Chicago Fire: Unlikely Character No One Cared About Can Replace Severide

Summary:

• Chicago Fire has been losing its original character and actors left and right lately, but the show also introduces new ones regularly.
• With Matt Casey gone from the show and Kelly Severide always on the verge of leaving, Chicago Fire is setting up a new lead star.

Love it or hate it, Chicago Fire has been gradually shifting focus from the veteran characters to newcomers in the past few seasons. With the OG actors leaving the cast or having their on-screen alter-egos killed off, fresh blood is needed to fill the positions in Firehouse 51 — and to take the place under the spotlight for their own.

With most early stars either quitting or being on the verge of it, both we and, we’re sure, the showrunners are already eyeing their potential replacements.

Sam Carver’s Being Set Up as the New Severide

Kelly Severide’s shenanigans have already grown old, with the lead star constantly leaving the show for several episodes and then coming back.

Even though he returned for Brett and Casey’s wedding and promised the latter to stay around this time, we already know he’ll disappear again soon. Severide has become unreliable.

But without both Casey and Severide, Chicago Fire will be essentially only left with Stella Kidd as a lead — that is, if she doesn’t quit together with her husband. And from what it looks like, the showrunners are already setting up the new lead star.

In Season 12, Sam Carver has been getting increasingly more screen time: he’s always next to Kidd, always on the frontlines, always taking charge. As Kelly is drifting toward arson investigations more and more, so is Carver drifting toward becoming the main firefighting character of the show and stealing the spotlight.

Sam Carver Has Come a Long Way

A year ago, there was not a single Chicago Fire fan who liked Sam Carver or could even justify his presence on the show. Everyone hated Carver.

He used to be problematic, impulsive, and unpredictable, and his “mysterious character” didn’t work: Carver has one and the same repetitive storyline with Stella and that was it.

Since then, Sam has come a long way. Today, he actually feels like a valuable member of the crew and not like a two-legged problem that brings nothing to the table.

With Carver’s importance on calls and his screen time increasing, we can definitely see him taking the lead in the near future, should Severide step down.