Chicago Fire decided to fold bombshell news into the scheduling of its April 16 episode “Post Mortem.” The series confirmed that Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett will be leaving the show after season 13 just as the episode was airing on NBC. It was a bitter pill to swallow, especially since viewers were forced to watch another firefighter’s life hang in the balance.

Daniel Kyri has played Darren Ritter on Chicago Fire for seven seasons, and Jake Lockett has played Sam Carver for three. They have both become fan favorites, and the latter is even involved in one of the show’s most notable on again/off again romances. We were completely taken aback by the news, as most fans were, but we’re sorry to report that the actors may not be alone in being written off the firefighting drama.

Chicago Fire might announce more cast exits

Deadline, the outlet that broke the casting shakeups, confirmed that NBC is in the process of going through and determining where budget cuts can be made for Chicago Fire and the other titles under the Wolf Entertainment banner. Kyri and Lockett were, obviously, considered expendable within the larger cast, but that doesn’t mean the network is done looking for cuts.

The outlet revealed that the contracts of several Chicago Fire cast members are up, and in the midst of being renegotiated. There are ongoing discussions going on between Universal Television and the Wolf Entertainment division, but we could be looking at more exits from notable cast members as the plans for another season materialize.

The writing has been on the wall for the past two seasons of Chicago Fire. Characters who previously appeared in every episode have been excluded from random stories in which they don’t play a major role. We’ve seen this with Taylor Kinney’s Severide, Miranda Rae Mayo’s Kidd, and David Eigenberg’s Herrmann.

NBC may also cut down on episodes per season

The mentioned episode, “Post Mortem,” which coincided with the bombshell cast exits, saw two main characters, Hanako Greensmith’s Violet and Jocelyn Hudon’s Novak, disappear so that the cost of the episode could be kept down. It’s one thing to have occasional absences, though, and another thing entirely to force characters out of the show for good.

Deadline also noted that NBC’s desired cuts may result in a shorter episode count per season. The current season of Chicago Fire will come in at 22 episodes, but assuming the show gets renewed, it could be coming in well under the 20 mark moving forward. This is all speculation on the part of the outlet, and nothing has been set in stone, but its best to prepare for the worst.