Did ‘Chicago Fire’ Just Reveal How Severide’s Absence Will Be Explained?

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 14 “Run Like Hell.”]

We know that Chicago Fire is going to be saying goodbye to Lieutenant Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) for an unknown period of time shortly, and it seems like the NBC drama may have just set up how his on-screen absence will be explained.

In January, it was reported that Kinney was taking a leave of absence and no other details were shared at the time. It’s unclear when the last time we see him onscreen will be, but the end of “Run Like Hell” does suggest that could be pretty soon.

Sergeant Platt (Chicago P.D.‘s Amy Morton) stopped by the firehouse with a file for Severide to look over, only for her husband, firefighter Mouch (Christian Stolte) to pretty much take the lead on the investigation. Severide stood back with Platt while Mouch detailed his findings.

Then, in the final scene of the episode, Severide joined his wife, Lieutenant Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), at Molly’s. “Hey, I got your message about Van Meter. What’s going on?” she asked, and he showed her his phone for her to read the screen. “Wow. What are you going to do?” she asked. He didn’t answer.

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Could Van Meter (Tim Hopper) be asking Severide to come help out at the Office of Fire Investigation for an extended period of time or to do something for OFI that would take him away from 51 (and perhaps even Chicago, so they don’t have to keep saying he’s offscreen or busy if everyone’s at Molly’s or an episode goes home with Kidd)?

We’ve seen Severide as fire cop quite a few times in the past. As executive producer Andrea Newman told TV Insider earlier this season, “that’s a passion of his and he’s really good at it, so we’ll see some of that.” We already have, including with Severide stepping in to clear Van Meter’s name when he was suspected of possibly being corrupt, so it stands to reason that if the captain needs something from him, he’s going to say yes.

Now we’ll just have to wait and see if this is how Severide being MIA will be explained or if something else might come up.

Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC