Chicago Fire boss on what’s next for Gallo after Mackey’s departure and that Violet return

“Keeping Mackey and Gallo casual gave us the opportunity to bring back Violet [Hanako Greensmith], who was really great last year with Gallo,” series creator and executive producer Derek Haas tells EW exclusively. “As writers, we always start to think how we can turn this into some intrigue. Gallo, as he says, just isn’t himself around Violet. So we’re going to play that up in the next few episodes.”

Haas adds that the coming and going of emergency care workers happens often in real life, maybe even more often then it does at Firehouse 51.”This gave us a chance to say: Here’s a partner that Brett [Kara Killmer] has had for just a few months, when you think about it, and she has an opportunity to go to another house where she has a clearer path to leadership,” Haas says. “Brett is going to be the P.I.C., the paramedic in charge, on ambo 61 for a long time. As opposed to playing this as a negative thing, we play it as this is absolutely the right thing to do for her career. We don’t stand in the way of anyone’s dreams, that’s how we play it.”

But what of those dreams from fans who want to see Brett end up with Matt Casey (Jesse Spencer)? Although producers have made it clear he has a lot of feelings to work through, he also suffered another injury on the job that leaves his future as a firefighter in danger.

“We have long memories on our show, especially the writing staff,” Haas says. “So we’re always kind of mining old story lines or broken story lines to figure out if we can put a new take on them or extend them further.”

“And now is a great time to do that with the nine-season release of Chicago Fire on Peacock,” he continues. “We’re looking back through story lines, and we have this one where Casey got injured in the head and the doctors told him if it happens again it could mean your career. So in my very devilish way, I thought, that’s ripe for resurrecting. That’s why Casey gets another head injury and that doctor’s words come rushing back into play. Fans tell me all the time how we dropped a story line, but nothing is ever really dropped on our show.”

Chicago Fire airs Wednesday night’s at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

“Keeping Mackey and Gallo casual gave us the opportunity to bring back Violet [Hanako Greensmith], who was really great last year with Gallo,” series creator and executive producer Derek Haas tells EW exclusively. “As writers, we always start to think how we can turn this into some intrigue. Gallo, as he says, just isn’t himself…