Saying your goodbyes. The Wednesday, September 25, premiere of Chicago Fire was a tough one! Just moments into the finale, Brian “Otis” Zvonecek was rushed to the hospital after falling unconscious inside a basement fire. In an attempt to protect the squad in the fire, he ultimately lost his life. The death was a shock to longtime fans of the series, as Otis has been part of the drama since season 1.
Yuriy Sardarov, who portrayed Otis, took to Instagram on Thursday, September 26, to respond to the episode and the outpouring of love he’d received.
In a poem titled “Adieu,” he said goodbye to the character: “A fond farewell to Otis, he’ll forever be my friend. And to all of you that knew him / And loved him to the end. He had a bushy mustache and a soul patch to the boot / It’s never really over; he’ll always love you too.”
In addition to the poem, the actor, 31, shared a photo of himself in character. “Thank you for the greatest 7 years of my life,” he captioned the photo, adding the hashtag, “#ChicagoFireForever.”
Following the premiere, co-creator Derek Haas opened up exclusively to Us Weekly about the decision to kill off Otis, revealing he came up with the idea over the hiatus between seasons 7 and 8.
“We’ve pulled the rug out from under people all the time, or did the Charlie Brown with the football thing where we set people up into a dangerous situation. It’s been since Shay (Lauren German) died (in season 3) that we actually had that kind of a tragic event after a call,” he shared with Us. “We’ve had characters injured and characters leave the show, but if you keep pulling that football then the audience just stops believing that the dangerous situations are actually dangerous.”
Haas also revealed he’s known Sardarov for years and when he broke the news to him, the actor couldn’t have been more gracious. “He was just grateful for the experience and said he was ‘playing with the house money at this point,’ which was great to hear,” the Wanted writer shared. “I had this calm sense that I know Yuriy is going to do amazing things. I get to be the Proud Papa now and watch him go off and do whatever he’s going to do next.”
Many members of the cast took to social media following the episode to share their reactions to the news.
