Chicago Fire added Jimmy Nicholas to the cast as Chief Evan Hawkins in Season 10.
He began dating Violet Mikami (Hanako Greensmith), and that subplot became very exciting.
Much of the relationship happened while Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) visited Matt Casey (Jesse Spencer) in Portland.
It required Violet to work with a new paramedic, and that was when fans met Emma Jacobs (played by Caitlin Carver).
Emma caused many problems due to her goal of becoming a permanent paramedic at Firehouse 51. She drove a wedge between Violet and Hawkins that the brass noticed.
But Season 11 of Chicago Fire brought Hawkins back, and he found happiness with Violet again. Only that happiness was to be short-lived.
Chicago Fire decides to kill off Chief Hawkins
Fans tuning in for Chicago Fire Season 11, Episode 4 had no idea how the night would end.
Firestation 51 was called to a movie theater fire, where previews had indicated Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende) would struggle to survive.
Gallo did get trapped in the fire, but he was able to get out. As did all of the firefighters and paramedics on the scene.
As Hawkins was helping to clear the scene, he saw someone stumble out of the smoky theater. Hawkins ran to help but got caught in the debris as part of the building collapsed.
The firefighters raced to free Hawkins and the man he had saved, leading to some tense moments.
Violet tried to breathe life into Hawkins during a heartbreaking scene, but he was gone.
Below is a clip from that fateful episode.
Jimmy Nicholas spoke about his time on the Chicago Fire cast
“I’ve been super thankful for the support throughout my time [on Chicago Fire]. I’ve just felt only support, and that’s a very rare thing in the business, to feel pure love from fans,” Jimmy Nicholas told NBC Insider in an interview.
The writers and producers decided to have Chief Evan Hawkins die. But it sounds like Jimmy was thankful for how they all treated him.
“I am grateful to the showrunners and the writers because I had a little bit of time to say my goodbyes and really soak in my final days. With many things in life, you don’t get goodbyes like that,” Jimmy added to his interview.
Losing a beloved character so soon after he debuted was hard on Chicago Fire fans. But it is something the show has done several times over the years.
More from One Chicago
New Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D. episodes have been ordered, but production has been paused. The actors and actresses are still on strike in Hollywood.
The good news is that the Writers Strike has ended, allowing people to begin writing new content again.
Chicago P.D. fans got the show trending again with their love for Upstead. They miss seeing the couple on the show.
Chicago Fire is streaming on Peacock.
First with Casey, then Severeid and Hawkins gone. The show was no longer interesting to me and the strike has made me stop missing it totally it was a great show while it lasted.