CHICAGO FIRE Post-Mortem: Derek Haas on Casey and Severide’s Relationship Missteps

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Wednesday, January 13 episode of CHICAGO FIRE.]

CHICAGO FIRE started off its 2021 batch of episodes with serious relationship drama.

In the aftermath of Brett (Kara Killmer) and Casey’s (Jesse Spencer) kiss—and subsequent unraveling when he couldn’t say he wouldn’t return to his ex-wife, Gabby (Monica Raymund), if given the choice—the duo awkwardly tried to figure out where they stood.

Ultimately, Casey decided to step back, realizing he wanted the relationship too much…but not actually telling Brett that.

Things, unfortunately, weren’t a lot better for Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Stella (Miranda Rae Mayo). When Severide heard rumors were circulating that his longtime girlfriend had progressed through the ranks faster than deserved due to their relationship, he made sure to step back from her, at work, much to her confusion.

But will either man take the step to express what’s going on? CHICAGO FIRE boss Derek Haas shared a few teases about what’s in store for the duos…

Casey made a big decision to back off from Brett, but how much is she viewing his space as essentially proving her right?
Well, she’s going to certainly be thinking about it for a while. That issue is so pervasive for them. This isn’t the last discussion that they’re going to have on it. There’s more to come. As you get to episode 4 and beyond, you’re gonna see some new cards turned in their relationship anyway.

Are these new love interest(s)? If so, whose head will be turned?
Well, there’s people outside of our Firehouse 51 that are going to come into play, so to speak, in the continuation of the season. There’s new characters coming, who aren’t just one-episode blips; they’ll be in for a little bit.

Severide seemed really thrown by the rumors about Kidd’s potential promotion. How will that impact both his treatment of her beyond what we saw? And how can he balance being honest, while also not being hurtful about the speculation?
Severide, I think we’ve portrayed him over eight seasons as not being the greatest communicator, especially when there are big obstacles in his sights. He sees this rumor-mongering going around and doesn’t want anyone to believe that Stella would rise to being a lieutenant for any other reason than her incredible abilities. And he doesn’t want her to know that that’s what’s being said; she seems so confident and he doesn’t want that question lingering in the back of her mind.

So in Severide’s Severide way, he doesn’t tell her and instead takes a step back so that she can achieve this, in his mind, on her own. Of course this is going to be fraught with problems, because, you know, Stella’s seen him, in the past, go into these kind of step back funks. And that’s not going to sit very well with her.

During our last interview, you teased the words “Dearly beloved” about Severide and Kidd…
Did I? [Laughs.]

Yep. Is there any engagement potentially coming for them, or has this storyline—as well as the ever-changing realities of 2020/2021 and the difficulties of weddings in real-life—changed?
[Joking.] Are you gonna hold me to anything I said in 2020? I feel like everybody should get a pass on whatever they said.

No, I would say that there’s going to be some ups and downs in this storyline for the year. And, right now, Stella is going to be focused on the lieutenant’s test. And the question is going to be whether or not she’ll even take it this year, with everything that ends up going on with her and Severide, Girls on Fire, and all of the stresses of the job. But I would not close the lid on their relationship progressing before the end of the year.

Given how important this couple has been to the show, would you potentially want to delay an on-screen wedding until it could be done in a world where you weren’t having to discuss masks, distancing, the pandemic, etc.?
I hadn’t thought that far out, because I think we’re just shaping the last third of the season right now. We’re all sort of hopeful that there’s going to be vaccines, maybe, before we end up finishing shooting the season in May. So, fingers crossed, that we’ll have more freedom by then.

But I will say this cast and this crew have kind of been determined that we would not deliver episodes that were lesser than anything we’ve made in the past. We just didn’t want to be one of these shows that all of a sudden you’re watching something different than you watched eight seasons before. And, I think, thanks to this outstanding crew and staff, we’re trying to do things behind the camera that you never see when you’re watching.

So maybe if we ended up doing a wedding, it’s just on us to get creative on how we do that. I don’t know that we’d go as far as a wedding this year, but maybe the precursors to that.

Professionally, Severide was back in the OFI world. Is that something that will continue for a bit, or was that just another one-off story?
You know how much I and my headwriters, Michael Gilvary and Andrea Newman, love the Office of Fire Investigation. We think it’s fun from a writing standpoint. And that actor, Tim Hopper, who plays Van Meter, the head of the OFI, we just love him so much that we always want him back; he’s fun to write for. He does a great deadpan, and has some good give and take with Severide.

So, we will bring in the OFI, as needed. But I love setting scenes there. Arson investigation is always interesting, anyway. I can’t speak to that we have some huge new storyline for Severide and arson in what we’ve broken so far this year, but we always have that in our holster ready to bring up.

CHICAGO FIRE, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC

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