‘Chicago Fire’: Meet Gallo’s Replacement — Why Kidd Wants Him for Truck (PHOTO)
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It looks like the newest member of Firehouse 51 is going to start off on the right foot… but can that stay that way?
Rome Flynn begins as a recurring character on Chicago Fire with the January 24 episode, and NBC has released a photo, which you can see above, of him as Randy “Mouch” McHolland (Christian Stolte) looks on. (Although, something tells us that the other firefighter won’t be introducing himself by the nickname, given the episode is titled “Call Me McHolland.”)
What we know about Flynn’s new character is that he’s going to join Lieutenant Stella Kidd (Miranda Ray Mayo) in saving one of the 51 family members and he was originally going to be named Jake Gibson, but that didn’t clear. Now, with the name Derrick Gibson, “we gave homage to our amazing creator Derek [Haas],” executive producer Andrea Newman told TV Insider. “He’s played by Rome Flynn, incredibly magnetic actor and character, and he’ll have a big hero moment in [Episode 2] and that will make Kidd say, ‘That’s my guy. He’s coming onto Truck with me.’ And then we’ll get to peel back a bunch of layers on him.”
As with any new member of the firehouse — 51 is more a family than any other, as Chief Wallace Boden’s (Eamonn Walker) speech at the end of the premiere demonstrated — there are the expected questions: “Are they 51 material? Are they troublemakers? Are they going to fit in? Or both? So it’s fun peeling back the layers on the Gibson character, and Rome is great,” Newman continued. “We’re having a lot of fun with him right now.”
Derrick is catching Kidd’s eye as she just said goodbye to one of her firefighters on Truck, with Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende) moving to Michigan with his aunt. This also happens as there’s some tension in the firehouse between Lieutenant Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso), who was leading Squad during the other firefighter’s absence last season, and Kara Killmer‘s Sylvie Brett is leaving soon as well.
Well, change is the theme on Fire this season. If any firehouse can handle all this (and likely more), it’s 51.
Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 10/9c, NBC
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