Chicago Fire season 14, episode 14, “Hit and Run,” marked the end of an era for Firehouse 51 when it was revealed that Chief Pascal’s time in the CFD was over.
After disobeying a direct order from a federal agent, Pascal went before the CFD board, and they chose to make an example of him. Rather than issuing a warning or a suspension, Pascal was relieved from active duty for conduct unbecoming. He broke the news to the firehouse after returning from his meeting and made it known that this was to be his last shift with the CFD.
At first, it seemed as though this would also be the end of Pascal’s career in firefighting; however, Mouch’s words of encouragement, both in person and in his report on the funeral fire, inspired Pascal not to walk away. As the episode ended, Pascal reached out to a friend who had offered him a job in Phoenix, suggesting that Pascal would not only be leaving Firehouse 51 but also leaving town.
The exit storyline in the show was connected to Mulroney taking what has been described as a hiatus from the show. This hiatus will see Mulroney missing several episodes of the show, with his return status in the season unclear, as scripts for the final episodes were still being written when the word broke. This means that Pascal might be back before the season ends or could have made his final appearance in the season already.
So why did Mulroney leave the show? Although an official reason for Mulroney’s step back from Chicago Fire has not been announced by NBC, it seems that his role in another hit series is to blame.
Dermot Mulroney’s role in The Hunting Wives on Netflix is likely why he left Chicago Fire
In addition to starring in Chicago Fire, Mulroney also stars in the breakout drama The Hunting Wives, playing Jed Banks in the sleeper hit. Following its breakout first season, The Hunting Wives was renewed for a second season, which began filming in mid-November 2025 and has been filming through the first months of 2026, with filming wrapping in late March.
With Mulroney returning as part of the season 2 cast, it appears that his step back from Chicago Fire was to accommodate filming on The Hunting Wives season 2. Given that Chicago Fire films in Chicago, while The Hunting Wives films in North Carolina, filming both shows would be a difficult task.
It seems likely that the Chicago Fire writers allowed Mulroney the time to step back from the show in order to film The Hunting Wives, which is what truly led to his hiatus. In fact, Mulroney celebrated a night with The Hunting Wives cast on the same night his final episode of Chicago Fire aired.
With The Hunting Wives wrapping filming, it's going to be interesting to see if Mulroney is able to return to Chicago Fire before season 14 comes to an end. We know filming has not yet wrapped on Chicago Fire, as no cast members have posted about the final days of filming just yet as of March 18, so there is hope we could see Pascal back.
That said, his return might not be needed. The show gave Pascal a perfect sendoff, and we're not sure it would make sense for him to come back to the CFD after all he went through. Plus, his return would almost undermine the Severide storyline introduced with Pascal's exit, which has set Severide up to take on a larger leadership role at 51.
While we'd love to see more of Pascal down the line, his return in season 14 doesn't feel needed. We'll just have to see if the writers felt the same or if Pascal ends up returning at the end of season 14.