Is Kelly Severide leaving Chicago Fire?

Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) is becoming an abstract concept on Chicago Fire. Sure, he still gets mentioned by Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and the other members of the 51, but the fact that he’s been gone for so long, without a return date in sight, has fans a little uneasy.

It makes sense. It doesn’t help that Severide decided to complete his training in Alabama and take on an ATF case elsewhere in the country without telling Kidd. That was not the wisest decision in retrospect, and we’re curious to see what his rationale was.

We all miss the character, and want to see him return, but is a return in the cards? Let’s discuss what we know about Severide right now.

Is Taylor Kinney leaving Chicago Fire?

Severide is taking a leave of absence from the 51 because the actor who plays him, Taylor Kinney, is taking a leave of absence from the show in real life. The details surrounding said leave are not known, and based on the secrecy the actor has opted for in recent months, we may never know.

The important distinction to make is that Kinney missing a few episodes was not billed as an “exit” the way that it was when someone like Casey (Jesse Spencer) left the show. There’s a plan to bring the character back, and there always has been, even if the specific timing of this return is unclear.

As we’ve previously stated, there’s also the matter of Severide not getting a proper goodbye. Even if the character was written off the show, the fan would be hard-pressed to consider what we got in season 11 (i.e. an offscreen departure that was explained by another character) as a proper exit.

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If we have to part ways with Severide, we want a legitimately emotional and focused episode that explains why he’s leaving, and how difficult it will be for him to leave. It seems only fair, given that he’s been one of the show’s main characters for over a decade.

Of course, we hope he decides to stay and patch things up with Kidd, but we are confident that we haven’t seen the last of the character.

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