3 Chicago Fire characters who left the show unexpectedly

We hope you’ll forgive us for having character exits on the brain, but Severide (Taylor Kinney) is on the cusp of leaving Chicago Fire. Or perhaps he’s already left, as some sources have teased. There is an act to the character exit, with writers having to consider the relationships they have with the rest of the cast, as well as what holes they will leave within the entertainment value of the show.

Some exits have been measured and paced, like when Casey (Jesse Spencer) left at the end of Fire season 10. There was attention paid to why he was leaving, and we even got a cameo during the Severide and Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) wedding.

There are others, though, that completely blindside us and leave us scrambling to figure out what happened. This is a list of those kind of exits.

Why did Leslie Shay leave Chicago Fire?

Leslie Shay (Lauren German) was a troubled character from the start. She dealt with a myriad of personal issues and yet she managed to stay on top of her job (for the most part) and help those around her. Given that she was part of Chicago Fire from the start, it was safe to assume that she would stick around for the long haul.

No such luck. Shay was killed when a burst pipe struck her head during a call. It was a watershed moment for Chicago Fire, as it was the show’s most-high profile death up to that point, and it sent a clear message to fans: what these people do is incredibly dangerous. We haven’t forgotten.

Why did Peter Mills leave Chicago Fire?

Peter Mills was another case of a character being primed to stick around. It was to such an extent that the actor who played Mills, Charlie Barnett, felt the same way– and was promptly shocked when he was written out of the show after season 3. The excuse given for Mills’s exit is that he wanted to leave the city and open a restaurant with his family, but the abruptness of it all was confounding.

Watch One Chicago on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels with a 7-day FREE trial!

Barnett has admitted to being disappointed over the decision, as the writers felt they had reached the end of the line with his character and wanted to take the show in a different direction. On the bright side, Mills is still alive and could theoretically come back for a cameo at some point.

Why did Evan Hawkins leave Chicago Fire?

This one still hurts. We never thought Hawkins (Jimmy Nicholas) was going to become part of the main cast or anything, but he seemed like a character who could be recurring for seasons on end as Violet’s boyfriend. The two were electric together, and things seemed as though they were finally going smoothly come season 11. Then, just like that, Hawkins was killed in a fire.

We have to give it to the Chicago Fire writing team; we were shocked when this happened. It’s still affecting Violet and her day-to-day behavior, and understandably so, as Hawkins’s death was so quick and unexpected that it took a while to sink in.

For the latest Chicago Fire season 11 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.