Chicago Fire welcomes Supernatural alum Rachel Miner in amazing role

Chicago Fire’s latest episode Protect A Child featured an incredible performance by Rachel Miner in her first TV appearance since Supernatural in 2013.

Last night’s Chicago Fire was meaningful both on and off-camera, as “Protect A Child” included Rachel Miner in her first television role in seven years.

Rachel gave a heartbreaking and also inspiring performance as Jennifer Davis, the paralyzed mom who risked her life to try and save her son Noah from a house fire, only to have a nosy neighbor and an overzealous Department of Children and Family Services rep try to use the incident as the reason to take Noah away from her.

When Captain Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) found out, he and Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende) went the extra mile to help Jenni. If you missed any of the episode, you can watch it here or find it via NBC on Demand.

It was a pivotal performance, because the success of “Protect A Child” really hinged on whether or not audiences rallied behind Jennifer in the way that Casey did, and cared about her and her son. It was also important, because it showed that you don’t have to be able-bodied to be a hero.

And even moreso than that, it was a milestone for Rachel Miner. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2010, she hadn’t been seen on our small screens since her final episode playing Meg Masters on Supernatural aired in 2013.

She is currently the executive director of the nonprofit organization Random Acts, Inc. which has a mission “to inspire acts of kindness around the world, both big and small.”

While she’s got other great things on her calendar, it was excellent to see Rachel back on TV again, and she delivered everything the character of Jennifer needed. Not only did she deliver all of the emotion that drove the storyline, but she provided a dignified, classy and inspiring portrayal of a very strong woman.

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Check out Rachel’s thoughts on joining the Chicago Fire cast and a behind-the-scenes photo Rachel posted on social media of her with this episode’s director, Brenna Malloy, by reading the tweets below.

We’re thrilled to have her as part of the One Chicago family, and would be happy to see Jennifer and Noah pop up in another episode anytime.

For the latest Chicago Fire season 8 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.