In the pilot episode of NBC drama “Chicago Fire,” working among eventual longtime series staples like Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund) is a firefighter with Truck 81 named Jose Vargas (Mo Gallini). He maintains a role as a member of the show’s ensemble cast for its first string of episodes before his storyline comes to an arguably premature end in Season 1, Episode 9. This remains Gallini’s final appearance, save for a flashback in the Season 3 premiere.
Vargas’ departure from the Firehouse 51 crew is the result of a tragic accident that befalls him in his final proper “Chicago Fire” episode. At its start, Vargas and Severide extinguish a fire at a machine shop. While successful, Vargas succumbs to a coughing fit so serious he has to get checked out at a hospital. It turns out he suffered lung damage after inhaling magnesium. As a result, Vargas is forcibly placed on long-term disability leave after Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker) determines that he’ll be unable to perform his duties as a firefighter because of the damage to his lungs and muscles.
After his unfortunate departure, Vargas shows up at the firehouse one more time to hang out with his work buddies but soon feels unwelcome now that he’s no longer an active crew member. While Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) and Severide affirm that Vargas belongs at Firehouse 51, this moment nevertheless marks the character’s endpoint.
There were no extenuating circumstances behind Mo Gallini’s Chicago Fire departure
Plenty of actors have left the One Chicago franchise for various reasons throughout its lengthy existence. Nobody involved in making “Chicago Fire” has ever shared an explicit reason for Mo Gallini’s departure; by all appearances, Jose Vargas’ storyline was simply planned from the start to conclude during Season 1.
That said, Gallini may not have always known this was going to be the case — or at the very least, he kept tight-lipped about it. Notably, in an interview with the St. Cloud, Minnesota-based radio station Mix 94.9, the actor describes his relationship with the rest of the “Chicago Fire” cast, characterizing the group as a family. “From the moment we all met, it was like we had known each other for a lifetime. And we all hang out together,” he says. The way he talks about this bond doesn’t seem to indicate that he saw it ending anytime soon.
Nevertheless, if Gallini was surprised by how his character’s arc wraps, that may have merely been a function of the fact that actors work on serialized TV shows one episode at a time. Vargas’ storyline ends on a definitive note, and there’s no reason to believe Gallini left on bad terms. It stands to reason Vargas was always intended to be a temporary member of the “Chicago Fire” team.
