Is Darren Ritter leaving Chicago Fire season 11?

Pardon the pun, but things got heated on Chicago Fire. The promo for season 11, episode 3 promised that we would be losing a character on the job, and we were on the edge of our seats trying to figure out who the character in question could’ve been.

There were clues that helped us rule out a decent number of people, as they’ve appeared in photos and mentioned in synopses for upcoming episodes. We knew for a fact that characters like Gallo (Alberto Rosende), Severide (Taylor Kinney), and Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) were in the clear.

The same wasn’t clear for Darren Ritter (Daniel Kyri)…

Is Ritter going to die on Chicago Fire?

Ritter was suspiciously absent from the episode 4 photos and synopsis, which put him on the short list of important characters who were seriously be at risk. It made sense, as he’s well-liked by fans and the rest of the 51, but is not responsible for as many storylines as say, a Kidd or Severide. He’s in the secondary tier of main characters with people like Herrmann (David Eigenberg) and Mouch (Christian Stolte).

The only difference is, both Herrmann and Mouch appeared in promo photos for the next episode. Contextually, Christian Stolte has also talked about Mouch’s birthday will lead to a convo about retirement in season 11, which couldn’t have happened if he perished in episode 3. Ritter had none of these narrative safety nets. At least, none that fans had seen.

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Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, Ritter made it out of episode 3 in one piece. He was present when the fire the 51 responded to caused a building to collapse, but it was Gallo who had the close call and nearly died.

Then, of course, we had to stand by and watch as Chief Evan Hawkins (Jimmy Nicholas) died as a result of him trying to save a man from the wreckage. It was a heartbreaking reveal, but one that ultimately made sense given his peripheral importance to the show.

Ritter lived to fight another day and another fire.

What do you hope to see in the Chicago Fire season 11 premiere? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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