Jesse Spencer’s game-changing Chicago Fire exit gets emotional new details from one of the show’s stars. It was announced in October

2021 that Spencer was exiting NBC’s One Chicago franchise as Matthew Casey. It was a significant shift for the procedural drama, with Spencer being an original cast member who appeared in the very first episode.

 

 

Spencer, who first broke out as Billy Kennedy in the Australian soap Neighbours, has since returned to Chicago Fire as a guest star. But his departure was an important change that the hit procedural continued to deal with and adjust to for a good while. That much was reflected on by David Eigenberg, another original cast member, who plays Christopher Hermann.

 

 

In an interview on the One Chicago Podcast, Eigenberg spoke with Brian Luce, a former Chicago police officerwho is also a producer and technical consultant for Chicago P.D. The actor spoke about how, during the first season, the cast would use an empty water bottle as a way of passing the time. The tradition continued when Spencer left the series in season 10:

Spencer is one of several notable One Chicago exits, with his character moving to Oregon. But the character of Matthew Casey has continued to appear, almost once per season, since his farewell episode. He returns for the season 10 finale, though his official farewell is in episode 5. He is then part of three episodes across seasons 11 and 12.