Jesse Spencer said goodbye to Chicago Fire this week, and we’re not okay. We’ll miss him, but we’re hoping we’ll see him again soon.
The 200th episode of Chicago Fire was a heartbreaker as Spencer, and his character Captain Matthew Casey, bid farewell to the show and Firehouse 51. Honestly, we really didn’t think it would happen. The show’s biggest character couldn’t leave, right? Well, we were wrong. Some people would say this is just normal. Main characters leave shows all the time, and this is certainly not the first time Chicago Fire has lost a cast member. But Jesse Spencer is an original character, and the main reason I started watching the show in the first place.
I first discovered Jesse Spencer on House M.D, where he played Robert Chase. I started watching reruns in the summer of 2006 and then became a weekly viewer. That’s how long I’ve watched Spencer on TV. Obviously, Chase was my favorite character on the show. (If you haven’t watched the episode where the team throws him a bachelor party, do yourself a favor and watch it now. It’s hilarious.) When House M.D ended, I began to see previews for Chicago Fire. When I watched the first episode all I knew was that it was about firefighters, and Jesse Spencer was in the cast. So of course, I was in.
Since 2012, I’ve watched Jesse Spencer as Matt Casey. We’ve laughed with him, and we’ve cried as he mourned his friends. We felt the pain as he lost Hallie, then Dawson, and cheered at the end of last season when he finally found happiness again with Sylvie Brett. For me, he was the reason I kept watching. After Shay died and Mills left, I decided to keep watching because of Casey. I said I would keep watching this show as long as Jesse Spencer was here.
And honestly, I’ll probably still watch. We’re 200 episodes in and that’s a long time to be invested in something. Plus, we still need to see Kidd and Severide’s wedding. But the show won’t ever be the same, not really. Matt Casey was the leader of Firehouse 51 and the house will miss him. Casey has held it all together for so long. He stepped up when Severide went AWOL while grieving Shay. He’s been a mentor to Gallo and a friend to Boden, Herrmann, and pretty much everyone else. Yes, Stella Kidd will probably replace him and we love her, but she’s not Casey.
Viewers will feel his absence. We’ve gotten used to having Spencer on our TVs every week, and after almost 10 years, it will be a shock not to see him anymore.
We understand that Spencer has other things he wants to do, but we’re really hoping he won’t be a stranger to our TVs. Hopefully he will star in a new show soon or pop in to Chicago once in a while. After all, he is still in a relationship with Brett, and he wouldn’t dare miss Severide’s wedding, right?
Thank you for 200 episodes, Jesse Spencer. And so long for now. Our televisions will miss you.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
