Another Firehouse 51 character’s departure in Chicago Fire’s season 12 finale is bigger than Boden’s
The Chicago Fire season 12 finale featured a much-overlooked character departure that was much bigger than losing Chief Wallace Boden. Chicago’s year may have been unusually short due to two Hollywood strikes in 2023, but Wolf Entertainment and NBC made the most of it by packing it with a ton of major developments—many of which will shape what’s next for the series. Of the three shows, Chicago Fire season 12 was arguably the most eventful, largely due to the large number of characters leaving Firehouse 51, with the finale featuring two people leaving the house.
Before Boden’s departure, Chicago Fire season 12’s latest departure was Derrick Gibson—a transfer who seemed to be settling in until he was suddenly written out of the show. Before him, Blake Gallo and Sylvie Brett also said goodbye to Firehouse 51 for personal reasons. Considering Eammon Walker’s history with the series, being the first actor to be cast in the Wolf Entertainment series, there was a lot of focus on his farewell song, and it turned out to be for the best. In the Chicago Fire season 12 finale, “Never Say Goodbye,” Boden left to become the new CFD leader.
Firehouse 51 losing Boden was a huge blow to their future, but he wasn’t the only one leaving in the finale. At the end of the Chicago Fire season 12 finale, Stella Kidd revealed that Sam Carver had taken another leave of absence after a bad call where he and Kelly Severide’s half-brother, Jack Damon, got into a fight. This disastrous change was made much worse after his altercation with Violet Mikami in the locker room. They dated casually, but Carver admitted that he had developed feelings for her while she accused him of lusting after Kidd.
There’s always the possibility that Carver will return for Chicago Fire season 13. After all, Kidd said he was just on leave. However, given One Chicago’s history of surprise departures over the years, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this is the character’s last.
While it was heartbreaking to lose Boden in Chicago Fire season 12, it’s hard to argue with this development for the character. Being promoted to the new CFD commander seems like a long time coming for the beloved Battalion Chief. He’s done everything he can to stay out of politics, but it’s simply time for him to move on. Things are different for Carver, however. Even though he’s a fairly new member of One Chicago, his role in the first responder program has been significantly expanded, with the potential to become much larger in the future.
Carver’s romance with Violet is shaping up to be the best romance Chicago Fire has seen in a long time. It would be disappointing if that suddenly ended.
First of all, as the dynamic shifts with some key departures like Matt Casey, Carver is positioned as one of the next faces of One Chicago. This is especially important with persistent rumors that Taylor Kinney’s Kelly Severide could be leaving the show as well. Carver could be the backup that more veteran characters like Kidd and Violet need in the event of another cast shakeup. Second of all, Carver’s romance with Violet is shaping up to be the best romance Chicago Fire has seen in a long time. It would be disappointing if that suddenly ended.
