‘Chicago Fire’ EP Teases Season 6, Characters Not Returning

Chicago Fire fans were left breathless back in May, as the Season 5 finale of the NBC drama ended in a cliffhanger. The lives of several main characters, including Casey and Severide, were hanging in the balance.

The sixth season is only about six more weeks away, but there has been little to no insight regarding what happened in the finale. Fortunately, co-creator and showrunner Derek Haas has come to the rescue.

Haas recently spoke with THR about the upcoming season, and he said that there will definitely be some changes. The most important of which being the Firehouse 51 roster.

“Not all characters are coming back for Season 6.” Haas continued, “But I won’t specifically say how come they’re not coming back.”

So, this could mean that someone dies in the fire that so many are currently trapped in. It could also mean that a retirement is on the way. No matter what happens though, the cast will look a little different.

What About the Cliffhanger?

During the interview, Haas was asked about the cliffhanger that left so many in danger.

The EP stated that fans will find out what happened immediately, and fans won’t have to wait around for most of the episode to see who lives or dies.

This is how Haas described the events of the premiere:

“We’re going to pick up with the events that closed out season five. We’re going to start just moments after what you saw. After fade out, we’re going to fade back in on the same scene and we’re going to play out the event. I don’t give away spoilers because there’s a lot of things happening and a lot of people in jeopardy.

“Those events will play out over the teaser and then when we come back, we are going to do a time jump of a couple of months to a. to line us more up with summer and b. to get into… the way I always pitch it is, we’re not doing the 23rd episode of season five, we’re launching season six and hopefully launching it out of a canon so then we’re going to go right into season six.”

Did He Say Time Jump??

Yes, you read that correctly. Haas revealed that there will be a major time jump in the Season 6 premiere.

As soon as the episode begins, fans will see how the events of the devastating fire play out. Whether or not a character dies, we will know immediately.

Following that reveal, there will be a time jump of a couple of months. This will allow some time to pass for the characters, and it will help get viewers into the mindset of Season 6, rather than being stuck in Season 5.

The other reason behind this move is to keep the show in an uplifting place.

“As writers, it’s hard because I wrote episode 301, which was the aftermath of Shay dying and it’s a depressing episode. It was really fun to write because we messed around with time and we showed Shay’s arrival at the firehouse but ultimately, we’re not a depressing show, I don’t think. I think we’re an uplifting show or an inspiring show, and so I didn’t want all of episode 601 to be a downer so I think artistically we achieved that and we don’t shy away from what happens in the events of the teaser but the whole episode’s not about the aftermath of the teaser.”

Will There Be New Characters?

If someone is leaving the show, some more people have got to be coming in, right?

Haas was asked about bringing in some new faces to Firehouse 51, and he said there actually won’t be too many additions.

“Right now, we’re more shrinking and focusing on the cast we have,” Haas stated. “Eloise Mumford is probably the biggest [new] person we have as she’s looking for a place to land and really likes Firehouse 51. We will have a guest chief coming in for a little bit, for two episodes. A younger guy. We usually bring in chiefs that are the opposite of Boden so he’s not going to be an exception. It’s not like we’re bringing in a young, new firefighter to come in and fill anybody’s spot”

Haas has also been teasing a new character on Twitter called Mr. Sprinkles. It definitely sounds silly, but fans have been curious as to what this new character will be like.

“Mr. Sprinkles is going to be coming in episode four. Mr. Sprinkles is, to me, going to be a fan-favorite. We wouldn’t be Chicago Fire if we didn’t surprise you with Mr. Sprinkles’ appearance down the road after episode four. But probably around the time you’ve forgotten about Mr. Sprinkles, you might see Mr. Sprinkles again. That’s all I’m going to tell you.”

Crossover?

Fans of the Chicago shows love the episodes where characters from all three shows get a chance to interact together.  

While these crossover events are definitely on the minds of the producers, the scheduling makes things a little more difficult this year.

“Because we’re only doing six right off the bat and Med‘s not on during that time, we were kind of trying to figure out where is the right spot to do it so I think not until the spring. Trust me when I say Dick Wolf loves the crossovers and inevitably that call’s coming. It might come tomorrow or as soon as he reads this article, then [Chicago P.D. showrunner] Rick [Eid] and [Chicago Med showrunners] Andy [Schneider] and Diane [Frolov] and I will get in a room and get the writers together and figure out what the best way to handle it is.

“The other thing is we’re in new spots this year in terms of how that storytelling would flow. Fire‘s a great way to kick off a crossover because naturally you go from a big accident to the hospital to the police figuring it out, which has served us well in the past. This time, we would be the Thursday night show so unless we can manipulate the schedule – which we’ve done in the past – to put Fire first, we’d have to get into the nuts and bolts of how to do that. That said, we were so delighted when Jon Seda got picked up back on Chicago P.D.because we had plans for him on Chicago Fire and you know not only is he Gabby’s brother, but he and Brett had a great relationship that went down in flames last season and we would like to stoke the ashes of that one this year. We were thrilled that he’s going to be in Chicago so we can do that. We’ll have some P.D. [stars] showing up on Fire, but not a big major crossover until the new year.”

Chicago Fire returns to NBC on Thursday, September 28 at 10 p.m.