The wait for “Chicago Fire” Season 12 has been tough on fans, as they anxiously await a resolution to a worrying cliffhanger involving Christian Stolte’s Mouch. The finale of “Chicago Fire” Season 11 left fans worried that Mouch might be leaving the team, as the final moments of the episode see the veteran firefighter suffering medical complications from a bullet wound and passing out. While Season 12 has still yet to premiere and reveal Mouch’s ultimate fate, it seems that some leaked set photos may have provided an early and decidedly spoilerific answer.
In early December, X account @EmJ_I_say posted several behind-the-scenes photos of the “Chicago Fire” Season 12 shoot. While the photos are taken from a distance, viewers can make out what appears to be Stolte in Mouch’s firefighter garb sitting alongside Joe Minoso and David Eigenberg, similarly dressed as their respective characters. The characters are all sitting on the back step of an ambulance.
The implications of the shot are clear: it seems that not only is Mouch going to survive, but he’s going to be back in action as part of the Firehouse 51 team before too long.
Mouch isn’t completely out of the woods yet
While the leaked set images of “Chicago Fire” Season 12 do seem to indicate that Mouch will survive his perilous injury, it’s still not a guarantee. The images of the team on-set lack context, and it’s impossible to block out the possibility that it could be for a flashback of some kind, a purposeful misdirection for press, or something else.
In any case, Christian Stolte has remained rather coy on Mouch’s fate. Back when the Season 11 finale aired, Stolte made a post on Instagram commemorating the episode. “I just want to say it’s been an extraordinary 11 years, and I am so very grateful for the experience. Truck on, Chi-Hards,” the actor wrote. Some took Stolte’s words as a suggestion that he would be leaving the series, and since then, he has remained relatively tight-lipped on the subject.
Of course, other behind-the-scenes snippets of news support the idea that Stolte is staying on the series. With both Kara Killmer’s Sylvie Brett and Alberto Rosende’s Blake Gallo departing the show, it stands to reason that Stolte’s Mouch will continue with the show and keep the cast from thinning out too much. Nonetheless, all speculation will be put to rest when “Chicago Fire” Season 12 debuts on January 17.
