What Chicago Fire Fans See In Mouch's Future

A certified fan-favorite on NBC's action-drama "Chicago Fire," longtime veteran firefighter Randall "Mouch" McHolland (Christian Stolte) has been a rock-steady, almost fatherly presence on the show since it premiered in 2012. Mouch's 200-plus episodes on the hit "One Chicago" series include everything from suffering a heart attack while battling a fire in the Season 5 finale, "My Miracle," to buying part ownership of the squad's fave hangout bar, Molly's, with his wife, Trudy Platt (Amy Morton of "Chicago P.D."), in Season 8. Then there's the time he accidentally sells a colleague's pet cat during the firehouse's garage sale and the fact he dreams of playing the bagpipes with the city's elite Pipes and Drums corps.

And while Mouch's brush with death in "My Miracle" actually prompts him to consider retiring from the department (as IMDb notes, actor Stolte was born in 1962), he resists the impulse and remains on active duty. But this worrisome event, along with the character's advancing age and his many years of physically punishing work as a first responder, has caused some "Chicago Fire" fans to speculate about what's next for this beloved series regular in case he ever does decide to hang up his helmet.

In a discussion titled "Now that Mouch gets older" in the show's subreddit, original poster u/snakeinsheepclothes asked other fans for suggestions about the best way to ensure Mouch sticks around once he retires, proposing, "My idea was some kind of janitor/repairman role for him in the firehouse," then adding, "I can't imagine CF without him and I don't want them to kill him." Redditor u/Phantommike20, however, rejected this fate for the firefighter, writing that Mouch's wife, Trudy, has a good-paying job on "Chicago P.D.," meaning Mouch doesn't have to work, and in any case, he has never indicated any interest in a janitorial career.

On the same thread, u/KnightKal pitched another alternative for Mouch's retirement, writing, "Just make him the house mascot, unofficial cook, dog walker, uncle that doesn't ever leave," then adding that he could serve as a volunteer at the firehouse whose hobby would be sharing stories about his adventures as a firefighter.

So, all of this being said about his potential future on the show, does Christian Stolte himself ever pitch concepts to the scriptwriters about Mouch's narrative? "Well, yes and no," Stolte told Starry Constellation Magazine when asked about his input on the series. "The writers inevitably incorporate aspects of an actor's personality that they have observed into future storylines." However, he then added, "But it's not often I propose Mouch-related ideas directly to them."