Chicago Fire: Taylor Kinney Set To Return In Season 12

You can breathe easier, Stellaride fans, after that heartbreaking Season 11 finale — it looks like Taylor Kinney will be headed back to the firehouse for Season 12 of "Chicago Fire." 

Variety reports that the actor — who left the show for unknown personal reasons in the middle of Season 11 — has locked in a deal to act in a number of episodes during the show's upcoming 12th Season as his veteran character, Kelly Severide. The exact number of appearances Kinney will make has not been confirmed yet, but Variety says that he will show up in the first few episodes of the season.

There has been some concern within the "Chicago Fire" fandom that Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Severide might be headed toward divorce due to Kinney's unexpected absence and Kelly's removal from the show's story. Stella spent much of Season 11 enduring on her own, with Severide off in Alabama working at a firefighter training camp. She learns toward the end of Season 10 that Kelly has been invited to participate in an ATF investigation at the behest of his bosses and he takes off to become part of the investigation instead of coming home — a choice he does not discuss with Stella. When the audience sees Stella, she's headed off to track down Kelly all by herself.

Thanks to Kinney's choice to return to the program, "Chicago Fire" fans now know that Stella's quest will be successful, though it will take a while before the fruits of those labors pan out. And fortunately, Kinney won't join a host of recent One Chicago actors in departing NBC.

There have been a number of recent actor departures that will impact future storylines when the three One Chicago dramas return to the airwaves. Tracy Spiridakos will leave "Chicago P.D." at the close of Season 11, following on the heels of Jesse Lee Soffer,  who left during Season 10. That'll deprive "Chicago P.D." of a central couple, Hailey Upton and Jay Halstead. Nick Gehlfuss, who plays Jay's brother, Will, and Brian Tee's Ethan Choi both left "Chicago Med" during Season 8. Fortunately, the show ended up giving most of these departing characters a happy ending, even bringing back YaYa DaCosta and Torrey DeVitto to ensure both men ended up with their former girlfriends. The jury remains out on that count for Upton and Halstead.

On top of all of that, "Chicago Fire" will see a new showrunner when it reconvenes. Andrea Newman will step up from co-showrunner to showrunner in the wake of the departure of series co-creator Derek Haas.

Fortunately, there will be some returning faces, at least on "Chicago Fire," aside from Taylor Kinney. Jesse Spencer will be returning to his role as Matt Casey. Since he's just proposed to Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer), fans will have something romantic to look forward to after a long, bleak parade of seasons featuring only half of the show's central couples. 

As you can see, change is definitely in the air, and hopefully for "Chicago Fire" fans, that'll be a good thing.