Dermot Mulroney Says New Chicago Fire Challenges Pascal, Ritter, Novak

Dermot Mulroney’s Chief Dom Pascal is still finding his way on Chicago Fire — and this week’s episode will test his patience.

Mulroney, 60, exclusively told Us Weekly that the Wednesday, October 23, episode will center around firefighter Darren Ritter (Daniel Kyri) and paramedic Lyla Novak (Jocelyn Hudon) after they accidentally break one of Pascal’s awards.

“We learn that Pascal got an award for Valor because somebody broke it in my office when they shouldn’t have been snooping around,” Mulroney said, explaining that the incident reveals “a little moral quandary, a little challenge of their ethics.”

“What happens? Do they tell on themselves?” Mulroney teased, and while he played coy about the exact outcome, he noted, “The way that plays out, it reveals people’s characters.”

Mulroney, who joined the cast at the start of season 13 this September, hinted that Pascal will react in a “surprising way” to learning what Ritter and Novak have done.

“If [the fans] were trying to set him up as a hard guy’s [who is] gonna lose his stack on something like that, then your expectations may be a little bit off,” the actor revealed. “He chooses another way to deal with that issue in his firehouse.”

He added that ultimately the altercation “challenges” everyone’s “ethics” — including Pascal’s subordinates.

While there will be conflict during the “Down the Rabbit Hole” episode, Mulroney told Us that watching Kyri, 30, and Hudon, 29, film their scenes was hilarious.

“I [saw] them on sort of their side of the scene interacting in such a way that’s deeply comedic,” he recalled. “These two actors, Daniel and Jocelyn, are really onto something. They have a great rapport, rapid fire [dynamic].”

Kyri, meanwhile, exclusively told Us earlier this season that it was like “walking a tightrope” trying to be comedic and get the story across in this episode.

“Comedy is this heightened state of reaction of being and of storytelling. But you also have to have something that is grounded in reality and grounded in something real, like, these characters’ real motivations,” he shared. “So one of the things that leads to some of this tension that we’re playing with when we’re hitting this comedic scene in particular, is Ritter wanting to make a good impression on the new chief.”

Kyri noted that Ritter’s desire to win over Pascal plays a big part in how he and Novak attempt to hide their mistake. “The reality is somebody got clumsy,” he continued, teasing, “It’s gonna be really fun.”

Wednesday’s episode will also show Pascal another side of Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), highlight Kidd and Kelly Severide’s (Taylor Kinney) investigation into a trucking company and celebrate Violet Mikami’s (Hanako Greensmith) birthday.

“The story takes an unexpected and gratifying turn,” Mulroney told Us of Pascal and Kidd’s dynamic this week, adding that he sees her “true colors.”

He noted that by now, Pascal has interacted with every character, including Severide, who he will continue to work alongside moving forward.  “I work my way through the list of characters and right now I’ve kind of wound up with him,” Mulroney added.

Chicago Fire airs on NBC Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.