The three finales of One Chicago were emotional all around back in the spring, with Chicago Fire ending Season 13 with tear-jerking performances from Taylor Kinney and Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella told Severide that she was pregnant. It was a rewarding way to close out the season after watching all of their struggles towards parenthood, but rarely is anything struggle-free for too long on Chicago Fire. Ahead of the Season 14 premiere in the 2025 TV schedule, executive producer Andrea Newman previewed what will be “very loaded” for Kidd in particular when it comes to pregnancy and parenthood.
The Season 14 premiere of Chicago Fire on NBC is called “Kicking Down Doors,” and will air on the network on Wednesday, October 1 in the usual time slot between Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. (It will also stream next day with a Peacock subscription.) The logline sheds a little light on what’s to come, although anything concerning the good ship Stellaride is missing:
A new face at Firehouse 51 causes tension, while rising chaos in the city brings new challenges to the team. Herrmann stalls on plans of relinquishing his office to Mouch.
The episode description leaving out Stella and Severide isn’t cause for alarm, since Chicago Fire isn’t likely to spoil the details of what comes next for them. The “new face at Firehouse 51” probably refers to Sal Vasquez, a new firefighter played by On Call alum Brandon Larracuente coming on board to help fill the vacancy left by Jake Lockett as Sam Carver.
So, what about Stella Kidd with a baby on board as of the end of Season 13? Well, I had to ask showrunner Andrea Newman about what’s to come, since Fire hasn’t featured two firefighters dealing with a pregnancy since Dawson and Casey back in the day. During NBC’s One Chicago press day ahead of the Season 14 premiere, Newman previewed:
It's very loaded for Kidd in particular going in, because I think she had a lot of concerns and struggles, and what we were really leaning into is you have all the concerns and hesitations, and especially work-related for her. Like, how will it affect her work and life? And then when it actually happens, a lot of those go right out the window, and suddenly it just becomes about family and your kids. So seeing, seeing the transition for her between all the concerns she had early on, and what it actually looks like in play as a parent and a firefighter is something we're excited to explore.
A Stellaride baby has always meant something different for Stella than for Severide, which he immediately acknowledged when he floated the idea to her to set up their parenthood journey in Season 13. After all, she was the one who’d have to take a break from the action as a firefighter, and they seemed to sidestep that issue with the decision to adopt. Then came the bun in the oven, and an understandably “loaded” scenario for the Truck 81 lieutenant.
When asked during the press junket about how much grief she was going to give Stella and Severide during Season 14, the showrunner teased:
Well, life is difficult. Parenthood is tricky. It's a struggle. We like to throw every obstacle and wrench we can in every direction. In a good way.
The heroes of Firehouse 51 pursuing parenthood have had mixed results over the years, with Dawsey’s pregnancy ending in tragedy while Cruz and Chloe adopted Javi and then had baby Otis. Casey had to move across the country to take care of the Darden boys, while Brett adopted a baby and then joined him. Will Stellaride's journey be more like Dawson and Casey's, more like Otis and Chloe's, or something else entirely?
For now, take a look at the trailer for One Chicago’s return:
Chicago Fire Season 14 premieres on Wednesday, October 1 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Chicago Med Season 11 at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. If you want to brush up on last season’s finale before we see how Fire continues the stories in the new season, you can find the episode streaming on Peacock now.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
