Guess who’s bringing the heat back to Chicago Fire? None other than the enigmatic Taylor Kinney, and it’s causing more sparks than a fireworks factory on the Fourth of July! That’s right, the 42-year-old dynamo is strutting his stuff right back onto the set for Season 12 of the sizzling NBC series. Variety even confirmed it on a Tuesday (October 31), just in case you thought this was a spooky Halloween prank.
Now, don’t you start thinking it was all sunshine and rainbows. Taylor’s return had more twists and turns than a rollercoaster, and it left us all wondering if he’d ever grace our screens again. You see, he vanished mid-Season 11, leaving fans in a state of panic. Did he run out of hot sauce for his chili? Did his hair gel supplier go bankrupt? The questions were endless.
For those of you who’ve been living under a rock (or perhaps just a TV-less cave), Taylor plays the fire-stricken heartthrob, Kelly Severide, and when he left, it was like taking the fire out of Chicago Fire. It’s kind of hard to have a fire department show without the smokin’ hot leader, right?
In case you’re wondering how they explained this vanishing act, let’s just say it was like trying to explain why there are no calories in a slice of pizza. Script rewrites galore! But now, there’s hope on the horizon. Sources are whispering that Taylor’s grand reentrance will be early in the new season, but the exact episode count is still as mysterious as Bigfoot’s shoe size.
Taylor waved goodbye to the firefighting crew to attend to a personal matter back in January. We all last saw his glorious face in the 14th episode of Season 11, which, by the way, aired in February. Coincidence? I think not. From March 1 onwards, Severide was as elusive as a unicorn on roller skates.
So, hold your horses, fans, because even though the writers are busy cooking up a storm for the upcoming season, there’s no grand premiere date in sight. Blame it on the SAG-AFTRA strike; they’re probably negotiating for more dramatic flames and fewer extinguishers on set. So, stay tuned, and keep those hoses at the ready!