Miranda Rae Mayo’s Chicago Fire character is putting family first.
During the Nov. 5 episode of the beloved NBC series, Mayo’s Stella Kidd announced she would be taking a temporary leave from Firehouse 51 for the benefit of her and husband Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney)’s foster child Isaiah (Hero Hunter).
Prior to the Season 14 episode, Stella and Kelly, often referred to by their ship name Stellaride, are asked to take temporary custody of Isaiah after his mother, Shawna, was in a car accident that left her comatose.
Throughout the most recent episode, Isaiah is understandably troubled by his mother’s condition and does not believe she is getting the proper care at St. John’s hospital, where she is recovering.
The tension comes to a head when Isaiah shows up unannounced at the firehouse to plead with Stella over his mother’s condition. While Stella is initially concerned that the teenager cut class, she agrees to take him to visit his mother at the hospital—where she discovers that Isaiah was right to be worried.
From there, Stella finds a special facility in Cleveland where she has Shawna transferred—with the help of Chicago Med’s Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson)—to continue her recovery, and volunteers to accompany Isaiah to stay temporarily in the Ohio city. At the end of the episode, Stella reveals to both Severide and Firehouse 51 lieutenant Mouch (Christian Stolte) that she will be taking a temporary leave of absence from the force.
Naturally, Mayo’s abrupt exit caused a stir with fans online, with one fan writing on X alongside several crying emojis, “STELLA IS LEAVING.”
However, it’s worth noting that Chicago Fire is about to embark on a winter break Nov. 20, meaning that the series will be on a hiatus until January. If Stella’s absence is written into the show—rather than a time jump having her return during next week’s episode as some fans are speculating online—it’s likely she will return by that point.
For Mayo’s part, she is confident this leave of absence will help her character grow closer to Isaiah, whom she has been struggling to connect with up until this point—admitting that her character is “jealous” of her husband’s ability to bond with him.
As she told NBC Insider Nov. 4, Stella is “definitely feeling a little like, ‘OK, why? What am I doing wrong?’”
Chicago Fire isn’t the only series with gripping plotlines this season. Keep reading for more TV series to add to your watchlist…
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