According to a recent Deadline report, Jesse Spencer will return to his role as Matthew ‘Matt’ Casey in an upcoming episode of the hit drama series, Chicago Fire. The news comes after fellow series regular Taylor Kinney temporarily left the show in January.
“I feel like homie fucked up by posting this and it’ll be gone soon! But we already know CASEY IS BACK I LOVE @Jesse_Spencer #chicagofire” an extra on the show, Jordy Ainsley, posted to Twitter, accidentally revealing the news. The post was accompanied by a picture of himself with Spencer and Miranda Rae Mayo (who plays Lieutenant Stella Kidd) on set. Whilst the post did not reveal why Spencer would be returning or how Casey’s life will play out, Spencer’s return is set for the episode due to air on April 5.
Spencer left Chicago Fire in October 2021 during the series’ 200th episode, but has made a previous appearance since. After spending ten years as a full-time cast member, Spencer’s character left the series to head to Oregon to look after his late best friend, Andrew ‘Andy’ Darden’s (Corey Sorenson) sons, Ben (portrayed by both Charlie Babbo and Liam Booth) and Griffin (portrayed by Griffin Kane, John Babbo, and Cameron Scott Roberts). Although his character was intending to make a long-distance relationship work with his partner Sylvie Brett (Kara Kilmer), things weren’t looking so good between the pair in the Season 11 opening, where the pair ended their relationship. It is unknown at this stage if Casey’s return will mark a reconciliation for the pair. However, Spencer’s return to the show last year for the Season 10 finale for Kelly Severide (Kinney) and Stella Kidd’s (Mayo) wedding was with enthusiasm. “We pretty much begged him, pleaded, and offered him the moon so that he would come back and do the finale. But he’s the greatest, and he was in even before we started all of that,” co-showrunner Derek Haas told TVLine at the time. “The character pledged he would be the best man at Severide’s wedding. We’re so grateful to [Jesse] that he would come back and honor that pledge.”
The news of Spencer’s return comes after Kinney took a leave of absence from the show in January. Earlier this year it was revealed that Kinney needed to take a break from filming in order to take care of an undisclosed personal matter, which was confirmed by a source close to the production team. As revealed in a previous Deadline report, Severide’s absence from the show was explained in a recent episode. According to Captain Tom Van Meter (Tim Hopper), Severide was sent off to “the best arson investigation training program in the world…” “I know it will be a burden on this house for a while,” Van Meter told Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker) in the episode. No return date has been announced for Kinney’s return.
Chicago Fire is an NBC drama series centred on the lives of the members of the Chicago Fire Department at Firehouse 51 in Chicago, Illinois. The series, which was created by Michael Brandt and Haas and executive produced by Dick Wolf (Law and Order), forms part of the One Chicago franchise along with Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and Chicago Justice. Released on October 12, 2012, the series is currently in its eleventh season. The series also stars David Eigenberg, Joe Minoso, Christian Stolte, Alberto Rosende, Daniel Kyri, and Hanako Greensmith.
Chicago Fire airs on Wednesdays at 9pm ET/PT on NBC. Check out this clip from Chicago Fire: