Chicago Fire Mystery: The *Real* Reason Severide Is Suddenly Missing — and Whether He’s Gone For Good
The Chicago Fire Season 13 fall finale saw plenty of drama, but there was something big missing – Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney). Find out why Severide didn’t appear in the mid-season finale and when he’ll be back.
Where Was Kelly Severide in the Chicago Fire Season 13 Fall Finale?
Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 8, titled “Quicksand,” aired on November 20, 2024. The episode was the fall finale, as the show takes a break until it returns on January 8, 2025. The Episode 8 synopsis explained: “Herrmann and Mouch prepare to take their officer exams; Cruz receives a chilling omen; Carver takes care of a dog after its owner is injured on a call.”
Severide didn’t appear in the episode and, since Kinney has left the show before, fans were nervous that he might exit again. Kinney starred on the series from Season 1 to Season 11, then suddenly exited Chicago Fire that season, taking a leave of absence. He returned in Season 12, Episode 1.
In Season 13, Episode 8, his absence was explained during an exchange between Joe Cruz, Tony, and Capp — Severide was on a work trip in Michigan.
“Severide’s got some fire inspection boondoggle in Michigan,” Cruz said.
“You know, I’ve always wanted to go to Michigan,” Tony said, then Capp reminded him it’s not that far from Chicago.
It doesn’t look like Severide is gone for long, however, as he appears in the promo for the show’s January 8 return (Season 13, Episode 9). The show also explained that Severide will be back very soon.
Violet asks his wife Stella, “How’s he doing in Michigan?”
“Good. But he’s decided to come back a little early, which, of course, I’m happy about,” she said.
Violet responded, “He misses you. That’s sweet.”
Kinney’s absence from the episode is likely due to cost cutting, a common occurrence on primetime shows. Chicago Fire has seen other characters missing from episodes this season – in Season 13, Episode 6, “Birds of Prey,” Cruz and Herrmann were noticeably absent. Then Cruz returned but Herrmann was absent again in Episode 7. When characters are missing, it’s often due to budget cuts, with cast members appearing in fewer episodes to cut costs.
While the absence of Cruz and Herrmann could have been attributed to budget cuts, in David Eigenberg’s case, he suffered an injury that had him sidelined from the show. He told CinemaBlend in a November 2024 interview, “I was out for a couple [episodes]. I snapped my Achilles tendon, so I got knocked out for a bit. It’s been been a weird.”
In a Reddit discussion about the Chicago Fire episode, one fan wondered, “How could they leave a core character like Kelly Severide out of the mid-finale? Make it make sense!”
While Severide was missed, some fans discussed the reason Kinney wasn’t in the episode. “This is the whole current structure of the show where they have characters take multiple episodes off per season,” one person explained. “They found a window of the season where they didn’t need the Severide character since he didn’t really have any current storylines going on anymore.”
Another fan agreed, writing, “That’s very true. There were so many storylines this episode, I don’t know what they would have done with him.”
