More turnover on Chicago Fire as Deadline Hollywood claims that Dermot Mulroney will leave the series during Season 15. NBC has not confirmed the actor’s exit. However, if Mulroney is ending his tenure as Chief Dom Pascal, he would become the third One Chicago actor to depart the franchise this offseason.
Deadline cites “sources close to production” in saying that Mulroney will be written out early in the upcoming season. NBC declined comment, so there is no official exit strategy. However, the news doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Mulroney was absent from Chicago Fire for a stretch of episodes in Season 14, during which he was replaced by Rob Morgan (The Originals). And when he did return at the end of the season, it seemed that Pascal was largely there to provide a sounding board for Kelly Severide.
With Severide’s future still unresolved, writing out Pascal also makes a certain degree of sense. It would feel unlikely that Severide chooses to take over the Office of Fire Investigation, because actor Taylor Kinney is still a series regular—having renewed his contract in June—and it would be hard to keep the character of Severide front and center if he wasn’t working at Firehouse 51. In contrast, Pascal definitely not returning to 51 (as he lost his command last season anyway) would mean that Chicago Fire would have to have Severide in charge of the firehouse, which is where almost all signs were pointing by the end of Season 14. The show can’t go forward without a chief, but it logistically can’t be Pascal without some hoops being jumped through.
Plus, after the death of his wife Monica, it’s easy to say that Pascal would leave Chicago again for another fresh start. He’s already done that once, as the show established that he started his career in Chicago, but then moved to Miami. And there’s no one keeping him in the Windy City.
But it would be a relatively brief run on Chicago Fire for Mulroney. Due to the aforementioned hiatus, Season 13 will have been his only full season.
The larger question is the big picture, as this news adds to the turnover in the One Chicago universe this offseason. It began with the departure of Fire showrunner Andrea Newman, then continued with the confirmed exits of Chicago PD original cast member LaRoyce Hawkins and Fire original cast member Joe Miñoso. Hawkins, Miñoso and Mulroney will all appear in a liited number of upcoming episodes on their respective shows to wrap up their characters’ storylines.
If one adds Law & Order star Reid Scott, that’s four actors and one showrunner bidding farewell to the Wolf Entertainment world between seasons. The brand is no stranger to cast turnover, but even so, this is a pretty sizeable amount of change for one summer. At least there are some plans in place: Chicago Fire has already cast Da’Vinchi as a new main cast member, while Law & Order hired John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise star James Badge Dale to replace Scott.
Yet to make all this work, the shows have to give the existing characters that fans are invested into a proper sendoff. While Pascal wasn’t part of Firehouse 51 for very long, he still had an impact on the team—most notably his relationships with Severide and Stella Kidd. If Severide is going to follow Pascal as the next leader of the firehouse, there still has to be some kind of passing of the baton, because that would make Severide’s promotion that much more meaningful. It can’t just be quickly moving Pascal aside, rushing through something that will permanently change Severide’s character. It will be up to new showrunner Victor Teran to find a way to make that transition feel as important as it should be, and at least give Dermot Mulroney a tip of the cap on his way out.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC.
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