Spoilers ahead for the eighth episode of Chicago Fire Season 10, called “What Happened at Whiskey Point?”
Chicago Fire has been dealing with the aftermath of Casey’s departure ever since the 200th episode, and Gallo’s conflict with the new Lt. Pelham over Pelham not being Casey continued in this episode until they finally got on the same page. For the first time in weeks, however, another absence was addressed as more than just a passing comment. Stella Kidd is still on her mission to spread Girls on Fire, and Severide is having a hard time, as even he doesn’t know when she’ll be back. So, when is Fire bringing back Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella Kidd? There’s good news for fans (and Severide) on that front.
Unlike Jesse Lee Spencer as Casey, Miranda Rae Mayo isn’t gone indefinitely from Chicago Fire. Back in early November, TVLine reported that Fire showrunner Derek Haas had some encouraging words regarding Stella’s return from her trip for Girls on Fire. The showrunner said that Mayo would be back “before the end of this calendar year,” and as of “What Happened at Whiskey Point?” on November 10, there is only one episode of Chicago Fire left in 2021. So, assuming that nothing has changed, fans can expect to see Miranda Rae Mayo back in the upcoming Season 10 fall finale, which will be a holiday episode that Haas wrote. He previewed what’s to come with the episode:
For the first time in years, as long as I can remember, we’re doing a holiday episode. Episode 9 is going to make the Hallmark Channel jealous of our holiday episode.
I can’t speak for anybody else, but the promise of a fall finale that would make the Hallmark Channel jealous doesn’t make me think that Stella is coming back to break Severide’s heart and drop bad news on the rest of Firehouse 51! There is still the sticky issue of Boden expressing interest in keeping Brett Dalton’s Pelham around for the long term, and Dalton is on board in a recurring capacity, so Stella presumably can’t just come back and claim the position of lieutenant on Truck 81.
Fire does like to deliver its stressful fall finale cliffhangers, but who knows? Maybe Season 10 will be an exception, and 2021 will end on a holiday episode that is as merry, jolly, and happy as could be. With Stella back! That doesn’t mean a wait of just a week after “What Happened at Whiskey Point?” however. Chicago Fire (as well as Chicago Med and Chicago P.D.) will take a few weeks off from new episodes before returning for the fall finale on Wednesday, December 8. Still, considering that Chicago Fire so recently lost Casey, I at least am happy to know that Stella will be returning even if I have to wait until December.
See how Chicago Fire ends 2021 with the fall finale on Wednesday, December 8 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Chicago Med (which just delivered a twist for Ethan that could be very bad) at 8 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET as fall TV season finally wraps up.
