“Curtain call chicago fire,” Flynn posted via Instagram following the episode. During the hour,
Gibson became noticeably angry after he began having withdrawals from prescription drugs.
After having a breakdown, he told Stella (Miranda Rae Mayo) that he needed to leave and enter
treatment. Variety confirms that he’s left the show for now, but it’s unclear whether he could make a return in the future. At the top of the season, showrunner Andrea Newman revealed she was excited for the “phenomenal” actor to be joining the cast. “He’s an electric presence and a very different energy than a lot of our guys at 51. He’ll be shaking things up,” Newman told Variety. “As a character, there are a lot of layers to peel back on Gibson. He’ll be a fun new element to rock 51 a little bit.” The exit comes shortly after Kara Killmer was written off the show, making her final appearance as Sylvie Brett in the Feb. 28 episode after 199 episodes.
Her character left after marrying Matt Casey (Jesse Spencer) and moving to Portland, Oregon, to live with him. Season 12 also kicked off with the departure of Alberto Rosende, who only appeared in the first episode before his character, Gallo, moved to Michigan to be closer to his family. “We love Alberto so much. We love that character so much, and he had such a strong season last season. There was something that almost felt like the Super Bowl about it, like the quarterback who retires after a Super Bowl — not that he’s retiring from the business, but his leaving makes some sense because he had such a strong season and as a character, has evolved so much,” Newman said. “From a writing standpoint, it’s sad not to have Gallo to write for, but like I said, it felt natural in some strange way. He will be very missed by all.” This season is also the first for Newman as a solo showrunner as co-creator Derek Haas left at the end of Season 11. Additionally, Season 12 marked the return of Taylor Kinney, who stepped away last season due to a personal matter. He is now back full-time on the series. “Chicago Fire” is produced by Universal Television in association with Wolf Entertainment.
