‘9-1-1,’ ‘Chicago Fire’ & More Shows With Potential Finale Exits
We’re at that time of the year again, and with season finales comes the possibility of having to say goodbye to a favorite character.
When it comes to TV shows during the 2022-2023 season, a few potential exits have already been set up, whether via ongoing storylines or what we know about some finales. 9-1-1 is putting members of the 118 in danger. Disaster will strike at an event on Station 19. We know NCIS is ending on a cliffhanger. Over in Chicago, one first responder is off with another program (understandably due to actor availability), while one of the hospital staff is looking elsewhere with recent changes.
Scroll down to check out those and other shows we’re worried could be losing a character at the end of the season. (We hope we’re wrong.)
9-1-1
An overpass collapse in the finale is going to put members of the 118 in danger, and yes, Chimney (Kenneth Choi) especially looks to be in bad shape (in the photo above), but everyone’s looking rough in the photos. And as Choi told us, “There is a cataclysmic catastrophe that happens. Usually, one first responder is put in a perilous situation, and perhaps this finale has more than one in a dangerous situation that could end perilously.” Every member of the 118 has suffered some sort of trauma over the years — Buck (Oliver Stark) even died this season, for three minutes and 17 seconds, after being struck by lightning — but they’re all still there. Could that change?
Chicago Fire
With Taylor Kinney still on a leave of absence dealing with a personal matter — news of that first broke in January — Lieutenant Kelly Severide has been out of town in the best arson investigation program. He won’t be appearing in the finale, and with it unknown when Kinney will return, we can’t help but wonder if the finale might write him out in a more semi-permanent way, even if we do (eventually) see him in Season 12.
Chicago Med
First, Maggie (Marlyne Barrett) revealed to Sharon (S. Epatha Merkerson) that she called a headhunter about another job, with the changes at the hospital and talk of the hospital going “for profit.” Then, she met with a recruiter and listed Sharon as a reference. What would it take for her to not move forward? Maggie wanted Med to be taken back to when patients mattered, not money. Could Maggie really decide to leave Med?
FBI
With Shantel VanSanten returning as Nina and the logline for the finale (also the show’s 100th episode) teasing that Scola (John Boyd) “faces a life-or-death decision,” we can’t help but wonder what that could mean about his future with the team. After all, he has their baby to think about, and after Nina was shot during the crossover, Boyd had told us, “in processing this, he’s going to question everything, and you don’t just come right back from that. [Going] undercover [again], among many other things, will be what he’s questioning for himself.”
Grey's Anatomy
With Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) appearing in the finale and Nick (Scott Speedman) among those who will be in Boston, the two have to address his “I love you” (as glimpsed in the promo). Nick has found a place for himself at the hospital, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the finale sees him moving (again) to be with Meredith.
NCIS
Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) will be in prison in the finale (what leads to that remains unclear right now), and as a result will be dealing with some demons from his past. He “may be making a choice that will end his time with us,” the episode’s writer, David North, told us. Executive producer Steven D. Binder referred back to when Gibbs (Mark Harmon) went to Mexico and added, “this could go in any direction. He could be back, he could be gone, he could be gone for a little while. There’s a lot of big issues that we’re contending with right now on this subject, so I wouldn’t want the audience to think this is false jeopardy here. These are real stakes here for this character.”
Station 19
The finale will see the first responders gathered at the Firefighters Ball, where disaster strikes. The promo shows that they’ll have to evacuate the ballroom and teases “a shocking end for one of their own” — but could that lead to a permanent exit from the show?
