Chicago Fire Season 11 Returning Villain Character Will Wreck Lives

The showrunners of Chicago Fire talk about the shocking developments of episode 9, and how it will come into play for the rest of season 11.

Warning! SPOILERS for Chicago Fire season 11, episode 9 Chicago Fire showrunners Derek Haas and Andrea Newman say one returning villain is back to wreak havoc in season 11. Keeping to the tradition of Chicago Fire and the broader One Chicago franchise, the show went into its fall finale with a lot of surprises. Some characters faced peril, with their fates left up in the air. Others, like Sam Carver (Jake Lockett), found themselves at the center of an IAD investigation. This latter development paved the way for a former antagonist to reemerge, fundamentally reshaping what will happen when Chicago Fire season 11 resumes on NBC in January.
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In an interview with TVLine, Haas and Newman broke down the surprising return of Emma Jacobs (portrayed by Caitlin Carver). Jacobs was last seen in the Chicago Fire season 10 finale, being fired from her job as a pracademic after she panics and abandons a pregnant woman during a moment of crisis. But even beyond that, and her tendency to lie, Emma looked to have a vendetta against Violet (Hanako Greensmith). In the quote below, the showrunners discuss how Emma’s arrival complicates things and what it means for Violet:

HAAS: I can just say that in this show, there’s nothing that Andrea and I love more than remembering an old villain and bringing them back to wreck some lives. [Laughs] [Emma] was so good last year at playing that, that bringing Caitlin back just was top of mind. We didn’t know where or when we would fit her in, but winter finales are always fun for these kinds of [obstacles], and we wanted it to be a big surprise, but not be the end of the episode, because sometimes you want people just going, “Oh, God, what else is coming?”

NEWMAN: We love this character. We love our villains, but the character is so fun because she just does not see herself as a villain at all. So it’s like the way our guys feel about her versus the way she sees her place at 51. She feels completely connected to 51, and that’s a fun thing to explore, too.

HAAS: We will [be seeing more of her when the show returns in January].

HAAS: Let’s just say that of all the characters who probably shouldn’t mess with her, Violet raises her hand. [Laughs]

What To Expect When Chicago Fire Season 11 Returns

Stella Kidd in Chicago Fire

As notable as the Emma surprise is, it’s not the only major turn of Chicago Fire episode 9. The episode, fittingly titled “Nemesis”, sees a grenade detonate at its end. This leaves the lives of Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Carver in question. Although it’s confirmed that they’ll survive, the fallout from the incident will have profound effects on those characters. Building on the ongoing threads of Chicago Fire season 11, it’s been previewed that Kidd and Severide (Taylor Kinney) will face turbulence in their relationship. It could be the case that the difficult experience will really push some distance between Kidd and Severide.

Jacobs is more of a wildcard. She tries to get Carver to speak ill of Firehouse 51. But when that approach falls flat, she does her job fairly and leaves him with a warning. But then, in an odd encounter, Jacobs pretends to be friendly with Violet. When she’s called out by Violet for her past actions, Jacobs merely plays it off. The character, as teased by the showrunners, could be a major chaos agent.

Behind the scenes, Haas is leaving the One Chicago franchise after the current seasons in order to focus on creating new series. It’s a significant departure, given Haas created Chicago Fire a decade ago. From everything that was set up in the winter send-off, and all the reverberations of the various pairings and old rivalries, it looks like Haas intends to sign off with a bang.

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