’The Beginning Of A Love Affair’: As Kara Kilmer Prepares To Exit Chicago Fire, She Shares Sweet Memories Of Her First Days In The City

Chicago Fire will be coming back early next year, and filming is set to start even sooner now the strike has come to an end. However, on the heels of Taylor Kinney’s highly-anticipated return, it was announced that Kara Killmer is set to leave One Chicago during Season 12 of the firefighter drama. Now, as the actress prepares to leave the Windy City, she’s looking back at her first days on set.

One Chicago has seen plenty of character exits and entrances over the years. Killmer joined Chicago Fire in the third season as Sylvie Brett, then the newest paramedic on Ambulance 61. She served as a replacement for Lauren German’s Leslie Shay, who died following the events of the Season 2 finale. Throughout the next several seasons, she was a constant on the ambulance -- though we saw a rotating roster of paramedics on the NBC drama.

Her constancy is one of the reasons her exit is hitting so hard. While Killmer This week, Killmer took to Instagram to share photos from when she first came to the midwest. This includes the view from her first apartment that led to “a love affair with the gorgeous city of Chicago”:

Between her starring role on Fire and her multiple appearances on P.D. and Med, Sylvie Brett made quite an impact on the One Chicago franchise. Killmer's been filming the series for years, now, and likely has even more photo memories from throughout her time on Chicago Fire. While it will be sad to see her go, it’s clear the series will always hold a special place in her heart.

Since Season 11 ended on a Brettsey proposal cliffhanger, the exit actually doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to me. There are three possible Sylvie Brett resolutions that could happen with the proposal since her character never gave her answer before the episode ended. One of those scenarios included her saying "yes" and potentially moving to Oregon to be with Casey. Given the information we have now, that may be my vote for what's coming. It would certainly give Brettsey fans closure.

However Kara Killmer’s exit ends up happening, it’s going to be an adjustment. It doesn't help that we don't know how many upcoming episodes she'll even appear in;  but given filming is just around the corner, hopefully more information will be revealed soon.

Although a premiere date for Season 12 has yet to be released, Chicago Fire will be coming back early next year. With more networks starting to release their schedules for midseason, it’s likely NBC won’t be too far behind, and One Chicago Wednesday will be back soon on the 2024 TV schedule. In the meantime, all 11 seasons of the drama are available to stream with a Peacock subscription.