Chicago Fire is rounding third base on its current season, and the finale episode is in sight. It's going to be an exciting, albeit bittersweet finale, given that the show is going to part ways with two notable cast members. We can't determine how these characters will be written off, but we can determine how many episodes season 13 will release as a whole.
Chicago Fire season 13 is going to consist of 22 episodes when all is said and done. This may not seem like a big deal, but it's actually a very encouraging sign for a show that was hit hard, like so many others, by the Hollywood strikes. The show's twelfth season featured only 13 episodes, and several of the storylines that were planned were presumably cut short due to this limited screen time.
Chicago Fire has returned to a normal episode count
Historically, the firefighting drama has aimed for 22-23 episodes in a given season. It's a streak they maintained for its first seven seasons, but fell short of in seasons 8-9, where it dipped below the 20 mark for the very first time. The ninth season of the show only had 16 episodes, and this was due to the complications brought about by the 2020 COVID pandemic.
It was widely assumed that this would be the shortest season in franchise history, as Chicago Fire quickly bounced back, but the Hollywood strikes posed an even trickier challenge. The actors and the writers for the show were on strike, and therefore production on season 12 was delayed by many months. There was never going to be enough time churn out a 20+ episode season, even if NBC had wanted to.
NBC has cut actors in order to keep episode costs down
It's been nice to see the firefighting drama return to a state of normalcy in episode count, even if it does come with a few new side effects. As noted at the top, Chicago Fire is getting rid of two of its cast members, and this is a cost cutting measure meant to keep show afloat. NBC wants to make a Chicago Fire that's cheaper, and as such, has resorted to removing certain cast members from key episodes.
This has been effective, but the decision to remove two actors entirely, instead of for standalone episodes, denotes a potentially dangerous consequence of keeping the show going. Deadline did note that there's a possibility for more cast exits heading into season 14. We can only hope that the show manages to keep the majority of its actors around for the future.
Chicago Fire's season 13 finale airs Wednesday, May 21 on NBC.