It seems like every week someone at 51 goes missing in action and that trend continued in the tenth episode of Chicago Fire season 13, “Chaos Theory” which saw a veteran member of the team once again sidelined.
This time around the missing member of the 51 team was Christian Stolte’s Mouch, who viewers were quick to notice missing from the episode. Thankfully, the show helped to explain where Mouch was this week and it seems we have a required class to blame for his absence on Chicago Fire.
After taking over as acting lieutenant with Kidd away in Baltimore helping to set up a Girls on Fire program, we hoped to get to see Kidd and Mouch share a few scenes together and perhaps even go through some bumps in the road on their next call after Mouch got a taste of power in leading the team. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards as Kidd might be back but Mouch is now taking the shift off to tend to some business of his own.
As it’s revealed via a conversation with Kidd and Herrmann, Mouch isn’t at 51 for the shift as he’s taking a required class at the Fire Service Institute. With Mouch out completing the required course, 51 has welcomed Chippy back in as a floater and we go the episode without getting to see Mouch in action which created some confusion among fans.
In the show, it’s explained that Mouch has the course to complete, but the absence of Stolte was likely due to the fact that due to budget constraints series regulars no longer appear in every episode of the season. This results in the occasional episode here and there in which characters such as Mouch and Kidd, aren’t seen in the episode.
Don’t worry, Mouch will be back for the One Chicago crossover!
The good news is that this is just a one-episode break and Mouch will soon be back in action. In fact, he’ll return for episode 11 which will see the One Chicago shows coming together for what promises to be an action-packed three-part crossover event!
For the first time since 2019, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago Med will come together for a three-hour crossover event that will bring the casts together for a night fans won’t want to miss.
The crossover will see the city of Chicago rocked by a gas explosion that leaves countless people in danger including men and women from Firehouse 51, Gaffney Medical Center, and the Intelligence Unit. As the synopsis teases, the first responders of Chicago will have a lot on their hands working to save those above ground in the high-rise impacted by the explosion as well as those trapped deep underground.