The Future Of ‘Chicago Fire’ Is Uncertain, So Fans Should Brace Themselves

The winter hiatus of favorite television shows is an unfortunate, but unavoidable annual event, and Chicago Fire's fall finale is airing Nov. 2. The thrilling NBC drama is a show that's always ripe with anticipation and cliffhangers, so viewers had better prepare themselves for something big. No matter what happens in the finale, audiences are going to be dying to know when they can get their fix back on — so when does Season 6 of Chicago Fire return?

Unfortunately, there isn't a ton of information on the show's return just yet. Though this coming episode is just advertised as the show's fall finale and not a permanent season finale of any kind, there is not yet any word on when exactly the show will come back to NBC for the second half of its sixth season. Both NBC and IMDb only list episodes through this week's, though in prior years, Chicago Fire has started its winter break in early December and always returned within the first week or so of January. This means audiences likely won't have to wait too long after the new year for a new episode to air. What we do know for sure, though, is that the trailer for the Chicago Fire mid-season finale is teasing an explosive ending that will keep audiences on the edges of their seats, even without any new episodes to burn through just yet.

Chicago Fire is known for keeping audiences guessing, which is what it seems it'll they'll do with this finale. Season 5 ended with the fates of some of the show's main characters up in the smokey air of a burning factory, leading many to believe that perhaps not everyone would survive. Thankfully the Season 6 premiere revealed that everyone was miraculously alive and well. To start the season on a relatively positive note was a conscious choice, according to showrunner Derek Haas. "Our show is more of an inspirational show and less 'everybody’s going around moping and feeling guilty all the time,'" Haas told TVLine.com. "And so to start off Season 6, we just didn’t want this to be that kind of a kick-off." That's not to say people are going to be safe all season long.

"Now I’m not saying we’re not going to kill someone this season, because we’ve done it in midseason before," Haas said in the same interview. "We’ve done it in the second episode before. So we might still do it. We’re not afraid to do it. But kicking off the season with death and all the ramifications of that, and what that would have done to the firehouse, seemed too gloomy of an idea for our show."

It sure seems like the mid-season finale would be the perfect place for writers to unleash yet another emotional whirlwind on audiences, and there is plenty to work with, given the dangerous nature of the show's central focus. Firefighters encounter extreme and unpredictable danger every day, so the fact that no one seems to be safe is not exactly surprising. Sometimes audiences can get caught up in the personal drama of the characters and forget that danger lurks around every corner.

Haas told The Hollywood Reporter that sometimes the showrunners need to bring that danger back into the front and center. "It had been a while since we did a finale that centered on a call," he said about the Season 5 finale. "Every now and then we have to remind the audience that our show’s name is Chicago Fire." With the risk presented in the daily lives of the series' characters, no one is ever safe.