The three-part One Chicago crossover has come and gone, and fans shouldn’t count on another such event until the second half of the 2025 TV schedule at the very earliest. That doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences, though… or, as Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman put it, “ramifications.” In the wake of the crossover’s storyline for Stella Kidd, I revisited what the Fire boss said about the event, and I’ve changed my mind about whether Stella and Severide will decide to start a family before the end of Season 13.
Despite what the showrunner said ahead of the season about the Stellaride journey toward starting a family together, I just wasn’t sure I could envision Chicago Fire with the main couple having a baby. After all, pregnancy didn’t quite go smoothly for Dawson and Casey in the Dawsey days of Chicago Fire, and Stella having a bun in the oven would presumably mean being benched from her role as Truck lieutenant. (You can revisit the Dawsey seasons streaming with a Peacock subscription now.)
Of course, there are ways for Stellaride to become parents without Stella having to actually go through a pregnancy, and Dawsey even temporarily fostered a child back in the day. Cruz is proof that adoption is a great option, despite him missing the crossover due to breaking some CFD rules. And sure, Mouch making lieutenant technically means that Kidd could go on leave without Fire needing to introduce a replacement officer. I was just still unconvinced.
But Stella’s ordeal in the crossover made me think that she could take stock of her life and decide that the time is right to grow the family. And that was before I saw the promo for the next episode that would air in Fire‘s slot of 9 p.m. ET on NBC Wednesdays!
Admittedly, both potential parents being in grave danger would probably normally make me think that they definitely shouldn’t have kids unless somebody switches to a safer job, but 1) I don’t want to lose either character from the action and 2) Andrea Newman’s comments hit differently after seeing how Stella reacted to Severide agreeing that they need a break from the CFD.
The comments seemed totally unrelated to a potential Stellaride baby at the time, but now I see them in different light. In fact, one of the comments didn’t mention Severide at all, and came after I noted to the Fire EP reacted to my suggestion that Chicago Med‘s Archer and Chief Pascal would make an interesting duo. Andrea Newman said:
That’s a fun pairing, and what’s particularly fun to me is Voight and Pascal too, because they’re both such leaders, and putting them in a room together, it feels like fireworks fly. That’s a lot of fun, too. And Archer, the three of them, the boss guys who are in there together. Ruzek and Kidd, who are both super tough leaders and used to getting their way, having to work together is fun to watch too.
It was Newman’s mention of Chicago P.D.‘s Ruzek and Kidd being stuck in the subway together that got me thinking, largely due to my favorite Burzek moment of the crossover. It wasn’t their very sweet reunion at the end of the three-parter, but rather the moment when a worried Burgess asked her fiancé if he wanted her to go get their daughter so he could talk to her over the radio. Ruzek of course assured Burgess that that wasn’t necessary, but it reminded me of how P.D.‘s main couple are parents. If P.D. can do it, why not Fire‘s main couple?
Andrea Newman also touched on Stellaride when she mentioned the “ramifications” that are on the way from the crossover. She told me:
All of the episodes have ramifications on the other episodes, but the crossover has a big impact, I think, on all the characters. And again, the relationships in this one. Severide and Kidd, and Ruzek and Burgess, and Mouch and Trudy. We dig into those three relationships particularly, and the challenges that this incident brings. That was a lot of fun character-wise, for us to do.
Mouch and Trudy facing ramifications was pretty much inevitable after her near-death experience in the finale, and Burzek have wedding planning to do despite the complication of Disco Bob’s return. What ramifications would there for Stellaride, if not revisiting the idea of starting a family that Severide first pitched weeks ago?
The promo for this week’s new episode only adds fuel to my theory, as it shows that Stella is ready to take that step with her husband, and she’d previously been the holdout. Take a look:
So, is a Stellaride baby on the way? If ever a pregnancy was going to happen for them on Chicago Fire, the timing is probably ideal for them to start trying. After all, summer hiatus is in just a few months, so a pregnancy reveal could be a late season development or even a finale bombshell, with the early months then happening off-screen over the summer.
None of this is to say that fans should start picking baby names, but as of the end of the crossover and my second look at what the Chicago Fire boss told CinemaBlend, I’ve come around to the idea happening sooner rather than later. Keep tuning in to NBC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET to find out with new episodes of Fire smack dab in the middle of the hit One Chicago block!
