Cast departures are nothing new for Chicago Fire, but we’d be lying if we didn’t admit to being more than a little surprised by the latest cast exits about to impact NBC’s long-running firefighter drama.
In a shocking turn of events, Deadline is reporting that Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett are exiting Chicago Fire and will not be returning for season 14 should the show be renewed. According to the initial report, the decision seems to be a result of budget cuts with Wolf Entertainment reportedly looking to cut costs ahead of renewals for the 2025-26 season.
While NBC has not commented on the report, Deadline is a trusted source which means this news, sadly, is accurate, and we’re about to lose two amazing members of the cast. In fact, Kyri has already responded to the news, releasing the following statement regarding his forthcoming exit:
“I’ll miss this character and it’s time to move on. Thank you to the cast, crew and awesome fans.”
Deadline reports that the decision to let both Kyri and Lockett go is part of efforts to trim the budget, and it seems that cast negotiations are currently underway with the show’s veteran cast members. This is because many longtime cast members’ contracts are up at the end of the show’s current season, which means new deals have to be worked out as NBC eyes a renewal for Chicago Fire, as well as its sister series Chicago Med and Chicago PD.
What’s scary is that the report also alleges that there could “be more exits across all five shows” which hint that Kyri and Lockett won’t be the only One Chicago cast members leaving at the end of the current seasons of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Law & Order, and Law & Order: SVU.
The one silver lining for fans of Ritter and Carver is that Chicago Fire has not wrapped filming yet on season 13, which means there is a chance we’ll get proper farewells for both characters before the season draws to a close. Given how important both characters have been to the show, we certainly hope that NBC will choose to give the actors a proper sendoff rather than simply having their exits unfold off-screen. However, it is important to note that there is always a possibility that the exits might not be addressed before the season ends, and we could see the characters written out in the season 14 premiere with one-off updates used to explain their absences.
Sadly, cast exits as a result of budget cuts are becoming a common trend in TV today. In fact, just two short years ago, Wolf Entertainment began to cut back on the number of episodes its series regulars appear in each season. This has resulted in series regulars no longer appearing in every episode of shows such as Chicago Fire, and has led to actors randomly missing the occasional episode here and there throughout the season. This often comes in the form of characters randomly being MIA with their absences explained via one-off lines or, at times, not addressed at all.
With just a few episodes left, we’re going to be enjoying every Ritter and Carver moment we get before their exits and just hope there won’t be too many more shakeups coming the show’s way as losing two beloved characters is going to be hard enough.
