The 'Chicago Fire' Season 11 Finale Leaves [SPOILER]'s Fate up in the Air

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the Season 11 finale of Chicago Fire.

We all know that when there's a Dick Wolf series, the characters' fates always hang in the balance. Add in a finale episode, and there's even less reassurance that everyone will make it out alive. Being a firefighter can often lead to life-or-death situations, and because Chicago Fire's 51 is a television firehouse, there's even more danger.

Now, after the Season 11 finale, fans are worried for Randy "Mouch" McHolland (Christian Stolte). He's been part of the 51 since the 2012 pilot, and although his life has been in danger throughout the series, we never thought we'd actually lose him. But now, it seems like his death is imminent. So does Mouch die in Chicago Fire? Is Christian Stolte leaving the franchise behind?

We know that every One Chicago finale is a significant event, and after Halstead's Chicago Med exit the hour before, we were on high alert for another tragic departure. In the final moments of the Chicago Fire episode, "Red Waterfall," the 51 faces a domestic terrorist attack head-on. A sniper aims at a power plant, which our favorite firefighters do their diligence to protect. As Casey (Jesse Spencer) takes it upon himself to save the day, Mouch gets wounded by the chaos.

At first, everyone thinks he's shot, so they rush him to the hospital. However, once there, they learn that Mouch was actually injured by shrapnel. Just as we all think Mouch is out of the woods, Hermann (David Eigenberg) visits Mouch at the hospital. As they chat, Hermann sees the color drain from Mouch's face as Mouch passes out. We hear Mouch flatline and see a "red waterfall" of blood stream down his bed as Hermann calls for help.

It's unclear if Mouch survives, but our best guess is that he makes it through. The Chicagos love to end on a cliffhanger, and we doubt they'd be able to leave Christian's exit under wraps between seasons. Plus, the fact that Halstead left Chicago Med with clarity makes us think the showrunners wouldn't make a major exit a cliffhanger between seasons. Add that Mouch codes out in a hospital, and we think he'll be okay.

On Instagram, Christian shared a post ahead of the finale with the caption, "Our 11th Season Finale airs tonight.No spoilers, 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." While this does hint at a potential exit from the franchise, he could just be leading us astray to play with our emotions!

Throughout Christian's Chicago Fire career, he's appeared in several other projects, such as the 2023 film, The Unseen, and the 2017 series Special Skills. We doubt that without another major role slated for the future that Christian is going anywhere, but who knows?

The only way to find out is to tune in during Chicago Fire's return on NBC at 9 p.m. EST in Fall 2023.