From the moment the fall finale revealed that Engine 51 was on a shortlist of engines to be decommissioned by the CFD, Chicago Fire fans have been worried that Mouch could be leaving the show. It’s an understandable fear given the storyline effectively means his role within the CFD is to be eliminated, meaning he’d be without a job.
Upon learning the news, Chief Pascal immediately began leading the charge in an effort to save Mouch’s job. He quickly looped Mouch in on the information so that he could meet with his union rep, and the duo began looking into ways to save Mouch’s job. After chasing a few leads that turned into dead ends, Pascal gave Mouch the go-ahead to move onto the next tool in their arsenal: meeting with the press.
With help from his union rep, Mouch shared his story with the media, hoping to put a face to the story and get the public to rally behind him. At first, it seemed like no outlet was going to pick up the story, but then it landed on the front page of the paper and quickly began generating buzz about the CFD’s plan to lay off a longtime member of the CFD due to budget cuts.
As Chicago Fire season 14, episode 9 came to an end, Mouch’s union rep showed up at Molly’s to inform him that the press worked and Mouch’s job was saved. However, the news came with a major catch. While Mouch would be able to keep his job in the CFD, he was being transferred out of Firehouse 51 to Firehouse 40. When Mouch questioned whether there was any other option, his union rep made it clear he either transferred to Firehouse 40 or he’d be forced into retirement.
We certainly had a bad feeling that Mouch could be transferred out of Firehouse 51, and that fear has now become a reality. Mouch’s time at 51 has come to an end, at least for now, and we’re going to see him displaced within the CFD as a result of City Hall’s decision.
Mouch is not leaving Chicago Fire (though we’re likely to see less of him)
The good news for fans is that Mouch is not leaving the show as Christian Stolte remains a member of the cast. Whenever a storyline such as this is introduced, there’s a reasonable concern that the actor playing the character is leaving the show and it’s no surprise that fans were worried this would be the case with Mouch.
Just this season the writers used a similar storyline to explain the departure of Michael Bradway, writing his character, Jack Damon, out of the show by explaining that he had been transferred to another firehouse. With Damon leaving 51, he effectively left the show and we haven’t seen his character – or even gotten an update on his character – since the premiere when it was made known that he had been transferred to another house.
With Mouch being transferred out of 51 to Firehouse 40, it’s understandable that fans were worried this was a storyline introduced to write Stolte out of the show. That is not the case though as Stolte is not exiting the series and Mouch’s story is not over.
What is likely to happen is that we might go a few episodes without seeing Mouch as a result of his transfer to 40. We’re already used to seeing characters miss a few episodes due to budget restrictions that lead series regulars to miss a few episodes throughout the season, so there is a chance that the writers will use this storyline to write Mouch out for a few episodes as he heads to Firehouse 40 as part of this transfer.
We might get to see the immediate fallout of Mouch settling in at his new firehouse, but there is also a chance that fallout will occur off-screen and we’ll simply get updates from the likes of Pascal and Herrmann about Mouch to update us on his status. The good news is that regardless of the plans, Mouch is not going anywhere and will remain a part of the show.