Steven R. McQueen will NOT appear in Chicago Fire season 12

Remember Jimmy Borrelli (Steven R. McQueen)? The character was at the fulcrum of Chicago Fire during its fourth and fifth seasons, but trouble never seemed far. He made a bad first impression at the 51, and bumped heads with Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker) on several occasions. It’s any wonder he left after only 24 episodes.

Borelli is still alive, however, so there has been murmurs over the years as to whether we could see him return to the 51, and perhaps even patch things up with Boden. Will we get to see the legendarily troubled firefighter get back in the mix in season 12?

Is Steven R. McQueen returning to Chicago Fire?

Well, frankly, the answer is no. For one, it’s been a long time since Borelli was in the mix, and there has been lots of turnover at the 51. As is the case with other crew members who appeared during the first handful of seasons, there would be very few characters they interacted with, which would render their return somewhat inert. It’s hard to imagine firefighters like Ritter (Daniel Kyri) or Gallo (Alberto Rosende) losing their minds at the sight of Borelli walking through the 51 doors.

The other big issue is the injury Borelli sustained in the line of duty. During season 5, the character was set on fire and suffered a severe burn to the face. He was able to recover, but he subsequently lost sight in his left eye, and was forced to retire from firefighting. Little has been revealed about the character since, be it his new line of work or whether he still lives in the Windy City.

The decision to end Borelli’s career prematurely was something the writing team for Chicago Fire went back and forth on. Michael Brandt, the show’s executive producer, told TV Line that it was ultimately decided to write Borelli off to show the risks that the firefighters take on a daily basis.

“There are times when people get injured, or really bad things happen to them, and we don’t follow through on that, and sometimes we feel like we have to pull the trigger on certain things”, Brandt noted. “It was driven by the story and who the characters have evolved into.”

The executive producer had nothing but positive things to say about McQueen, who shares a name with his movie star grandfather. “The discussions with Steven were nothing but pleasant”, Brandt added. He was a total professional about it.”

While we’re glad Borelli is still alive, the injuries he sustained mean that he can’t offer much in the way of assistance. He never showed much in the way of a knack for arson investigation, either, so it’s not like he could realistically be brought in to help with a case a la Severide (Taylor Kinney). In truth, the character’s career-ending incident spelled out the end of the line as far as his importance to the story is concerned.

McQueen’s last screen appearance was in the television film The Warrant (2020).

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