‘Chicago Fire’ showrunner Andrea Newman on the bumpy road that lies ahead for Firehouse 51.

Last season, Taylor Kinney took a mysterious absence from Chicago Fire for personal reasons and the producers and writers came up with a perfect way to write him out: Send Kelly Severide to Texas for an advanced class in arson investigation, which is something he has an innate knack for.

But Severide was gone much longer than expected and, in fact, moved from the class to an actual ATF fire unit investigation without telling his wife Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) or Chief Boden (Eammon Walker), so no one at Firehouse 51 knew what was going on. In his absence, Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) took over as the leader of the squad and all went well until Severide returned.

His return happened in the Season 12 premiere, but it wasn’t smooth sailing. He and Stella were having marital problems as a result of his absence, especially his failure to stay in touch, and he and Cruz were also having issues readjusting to his return.

And just when we thought he was back for good, Severide took off on another ATF arson investigation, promising he would be better about communication this time around and swearing to Stella that he could manage both life as part of the ATF and in Chicago.

Now, he’s back in Chicago to serve as best man for Matt Casey’s (Jesse Spencer) wedding to Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) and the question remains: Is he here to stay?

“Severide’s return in 1206 marks a turning point in the Severide/Kidd relationship, with some closure to the arc of Severide going MIA last season,” Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman reassures Parade. “Severide is here to stay this season, and he and Kidd will have all new dynamics to explore, as they end up joining forces on an arson case and find themselves at odds over a mysterious new floater on Truck 81. But the real shock comes when Severide suddenly goes missing in 1211, along with one of the rigs, both disappearing while on shift in the dead of night.”

With Chicago Fire in repeats the two weeks following the wedding episode, we’re going to have to wait a while for the mysterious events of episode 1211, but Newman reassures us that in the meantime Severide’s return isn’t going to push Cruz out of Firehouse 51. At least not immediately.

“Cruz will have his hands full as a Squad member and even more so as a father towards the end of this season, as Chloe’s [Kristen Gutoskie] job keeps her away from home more and more often, and a stranger appears who knows a surprising amount about Javi’s background and his birth family,” Newman continues teasing what’s to come.

Also when Chicago Fire returns on March 20 with new episodes, Violet (Hanako Greensmith) will be stepping into Sylvie’s shoes as the PIC for Firehouse 51 and the search will begin to find her a partner, which as we know from previous episodes when Sylvie was on vacation, it’s not going to be an easy task.

“We’ll see several new faces in the search to replace Sylvie Brett, including a young party girl Violet is sure won’t fit in, until a crisis involving a dying boy shows that maybe this wild woman is worth another look,” Newman says. “And Violet will also contend with a medic suddenly placed at the firehouse by new Paramedic Chief Robinson [Laura Allen], which will end up threatening not just Violet’s career, but also 51 and all of the CFD as we know it.”