TV Is Heating Up! What to Know About Chicago Fire Season 9, Including Which Characters Could Find Love

When Chicago Fire, the story of Chicago’s fictional Firehouse 51, returns with the second half of Season 9 tonight, it will continue following the lives of its firefighters, rescue teams, and paramedics on both a personal and professional level.

While we've waited, we've had questions: Will Casey (Jesse Spencer) and Brett's (Kara Killmer) sparks finally catch fire? Will Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Stella (Miranda Rae Mayo) be the next to walk down the aisle? We spoke with showrunner Derek Haas to get the answers to those questions and more regarding Chicago Fire Season 9.  

“A lot of the focus of the season is going to be on two things: Whether or not Casey and Brett will work out the issues that are the stumbling blocks for their relationship, and then Kidd’s drive towards being a lieutenant,” Haas told Parade.com in an exclusive interview. “Brett and Casey are going to have to talk about what happened in Brett's apartment prior to the Christmas break. Brett and Casey work together, so there's no hiding from the fact that what happened, happened, and Casey said what he said. Now they need to talk it out.”

For those who might not know “what happened,” Brett and Casey kissed and were on their way to making love when Brett put a hold on the moment to ask Casey if he was still in love with his ex-wife Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund). When he admitted a part of him would always love Gaby, Brett asked him to leave despite the fact that it was clear they both have feelings for each other.

And that is what they need to talk about, because Brett, too, comes with baggage. She was engaged not too long ago, and while she may not still carry a torch for her ex-fiancé, is it really fair to expect Casey, a grown man, not to have had previous relationships?

“This one's different because they all worked together and knew each other,” Haas continued. “To me, it's not a wedge that will always be there, but it is something that needs to be talked about, because it wasn't that far in the past. Gabby left after Season 6 and the beginning of Season 7, but she came back last year, and Casey went to a charity dinner with her and they slept together. And Brett knows it. So, to me, I thought it was very realistic, the conversation that they had. And I do think when Casey says in this episode, 'regardless of Gabby,' and Brett says, 'There is no regardless of Gabby,' that to me is a human conversation."

In terms of other storylines, Haas shared, "Then with Kidd proceeding toward taking the lieutenant's exam, Severide has promised he’s going to be there for her every step of the way, except that there will be an obstacle coming in the way of that.” He continued, “Severide takes part of the obstacle into his own hands, which is probably ill-advised,” Haas continued. “So, there's some, let's say, hurdles to overcome for Stella on her route to becoming a lieutenant.”

Here’s everything we know about Chicago Fire Season 9 so far:

When is Chicago Fire Season 9 returning from the winter break?

New episodes of Chicago Fire Season 9 were set to begin on Jan. 6, but unrest at our nation's capitol bumped the Wednesday night lineup. New episodes are now set to return Wednesday, Jan. 13.

What time will Chicago Fire Season 9 be on?

When Chicago Fire returns for ninth season, it will be back in its Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.

Who's in the Chicago Fire cast for Season 9?

We never tire of looking at this cast of first responders. Here's who you'll see in Season 9.

Jesse Spencer as Capt. Matthew Casey, who leads the Truck Company

Taylor Kinney as Lt. Kelly Severide, who runs the Rescue Squad

Eamonn Walker as Battalion Chief Wallace Boden, chief of Firehouse 51

Kara Killmer as Sylvie Brett, paramedic

David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann, seasoned firefighter recently promoted to lieutenant and co-owner of the bar Molly’s.

Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella Kidd, firefighter and Severide’s girlfriend.

Joe Minoso as dependable firefighter Joe Cruz

Christian Stolte as Randy “Mouch” McHolland, a seasoned, veteran firefighter and co-owner of Molly’s.

Daniel Kyri as young firefighter Darren Ritter

Alberto Rosende as Blake Gallo, a young firefighter candidate

Are any characters leaving Chicago Fire in Season 9?

In the Chicago Fire Season 8 finale, Emily Foster (Annie Ilonzeh) screwed up her courage and reapplied to medical school at Northwestern. She had what looked to be a positive interview, so she will be leaving Firehouse 51. The story was supposed to playout in the three unfilmed episodes of Season 8, but since the season was cut short due to COVID-19, things were left up in the air.

Related: Everything We Know About Blue Bloods Season 11

Will there be any new characters joining Chicago Fire for Season 9?

With Emily looking to head back to medical school, Sylvie Brett will need a new partner in the ambo. According to Deadline, she will be joined by Gianna Mackey (Adriyan Rae), who comes from a working-class family and is described as “a lovable troublemaker with a twinkle in her eye,” who is also “charming, scrappy, fun, witty and good-natured.” But she also takes the job seriously, and is quick to defend those who can’t defend themselves.

How has Chicago Fire Season 9 filmed during coronavirus?

"I'll say first of all, a nod and tip of the hat to NBC and Universal TV, because they've gone above and beyond whatever the statewide or nationwide protocols are," Haas said. "They have done everything they can testing wise, PPE wise, and just good practices wise to keep everyone safe. So, we decided as a show pretty early in the season that we were going to really attempt to make episodes of television that looked like what we've had going for eight seasons. You don't want to have viewers tune in and be watching something different than what they'd seen before. So, we hope that for the most part, you don't see what it took to get those scenes done. Everything's behind the camera in terms of our practices, but then what you're seeing are as big and as dense as we've ever done, as big action as we've ever done, the same amount of people in scenes as we've always done. It's shot a little differently, so you wouldn't know that we had fewer people on set, that kind of thing."