After two seasons, one of Chicago Fire‘s main characters is leaving the NBC show as a series regular. But while it comes, sort of, as the culmination of a long-running feud between that character and another on the show, the reason for the departure of the character from the staff of Chicago’s bravest is injury in the end. Obviously we won’t spoil it for those of you reading this on the main page, so read on to find out more.
On tonight’s episode of Chicago Fire, firefighter Jimmy Borrelli (played by Steven R. McQueen) suffered a career-ending injury. Borrelli had been feuding with Battalion Chief Wallace Boden. Convinced that Boden (Eamonn Walker) was responsible for his brother’s death, Borrelli lost faith in the chief’s leadership and during a fire, took certain matters into his own hands and ended up burned, badly, bringing an end to his career as a firefighter.
In an interview with TVLine, Chicago Fire executive producer Michael Brandt explained the reasons for McQueen’s exit. “With Jimmy’s character, it just felt like he needed to stand up for what he believed in, but Boden needed to stand up for what he believed in, and those two things couldn’t live together.” A possibility for Boden to depart instead of Jimmy was never considered. “Eamonn [Walker] has been with us since Day 1. He was the first character we cast. He’s Papa Bear in Chicago… He’s not going anywhere… He’s too much of the rock,” Brandt said.
There are no current plans for McQueen to return as a guest star. He joined Chicago Fire in Season 4.
