Chicago Fire season 8 character preview: Wallace Boden
By Kari Highman
What will Chicago Fire season 8 have in store for Wallace Boden? Look ahead as we preview Chicago Fire’s new season for Eamonn Walker’s character.
With Chicago Fire season 8 coming in just a few weeks, it’s time once again to preview the new season for each character and look ahead to fresh episodes.
Where did your favorite character leave off when we saw them last? What are the big facts that fans need to remember before the season premiere? Where should they go next in season 8 for the best outcome? And is that where they’ll actually end up, or what direction is the show likely to take them in based on what we know so far?
Check out our detailed character preview, and let us know your thoughts on where you’d like to see each character go and why in the comments.
In this article, we’re profiling Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker).
Where we left off
Chicago Fire season 7 continued the pressure on Chief Boden, as he had to deal with Jerry Gorsch (guest star Steven Boyer), an annoying bureaucrat who was sent by Commissioner Carl Grissom (Gary Cole) to monitor Firehouse 51.
It’s hard enough to wrangle a firehouse, but to have to do it while being watched? That makes it even more complicated, not to mention frustrating. Boden did get the last laugh, or last say, in “Thirty Percent Sleight of Hand” when he chose to promote Christopher Hermann (David Eigenberg) to Lieutenant instead of another candidate picked by Gorsch.
Boden then discovered part of Gorsch’s reasoning for being so keen to cause trouble at Firehouse 51, and found out it was deeply personal. It turned out that Boden was the one who said Gorsch wasn’t firefighter material much earlier in his career, and Gorsch never got over that negative review. Gorsch and Boden butted heads for several episodes before Jerry was finally sent packing.
In “All the Proof”, Gorsch took over the Chief’s morning briefing, and went out on calls in Boden’s place. It didn’t take long for all of Firehouse 51 to realize that Gorsch was out of his league when it came to the Battalion Chief’s duties. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) went rogue and gave their own orders. The whole mess proved that Firehouse 51 wouldn’t be the same without Boden.
But while the Chief got that dead weight out of the firehouse, and even helped an old friend whose son had gone off the deep end, he might not be coming back. In the season finale “I’m Not Leaving You” he and everyone else were trapped inside a burning building. Could Boden pay the ultimate price for all his years of loyal service?