Chicago Fire returned from its winter break on Jan. 8, but not every member of the 51 crew was present and accounted for as NBC’s hit series returned for its first episode of the new year.
Miranda Rae Mayo’s Stella Kidd does not appear in the winter premiere which quickly caught the attention of viewers, but thankfully the writers did a great job of explaining her absence right away – though if you weren’t fully paying attention you might have missed the explanation as it came via a very quick one-off line.
As the season resumed, we learned that Herrmann and Mouch both passed their respective examples which was met with celebration from their 51 family. Shortly after the news was revealed, Chief Pascal explained that Kidd was out of town working her Girls on Fire program in Maryland. With Kidd out of town, Chief Pascal gave Mouch his first opportunity to lead Truck 81 as Kidd’s replacement.
Shortly after, we got another brief update as Severide mentioned getting some texts from Kidd from Baltimore where she’s setting up the program.
The decision for Kidd to miss the winter premiere was likely a result of the need for series regulars to miss the occasional episode throughout the season which is connected to budget constraints. This is something we’ve come to expect from the show with characters randomly missing an episode here and there, often with throwaway lines explaining why they’re not on call for the shift such as being out of town on business as was the case with Kidd in the winter premiere.
With the season just returning, we’ll admit the absence of Kidd from the winter premiere was unexpected and caught many by surprise and understandably so. Still, it’s definitely nothing to be concerned about as Kidd will be back soon and when she does return, the writers have a major storyline planned for her.
As it’s been teased, the show is about to finally give fans a glimpse into Kidd’s family and revisit the thread that was started at the top of the season as she and Severide discuss starting a family of their own. It'll also be interesting to see how she adjusts to returning after Mouch took over as lead of Truck 81 in her absence and how their dynamic might evolve now that he's passed his lieutenant exam.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC and is available to stream on Peacock.