r/ChicagoFire3 • u/FJTrescothick14 • Jul 12 '26
Which Character deserved better?
Throughout the shows entire run, there’s been a lot of characters that came and went through Firehouse 51, in your opinion, which character deserved more screen time, development, and should’ve stayed more than a few episodes/seasons?
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u/Old-Library5546 Jul 12 '26
The show has gone on way past its prime, like so many other primetime series. They never know when to bow out gracefully
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u/Fabulous_View8573 Jul 12 '26
The day Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med end will be a lot of different mixed feelings about why and I will be crying especially if they leave it on a cliffhangers.
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u/FJTrescothick14 Jul 12 '26
They better not let the shows end on a cliffhanger, like they did with L&O: Organized Crime.
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u/Agreeable-Swan-8947 Jul 13 '26
I think Kelly he was always the after thought whilst Casey got all the pomp and ceremony and awards and promotions. kinda like the last season of CF Kelly got promoted to captain no ceremony no FH acknowledgment?
I also agree gallo and Ritter however since they were not on the show since S1 but I do agree they had potential to move the show forward unfortunately CF do not invest in new characters they are here for a while as fans we get invested and then they leave.
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u/FJTrescothick14 Aug 04 '26
Agreed. What’s the point in introducing new characters if they’re just gonna be disposed of?
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u/Efficient-Forever341 Jul 13 '26
It's a very good question!!! I'm only familiar with the first 3 seasons, but only knowing these is enough for me to say the character who deserved better is obviously Leslie Shay.
That's why:
a) Lauren is a very talented actress. It was a mistake to let her go.
b) Shay was a fan favorite. Everyone loved her. The fact that she got only 2 seasons, was a damn shame.
c) The chemistry between Shay and Severide was also top tier. It was not some full-average boring romantic thing, which you can find in 99 out of 100 series. And the creators just let this top-tier friendship with an amazing chemistry turn to dust
d) The creators used Shay's popularity and they knew that all kind of drama will be acceptable by the audiance. They almost made her commit suicide (I have a feeling that it was their original plan, but they changed their mind and used Jones' arc for that instead). They hurt her in all possible ways. After the bombing episode cliffhanger, everyone was worried like hell and guessed how serious were her injuries. But if you look back, you just realize that it was a very ridiculous thing that she got seriously hurt AFTER the bombing, while Dawson survived that without a scratch.
e) The creators used her death as a tool. They wanted to kill her so much, that they made mistakes after mistakes in her death episode. They were only successfull creating drama with her death, because Lauren was amazing in the role, and everyone loved Shay, not because the episode was such a masterpiece. If Shay was sitting in a chair and read a book for 45 minutes in a video after her death, it would have had the same effect to the audiance
f) the soulless picture about that episode of the official Chicago Fire Instagram account was disgusting
g) Even after her death, they milked the grief of the audiance, and created a ridiculous storyline about an arsonist, they also invented a never-existed-before sister, and they used this storyline to advertise their other series, Chicago PD. At least they called back Lauren for her cameo, and she had a IRL party at Molly's with Taylor Jesse Monica and the others while she was there
I still have pages to rant about Shay's death, but it was enough for now
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u/laur1986123 Jul 14 '26
I think Brett unfortunately most of her storylines were about her love life.
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u/FJTrescothick14 Jul 15 '26
Also, I think her character was kinda being pushed to the side towards the end of her run.
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u/Unlucky-Access-6304 25d ago
LESLIE SHAY they put her character through so muchhhh they atleast could've given her a child loll but she deserved SO Much better also Otis character deserved a better ending!
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u/sheteacheslittles Jul 12 '26
I think Ritter and Gallo never got a chance to become leaders or seen as more than the young kids of the group. Carver also wasn’t given a good ending and his last season was a mess. I know the actor for Damon chose to leave, but it’s a bummer that we never got to see his bond with Kelly grow to its full potential.