It’s a truth universally acknowledged that any good network drama must kill off at least one fan-favorite character an extremely desolate, wine-starred path at least once every few seasons. When it comes to “Chicago Fire,” one of the biggest major character deaths was in the opening moments of Season 8, which claimed the life of Brian “Otis” Zvonecek.
Judging by the many online comments about how he remembers it like a real person (seriously, watch a YouTube video with the guy). The child of Russian immigrants was funny and sometimes underestimated, and over time he worked his way into a busy engineering position. He also had deep connections with many other key figures. When the forces responsible for “Chicago Fire” had to face real, deadly missions, Otis picked up the dust.
When and how does Otis die on Chicago Fire?
At the end of Chicago Fire Season 7, it’s clear that someone is on the chopping block. The season ends on a major cliffhanger as the Firehouse Crew battles an out-of-control flame at a mattress factory. When Season 8 returned, the show didn’t waste much time in revealing that the high-stakes story had a heartbreaking victim: Yuri Sardarov’s Otis. The team is shown getting out of the burning factory after a boiler explosion, and it’s pretty clear from the way the sequence is shot – and the shock and sadness on his co-workers’ faces – that Otis is probably will not recover.
Otis later dies in the hospital after an emotional Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) pleads with him, telling Otis to leave a place in Heaven open for his best friend. Otis’ last words are to Cruz: “Brother, I’ll always be with you.” In season 10, Cruz’s wife Chloe (Kristen Gutoskie) has a baby named Brian, but the couple decides to name him in memory of the man who was like a brother to Cruz. It’s all extremely sad that only long-lasting network procedures can be about first responders.
Writers killed Otis for maximum emotional impact
In An interview with TVline in 2019Series co-creator Derek Haas said that he and the show’s writers’ room wanted to kill off a character after the fire crew spent so many seasons Escape from near-death experiences with their lives. “We need to put some teeth back into the show and we need to show that the dangers are real,” Haas recalled telling head writers Michael Gilvary and Andrea Newman during a summer break. Haas admitted that he initially didn’t know who, if anyone, would die in the mattress factory fire when he was writing the ending of Season 7, but he spent about an hour discussing the idea with executive producers Dick Wolf and Peter Jankowski To speak of killing from Otis.
“Dick, drawing on more experience than anyone in the world, said, ‘As long as you’re honest with the storytelling, the audience will go with you,'” Haas told TVline. He also said that at one point the writers rejected the idea considered killing Darren Ritter (Daniel Kyri) instead, but wanted it to be a core cast member rather than a relatively new addition that could be seen as doomed from the start. “We just decided , that it Otis would be because he lives with Cruz and Brett and he’s on Casey’s truck and he’s in Boden’s house and he’s best friends with Mouch and owns a bar with Herrmann’s favorite being one of the few characters whose death would influence every other character and ripple across future seasons.
Haas told TVline that he personally broke the news to Sardarov, who had been his friend since their “Chicago Fire” days. “From a personal perspective, it’s very difficult as a showrunner to tell an actor, ‘Hey, this is what we think,’ when you know them not only as a really great actor, but also as a good person and friend,” Haas said, but he said also, Sardarov is “professional” and “gracious” – also because he is also a writer who understands the idea of doing something in the service of a good story.
Who replaced Otis on Chicago Fire?
Otis’ death episode involved a three-month time jump, allowing his co-workers to move on and revealing how important he was to Firehouse 51. One episode later, audiences meet Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende), a new firefighter with a tragic backstory and a willingness to dive right into any rescue situation, regardless of the danger. While it takes a while for the crew to get used to Gallo and he doesn’t serve as a one-to-one replacement for Otis, the character eventually becomes part of the team. Gallo stayed for 80 episodes of Chicago Fire (almost as many episodes as Otis) and eventually moved to Michigan to connect with his newfound extended family. Customs deadline thank you that he decided to move on from the show.
Although Gallo is the most obvious replacement for OTIS in terms of timing, recent seasons of “Chicago Fire” have introduced a number of new recruits, some of whom have become fan favorites in their own right. Daniel Kyri’s Ritter stuck after his Season 7 debut (becoming half a dynamic duo with Gallo), and Sam Carver (Jake Lockett) also joined the roster. This season “My Best Friend’s Wedding Actor” and this season secretly super-talented cellist Dermot Mulroney came on board as Firehouse 51’s new boss, while Adriyan Rae, Jocelyn Hudon and Hanako Greensmith have all died since Otis in Season 8.
Yuri Sardarov was also ready to move on to other projects
It’s worth noting that while series co-creator Derek Haas is taking charge, Sardarov has also pointed out that he was moved on from the show for a project after years. In An interview with Tell Tale TV In 2019, he admitted: “It was difficult, but it was also necessary. It was a combination of me wanting to move on and them needing something like what’s going to happen. And I think those two things came together to be perfect time fulfilled.”
Sardarov recalled speaking with Haas, who he said he first worked with, at the end of Season 7. From the sounds of it, he floated the idea that he was fine walking into the same conversation in which Haas set up Otis as the character who could give Season 8 its big, weighty premiere death. “We had a discussion about the character and where he was going, and I was very upfront with him about the fact that it’s been eight years, and I started when I was 22, and now I’m 31,” he said. “The communication was very open and honest, and we both came away feeling really good.”
“He’s at the beginning of his career and this isn’t his swan song in any stretch,” Haas told TVLine as she spoke positively about Sardarov. It’s true: Since leaving “Chicago Fire,” the actor has already taken on other roles, including guest spots on “The Rookie” and “FBI: International” and roles in the films “Adam,” “Daddy” and “Amy and” Peter is getting divorced. Plus, Haas was right about the tear-jerking twist—six years later, it remains one of the show’s most talked-about moments.
