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Gabby Dawson left Chicago Fire for Puerto Rico in its Season 7 premiere. But why did Monica Raymund know it was time to leave the procedural drama?
Monica Raymund was one of the most prominent actors to leave the procedural drama Chicago Fire. She wasn’t the first and won’t be the last. But her departure as Gabriela “Gabby” Dawson turned the show in a new direction and created new opportunities for Gabby and others. Plus, how Gabby exited the series created contention within the fandom as some didn’t think her ending was suitable for her character. The genuine emotions wrapped up in her exit proved how deeply Gabby resonated with viewers.
Chicago Fire launched the One Chicago franchise in 2012 on NBC. Raymund’s Gabriela Dawson was part of the show from the first episode. She was one of two female characters in the original cast; the other was Lauren German’s character Leslie Shay. The latter left the show in the Season 3 premiere after her character suffered fatal injuries in the Season 2 finale. Raymund remained on the series until the Season 7 premiere. Fans were pleased when Raymund made a surprise return a season later, as other One Chicago characters have done, but only for a single episode.
Who Was Gabriela Dawson on Chicago Fire?
Gabriela Dawson was an EMT and a firefighter with big dreams and a big heart. She was ambitious and loyal, but she was also impulsive and selfish. As a paramedic, Gabby was in charge of Ambulance 61 at Firehouse 51. She faced setbacks from being one of the only women at the house, which compounded when she joined the Fire Academy in Season 2. She defied expectations to follow her dreams, and part of those dreams included becoming a mother. Once she (briefly) became a foster parent to a baby named Louie, she returned to work as a paramedic.
Two of her most important relationships on Chicago Fire were her friendship with Leslie Shay and her romantic relationship with firefighter Matt Casey, known as “Dawsey.” The former broke up male-dominated scenes before it was lost because of Shay’s devastating death, which was the most shocking character exit until Season 10. Dawsey’s slow-burn network television romance eventually ended when Gabby took a job in Puerto Rico in Season 6. Despite losing Matt, the move allowed her to step away from an environment that wasn’t serving her anymore. In Puerto Rico, she helped people — more often than not, kids — who needed it and found personal fulfillment in the process.
As Chicago Fire progressed, Gabby’s interpersonal relationships involved new friends like Stella Kidd and Sylvie Brett. But before all of those, her relationship with her brother Antonio Dawson became a true staple that would serve as an emotional pillar for the One Chicago franchise as it helped connect Fire with its spinoff Chicago P.D. Raymund and Jon Seda, who played Antonio, had excellent chemistry that bridged the shows until the spinoff established its cast.
Why Monica Raymund Left Chicago Fire
Raymund spoke to the Chicago Tribune about her exit in 2018 and explained that she would miss the family she established during her time on the show, but she thought the timing was right. Raymund said, “I’m not sure the exact moment when it happened, but I knew that my six-year contract was coming to an end and I felt like I was hungry to explore a different role, a different story. I wanted to explore a different world. I had been in Chicago for five years and just personally where I was in my life, I was ready to create my home and kind of plant some roots in Los Angeles.”
Raymund also spoke about Chicago Fire’s showrunner Derek Haas’ difficulty processing her exit: “I couldn’t have been any more transparent or clear. I was like, ‘Hey, I’m leaving, I’m giving my notice.’ And he was like, ‘No you’re not!’ And I said, ‘No, Derek, I am.’ And he just couldn’t believe it! I didn’t quite know how to take that except to just … leave. I thought it was hilarious. You could just see this absolute case of extreme denial. I mean, when the season wrapped he called me like, ‘So, you’re not really leaving.’ … And I was like, ‘Derek, honey. I love you, but I gotta go.’ He was just having separation anxiety from me, that’s all.”
Raymund did go on to explore a different role in a different world when she signed on to play the lead in Starz’s crime drama Hightown. She plays hedonistic federal agent Jackie Quiñones, vastly different from Chicago Fire‘s Gabriela Dawson. The distinctions in the parts showcase Raymund’s versatility as a performer. Hightown recently aired its second season, in which Raymund directed the third episode. Both seasons are currently streaming on Starz and the Starz app.
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