Chicago Fire Killed Off This Beloved Character For a Reason

Chicago Fire is a long-running show about real-life heroes who save people's lives not only every day, but sometimes several times a day.

The crew of Firehouse 51 is full of characters who are willing to risk everything to get the job done.

And every new member of the crew is actually judged by the main characters to see if they are a good fit for the firehouse. But in the case of Leslie Shay, it was an instant fit.

Not only does the show's star at the time, Kelly Severide, claim that she is part of the group's DNA, but the fans really loved her.

From the very beginning of the show, she made a strong appearance and made everyone respect her as almost the only powerful woman who stood up to her male colleagues. She was not afraid of anything and always had her own opinion.

She was friends with everyone on the crew, but had a special friendship with Gabriela Dawson. In other words, as a character, she has it all.

The love of the fans, a strong personality on the show, and the potential to become one of the best characters in the series, if not the best.

But all of that was suddenly over for her quite early in the show. Season 2 episode 22 was the last one for Shay.

The episode focuses on everyone celebrating Chief Wallace's wedding when the firehouse gets a call about a huge fire in the building.

Shay immediately rushes there and dies in a massive explosion while trying to save an injured man. Later, her colleagues try to help her, but the attempts fail.

Now, the fair question here is: why kill off such a beloved character with so much future potential? Well, we know that Chicago Fire does that sometimes, and the reasons are very different.

The thing is, in this case, it was nothing personal, just the showrunners' decision to make a big impact.

In the interview with TV Line, Matt Olmstead said that they wanted to kill off the main character for that impact, because going with a lesser-known character wouldn't generate as much interest among fans.

"We went back to Shay because she affected the most people," he said.

And he was right. A decade later, fans still mourn the loss of Shay.

The new episode of Chicago Fire airs on May 24.

Source: TV Line