Chicago Fire season 12: Will Christian Stolte return as Mouch?

What’s going on with Mouch (Christian Stolte)? The Chicago Fire mainstay had reached a point where it seemed like he would be out of harm’s way. He already had a health scare in the past, so he was the last person we thought was going to be shot in the season 11 finale. Yet, here we are.

Mouch was not only shot, but he continued to bleed out despite receiving medical treatment. His pulse was weakening as the episode came to an end, and based on the reactions of the rest of the 51, things are not looking promising. Is Mouch going to live to be in season 12?

Is Christian Stolte leaving Chicago Fire?

As we said, things look bad for the character. He’s getting up there in age, and Chicago Fire has a habit of killing off major characters during season premieres. There is, however, some things that lead us to believe that Mouch is going to pull through. For one, he’s a beloved part of the show, and Stolte has done nothing to suggest that he wants to leave the show, which has been the reasoning behind more recent exits.

Which brings us to the most practical reason: Chicago Fire is on the brink of losing some major characters. Severide is still elsewhere in the country, and until we get some clarity on when Taylor Kinney wants to return to the show, the character will remain in offscreen limbo. If and when he does leave, it will be a huge blow.

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There’s also the fact that Casey (Jesse Spencer), a character who lives in Oregon, proposed to Brett (Kara Killmer), and there’s a strong chance that if she says yes she will leave Chicago to be with him.

From a practicality standpoint, it would be smart to keep characters like Mouch around until you solidify who is leaving and who is staying. We don’t want to see season 12 become the season in which all the characters we love get axed from the main cast. We’re going to follow our gut on this one and say yes, Mouch is coming back.

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