Welcome back, Wallace Boden! Eamonn Walker returns in the April 16 episode of Chicago Fire, and NBC has aired a promo for it. (Walker was a series regular from the beginning of the show until the Season 12 finale. This is his first return since his exit.)
Walker’s return comes in the next new episode, titled “Post-Mortem.” The promo offers a look at how the episode will be told in flashbacks and different perspectives. “Last night was every firefighter’s worst nightmare,” Boden says. “Go back to the beginning. I need to know exactly what went wrong. All I’m after is the truth.”
Watch the promo for a look at the incident and more.
This comes as Pascal (Dermot Mulroney), who replaced Boden at 51, is still significantly dealing with his grief after the shocking death of his wife, Monica (Kadee Strickland), in a car accident.
“Boden hand-picked Pascal for this (theoretically temporary) job of Chief at 51, but when they meet in a future episode, it’s very fraught: Boden is heading an investigation into what went wrong during a tragic firefight that Pascal was in charge of,” showrunner Andrea Newman told TV Insider. “So it’s contentious — Boden grilling Pascal about his every decision, and how things went as wrong as they did. That episode will define the relationship in some pretty emotional and complex ways.”
Mulroney laughed when we told him Newman used the world “contentious,” agreeing, “It sure is. Okay, good. I’m glad I can give that away. They do it so incredibly. The way they bring him back isn’t in any just normal situation here, too. One of our incidents went really badly, and so we are under investigation, so who has to come and investigate his own house but Deputy Commissioner Boden? So then they throw down it almost like Sergio Leone or Rashomon even really cinematic. They go really hard on making it a very separate type of episode. So he goes full inquisitor, really bears down on each of the officers. Kidd’s [Miranda Rae Mayo] interviewed. Herrmann’s [David Eigenberg] accused of mishandling this situation, miscounting. It’s really dire and it’s a super tense episode.”
He added that “working with Eamonn Walker was wonderful because he’s such a warm person and everyone was so happy to have him back. But the minute he becomes Boden and Boden at his most steely resolve, such a fun thing to watch. And so yes, they pit Pascal’s steel against his and it’s really a great standoff. That plays to the future as well. So I sure hope they have him back. That was immense for — everyone’s thrilled. The directors, producers, the whole crew was thrilled to see Eamonn back in his role on his white shirt. Really amazing.”
What are you hoping to see in Walker’s return as Boden? Let us know in the comments section below.
Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC