When Monica Raymund walked away from Chicago Fire, fans were devastated. Gabriela Dawson wasn’t just a paramedic — she was the heart of Firehouse 51, a woman who faced down burning buildings with grit and grace, and who left behind a love story that never truly ended. But while Gabby may have disappeared from our screens, Raymund never stopped pushing herself — and now, in a twist worthy of primetime drama, Netflix is giving her next chapter a second life.

On July 23, all three seasons of Hightown, the dark, haunting crime drama Raymund headlined after leaving Chicago Fire, will drop on Netflix — a full-circle moment for a series that was almost lost forever.

Hightown, which originally aired on Starz, followed Jackie Quiñones, a National Marine Fisheries Service agent whose hard-partying ways collided with a murder that would rip open the underbelly of Cape Cod. But Jackie isn’t just chasing killers — she’s chasing sobriety, redemption, and a sense of self that keeps slipping through her fingers. And in Monica Raymund’s hands, Jackie became a complicated, magnetic force — as far from Gabby Dawson as you could imagine, yet just as emotionally raw and unforgettable.

The show launched in 2020 to critical acclaim, praised for its noir tone, its uncompromising look at addiction, and the quiet intensity Raymund brought to every scene. But in a move that shocked even its most devoted fans, Hightown was abruptly canceled by Starz after three seasons — and then, insult to injury, the network yanked it from its streaming library entirely. No final send-off. No easy way for newcomers to find it. For a time, it was as if the show never existed.

Until now.

Netflix, in a surprise announcement that has reignited the firestorm around the show, revealed that it has acquired streaming rights and will release all 25 episodes in one drop. It’s more than just a content deal — it’s a resurrection.

For fans of Chicago Fire, this is more than a detour. It’s a reckoning. Watching Raymund as Jackie is like watching Gabby’s ghost walk into a darker universe — one where the flames are internal, the stakes more psychological. Gone are the fire trucks and familiar faces of Firehouse 51. In their place: rehab centers, crime syndicates, and a woman trying to stay alive in a world that keeps trying to bury her.

Raymund has spoken in interviews about how Hightown challenged her as an actress — forced her to go deeper, take more risks, expose more truths. And it shows. Jackie is a hurricane in recovery. She’s flawed, often unlikeable, but always real. The kind of woman who makes terrible choices and then claws her way back, bleeding, broken, and still unbent. It’s a performance that should have earned more awards — and now, finally, may get the audience it deserves.

But Hightown isn’t the only familiar face Netflix is spotlighting this summer. In fact, the platform seems to be building its own One Chicago hall of fame.

Lauren German, who broke hearts as Leslie Shay, headlines Lucifer, where she plays a brilliant detective opposite the Devil himself. Charlie Barnett, the soulful Peter Mills from early seasons, delivers unsettling performances in You and Russian Doll. Even David Eigenberg, the ever-dependable Herrmann, lives on in Sex and the City, reminding fans just how versatile the Chicago Fire cast truly is.

Still, it’s Hightown that carries the heaviest emotional weight.

Because Hightown was never just a crime show. It was a showcase for what Monica Raymund could do when she was allowed to burn at full intensity. It was a chance for a woman who helped define one of NBC’s biggest franchises to tell a story entirely on her own terms. And for it to be erased — not just canceled, but scrubbed — felt like an injustice.

Netflix’s decision to bring it back isn’t just a business move. It’s a cultural correction.

Of course, not everything about the return is perfect. The show ends on an unfinished note, its fourth season stolen by studio politics. But don’t let that stop you. The journey is still worth taking. Because Hightown doesn’t tie everything in a neat bow — it never tried to. It left you in the murk, in the tension, in the ache of a woman who never stopped fighting for herself.

And maybe that’s what makes it the perfect companion to Chicago Fire.

Because in both shows, Monica Raymund plays women who rush toward the danger. Who choose others over themselves. Who lose. Who get up. Who walk away from the only lives they’ve ever known… and find something darker, harder, and more honest.

So what now?

Chicago Fire returns in the fall. Hightown drops July 23. And for a brief, shining moment, both worlds coexist. The hero in the bunker gear, and the addict with the badge. The woman who walked out of Firehouse 51, and the one who walked into hell with her eyes wide open.

The question is:

When you watch Monica Raymund in Hightown, will you see Gabriela Dawson… or someone the fire never could contain in the first place?