‘Chicago Fire’: Taylor Kinney Returning for Season 12

Meredith Jacobs October 31, 2023, 3:22 pm

Taylor Kinney in 'Chicago Fire' - Season 11 — Adrian S Burrows Sr/NBC

Lieutenant Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) will be back in Chicago.

Kinney, who took a leave of absence from Chicago Fire in the middle of Season 11 (and has been a series regular since the premiere in 2012), is returning when the show returns, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s unclear when we’ll see that, given that production cannot begin until the end of the ongoing actors’ strike. With the end of the writers’ strike, the writers have gotten to work on Season 12.

We also don’t know how much we’ll see Kinney in Season 12. Is he back for good? Only a few episodes to close out Severide’s story (and therefore likely say goodbye to his wife, Lieutenant Stella Kidd, played by Miranda Rae Mayo)?

To explain Kinney’s absence onscreen once the actor took his leave, Severide left when a spot opened up in the best arson investigation program; the plan was for him to return with expertise that would benefit the entire department. Will we see that in his return?

However, Kidd then later learned, via Cruz (Joe Minoso), filling in as acting lieutenant of Squad in Severide’s absence, that Severide was actually working on an ATF investigation elsewhere. The couple did talk, and in the finale, Kidd told Brett (Kara Killmer) and Violet (Hanako Greensmith) that Severide said the new job came up suddenly and “it was no big deal and not to worry.” The thing was, “he was just so vague about everything, and not just what exactly he’s up to but also how it affects when he comes home. He said that’s a little up in the air right now. I don’t know what’s going on with him,” she added.

9 Burning Questions for One Chicago Next Season

After a conversation with Boden (Eamonn Walker) about Severide’s dad, Kidd couldn’t help but worry that her husband, too, was a “wanderer” like Benny was. “Now that we’ve been apart for a while, he’s slipping right back to that. We’re losing our connection no matter how hard I try,” she admitted. But by the end of the finale, she did take a few shifts off, planning to “get my husband and bring him back to Chicago.” Will that be how Severide returns to Chicago, or will something else bring him back?

Whatever happens, we have to admit we’re a bit concerned about Severide and Kidd — those two have a lot to discuss, and we’d really like to see that onscreen.

Chicago Fire, Season 12, TBA, NBC