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The latest episode of Chicago Fire season 11 saw a case unfold without the ever-brilliant Kelly Severide (portrayed by Taylor Kinney) at the heart of it all.
Most fans of the popular NBC series are used to seeing Severide in the episodes. However, in the previous week, it was announced that Taylor Kinney would temporarily leave the popular drama.
This resulted in the writers scrambling to accommodate the change without interrupting the flow of the latest episode of Chicago Fire. It seems that they managed to do this by starting a new plotline involving Severide leaving for Alabama for arson investigation training.
Such a trajectory will also allow Kinney to be absent for as long as he wants without interrupting the show's usual stride.
Why did Chicago Fire's Taylor Kinney leave the show?
Taylor Kinney reportedly left the show to deal with some personal matters. It is unclear exactly what transpired in the actor's personal life, but a source close to the production confirmed Kinney's temporary exit to Variety a couple of weeks earlier.
As the show was not prepared for this sudden change, Kinney's character had to be rewritten and new plot lines had to be introduced to make this transition smoother. Anyhow, Kinney will almost certainly return to play Kelly Severide in Chicago Fire, as the writers have kept that door wide open.
Taylor Kinney has been a part of the show for a long time, and over the past couple of years has been the main driving force behind the series. His absence means that another complete restructuring would be required from the creators.
Stella Kidd may remain at the forefront of the story as her character is still in the show.
Kidd may also evolve to take up more responsibilities, both on the work and personal fronts. Anyhow, for now, the show will be depicting a long-distance relationship between Stella and Severide.
How did Chicago Fire incorporate this change? A detailed look
Of course, most fans were already aware that Taylor Kinney was leaving the series temporarily. However, the writers still created a full-proof way of depicting this change without raising much suspicion or creating a dull storyline.
First, Stella is depicted greeting an empty room. Later, news of Severide's departure was announced by OFI’s Van Meter (Tim Meter) to Boden (Eamonn Walker), saying how losing a good firefighter is one of the bad things that happened to them. However, the entire team was very happy for Severide, who would get to learn a lot more in the training.
The episode also saw Van Meter regret losing one of his best firefighters and Stella Kidd feeling the effects of a long-distance relationship.
Bigger changes seem to be heading towards Chicago Fire, whose co-creator has already announced that he will leave the show at the end of season 11. Derek Haas has decided to leave Wold Entertainment, making him another in the long list of cast and crew members in the One Chicago series to quit it midway.
Meanwhile, Chicago Fire, along with Chicago Med, and Chicago PD will continue to air on NBC.
