Otis won’t be returning to Chicago Fire (and that’s a good thing)

When it comes to Chicago Fire characters, there is one exit that we’re still extremely salty over. We’re talking about Otis (Yuri Sardarov), of course. The ending to Chicago Fire season 11 has him on our minds a lot more. Otis was one of those loveable characters who helped many people see brightness and joy in life. And then the unthinkable happened. At the end of season 7, the entire firehouse was trapped in a building.

Most of them got behind a door to protect themselves from the water that was about to be poured onto the building, but we saw that Otis didn’t quite make it. We then spent the rest of the summer wondering if he would somehow make it. The season 8 premiere answered the question in a devastating way. He didn’t make it, and we spent the whole season mourning his loss.

Will Yuri Sardarov return to Chicago Fire?

The way Otis was written out of the show will tell you a lot about the chances of Yuri Sardarov returning this season. It is highly unlikely. No, it’s not impossible, but it is highly unlikely. This is a show set in reality. That means no ghosts or people suddenly coming back from the dead. Otis’s death was a way to remind us of the dangers of firefighting. After years of near-misses for many characters, the show eventually had to write another major death in.

There are a ways of bringing him back, but none of them really sound like good ideas. Maybe Mouch (Christian Stolte) could be dreaming as he fights to hold onto his own life, or maybe Otis becomes a figment of someone’s imagination. Let’s not pull a Grey’s Anatomy where someone has brain cancer and sees one specific dead person, though.

Besides, bringing the character back would undo the power of his death. During an interview with Tell Tale TV, Yuri Sardarov talked about the decision to kill Otis off, and why he ultimately felt good about the decision:

"“Going into the eighth season, sometimes you need something that’s going to get the engines revved up a little bit, and what better way to do that than to kill someone so beloved and someone so warm and sweet and funny? I think in many ways, Otis is the one character that people don’t expect to die.”"

Chicago Fire has not forgotten about the character, as evidenced by the fact that Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) named his firstborn son Otis. These little references and nods to the past are a much better way of paying tribute to the character than bringing him back in a contrived manner.

Otis won’t be returning to Chicago Fire, and that’s ultimately a good thing.

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