Chicago Fire performer of the year: Taylor Kinney

Chicago Fire’s best performer in 2018 was none other than Taylor Kinney, as Kelly Severide in Chicago Fire season 6 and Chicago Fire season 7.

It’s time to name our Performers of the Year, and from Chicago Fire the honor goes to Taylor Kinney for his work as Kelly Severide.

One of the complaints that One Chicago fans have had is how Severide never seemed to grow. All the way up to the first part of Chicago Fire season 6, he was always making bad decisions or he’d be sleeping with yet another new love interest.

But 2018 finally started to push the character in new directions. The series stopped having Kelly and Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) circle each other, and allowed them to get together as a real couple.

Yet even more important than that, we saw Severide look at his career and his legacy. He found himself in conflict with his mentor Carl Grissom (recurring guest star Gary Cole) when Grissom was determined to push Severide up the ranks.

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And even though Severide didn’t want to go, he had some tension with Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) after Casey was promoted to Captain.

So what exactly did he want out of his career? And what kind of firefighter, and person, did he want to be?

Those questions have finally been asked this year, as Severide navigates trying to make things work with Stella one more time—while also dealing with the loss of his father and, to a certain degree, watching the rest of the fire department pass him by.

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As all of these changes happen in his character’s life, Taylor Kinney has stepped up to the plate. The work he did in the funeral episode alone, as Severide was finally forced to say goodbye to his father and reflect on their broken relationship, was some of the best acting this season and probably one of his best performances in the entire series.

It’s hard to say what the future holds for Severide—if he and Stella will patch things up and we’ll continue to explore him as someone committed to a relationship, but now suddenly figuring out his career. Firefighting has always been Severide’s rock while his personal life was a disaster, yet now it almost seems to be the other way around.

And that feels like it’s showing the audience new sides of Taylor Kinney. Should the writers allow him to keep traveling this path and avoid old pitfalls, there’s no limit to what he can do. He’s been able to tap into Severide’s uncertainties, vulnerability, determination and even a certain degree of self-loathing.

He’s reminded audiences how Severide’s a lot deeper than he looks, and 2018 has been a very good year for this actor who is one of the rocks of Chicago Fire. The show wouldn’t be the same without him, and this is why.

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