The likelihood of Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Van Meter (Tim Hopper) not escaping the burning building where they were left in the Chicago Fire Season 14 midseason finale is slim. Severide is much too good a fireman not to come up with a way to MacGyver them out of the conflagration.
But the budget cuts made by Mayor's Chief of Staff Annette Davis (Annabeth Gish) to prevent a teacher’s strike are not something that can be resolved as simply and Randall "Mouch" McHolland — and as a result Christian Stotle, who plays him — may be out of a job if Engine 51 is taken out of commission and Firehouse 51 has to cut staff.
The fact that Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) has started dating Davis gave Pascal a heads-up as to what was happening, but it might not be enough for him to come up with a plan to save Engine 51.
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“The cliffhanger between Pascal and Davis brought up another cliffhanger for us as far as what Mouch is going to be facing, which, obviously, is going to have its own effects on the dynamic between Pascal and Davis, and the responsibility that they feel,” executive producer Reza Tabrizi told Parade. “Mouch has been such a loved character from the very beginning. This is going to be a challenge that is going to affect Mouch and the firehouse as a whole.”
As for Pascal, he had a hard time moving on from his wife Monica’s (KaDee Strickland) death in an auto accident. He hadn’t really considered getting into a relationship, but there was something about Davis.
Dermot Mulroney as Dom Pascal, Annabeth Gish as Annette Davis in 'Chicago Fire'Photo by: Peter Gordon/NBC
“As soon as there is an element of closeness with feeling like he can be more comfortable with Annette Davis, the hammer drops and that conversation needs to continue, obviously,” Tabrizi says. “It’s going to have its effect on each character and a bigger picture on the firehouse.”
The fact that earlier in the season, an auditor had been sent to Firehouse 51 had already laid the groundwork for cutbacks, but it wasn’t clear that they were going to be so drastic. The looming teacher’s strike was just the extra push that took the cuts to the extreme.
Related:Chicago Fire Gets Turned Upside Down for Season 14 Losing Another Cast Member
“With Herrmann (David Eigenberg) and recently Pascal, Mouch definitely has some allies,” Tabrizi continued. “But facing the city is going to be a challenge that is going to be ongoing. It won’t get wrapped up in one episode, but it’ll continue to be an element, a challenge that we’re dealing with.”
Also in the midseason finale, Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) was MIA from the firehouse, having taken her and Severide’s foster child, Isaiah (Hero Hunter), to Cleveland to oversee his mother’s health issues, but according to Tabrizi, she won’t be missing onscreen
“Stella is not going anywhere,” he reassured. “She’s going to be involved, yes.”
Brandon Larracuente as Sal Vasquez in 'Chicago Fire'Photo by: Peter Gordon/NBC
The midseason finale also put Sal Vasquez’s (Brandon A. Larracuente) dad, Ray (Gonzalo Menendez), into play with the latter’s release from prison and confrontation with his son, who he felt hadn’t done enough to help get him out of the big house.
“The way Ray’s automatically being the tough dad, putting Vasquez down a little bit in front of the co-worker [Violet] was interesting,” Tabrizi said. “Vasquez said in the fall finale that he wanted to step away from being involved with his dad and he didn’t want to have anything to do with that. But we all know that that’s not how life works. If Ray Vasquez is out of prison, that means something’s going to come down the line.”
Jocelyn Hudon as Lizzy Novak in 'Chicago Fire'Photo by: Peter Gordon/NBC
And finally, there was the introduction of Lizzy Novak’s (Jocelyn Hudon) sister Heidi (Tatiana Ringsby), which was interesting because when we first met Lizzy, she had commitment issues. She was a floater. She never stayed in any one position for a long period of time. She had to be convinced to take the full-time job at 51. And, now, with her sister, we see that commitment-issue as well.
“Some of this background, I call it the secret history of the characters,” Tabrizi said. “They are my favorite things when we get to explore them. As far as what’s happened with Novak’s family, it’s something that we discussed and knew what the history was from the time Novak was introduced as a character. I’m really glad that finally we’re able to dig a little bit into that history and see some of what made this character be the character that she is. There’s a brother in the picture, too. That is also going to be explored more. I think Vasquez and Novak are the two characters that we’re exploring more now because we don’t know their history as much.”
Chicago Fire returns from its winter break with new episodes of Season 14 tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Streams next day on Peacock.
Next, NBC Announces 2026 Winter Premiere Dates for The Voice, Reggie Dinkins’ and The Hunting Party
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