What If Taylor's Kinney Last Episode on Chicago Fire has Aired Already?

We miss Severide already. Good thing is, his absence is only temporary.

Taylor Kinney has been a part of the Chicago Fire cast for the past 11 years, starting in 2012, and has appeared in all of its spinoffs, such as Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Justice. With Kelly Severide going through all the ups and downs you can imagine, he quickly became a fan favorite. Now that we're supposed to be preparing to see a lot less of him on our screens, fans are really worried.

Since Kinney is and always has been very protective of his private life, there are no specific details about the reason for his leave of absence.

All we know is that the matter is personal for the actor and the showrunners were not prepared for such an announcement. As the issue seemed urgent, the script had to be rewritten, and we might see the results of that in this week's episode.

It looks like the showrunners will explain Severide's absence through Captain Van Meter, who reaches him with a bombshell message. It's no secret that Van Meter, the head of the Chicago Fire Department's Office of Fire Investigation, has been dreaming of getting Kelly on his team, so they may have used him as the basis for this new storyline.

While some fans are genuinely afraid of losing Severide for long, others see the opportunity for more characters to shine in his absence. We haven't seen nearly enough of Boden this season, so maybe the crew could bring him back for more screen time?

Another example of this is Cruz, who could use more of a lead storyline. And don't get us started on the younger characters like Violet, Sylvie, Ritter, Kylie, and Gallo. It would be great to see more of any of them.

According to all the promo material released for episode 15 of season 11, there is no Severide in it. The lieutenant is nowhere to be seen, neither in pictures nor in the trailer. However, his wife, Stella Kidd, seems to be the central figure in one of the storylines. Maybe we'll get a little hint from her as to Kelly's whereabouts.

Keep your eyes peeled, as Damage Control will air on March 1 on NBC.