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Who is James in Chicago Fire? Character explained

James will come to Boden for help in Chicago Fire season 12, episode 4. Who is this character, and will Boden step in to help?

By Alexandria Ingham

CHICAGO FIRE -- "Double Red" Episode 909 -- Pictured: Eamonn Walker as Wallace Boden -- (Photo by: Adrian S. Burrows Sr./NBC)
CHICAGO FIRE -- "Double Red" Episode 909 -- Pictured: Eamonn Walker as Wallace Boden -- (Photo by: Adrian S. Burrows Sr./NBC) /
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Boden will get a surprise visitor in Chicago Fire season 12, episode 4. His stepson James will come back looking for help.

Don’t worry if you forgot who this was. There are a few people who may be confused. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen James, and you may remember him better as Jimmy.

Who is James to Boden?

Chicago Fire - Season 9
CHICAGO FIRE -- "Natural Born Firefighter" Episode 912 -- Pictured: (l-r) Alberto Rosende as Blake Gallo, Eamonn Walker as Wallace Boden -- (Photo by: Adrian S. Burrows Sr./NBC) /

As the synopsis for the episode points out, James is Boden’s stepson. Before Chicago Fire, Boden was married to James’s mother. They divorced before the start of the show, but that didn’t stop Boden from being a father to the boy. After all, Boden had been in Jimmy’s life since he was three, and he never once referred to the boy as a stepson.

Jimmy also called Boden “Dad.” Things changed the next time we saw the character, though. In the second season, Boden told Jimmy that he was dating someone new, Donna. Jimmy didn’t take it well, and it was clear by the end of a sad phone call that Boden wasn’t welcome in James’s life.

James has a change of heart in Chicago Fire

Chicago Fire - Season 9
CHICAGO FIRE -- "Rattle Second City" Episode 901 -- Pictured: Eamonn Walker as Wallace Boden -- (Photo by: Adrian S. Burrows Sr./NBC) /

That changed in the fifth season. Boden found out from Donna that someone had been hanging outside the house in a dark car. When he stormed out, Boden realized that it was James, who felt strange knocking on the door to go inside. This gave Donna and James a chance to meet.

James had come to Boden for some help. His mom’s boyfriend, Todd, was abusing him. Turning to Boden worked, as he was able to make James’s mom see sense.

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That was the last we saw of the two of them. James and his mom moved into his grandmother’s place for the time being.

Why is James back in Chicago Fire season 12?

Chicago Fire - Season 9
CHICAGO FIRE -- "My Lucky Day" Episode 905 -- Pictured: Eamonn Walker as Wallace Boden -- (Photo by: Adrian S. Burrows Sr./NBC) /

We’ve found out from the synopsis that James needs Boden’s help, but not for himself. It’s for his mom. It’s not clear what it is, but there are a couple of ideas.

It could be that his mom is in another abusive relationship and won’t get out. It’s also possible that she’s seriously ill and James hopes that Boden will be able to help with the situation in some way. There is also the possibility that James’s grandmother has died and his mom isn’t dealing well with that.

Boden isn’t going to turn James away, so it will be exciting to see how they interact when we haven’t even heard of him in seven seasons.

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Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.

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