We’ve come to the end of the line with Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende). TV Line confirmed that the character will be leaving at some point during season 12, though the circumstances in which he’ll be leaving are still unclear. It’s the second time a Chicago Fire veteran has been shown the door in two months, following the news that Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) will be written off as well.
Gallo is the more unexpected of the two, however. Brett had a season 11 cliffhanger that set the stage for her upcoming exit, but Gallo, for all intents and purposes, seemed like a character who was going to be around for the long haul. As such, we decided to pose a few theories as to how Gallo could be written off the show.
Gallo could quit the 51 and pursue another career path in Chicago
Blake Gallo is a pretty happy-go-lucky guy, his personal life has been admittedly messy in the last few years. He’s had an on/off again relationship with Violet Mikami (Hanako Greensmith), but after the tragedy that she went through, it’s safe to assume that the two of them are better as friends.
Rosende admitted the character is still reckoning with his place during an interview with Hello! Magazine. “He hasn’t reckoned with his mortality,” he noted. “He has an understanding of loss, but he has a youthful idealism and energy that allows him to run in head first.”
We could see an instance where Gallo has a close call in the field, and reconsiders his career as a firefighter. Maybe he makes a pivot to another line of work as a result?
Gallo could find love and decide to move away from the Windy City
The biggest issue in Gallo’s life seems to be the lack of romance. He had his aforementioned thing with Violet, but he’s never really had a love interest that seemed like the “one.” Maybe the writers will finally introduce him to the “one” as a means of explaining his decision to leave.
It’s worked before: just look at Brett and Casey (Jesse Spencer), or Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) and Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) over on Chicago Med. Granted, those situations have been led by characters who were previously on the show, but the point stands that a romance could be a nice way of putting a bow on the character’s arc.
Gallo could transfer to another firehouse like his mentor Pelham
Gallo looks up to Casey, and always has, but he seemed to develop a special bond with Jason Pelham (Brett Dalton) during the latter’s stint on Chicago Fire. Gallo felt so comfortable with the interim lieutenant, in fact, that he went to visit him and ask for advice when faced with a tricky professional decision in season 10.
We could see a world in which Gallo takes a page out of Pelham’s book and relocates to another firehouse to get a fresh start, or perhaps even the same firehouse as Pelham in an effort to bond with a guy he clearly feels understood by. If he did, then he would be close by for any Chicago Fire cameos in the future!
Gallo could get killed in the line of duty like his predecessor Otis
To be clear, we DON’T want this to happen. It would be absolutely tragic to watch Gallo die in the line of duty, especially after his near-death experience the night that Hawkins (Jimmy Nicholas) passed. That being said, there is a precedent for Chicago Fire killing off main cast members, and it’s been a while since one of the bite the dust.
It’s worth noting that the character Gallo replaced, Otis (Yuri Sardarov), died tragically, so there would a bit of symmetry from a storytelling perspective. Both characters are beloved within the firehouse, and are generally seen as the guys who bring a lighter tone to grim situations. We have our fingers crossed that this one doesn’t come true, though, as it would feel kind of lazy.
