SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for Chicago Fire Season 12, Episode 1, “Barely Gone,” which debuted Wednesday, Jan. 17 on NBC.

The new season of Chicago Fire is about change, both on and off-screen. Andrea Newman—who’s been with the NBC series so long that she wrote its fourth episode—has taken over as sole showrunner after the departure of Derek Haas. And thanks to the Season 12 premiere, One Chicago fans know that one member of Firehouse 51 has already left while another will be leaving in the coming months.

“Oh my gosh, do we miss Derek!” exclaimed Newman, when asked about taking over showrunning duties after Haas left the series at the end of Season 11. That would seem to be a daunting task, but Newman previously served as co-showrunner with Haas and penned her first episode of Chicago Fire back in 2012. “I really do talk to Derek every day,” she continued. “He’s still such a part of the show. He loves the show, he [co-]created the show, and we just text and talk all the time.

“It’s actually been pretty cool, being the female showrunner on such a big action show with strong female characters. I love being able to dig into like, the badassery of [Stella] Kidd. I feel very lucky having the stories; it’s not a soap opera. It’s filled with a lot of big action. And it’s cool to be at the helm of it all.”

Read the full text of my interview with Andrea Newman on Fangirlish.

Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. on NBC.

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