Chicago Fire's Showrunner Explains What's Next After That Big Season Finale Stellaride Surprise

Chicago Fire's Season 13 finale, "It Had To End This Way," ends in, perhaps, the biggest surprise out of the three One Chicago shows airing season finales on Wednesday night. Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney), who spent the entire season discussing the possibility of starting a family and finally settled on adoption, only to see that possibility ripped from their hands, are going to be parents. Stella is pregnant!

It is both the perfect payoff for the storyline Chicago Fire had set up all season and quite a surprise for fans who were expecting more heartbreak. In fact, the Chicago Fire Season 13 finale is shockingly uplifting considering the episode was meant to write out two characters: Jake Lockett's Sam Carver and Daniel Kyri's Darren Ritter. Neither of the two will be returning as series regulars in Season 14, and yet when the episode ended, it somehow seemed unthinkable that the two won't be back in some capacity.

This is especially true of Carver, who told Violet he's transferring to Denver because he didn't trust himself to stay sober in Chicago, and yet finished the episode confessing his love to her and passionately kissing her. Where does the show go from here? And can it really go anywhere without Lockett? The show did promise budget cuts were coming for the CFD, so things could look very different next season.

Someone who didn't seem to be going anywhere? New Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney), who, despite a rocky start at Firehouse 51, has earned everyone's respect. This was particularly true of Severide, who put his neck on the line for the Chief and was rewarded with the trust of his boss and a growing friendship that looks like it's going to be at the center of what the show wants to do going forward.

Leadership, after all, is going to look very different at Firehouse 51 next season after Herrmann's (David Eigenberg) surprising decision to relinquish his rank and go back to being just a firefighter so his best friend Mouch (Christian Stolte) can have his turn as Lieutenant.

Below, Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman breaks down the Stellaride future, what Firehouse 51 looks like with a baby, Carver's goodbye that wasn't, and Herrmann's monumental decision.

The season ended with a big moment for Stellaride, but before that, we had a lot of Natalie with Kelly, and especially with Stella. What was that storyline about for you? Was it about healing Stella's inner teenager more than about positioning Natalie as someone they could adopt? 

Andrea Newman: Oh, I love it. I love that you said that, because that's exactly how we looked at it. It's like she was the kid whose parents weren't there. And now it's like, how can she solve these problems? Can she support this girl and give her the love she needs to get her back to a healthy place where she can just be a regular teenager? That is, you know, what Stella's dream was. And that's kind of where Aunt Laverne eventually got her. That's what Aunt Laverne did for her. And it's what she was able to do, or what she hopes to do for Natalie.

The baby is great news. But logistically, a baby presents some problems. Do you know how you're going to approach it? How does it change the kind of stories you're telling with Stella and Kelly going forward?

Newman: We have lots of versions of this. Nothing is set in stone, you know, we're not in the room yet for Season 14. Nothing is decided. But there are so many ways to go with that. And as we always say, if you think the stakes are high when you're married and working together, imagine having a baby and being on the same call where both of you could die, and then you're leaving your baby an orphan. The stakes of everything are super high.

For us, it's not really about how much we even see the baby. It would be more about how Stella and Kelly interact as a couple, and how being firefighters in this incredibly dangerous job changes for them with a baby. Like their adoption agent said, this is a very risky thing you're doing here. And you have to take responsibility for that. So, there's a lot to play in terms of the emotion and the weight, just as firefighters, let alone as a couple.

There are also different dynamics that change with a baby, like the one between Severide and Damon, who is now going to be an uncle.

Newman: Yeah, there's a lot to play. Because, again, 51 is a family, and there's how they all react to the new member. And, you know, everybody's got advice to give, of course. And that's all fun stuff to play. … I don't think there's any way for Stellaride to get closer than they are. It's just ways to kind of turn the screws on them with the pressure of being firefighters and parents at the same time. Does one have to step back a little bit or the other, and who would, and you know, how to handle all that?

We also saw Herrmann make a big sacrifice this episode for his friend Mouch. Was there ever a version of the story where he didn't? One where he actually became Chief?

Newman: We always wanted to bring somebody new in, like Dermot, and you've got to see what the chemistry is and how he fits in. We didn't have it locked down exactly. But we knew that the pressure of Boden saying to Herrmann, "You can be the next one," was going to be a lot for Herrmann to bear. Because as much as Boden was saying you can do it, the question that, you know, Boden never asked him and that he never asked himself is, "Do I want to do it?"

And so that's, that's really what it came down to. And at the end of the day, once the auditor came in and said, "You might only have 10 minutes left on the job," he had to make the big decision. And for him, it was, I know who wants it more than me, and it's my best friend. And so, I'm going to do whatever I can to make that happen. He's been watching, we've been watching Mouch, get into the firefighter world, and get more and more excited about it since he got injured at the end of Season 11.

He came back on "Call Me McHolland" and doubled down on being a firefighter. So, that was the journey we've seen on Mouch's side, and Herrmann has seen that too. And so, at the end of the day, for everybody, it's where your passions really lie, and his passion lies with… Mouch is his best friend, and he'll make a great Lieutenant. And so, Herrmann will do whatever he can to make that happen.

Does this play a little into how you might replace Stella when she's inevitably out for some time next season? She's going to have a baby!

Newman: We're definitely playing with the leadership aspects of Mouch and the question of when things get shaken up at the firehouse, who steps up and who helps, and what that means. Herrmann also took a hit financially when he stepped down. So, is he going to be, you know, working triple time at Molly's now to make up for it? And then having his own disasters there? He's not so great with money, as we all know, we've seen for 13 years. So, there's a lot to play on the B-side of this big decision that Herrmann made.

And when it comes to Carver and Ritter, the idea is to bring them back to try to give closure to their storylines, right? Carver's storyline, in particular, doesn't really have an end, and we kind of want more now.

Newman: Yeah, it is the idea. I mean, Carver has a huge decision to make. He's basically said he doesn't think he can stay clean and stay in Chicago and be around the people who were part of the triggering experience for him. So, it's more than just, "Can I be with Violet?" It's "Can I stay here at all? And can Violet be a part of my life, and I still heal?" So, there's a lot to work out for those two. But they've been able to say how they really feel to each other. And I think for them, that was a huge, huge victory and a huge moment that will only help them each in their own ways.

Chicago Fire will return next fall. All episodes are now streaming on Peacock.