Chicago Fire Season 13: Episode 15's Surprise Death Was The Worst In The Show's History

Contains spoilers for "Chicago Fire" Season 13, Episode 15 — "Too Close"

NBC promised that at least one character would die in the 15th episode of Season 13 of "Chicago Fire." Would it be Jack Damon (Michael Bradway), seen struggling in a fire to find an exit point? Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), who tackles an injured man to the ground to keep him from walking into traffic after an accident? One piece of footage gave the game away: Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) entering Chicago Gaffney Medical Center and meeting a tearful Violet Mikami (Hanako Greensmith). 

Yes, unfortunately, it's Dom's wife, Monica (KaDee Strickland) — with whom Dom had recently reconciled and was planning on sharing a lavish anniversary dinner with — who dies in a car accident before their date, leaving Dom in disbelieving tears and Dean Archer (Steven Weber) to cross over from "Chicago Med" and pronounce her dead.

It's hard not to consider this development a huge letdown instead of a thrilling twist, since we've barely gotten to know Monica over the past season. Worse, it all goes down at the tail end of the episode, leaving audiences with more of a "wait, what?" reaction. Monica and Dom have fought hard over her infidelities and their possible divorce, but outside of that it's hard to care about her death. Watching the show's other characters react when they've shared little screentime with Monica also felt off-putting. All in all, it may be the worst stunt death of a recurring character the show's ever done. Still, it seems that some fans were moved by it, although it's far from the one "Chicago Fire" moment that brings fans to tears.

Fans had mixed feelings about how the show handled Monica Pascal's death. A lot of them were pretty devastated, if only on Dom's behalf. "That's devastating to see Pascal waiting for Monica knowing she's not coming," said u/camy_23. Meanwhile, u/keepingitreal-84 expressed their full-out dismay that the writers would simply kill Monica to give Dom more storyline opportunities. "The writers decision to bring such tragedy into Pascal's life in this manner is truly bewildering and calls into question their sense of empathy," they remarked.

Many more fans had issues with how they paced Monica's accident and the reveal of her demise. "I pretty much figured out from the teaser that she was gonna be killed off, so the entire episode I was kinda waiting for it to lead up into it and then the last 2 minutes they just ... rushed it..." remarked u/Vero_IPD. And not everyone was in mourning with Dom: As u/januarysdaughter said, some of them could see Monica's death coming from the opening credits. "Guest star: Steven Weber. Uh oh." Presumably Dom will have a much more intense reaction when "Chicago Fire" returns from a two-week break on March 26.