"Chicago Fire" season two will feature more pregnancy drama and the kindling of new relationships. The NBC firefighter drama will pick up a month after last season's finale, in which Casey's (Jesse Spencer) girlfriend (Teri Reeves) Hallie was killed in a deadly fire that burned down the hospital where she worked as a doctor. The upcoming season premiere will feature Casey still reeling after Hallie's death, but beginning to cope with the tragedy.
Jesse Spencer told TV Line that Casey has found "inner peace" about his girlfriend's death. Spencer said that Casey "develops a relationship with a couple of kids that he has to look after, and they help him through some difficult times, and he helps them. It's nice. It's an appropriate ending to the Hallie story."
Although viewers have an inkling that the flirtatious Dawson (Monica Raymund) will try to start up a relationship with the previously unavailable Casey, it will not happen right away. "They have a mutual understanding between each other," Spencer said. "There's an attraction, but there's a professionalism. They kind of put it to bed. You know as well as I do it's going to resurface at some point - and probably sooner rather than later. [But] right now, they're just friends."
Spencer isn't the only member of the Chicago Fire Department facing adversity. EMT Shay (Lauren German) was told last season that Severide (Taylor Kinney), her perspective sperm donor, had fathered a child with a different woman. She also found out the disheartening news on the same day she was told that her in vitro fertilization treatments didn't take.
Executive Producer Danielle Gelber told Entertainment Weekly that despite Shay's obstacles on her road to a successful pregnancy, she will persevere.
"Shay is inherently a very strong person - the work she does every day and the things she has to see are not things the average person can handle," Gelber said. "So Shay can handle a lot of adversity, and she's also a person who has a very strong sense of self. So we're not going to see a huge tailspin either way."
Gelber also discussed the final outcome of the pregnancy storyline. The show's creators "discussed every version of a pregnancy scenario between those three people that you could possibly imagine," Gelber said. However, she said that the most interesting story arc would be if Renee (Sarah Shahi) found out she was expecting. "We've covered it all internally, rejected a lot of ideas, embraced others, and I think when you see the results, people will be happy with what we've chosen," Gelber added.
Gelber hints that although Shay will remain friends with Severide, Shay may not remain friends with Dawson. Gelber teases about "a shocking experience on the job that will threaten her close friendship with Dawson for a time."
"Chicago Fire" will return to NBC for its second season on Sept. 24.