One Chicago stars who were written off their shows

Charlie Barnett

Who he played: Peter Mills on Chicago Fire

When he was written out: Barnett was credited as a regular for the first three seasons, but was written out before the end of season 3. His last appearance was in the episode “You Know Where To Find Me,” which was actually a line Mills said to Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund).

What happened to his character: After progressing from candidate to full-fledged firefighter and striking up a romance with Dawson—though it was clear even then that she was going to end up with Casey—Mills moved to North Carolina to help his family run their restaurant. He hasn’t been seen around One Chicago since, and was only briefly mentioned.

Why it happened: He got the boot to bring in someone new. Olmstead explained that Mills was written out “solely based on bringing in new people for new stories.” For his part, Barnett has plenty of new shows lined up on Netflix, though he said in January he’d be open to coming back as a guest star—and has had some kind of discussions about it.

Unfortunately, discussions don’t often mean more than talking about it, and it’s hard to see where Mills would fit back in since the person he shared his biggest storyline with has now also left the firehouse. Unless he just came by to drop off another care package?

It’s probably worth noting that several of the new people who were brought on after Charlie Barnett didn’t last long before their characters were written off Chicago Fire, too. But more on that in the next slide.