Over the course of Chicago Fire’s first 14 seasons, there were a lot of comings and goings at Firehouse 51, but one of the few constants came via the man sitting in the chief’s chair. For the first 12 seasons, Eamonn Walker’s Chief Wallace Boden was a mainstay in the firehouse as the firehouse’s stoic leader, a leader who helped the firehouse to weather many storms.
Following Walker’s exit, Dermot Mulroney was brought in as the new chief of 51, Dom Pascal. It was expected that Pascal would be around for the long haul given that Boden had been in the chief position for 12 seasons, but that has proven not to be the case for Pascal.
After just two seasons, Mulroney is exiting the show, and with his final appearance coming in the season 15 premiere. Interestingly, his exit does not seem to be the result of an actor wanting to step away from the show.
Dermot Mulroney has hinted his Chicago Fire exit was not his choice
Over the years, Chicago Fire and the One Chicago shows have undergone several major cast shakeups. Some of these exits have come as a result of an actor’s desire to move on to pursue new opportunities, while others have been the result of creative decisions by the writers and budget cuts. When Dermot Mulroney’s exit was announced, fans immediately began speculating about the decision and it didn’t take long before it became clear this was not a decision made by Mulroney.
Shortly after news broke that Mulroney would be exiting the show after just two seasons as series regular, Mulroney attended Flashback Weekend in Chicago, where he candidly spoke about his departure from the show. When discussing his exit, his comments made it clear that he did not request to leave and that the writers ultimately chose to write Pascal out for good.
“They write the character off. So, we gave it our all for two seasons. They wrote an incredible storyline. I loved every minute. Sad to see it go... How meaningful that is makes it that much more; I don’t say bittersweet. [It makes it] bitter to have to leave that," Mulroney remarked.
It’s certainly disappointing knowing that Mulroney didn’t necessarily want to leave the show and it was the show’s decision to write him out. However, it’s not exactly surprising.
Chicago Fire wrote themselves into a corner and had no choice but to write Pascal out
We certainly understand Mulroney’s frustration, but sadly the writers have written themselves into a bit of a corner, and there really wasn’t a natural way to keep Pascal around without undercutting the storylines his exit prompted.
Late in season 14, Pascal was fired from the CFD for conduct unbecoming after he disobeyed a direct order from an FBI agent in the field. Following the news of his firing, Pascal used his final day at the CFD to offer up advice to those within the firehouse which included giving Severide the nudge to finally pursue becoming a captain so he could oversee Firehouse 51.
Severide would take that push and run with it, passing the captain’s exam, which paved the way for him to become the new leader of 51. To bring Pascal back full-time would make Severide’s journey to becoming captain pointless, as Pascal’s return would put him back in the leadership position overseeing the firehouse.
While we loved Pascal’s time on the show, we’re excited to see Severide leading the firehouse as its captain, and there is really no point in bringing Pascal back. In fact, we’d argue that the show should never have brought him back in the season 14 finale, as the show had already given him the perfect send-off. Sure, it’s great seeing him in the finale and the season 15 premiere, but those appearances simply weren’t needed.
Add us as a preferred source on Google