Chicago Fire has decided to show Sam Carver (Jake Lockett) the door. The character has grown steadily in popularity over the last three seasons, but now, he only has three episodes left to wrap up his story. It's a tough decision, and one we feel like could have been avoided given how integral he's become to the show.
In a perfect world, we would not cut any Chicago Fire characters from the show. They all bring something unique and exciting to the table. But that is not the world we live in, and decided to put ourselves in the tough decision of making a cut. And here are two of the people who could have taken Carver's place on the chopping block. Not an endorsement, but we think we have pretty good cases.
Jack Damon had a natural end point in "Post Mortem"
The most obvious pick: Jack Damon (Michael Bradway). He's liked well enough, especially now that he's got a potential romance going with medic Lizzie Novak (Jocelyn Hudon). But the character was axed from the show at the start of season 13, and hasn't really been around long enough to build a strong emotional connection with fans.
Sure, it was sad to see the recent character arc he underwent regarding his injury, and whether he would ever be able to fight fires again. But the episode in which Damon was injured, "Post Mortem," aired the same exact time Deadline was announcing the Carver exit. If you let that arc play out the way we all thought it would, Damon could have been the one to vacate Firehouse 51 and we would have been able to keep Carver (who had just returned from rehab).
Chicago Fire's writing team seemed to be aware of how fine the line was between Carver and Damon, since there was a final act fake out in which the injured firefighter was believed to be the former and not the latter. Carver simply brings more to the table than Damon does. We don't make the rules.
Chief Pascal's personal demons have set up his firing
Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) is our second (hypothetical) sacrificial lamb. He's been on the chopping block all season. He hit a speed bump after the death of his wife, Monica Pascal (KaDee Strickland), and his work performance suffered as a result. But Pascal has persevered, and it now seems like he may end up being Firehouse 51's Chief for the foreseeable future. He even got the Boden (Eamonn Walker) seal of approval in the aforementioned "Post Mortem" episode.
We like Pascal, and we feel for his loss. But Carver is not only a more compelling character, he brings out far more interesting facets in the other Chicago Fire characters. Think of the way he interacts with Violet (Hanako Greensmith), Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) or even Herrmann (David Eigenberg). If it were between these two, we would begrudgingly vote to get Pascal out of there.
Who do you think should have been cut from the Chicago Fire cast instead of Carver? Did the show get it right? Or is there another character who should have been chosen?