CHICAGO FIRE: Eamonn Walker Previews Boden’s Tense, High-Stakes Season 13 Return

April 10, 2025 by Marisa Roffman

CHICAGO FIRE — “What’s Inside You” Episode 1018 — Pictured: Eamonn Walker as Wallace Boden — (Photo by: Adrian S. Burrows Sr./NBC)

The Wednesday, April 16 of CHICAGO FIRE, “Post-Mortem,” brings the welcome return of a familiar face—Eamonn Walker’s Boden, who served as Firehouse 51’s chief for the first twelve seasons of the NBC series.

Unfortunately, the reunion isn’t under the best of circumstances, though. In the hour, a house fire spirals into a potential tragedy, and Boden is tasked to speak with his former team about what exactly went down.

Ahead of the episode, Walker spoke with Give Me My Remote about returning to CHICAGO FIRE for the guest spot, Boden’s dynamic with his former team, and more.

You know the CHICAGO FIRE world so well, but what was it like your first day coming back on set, after being away for nearly a year?
I have to tell you, there were tears. There were tears when I came; there were tears when I was leaving again, too. Everybody was so happy and so welcoming. It felt like I’d never been away, and actually felt like I hadn’t been away for a day, is what it felt like. It was just it was seeing my family, my extended family. It was fantastic.

What can you tease about what brings Boden back into the CHICAGO FIRE world?
What brings Boden back and he has to investigate his own firehouse, his old firehouse—his old favorite firehouse. And you know how much he loves everybody within the house, but a mistake was made. Somebody was left behind in a fire, and they’re potentially going to die by the end of the episode. So he’s had to come straight away to get on top of the problem and investigate what happened and find out whose fault it was because a head may have to roll. So that’s what brings him back.

He does know these people better than almost anyone else. How much is he utilizing his specific knowledge of everyone to play at their figurative weaknesses and strengths in this investigation?
All of that comes into play, but because the situation is so immediate, your history as a human being is not really relevant at this moment. What’s really relevant is what did you do in the last couple of hours that has put this situation in such a heightened state? And so he’s got to investigate. He’s got to find out. Your history isn’t going to tell him what happened. He needs to know exactly what happened when it happened, who was before you, who was after you, what the numbers were, so he can piece it all together and then go back and report to…[the] commissioner.

So, yes, it’s a terrible place to be in. He does know and love these people, but you know Boden like I know Boden: He will always do his job first.

Boden’s old team also loves him. What is their take on him having to be the one to do the investigation?
Well, we play that in some of the scenes. And some people wanting him to [have]…the relationship they had before he left. But when he left, he was a Deputy District Chief, where he’s come back at is Deputy Commissioner. And he’s come back in a heightened moment. So none of the stuff that went before is relevant. And so because of that, this episode is out with all of your normal watching of CHICAGO FIRE. It’s much more like a movie than you’ve ever…well, we often do that [in previous episodes]. But the way it’s shot, the new techniques that we use to film this, to heighten it, because of those relationships. I think you’re going to really enjoy this episode. Because when people are trying to pull an old relationship out, Boden, his job is to go, “You’re going to have to put that away and deal with what’s in front of you.” And for some people, that’s easier than others.

Are we getting any insight into what Boden’s been up to since we last saw him?
This particular episode is all about what just happened, and that’s leaving a man behind in the fire. So you haven’t got time to catch up. You’re dealing with [the] potential loss of another firefighter, which could happen by the end of the episode. So that’s where we’re at.

One of the wild cards, in theory, is Firehouse 51’s new boss, Pascal. What can you tease about that dynamic and what it was like filming those scenes with Dermot Mulroney?
[Laughs.] Well, Dermot and I, we had a great time working with each other. I don’t know if Boden and Pascal will say the same thing. [Laughs.]

But I’ve been an admirer of his work for a long, long time, so I was looking forward to working with him. But I can turn around and tell you that the tension wasn’t only between those two. Because of the heightened situation, everybody gets to a point of going, “Oh my God, this could be my last day of firefighting unless the truth is found out.”

And so for some people, they don’t even know what happened, and their life and their career is in Boden’s hands. So that’s why I’m saying to you, it’s [not at all like] your normal episodes. It’s up against the edge, and because of that, it lends to a certain amount of excitement while watching it, and the new way of shooting it, and being with this relationship. You think you know how it’s going to go, but it isn’t going that way, because the situation doesn’t allow it to lend us to its own level of tension, with everyone.

What was it like filming the show in such a different way?
Well Reza [Tabrizi], our resident director-producer, when he’s talking about it, and being as excited as he was when coming up with some of the ideas about filming, you can’t help but go, “Oh my God, we’ve never done that before.” And just get excited.

And I’m not going to give any of the tricks away for some of the stuff, but I have to turn around and say I was excited for the whole filming period; every day was a new day. And we were supporting each other, even though we’ve never done certain stuff before. We were like, [Gasps.] I’m excited for the fans to see it and see that. I think they’re going to get a movie-esque type of episode.

CHICAGO FIRE: 'A Guy I Used to Know' Photos

CHICAGO FIRE — “A Guy I Used to Know” Episode 1111 — Pictured: (l-r) Eamonn Walker as Wallace Boden, Joe Minoso as Cruz, Daniel Kyri as Darren Ritter, David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann, Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella Kidd, Christian Stolte as Randy “Mouch” McHolland, Alberto Rosende as Blake Gallo, Jake Lockett as Carver, Hanako Greensmith as Violet, Kara Killmer as Sylvie Brett — (Photo by: Adrian S Burrows Sr/NBC)

Now that you had a) a little bit of time away and b) the chance to return for this episode, what do you find you miss the most about CHICAGO FIRE?
People. It’s my family. It’s my extended family. It’s as simple as that. I have people I know and love who were in my life for all of those years. And I missed them terribly. So going back and working with them was one of my biggest joys. I cannot tell you. The tears were there in the beginning and they were there at the end.

Every cast member isn’t in every single episode. Did you get to work with all of your former castmates in this episode? Or is there someone that you didn’t get the chance to work with that you’re hoping to get to work with next go-round?
[Laughs.] Well, because of the nature of the family, Boden deals with all of the people who are in charge—if you’re an officer, you’re going to be dealing with Boden in this episode because you have a responsibility, so therefore your head is possibly on the block.

The regular firefighters, I didn’t see them in the episode, but I saw them in life. [Laughs.] Because there’s no way that I’m going to come be in Chicago and then not turn up to the set. So as I say, the family was all-encompassing. And it was very, very happy, for my soul and my spirit.

Now that you had the chance to come back, are you already talking to the writers like, “Okay, when can I come back again to visit?”
[Laughs.] As we always say, once a part of the CHICAGO FIRE family, you’re always a part of the CHICAGO FIRE family. So if they write it, I’ll come, you know what I mean? It didn’t feel like I’d been away for a minute.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

CHICAGO FIRE, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC

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