‘Chicago Fire’ Shake-Up: Could Gianna Mackey Be the Answer to Firehouse 51’s Mass Exodus?

Season 14 of Chicago Fire is going to be lean, at least as far as the cast is concerned. Ritter (Daniel Kyri) and Carver (Jake Lockett) are not coming back, Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) and Severide (Taylor Kinney) may not be either, and Violet (Hanako Greensmith) is a possibility — especially after having come to terms with being in love with Carver. That’s a lot of characters leaving, but there’s been little in the way of who’s filling in those spots. But, if indeed Violet does leave, it opens the door for a Season 9 character who needs to come back: Gianna Mackey (Adriyan Rae).

Gianna Mackey Had a Brief but Memorable Time on Season 9 of ‘Chicago Fire’

Gianna Mackey makes her first appearance in the first episode of Chicago Fire‘s Season 9, replacing Annie Ilonzeh‘s Emily Foster as the new paramedic-on-board. She has close ties with Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso), with the pair having grown up together as practically siblings, and endears herself to the rest of the crew by making dinner for the squad. Her first call with new partner Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) is unconventional, to say the least, tending to a man who overdosed while watching the man’s brother, Joe Halleck (Garrett Young), hold a gun to Brett’s head, demanding they help his brother or die.

Mackey and Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende) hit it off, but he’s unnerved by Cruz’s protectiveness of her. Mackey, however, is not jokingly making a date with Gallo simply to drive Cruz nuts. That first call comes back to haunt Brett and Mackey, though, when the man who held the gun seeks them out after learning his brother died in the hospital, running their ambulance off the road. Thankfully, they survive, and get an injured Halleck to Med, where he gets the medical attention he needs and the trip to prison he deserves.

The experience rattles Mackey, who talks with Cruz about it all, wondering if Firehouse 51 is where she belongs or if she should transfer. Cruz gets her calmed down, and also promises not to be so overprotective. Mackey and Brett’s bond grows deeper, and Mackey gets more comfortable with her new 51 family, and they with her, who are driven home when Gallo comes to her rescue, risking his own life to save her when she’s caught in a construction yard explosion. In typical One Chicago fashion, the pair hook up shortly after. But in Episode 9 of the same season, while on a training day, Mackey is offered the chance to be Paramedic in Charge at Firehouse 33, and after talking with Joe and Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), she accepts the job and, just like that, she’s out.

Gianna Mackey’s Exit Leaves Her the Option to Return in ‘Chicago Fire’

Gianna Mackey came and went, but her time on the show was impactful. She formed a quick, easy bond with Brett, arguably one of the best partnerships in the history of the series. She fit into life at Firehouse 51 almost immediately, had an exceptional rapport with her long-time friend Cruz, and, of course, with Gallo. So why did she leave? In March 2021, series creator and executive producer Derek Haas addressed Rae’s choice to leave the show, saying, “Adriyan let us know she had some private reasons to leave Chicago. To hear that as a showrunner, you absolutely respect what an actor needs.” Rae herself announced her departure on Instagram, saying: “I ask that you extend to me the same grace, space, and understanding you’d want in any transitional time, and realize that while it is sad, some things are really only meant for a season and that’s okay. And that I am a human, and we are all growing.”

To this date, Rae has never addressed the actual reason why she left (and thankfully, the gossip vultures have never approached it). She did take a little downtime before appearing in The Game and Netflix’s Forever, and announced the birth of a baby in February 2024. Long story short, Rae is still in the biz, and as long as she is there remains a possibility of returning to Firehouse 51. Haas certainly never closed the door, saying of the character, “She left 51 on great terms, so there’s a chance we could check in on her. We’re always looking for something to boost up a crossover! I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Mackey in Firehouse 51.”

If she’s able, they’d take her back in a heartbeat, and most importantly, there’s potentially an easy way to bring her back in. At the end of the Season 13 finale, Violet and Carver kiss passionately, after seemingly having killed the relationship after disclosing he’s moving to Denver. Depending on where that relationship goes, it could mean that Violet, too, is leaving the show. That would leave not only a position open, but the Paramedic in Charge position, which would mean a lateral move for the character. But would she leave Firehouse 33? She would, if she weren’t given a choice, and Chicago Fire has already laid the groundwork for that to happen, too.

“Cut Me Open” had an auditor ominously foretelling that cutbacks and layoffs were coming for the CFD, and if that’s the case, Firehouse 33 could be a victim of those cutbacks, with its team, whoever isn’t laid off, dispersed to other stations. Violet leaves, Firehouse 33 closes down, Mackey is back — bada boom, bada bing, Bob’s your uncle. After the craziness of Season 13, a familiar face might just be what Firehouse 51 needs, and Mackey would, as we’ve already seen, fit in right away.