3 Chicago Fire characters who might be cut in season 12

Chicago Fire is entering a new era. The firefighting drama has been renewed for a 12th season on NBC, but Deadline has revealed that the show will be cutting down the screen time of established characters in an effort to limit the budget for each episode.

This means that characters who are typically seen in every episode will be MIA for 3-4 episodes. Chicago Fire is still working on finishing up the season 11 finale, but we thought now would be a good time to look at the characters who are most likely to miss screen time during the upcoming season.

Is Herrmann leaving Chicago Fire in season 12?

Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg) is crucial to the look and feel of Chicago Fire. He’s been part of the cast since the pilot, and he brings a gravitas that’s noticeable whenever he isn’t there.

Still, the chemotherapy treatments for his wife (Robyn Coffin) have been taking a toll on him, and we could easily see a storyline in which the character steps away from the 51 to focus on his wife and kids. The absence wouldn’t be very long, but if the writing team are looking for ways to keep characters offscreen for episodes at a time, we feel like this would be an obvious pick.

Is Kidd leaving Chicago Fire in season 12?

Some fans seem to think that Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) is going to become pregnant within the next season, which would mark a huge step for both her and Severide (Taylor Kinney). There has been nothing to confirm this, but Kidd did make an interesting remark to Cruz (Joe Minoso) about kids so we can’t entirely rule it out.

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If Kidd were to become pregnant over the course of season 12, it would definitely be an easy way to write her out of a few episodes. If this were the case, the writers could even kill two birds with one stone, and have Severide be missing from the 51 for the same reason.

Is Severide leaving Chicago Fire in season 12?

The character we all want to know about. Severide is currently enrolled in an arson investigation training program, and it’s not been made clear when he will return. The optimistic read suggests that he returns for the season 11 finale, but if he does, the writers would be faced with the tricky task of figuring out how to exclude the character for a handful of episodes in season 12.

It may ultimately be easier to keep Severide enrolled in his training program through the first few episodes of season 12, and then bring him back in spectacular fashion. That way, there won’t be a need to have him leave the show for a second time. Given how little we all know about Severide’s fate, this is the storyline we’re most intrigued to watch unfold.

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