Hanako Greensmith is aware of how Violet Mikami messed up with Sam Carver on Chicago Fire, but their road to redemption won’t be easy.
“I think we see a bit of her reaction [to Carver leaving] at the end of season 12, which is I think is a bit of shock and guilt and regret,” Greensmith, 27, exclusively told Us Weekly of Violet’s inability to tell Carver (Jake Lockett) her true feelings before he took a leave of absence from Firehouse 51. “I think there’s a lot that she didn’t say that she wished she had.”
The actress teased that season 13, which premieres on Wednesday, September 25, begins with Violet “deciding whether or not she’s ready to communicate what she maybe wished she had in the moment.”
Greensmith noted that fans will also find out “exactly why” Carver abruptly left at the end of last season. Viewers will see “why he was gone for so long and what life is gonna look like with him being back.”
During the season 12 finale in May, Carver was deeply affected by a call where it appeared that a father was abusing his adult son while working together in a restaurant. Carver got physical with one of the suspects after seeing burns on the victim’s arm. (Carver previously revealed that his older brother pushed him in a bonfire when he was 9 years old.)
As a result of the altercation, Carver took a break from his firefighter duties. Violet, who had been casually seeing Carver, was shocked that he left without any real warning — especially since she hadn’t been forthcoming about how much she likes him.
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When Carver does return about six weeks later, Greensmith said Violet doesn’t exactly have her ducks in a row. “It’ll be fascinating,” Greensmith told Us of Violet and Carver’s reunion, teasing it’ll be the “push and pull” relationship fans are used to between the pair.
“It’s a bit of a dance,” she added, confessing that both characters are “finding their footing in new situations that both include and don’t include one another.”
The NBC star hinted at a “little bit of a shift between the relationship that we know that they have had in the past.”
Greensmith pointed out that Violet suffered a “profound loss” when her ex-boyfriend paramedic chief Evan Hawkins (Jimmy Nicholas) died on duty during a season 11 episode, which she might not have fully accepted. That heartbreak continues to haunt Violet, but that’s OK.
“As long as there’s space for that grief and that understanding of that past, I think there’s an opportunity to move forward,” Greensmith explained. “But the more [Violet] kind of keeps ignoring that it’s there and not kind of including it in what’s obvious in her new relationships, it’ll hinder her in the future.”
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Violet’s relationship with Carver won’t be the only dynamic changing this season. Greensmith told Us there’s a “great opportunity” for Violet and her latest ambulance partner, Lyla Novak (Jocelyn Hudon), to “mesh” their skill sets beginning with the season premiere.
“[We are seeing] Violet walk into a very new energy in her life,” Greensmith revealed. “She’s becoming more comfortable being PIC [paramedic in charge], comfortable being with Novak, comfortable learning how to navigate this new romantic terrain of her life and whether she will or won’t move on from not just Hawkins but Carver as well.”
Season 13 of Chicago Fire premieres on NBC Wednesday, September 25, at 9 p.m. ET.
