Everything We Know About ‘Chicago Fire’ Season 12

Chicago Fire, NBC’s long-running firefighter series, is finally returning in January 2024. The Season 11 finale left viewers with unresolved questions, like whether Mouch is alive and if Brett said yes to Casey’s surprise engagement proposal. Read on for everything we know about Chicago Fire Season 12.

Season 12 will also mark Taylor Kinney’s anticipated return as Lieutenant Kelly Severide. The 42-year-old star, one of the show’s original actors, took a sudden leave of absence from the show in January 2022. A source told Deadline that Kinney was exiting the firefighter drama temporarily to deal with a “personal matter.” At the time, it was unknown whether he would return to the show at all. Finally, in October 2023, Variety confirmed that Kinney was coming back for the upcoming season.

When Severide returns to Firehouse 51, he’ll need to have a difficult conversation about his absence with his wife and fellow firefighter Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo). Their relationship drama will the focus of the premiere episode, “Barely Gone.” The official logline reads, “An arson case tests Kidd and Severide’s relationship.”

Showrunner Andrea Newman recently told TVLine that there will be a time jump from the Season 11 finale to the Season 12 premiere. “Yes, there will be some time jump going into the premiere, and viewers and 51 are in it together,” Newman revealed. “There have been big changes, and the 51 gang is on a rollercoaster ride throughout the episode trying to navigate all of it.”

NBC released its post-strike lineup in late November, which included premiere dates for all three One Chicago shows (Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med). The shows’ seasons were slated to air in the fall of 2023, but the now-resolved SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes delayed production for months.