Firehouse 51 underwent a major change on the last episode of "Chicago Fire."
In "A Power Move," Boden (Eamonn Walker) was ostensibly pushed out by Severide's (Taylor Kinney) dad, Benny (Treat Williams), who benefited from Boden's vacancy.
Meanwhile, Shay (Lauren German) got promiscuous and Molly's rival bar, Game Day, was destroyed in a blaze.
Executive producers Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead and series star Taylor Kinney spoke to TVLine about Shay's future, Benny's intentions and the demise of Molly's rival.
Now that Benny accepted McLeod's (Michelle Forbes) offer to replace Boden, fans are wondering if Benny was always after Boden's job.
"He's a lot shadier," Kinney admitted. However, "I don't think that was his endgame," he said.
Olmstead said that Benny "played it pretty smartly." "Did he anticipate this might be a scenario and would he go for it? For sure!" Olmstead added. But, he said that Boden shouldn't be counted out. Olmstead said that he "begins to put up a hell of a fight". He also said that the Boden/McLeod conflict will continue throughout the season.
As for Severide's troubled love life, Kinney said that having a baby with Shay may not be the best decision. "I don't think he's in a position to settle down," Kinney explained. "If the outcome would have been different with Renée, there's an opportunity. But it ended kind of disastrously. So to resume the storyline with Shay, it's just too soon."
Olmstead also revealed that even if Sarah Shahi hadn't become a series regular on "Person of Interest," her storyline would have ended the same way. "We weren't going to tie the Severide character down," said the EP, adding that the story arc "was certainly accelerated by the fact that she had another gig."
Wolf said that Shay's storyline will get more complicated in the second half of the season. Kinney added that Dawson (Monica Raymund) is going to try to extend a hand to the troubled Shay. "Right now, they're really butting heads. We're all trying to figure out how best to help her."
Olmstead said that Shay's situation will get worse before it gets better. As "she goes rock bottom," her pal Severide is left to "pull her up," Olmstead said.
He added that the fire at Game Day was "definitely" arson, and that Molly's owners will be implicated. "They're suspected of it because they certainly will benefit from Game Day closing. Does it involve the cop character that Dawson is seeing? Absolutely," he said.
But Dawson and Casey (Jesse Spencer) advocates shouldn't give up yet. Although Olmstead said that they're like "two ships passing in the night," they may finally meet.
"They're going to have their opportunity. Whether or not he can seize it remains to be seen. That window is going to open up with Dawson," he said. "A big thing is going to happen to him [Casey] in the course of a fire call."
The next episode will not air until November 12. According to NBC, on the upcoming episode "Joyriding," "Severide attempts a grueling rescue, and Molly's comes under fire."
Watch the preview for "Joyriding" below, which airs Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 10/9c on NBC.