Chicago Fire's Severide Exit Proves That One Chicago Writers Don't Even Try
Severide follows the fate of another One Chicago character.
It's no longer a secret that Taylor Kinney, who plays Kelly Severide on Chicago Fire, took some time off to deal with personal matters, but the way the writers justified his temporary absence was, to say the least, less than pleasing to fans.
Taylor Kinney has been the star of Chicago Fire for more than a decade, so it's no surprise that the absence of one of the main characters caught viewers off guard.
While fans understand that the actor left the show temporarily and there is nothing reprehensible about that, it was the way the writers justified his departure that made the fans angry.
Taylor's character left town to attend an arson investigation training program, an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
Although Kelly's colleagues are upset about his absence, they agree that this training will benefit not only Kelly personally, but the entire team.
A similar story happened to another One Chicago character, Jay Halstead of the Chicago P. D.
His departure did not fit the character, and his decision to leave his wife Hailey Upton also angered many fans, as the plot twist was only justified by the fact that the writers needed to get the character off the show.
It happened again with Kelly. While going through the training program may still be somehow justified, the fact that he simply left Stella Kidd does not fit the nature of his character either.
The couple has always been open to each other, and fans agree that the writers might have handled their relationship differently with Severide's departure.
However, Chicago Fire has one big advantage – at the end of season 11, Stella Kidd left to get her husband back, and apparently fans will see Severide in season 12. Kelly will be able to redeem himself and fix his relationship with Stella.
Although Kelly's story seems to have a more positive outcome than Halstead's, the two storylines are still too similar.
Fans always notice things like this and feel that the writers should come up with more believable and original ideas that make the absence of characters on screen justifiable and understandable.