Never mind that Season 12 finale conversation between Boden (Eamonn Walker) and Herrmann (David Eigenberg) on Chicago Fire. It sounds like Herrmann won’t succeed Boden as chief after all.
Sources close to the NBC production tell Deadline that a new character named Dom Pascal (for the time being) will be Firehouse 51’s new battalion chief.
According to the report, Pascal is “began his career with the CFD but spent the last decade as a chief in sunny Miami.” He and his wife are estranged, but he’s “a cheerful person who works well under pressure and whose leadership style differs from Boden’s.”
Casting for the role — a series regular part on the firefighter drama — is currently underway, Deadline adds.
The Season 12 finale certainly made it seem like the battalion chief job was going to Herrmann, pictured below — as Boden, pictured above, considered a deputy commissioner job he ultimately got.
Adrian S Burrows Sr./NBC
“I want you sitting in this chair as my replacement,” Boden told Herrmann in that May 22 installment. “There are some things to get in order. You need that captain promotion, and you need to take the Battalion Chief Test. But you do that, and you could look after our family.”
It’s unclear why Herrmann is getting passed over for the job, according to Deadline, but perhaps Season 13 will reveal that he didn’t pass the test.
Walker, who had been a series regular since Chicago Fire’s first season, moved to recurring status at the end of Season 12. In a behind-the-scenes video that production company Wolf Entertainment posted on Instagram in May, the cast and crew applauded the actor after he filmed his final scene.“I just want to say: Best cast, best crew, best production, best job of my life,” Walker responded. “Thank you.”
Chicago Fire Season 13, Wednesdays This Fall, 9/8c, NBC