After more than a decade on television, dozens of characters have come and

gone through the One Chicago franchise over the years. But none of them have been

as devastating as the slate of characters who exited in 2024. So who’s left Chicago

Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med and what happened to them? Read on for our ranking of One Chicago’s 2024 exits ranked from the least to most heartbreaking. After more than a decade on television, dozens of characters have come and gone through the One Chicago franchise over the years. But none of them have been as devastating as the slate of characters who exited in 2024. So who’s left Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med and what happened to them? Read on for our ranking of One Chicago’s 2024 exits ranked from the least to most heartbreaking. I think we speak for most Chi-Harts when we say that weren’t exactly sad to see Dr. Zola Ahmad (Sophia Ali) leave Chicago Med. The character, a third-year emergency medicine resident at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, was introduced in Season 9 by Director of Patient and Medical Services on a probationary basis to work under Dr. Crockett Marcel.

The catch is that Zola had been previously fired from her past two jobs for her impulsivity when it came to medicine, which she seemed not to learn from when she decided to decompress a patient’s neck hematoma outside of an operating room and bring a whole group of refugees to the ED who she suspects may be carrying an infectious disease on her first day on the job. Despite a talking to from Marcel, sticks to her same tricks throughout the rest of Season 9 until she’s fired in Season 9, Episode 9, “Spin a Yard, Get Stuck in Your Own String” — seven episodes after her debut — when Zola almost kills a living patient in a rush to deliver a pair of lungs to Marel for a patient desperate in need of a transplant. While we’re all for experimental medicine in medical dramas (Dr. Will Halstead was an example of how to do an experimental doctor right), Zola seemed to do more bad than good, and annoyed the viewers as just as much as the other doctors in the ED, which is why she’s in last place in our ranking.

She had good intentions as a doctor and some of her ideas worked out, but her recklessness and constant rule-breaking didn’t make her the most likable character. Derrick Gibson (Chicago Fire) Like most soaps fans, we were excited when we learned that Rome Flynn — who played Zende Forrester Dominguez on The Bold & the Beautiful — was cast as new firefighter Derrick Gibson on Chicago Fire, however, his time on the series was short-lived. The character, a firefighter on Truck 81 for the Chicago Fire Department, was introduced in Season 12 as a replacement for firefighter Blake Gallo, who exited earlier in the series. Gibson had a good backstory: He was an amateur boxer who quit boxing after he accidentally killed an opponent in a boxing match, which led to his career as a firefighter. Due to his past, Gibson also developed an addiction to medication. However, after exiting in Season 12, Episode 8, “All the Dark,” following just six episodes on Chicago Fire, fans didn’t really get to know Gibson enough to form a bond with him.

Gibson left Firehouse 51 after Lieutenant Stella Kidd found him having a panic attack and crying due to the trauma of his past. “I thought I pulled it together,” Gibson told Stella. “I need to get out. I need to go.” And with that, Gibson was gone from Firehouse 51 to work on him self and get help for his drug problem. Gibson had a lot of promise, but Chicago Fire fumbled the bag on that one. Blake Gallo (Chicago Fire) In our minds, Blake Gallo (played by Alberto Rosende) was gone too soon from Chicago Fire. The character, a firefighter on Truck 81, joined Chicago Fire in Season 8, replacing Brian “Otis” Zvonecek following his death earlier that season. Gallo had an interesting backstory for why he wanted to be a firefighter: He lost his whole family, including his parents and younger sister, during a house fire when he was 12 years old and was saved by Firehouse 131. his rivalry with Firehouse 51’s paramedic Violet Miakmi, whom he went to the Fire Academy with, was also fun to watch, especially when their relationship briefly evolved from friends to lovers.

Gallo went on to date other characters throughout his time on Chicago Fire — Tracy Herrmann (Christopher Herrmann’s niece), Gianna Mackey, and a woman named Cara — however, Chicago Fire he served more as a comedic-relief sidekick throughout the series as opposed to getting the heroic edits that other characters (such as Kelly Severide of Matt Casey) have received. Gallo’s exit was also lackluster. He left in the Season 12 premiere, “Barely Gone,” after revealing that he moved to be with his aunt — his last living relative — in Detroit, Michigan, where planned to still work as a firefighter. While his exit felt rushed and his arc didn’t seem as complete as other characters, we’ll still miss him at Firehouse 51. Sylvie Brett (Chicago Fire) Now we’re getting to the hard part of our ranking. Sylvie Brett (played by Kara Killmer), by far, is one of Chicago Fire‘s best female characters. The character, a paramedic on Ambulance 61, was introduced in Season 3 as a replacement for paramedic Leslie Shay following her death earlier in the season. Brett had huge shoes to fill — Shay was beloved by fans and Firehouse 51 as a whole — but over the years she rose to the occasion and became one of Firehouse 51’s most badass members. Not to mention, she’s funny as heck.

Brett’s backstory — she was born to a teenage mother named Julie who gave her up for adoption — also provided her seasons’ worth of storyline as Brett learned more about her birth parents and even witnessed Julie’s death in Season 8. Brett’s relationship with Captain Matthew Casey also rivals Stellaride as one of Chicago Fire‘s most beloved ‘ships of all time. Her wedding to Casey in her final episode, Season 12, Episode 6, “Port in the Storm,” was the perfect send-off for the Brett as she moved to Portland, Oregon, with her daughter, Julia, to be with Casey and his two adopted sons, Griffin and Ben Darden. (Casey moved to Portland in Season 10 to take care of Griffin and Ben following their mother’s imprisonment and their father’s death.) We were sad to see Brett go, but we couldn’t ask for a better way to write her off. Hailey Upton (Chicago P.D.) Detective Hailey Upton (played by Tracy Spiridakos) takes second place in our ranking of One Chicago’s most heartbreaking exits in 2024. Her character, a detective for the Chicago Police Department’s Intelligence Unit, joined Chicago P.D. in Season 4 as a replacement for Detective Erin Lindsay, who left that season.

Once a recurring character before she was promoted to series regular status in Season 5, Upton has grown a lot since she first joined the Intelligence Unit and become one of Sergeant Hank Voight’s most trusted detectives. Upton’s power as a detective only became more apparent after the exit of her ex-husband, Detective Jay Halstead, in Season 10, which allowed her to shine even more as Chicago P.D.‘s primary detective. From her relationship with Halstead to her heartbreaking backstory (her father beat her, her mother and her siblings), Upton has never been short of a storyline on Chicago P.D., which was even more apparent in her final season when she took the lead on several investigations, including Voight’s kidnapping in the Season 11 finale.

Upton will go down as one of the best detectives in Chicago P.D. history and we’re sad to see her go. Chief Wallace Boden (Chicago Fire) The crown for the most heartbreaking exit in One Chicago in 2024 has to go to Chief Wallace Boden (played by Eamonn Walker). The character, the Deputy District Chief for the Chicago Fire Department, was one of the last remaining original series regulars on Chicago Fire and the only original character from the One Chicago franchise to leave in the past year. While Boden didn’t take center stage as often as his firefighters — Severide and Casey were the more frequent leading men in the episodes — his impact is still felt by viewers and every firefighter and paramedic who’s come and gone through Firehouse 51. The impact of Boden’s role was even more apparent in his final episode, “Never Say Goodbyes,” as the whole Firehouse 51 team — Herrmann, Cruz, Kidd, Violet, and more — gathered in Boden’s office to say their farewells. Boden was Firehouse 51’s fearless leader who held the squad together for more than a decade, and it’s hard to imagine what the series will look like without him. The good news is that Boden will remain in a recurring capacity on Season 13 and future seasons, but we’re still devastated to see him leave full time.