5 questions about Gabriela Dawson leaving Chicago Fire

Chicago Fire star Monica Raymund has left the show, so how will her character Gabriela Dawson’s exit affect Chicago Fire season 7? There are big questions.

With Monica Raymund officially announcing her departure from Chicago Fire, One Chicago fans now have to wonder how the series will write out Gabriela Dawson—and how her not being here will affect the upcoming seventh season.

This isn’t a usual case of an actor leaving a TV show and their character being written out. This is a high-profile departure, and easily one of the biggest in One Chicago history. It’s a significant turn of events for everyone at Firehouse 51, because the team is losing their chief paramedic, one of its leaders, and the wife of Captain Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer).

It’s also significant for the direction of the whole series going forward, because Dawson has been a pillar of Chicago Fire over the last six seasons. Monica Raymund has had some of the show’s top storylines, is part of its most prominent relationship, and has otherwise contributed to the series in ways that it won’t be easy to replace.

So what will the series do without her? What will 51 do without Dawson? And how is it all going to be handled? There are more questions than answers, and these will be some pretty big answers.

Click through the below slideshow for the 5 burning questions we have about Gabriela Dawson’s departure from Chicago Fire, and how her absence will play out in Chicago Fire season 7.