knowing the bad blood between them, that’ll stir things up, so Violet will be seeing him.”

Related: Kelly Severide Mysteriously Disappears Along with the Firehouse 51 Truck on Chicago Fire

Violet has been settling in with her new partner, who is helping her with the social aspect of the job while Violet is a great mentor for Novak, but Newman says there will still be some bumps in the road.

“The fact that Novak is a wild child, and that Violet is more grounded and less like that, they’ll have their struggles to get through,” she says. “But I think that ultimately they’re a magical team together because of their differences, so it’s fun to watch.”

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Tonight’s “Under Pressure” episode also delves deeper into the martial problems that Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) is facing with his wife Chloe (Kristen Gutoskie). Last week, we learned that Chloe wanted him to attend couple’s counseling. He was reluctant but Christopher Hermann (David Eigenberg) convinced him to go. After all, happy wife, happy life.

“What’s great about that story is that it was seeded long ago and the relationship troubles are spiked by an incident that we’ll all remember when they talk about it,” Newman explains. “It all makes sense how they went off the rails a little bit. And yeah, the challenge will be trying to get back on the rails, the two of them, because obviously they love each other very much and they have these two amazing kids. But especially for Chloe, there’s just a huge issue that will come up that she’s really struggling with.”

To bring some comic relief to two very emotional storylines, Newman and her staff of writers are having Capp (Randy Flagler) and Tony (Anthony Ferraris) attempt to break a World Record.

“I always say this and this has been thematic from the beginning of the show, but I think this season in particular, that the job is so hard,” Newman says. “It’s so dark, there’s so much trauma that they have to face as first responders, and the only way to get through it is to be able to hold onto the light stuff too and have that light stuff be a part of their lives. We’ve made that clear, even in dialog with Hermann getting glitter bombed at the end of a tough episode.

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“They need that, and we see that in every single firehouse we go into. The heights to which firefighters will go to break each other are pretty amazing and elaborate. I remember asking guys to write down their pranks and how they do them, and some of them were six pages long of steps all for somebody to get sprayed in the face when they sat down.

"So yeah, I think the lighter part, and we’ve made that really thematic this season, but the lighter part is so important. Even as we come to an emotional crescendo at the end of the season as the penultimate episode, we still need to lean into the fact that this is how you survive in a job that difficult and that potentially traumatizing.”

Chicago Fire airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

Next: All About Chicago Fire Season 12, Including Cast Updates and More