Chicago Fire's Annie Ilonzeh Departing After Two Seasons

Firehouse 51 is saying goodbye to another firefighter. TV Guide has learned that Annie Ilonzeh will not return for Season 9 of Chicago Fire, meaning we may have seen the last of Emily Foster, at least for the time being.

Emily, the paramedic, has been looking to go back to full-time medicine for a while now and took a med school interview in the Season 8 finale of the NBC drama. Based on this recent casting news, it sounds like the interview went well! That's great for Foster, but it will be another devastating blow for Brett (Kara Killmer), who already lost one partner when Gabby Dawson (Monica Raymund) left the firehouse in Season 6. At least she has Casey (Jesse Spencer), right?

While fans got to see Emily give her impassioned plea to get back into medical school and come clean with Brett about her plans in the final episode of Season 8, Chicago Fire was one of hundreds of shows affected by the coronavirus production shut down. The episode wasn't supposed to be the last and the remaining episodes would have left space to give Emily a proper goodbye.

Ilonzeh replaced Raymund in the beginning of Season 7. NBC had no comment about Ilonzeh's exit.

Chicago Fire will return to NBC next TV season.

Additional reporting by Keisha Hatchett