This season’s One Chicago character departures, ranked

3. Gabriela Dawson on Chicago Fire

The idea of Chicago Fire without Gabriela Dawson seems crazy to wrap our heads around. It’s a major exit that’s going to change the show forever. So why is it only third on our list?

It’s definitely sad that Dawson is leaving, but there’s also a certain happiness we have for Monica Raymund. It was Monica’s decision not to renew her contract after the sixth season and go on to new opportunities. As sad as it is to lose the character, that’s tempered by the knowledge that it’s not the show’s choice; it was the actress’s choice, and we have to respect that—plus we can also be excited about what will be next for her.

It’s also not as sad just yet because the way Chicago Fire season 6 wrote Dawson’s ending, we are totally in the dark about what it actually means for her or her character. We still don’t know if it’s a possibility Monica Raymund could return to wrap up Dawson’s story, or if she’ll be going overseas off-screen, or if she’s going to leave and somehow be killed off.

The handling of her potential exit was so vague (due in part to the fact that the writers presumably also didn’t know if Monica was coming back or not, but also due to the awkward setup of the plot) that there’s so many questions we need answers to before we can truly process this. We could be a lot sadder very soon if Chicago Fire says Dawson died in Puerto Rico.

But there’s no denying her exit will have a huge effect, especially since her husband Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) is still in One Chicago and because Dawson is the first lady of One Chicago. We’ll definitely shed some tears about her leaving, we just need to know how exactly that’s going to happen yet.