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.
5. Where is Dawson ultimately going?
The Chicago Fire season 6 finale “The Grand Gesture” laid the immediate groundwork for Gabriela Dawson’s departure, as she was offered a position helping out with post-hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico, and the season ended with her asking for more information on the job.
But the reality is that’s not the answer; that’s really only half of an answer. It’s apparent that we’ll find out Dawson has taken the gig in Puerto Rico—but then what? Is she going to get down there and decide that she wants to stay, never being seen again? Then what would that mean for all of her life in Chicago—she’s just not going to come back and say goodbye, or even get what’s left of her belongings? That’s the easiest way to write her out, but it doesn’t make a lot of logical sense.
Does she spend some time in Puerto Rico and then come back to Chicago, either on a temporary or permanent basis? That makes more sense from a logistics standpoint, in that it’d allow her to tie up her affairs and get her things (even if it was off-screen). But then it gets awkward. Either it would have her coming back only to pack up and leave again, which is angsty as heck, or it’s even weirder because she’s out there working somewhere in the city…just completely away from all of her friends and her (presumed to be) ex-husband.
On the other hand, doing that would still leave the door open for Monica Raymund to return to the show, should she choose to. We don’t know if she’d be open to the idea, but it might be prudent to allow for that possibility, considering how important she’s been to the show. It wouldn’t be a huge shock if Chicago Fire wanted her to guest star someday.
Then there’s the third option, which is just plain disappointing, and that’s having some kind of bad accident happen in Puerto Rico that kills Gabriela Dawson off. That would certainly have fans up in arms for multiple reasons: one, it’d be totally off-screen; two, that’d be both original paramedics killed off the show; and three, it’s completely final.
It’d be the easiest from a writing standpoint, in that Chicago Fire would have a clear resolution and not have to deal with all of the questions about Dawson essentially starting a whole new life (that we’ll get to later in this slideshow), but it’s the least interesting and most depressing. So while we know where Dawson is headed right now, we still need to know where she’s going to end up.
4. How will Dawson’s absence affect her family?
One of the aspects that makes the One Chicago franchise special is that many of the characters are interconnected. That’s a great way to weave them in and out of shows, and set up crossovers, but it could prove to be a hangup when it comes to Gabriela Dawson’s departure.
That’s because Dawson is the entry point into Chicago Fire for both her brother Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) and her father Ramon Dawson (guest star Daniel Zacapa). Most of the time when the show needs to utilize Antonio, even if we don’t physically see Jon Seda, it’s Dawson having called him.
There are still other ways Antonio can cross over onto Fire, because the other characters are his friends and can call him too, but it was so efficient to use Dawson to bring him into the story. And we’re not counting on his relationship with Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer), since one thing that this last season made clear is that they don’t have a relationship right now. With Chicago Fire having not committed to Brettonio going forward, you can’t depend on that as a way for Antonio to drop by. So will we see less of him?
Ramon is an even more uncertain topic; it wouldn’t be surprising if Dawson leaving means the end of Ramon’s appearances altogether. Ever since Ramon split from their mother publicly in Chicago Fire season 4, he and Antonio have had a strained relationship (although at least Antonio showed up at the hospital when Ramon was stabbed).
Everything going on with Ramon has involved Gabriela, because she was the one who was willing to help him. It probably won’t surprise you that Daniel Zacapa has never appeared in an episode of Chicago PD. All of his guest spots have been on Fire. So without Dawson around, it doesn’t appear like Ramon will have anywhere to go—both in canon and in terms of the writers having a use for him.
3. How will Brett fare as Paramedic in Charge?
Gabriela Dawson’s spot on Ambulance 61 will have to be filled in Chicago Fire season 7; that’s a fact. Brett can’t ride around in the ambulance by herself, and she certainly can’t treat a patient and drive the ambulance to the hospital either (although that would be awesome).
The presumption is that Brett will replace Dawson as Paramedic in Charge. That’s the only thing that really makes sense; Brett has tenure, and it’d be a slap in the face to her (and the fans) if she was passed over for the lead role by a new character, even if it was somebody we love. Brett’s been here, so she should be first in line for the promotion.
But is Sylvie Brett actually equipped to be Paramedic in Charge? Just because she should get the role doesn’t mean she’s cut out for it. Another thing “The Grand Gesture” highlighted is how much Brett still has to learn; she’s pretty wide-eyed and emotional. Which was a good thing in writing them together—you want your two partners to each bring something different to the ambulance or it’s not interesting—but it’s not great when Brett will have to stand on her own.
Brett wears her heart on her sleeve, and she’s prone to freaking out; her whole story in the Chicago Fire season 6 finale was about her being traumatized by a patient’s death to the point where she erupted at Dawson for one moment of criticism and then broke down crying in her car later. The traumatized part is understandable, but she really lost it. And that wasn’t the first time she melted down either.
As Paramedic in Charge, she won’t have the room to lose it; she’s going to have to be, well, in charge. When she was second to Dawson; she could step away and let Dawson handle it; she can’t do that now, especially if her new partner is some new arrival who needs training and direction. We know Brett means well and gives it her all, but will she be able to hold it together under even more pressure? Can she be the leader that Dawson was? There’s only one way to find out.
2. Who will fill Dawson’s void at Firehouse 51?
In addition to being Paramedic in Charge, Gabriela Dawson had a significant role around Firehouse 51. While Casey and Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) are the leaders in the line of fire, Dawson was also someone who helped lead the way—and somebody who was there for several characters in and around the house. And she’s a co-owner of Molly’s. So who’s going to fill her many functions in Chicago Fire now?
The show set up its core trio with Casey, Dawson and Severide. Even in subplots where Severide and Casey were teamed up on an investigation, like this season’s second episode “Ignite On Contact”, Dawson was still there to offer her insight; she’s the one who suggested that they talk to the students about the high school fire. She’s worked with both of them in various subplots and provides that third opinion when they butt heads.
Who’s going to be that third voice now? Do we see more of Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo)? Is it Brett? She’s the paramedic, but as we just discussed, it doesn’t seem like she’s got the experience or general life experience to provide the same perspective that Dawson did. Or you could throw in more of someone like Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg), but he’d probably just get irritated and throw up his hands eventually.
Aside from her job description, Dawson was often written as a sounding board for other people. She supported Brett during her pregnancy scare and chipped in a few key comments to Stella in the ongoing “will they, won’t they again” of Stellaride over the last two seasons. She’s very much been a sort of den mother for Firehouse 51. Who’s everyone going to turn to during Chicago Fire season 7? Again, we could use Herrmann purely because it’d be hilarious, but he probably doesn’t want to hear anyone’s problems.
And her portion of Molly’s, not to mention her many shifts behind the bar, are going to have to go to someone too. What about characters like Bria, who leaned on Dawson? The show doesn’t have to mention Bria again, but we’ll certainly remember that she was one of several outside characters who benefited from Dawson’s help.
Do you make a bigger role for somebody like Otis (Yuri Sardarov)? He’d love to be helpful and could use more screen time. But without Dawson, Chicago Fire is going to have to change the way that a lot of things are written iboth on and off-duty, because she was involved in a lot of the team’s business.
1. How will Chicago Fire end Dawsey?
The most burning question to come out of Monica Raymund leaving Chicago Fire is how the show is going to break up the biggest couple not only on this series, but in the entire One Chicago world. Dawsey has to end, and how it ends is going to change the series for good.
Chicago Fire made a conscious choice to make the Dawsey ship a cornerstone of the series. Their relationship, from flirtation to marriage, has always been a major aspect of each season. Now with Monica Raymund gone and Jesse Spencer staying, that creates an off-screen change that dictates a huge on-screen development.
It’s hard to say what happens to Dawsey without knowing how the show will write out Gabriela Dawson, but we do know the relationship is almost certainly over. It’s logistically near impossible to keep them married when we’ll only see Casey, and that’s if the show is even interested in trying. We’ve seen a similar trend on Chicago Med, which broke up most of its ships by the end of Chicago Med season 2 in favor of hooking up its main characters with other main characters.
If Dawson stays in Puerto Rico, does she send Casey a “Dear John” letter? If she comes back, are we going to hear about some off-camera breakup where she showed up, told him it was over and left? Both of those things feel like abrupt and frankly, brusque endings to a relationship that fans have invested years into.
The problem is, if Chicago Fire kills off Dawson, it gets even worse for Casey. Remember that this was the show that killed off his previous ex-fiancee Dr. Hallie Thomas (Teri Reeves) to write her out. So both of the two women Casey was seriously involved with have both died? How much is that going to mess him up?
There’s no good way to bust up Dawsey, and however it happens, that will have a huge effect on Casey, which then has a ripple effect on Chicago Fire season 7 because he has his own major part of the show. And if Chicago Fire does with him what Chicago PD did with Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), hooking him up with someone else by midseason, the fans might riot. And we wouldn’t blame them.
Next: 5 reasons why Chicago Fire will miss Gabriela Dawson
What questions do you have about Chicago Fire without Monica Raymund as Gabriela Dawson? Let us know what’s on your mind about this big cast change in the comments.
Chicago Fire returns to NBC this fall.