There’s a lot we love about One Chicago shows beyond ships but, let’s face it, we can’t live without ships! And couples are important to the emotional development of the characters in Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med, so we’re going to analyze the progress of our beloved ships each week in a roundtable.
All our feels about these ships will be summarized here and we’re only going to dedicate ourselves to them for, you know, reasons … but you can check our full reviews if you want much more. And now, let’s take a look at the love lives of our favorite firefighters, cops and doctors!
Here we go!
If Chicago Fire was an elephant in the room last week, this week it’s like 100 elephants in a tiny room. They broke our hearts…but do you think there is still hope? Do you think Casey will come back? What does this mean for Brettsey? What do you think about the decision Sylvie made? Would you have done the same? Unburden yourself with all the feels, good and bad, that the show brought on with this painful farewell. Now that Severide will be the leader, does this position Stellaride *officially* as the power couple that we always knew they were?
Raquel: Oh Gosh! This show was between sad and cruel. Because I find it cruel to break our hearts like this in an episode as special as this but, at the same time, if you have to say goodbye to an original member of the cast, when is it better than this episode? So my feelings are very conflicting at this point.
Despite what we saw and precisely because of what we saw, my opinion has not changed one iota since last week: Matt Casey is not going to spend much away from Chicago and, of course, he didn’t leave forever. Matt may be away from Chicago for a bit longer than I thought, but that he’s coming back is a fact for me.
After seeing the departure interviews, it is clear to me that this exit is due to the time that the actor needs to be out of focus to be able to take a break and be with his family.
He needs this and we owe him this time after enjoying him every week for 18 years. But I think that, in the interviews, they make it clear that this is not the last thing about Casey that we will see because the writers want to tell more stories about him and the actor wants to be there to bring them to life.
I think that the time of Casey’s return to the show will depend on the needs of the actor in terms of the time he needs but maybe I expect a return in the final minutes of the season finale to start a new season again with Matt on the show. I’m not very sure because everything depends on the actor himself, what I’m clear about is that this farewell is just a see you later, not a goodbye.
As for Brettsey, this is just a bump in the road like any other. It was very easy to break them now if they really wanted to do it, if they hadn’t really bet on them but they’ve done it so the future for them is just as bright as it ever was. Yes, we may have to wait a little longer to see that future but that’s it.
This is not the curve we expected and we will see less about them than we would have liked, but the show made it clear that they’re still together and we’re going to see them fight for that relationship. A long distance relationship is not easy and we will surely see that fight, bringing new challenges especially for Brett, although we do not see everything we would like about them, they will continue to be there, waiting…just like us. Is this what we would have chosen? Of course not, but it was what the actor needed and the only thing the show could do to not blow everything up.
And I appreciate that they didn’t blow anything up because that is a declaration of intentions, it is a symbol that Brettsey is very far from finished and that they continue to bet on them, they only had to press the “standby” button for a little while. Brettsey is here to stay and the show couldn’t make it any clearer.
Also, being frank, it would have been much easier for them to write a plot of complete disconnection of Matt with the show, a real goodbye and a Brettsey breakup. In the long run, it would have saved them complications but they haven’t… because they know this won’t be forever.
As for Brett’s decision, I absolutely agree and support it! I have always had a problem with this thing in shows or movies that the woman has to leave her dreams and her whole life to follow her love (re: Friends. Rachel’s decision to reject her dream job in Paris to stay with Ross in New York), especially when there is internet, the telephone and the thousands of things with which technology makes us close even though we are thousands of kilometers away.
Sylvie doesn’t need to be physically with Matt to continue with him, their relationship can continue at a distance. Yes, that amounts to a lot of adaptation and giving up some things but that’s what you do when you really love someone: you find a way to be together. Long distance relationships bring with them their own fears such as the fact of not being able to get it but that Brett is so sure that they will achieve it only speaks of how much she trusts in her relationship with Casey, in how they feel for each other and that’s just beautiful.
Stellaride, officially a power couple…sounds great! They are from the beginning but I really like the possibilities that this new version of Severide opens up for Stellaride and I’m dying to see what awaits us with them.
Lizzie: I always get to these roundtables after doing catharsis on myself by writing a review, so by definition, I have less to say here. Please go read my review, lol. But I reiterate that the issue …probably why we were so blindsided, honestly, it’s that this wasn’t written as permanent. And the exit interviews with both people BTS and Jesse Spencer himself have made it clear they all intend for Matt Casey to be back at some point. So, of course, we were reacting to …what they were writing, which was, not something permanent.
So, in that regard, I think there’s obvious hope. They have given us hope. But I think we all gotta temper that hope with reality, which is something they didn’t do before, or allow us to do in any way, shape or form. I think there’s the intention for Casey to come back, there’s the desire, but from that to reality …well, there are still a couple of steps from A to B. It’s more likely it will happen than not, but we all would probably be better off if we treated this not as a certainty, but as a very beautiful and big possibility.
In general, though, I think Casey will come back. Worst case scenario, he will come back to wrap up the Brettsey storyline, even if it’s at the end of the show. I think if they wanted to end Brettsey, they would have. Writing a breakup is super easy, this show has done plenty of them. Killing a character is also super easy, this show has also killed its fair share of characters. And the decision was to …do neither of those. The decision was to let them stay together, and have them be a long-term couple, to allow Jesse to slip back into the role whenever he wanted. And I don’t think that’s a decision the show is taking back, not short term. When this season ends, and if Jesse doesn’t pop up again during it, maybe they’ll reevaluate if he wants to come back or not. They certainly seem to believe he will at some point, and they can just pick up with …other issues for Brettsey. Do I have certainties? No. But I do have faith. I think faith is more than warranted.
As for Sylvie, I 100% support her. As I said in my review, she shouldn’t be giving up her dreams for someone else’s, and this isn’t the 1800’s, she doesn’t need to be by Casey’s side to be in a relationship with him. It’ll be hard, but they can make it work long-distance. There are things called planes, and phones. We just went through a pandemic without being able to hug the people we love for like, a year and a half. It’s doable, and we ALL are testament to that.
So yes, I just hope they continue this storyline with Sylvie, that they show us how she’s feeling, that we see her leaning on her friends. Brettsey might be in the background now, but I’m still super interested in Sylvie Brett and what she brings to this show. I’m not quitting on her, just as she’s not quitting on herself.
As for Stellaride, I think the show has already positioned them as that “power couple” and now all they have to do is ….well, give them screentime. That’s it, basically. We already know their power, now we just want more of it.
Logan: First I want to say, they got me. This show completely blindsided me and I had it all wrong. They’ve cried wolf (Wolf Entertainment pun intended?) so many times on a Matt Casey exit that I just didn’t believe it. Derek Haas gets sick joy out of making us panic and I truly believed this was more of the same. Turns out, it legitimately was Jesse Spencer’s exit.
Of course I support Jesse in whatever it is he needs to do to take care of himself and the people in his life and 18 years is a long time for anything without a break. It’s a well deserved break and I hope he enjoys it.
Thankfully, Jesse still loves the show and has a solid partnership with Derek Haas. Not to mention his home is actually in Chicago and he won’t be moving across the country in the immediate future. Based on his exit interviews that he and Derek did together, he is already discussing how he might come back. Now, as for when and in what capacity we don’t know, but I would bet good money he pops in for the Stellaride wedding at the very least.
So, is there still hope for Brettsey? Absolutely! They are still together and absolutely dedicated to long distance. Sylvie is not single. She is very much taken. Long distance is hard, sure, but these days with Zoom and Facetime and the ability to fly out for long weekends or furloughs it is definitely possible! It’s also possible for the show to portray that. Think about it, we already have several people in the firehouse who have largely off screen relationships: Boden, Mouch, Herrmann, typically Joe, and until recently Ritter too. There is no reason Sylvie can’t be added to that list and have a stable, thriving, off screen relationship.
It leaves the door open for Jesse to pop back in on occasion and leaves Kara Killmer with a built-in cover if she needs a vacation or leave at any point. It also means Sylvie is free from plots centered on her romantic relationship and the writers can finally showcase her in professional plots or firehouse family plots again! This is Kara and Sylvie’s time to show off her skills and her heart beyond her relationship with Matt Casey.
Is it what we wanted, necessarily? No, of course not. And it will be sad and hard at times. I imagine Brettsey will struggle to find their feet in a long distance relationship at first. But once they settle into it, I truly believe they will be stronger than ever.
As for Sylvie’s choice to stay in Chicago? I think she chose correctly. She started this Paramedicine program and it was approved because of her passion and drive. She needs to see it through. Plus, as she stated, she has impulsively picked up her life and moved it for a relationship before, she doesn’t want to make the same rash decision twice. She deserves to have all the time she needs to mull it over and figure out what she wants. Obviously, Matt is more than happy to give her that which is why we love them so much. They listen to each other and support each other always.
On the whole, this exit was the kindest version of it we could have hoped for. Matt Casey will continue to fight fires, he is still in a relationship with the woman he loves, and he escaped his farewell physically unharmed — no small feat on One Chicago shows. I will miss him dearly, but I’m happy Jesse Spencer got to leave us on his own terms.
However, I do have a bone to pick with the producers and NBC. Keeping this such a secret to purposefully blindside the fandom during a milestone event that should be celebratory was, pardon my language, a dick move. We had no time to emotionally prepare for half the show’s backbone for the last ten years to leave. I understand they probably thought making it seem like it might not happen would be good for the ratings, but I can assure you if the marketing had been “Be sure to tune in for Jesse Spencer’s final episode of Chicago Fire” we all still would have tuned in and we would have been a lot more understanding when the episode ended. It’s unfortunate that celebrating 200 episodes was overshadowed by anger and tears.
As for Stellaride, if Truck 81 is not going to go to Stella Kidd then I quit. There is no one else worthy of Matt’s rig than her. It’s what Matt Casey would want if he could choose his successor. So, yes, Stellaride better be the Firehouse 51 power couple we all deserve. It will be the only thing that might comfort me through my broken heart. Don’t let me down, Chicago Fire!
Chicago PD barely gave us Upstead crumbs, did you expect more? Do you think we needed to see that conversation to get a more complete picture of their future? What do you think will come next for them?
Raquel: I wanted more, goddess, I wanted so much more. But this show is always pretty lazy in balancing its plots, especially when you really want the episode to show you enough of a particular plot. So this was what I expected to happen.
As for whether we needed to see that conversation, oh yeah, we need to see it all! You see, when an episode leaves you as the previous episode left us, the least you expect is some continuity to that, you need to know how the story continued, how it ended, you need to focus on the emotion of the characters, on their expressions…everything is important. So yeah, it seems to me that the show must have shown us that conversation.
That said, I don’t think for a second that the conversation we missed is all in this storyline, there will surely be another Upstead talk soon where they talk about their feelings about everything, where everything explodes and we will see that. Right now, Upstead is kind of in shock, the secret has already been revealed and now they are in that period of calm before the storm, in that period between denial and acceptance before they can really talk about everything. That conversation will be key…but it doesn’t mean that the one we didn’t see was less important.
As for their future, I look forward to that conversation where they come out of that kind of calm they are in now, where they come out of that kind of doing everything mechanically but without really looking into each other’s eyes and speaking with their hearts. I’m waiting for that conversation in which everything explodes and, from there, the wounds begin to heal and together, they can face this.
That’s what I hope for in the future, that’s what I think is going to happen because nothing between them has really broken yet, only cracked. It means that there is hope and that the two, despite everything, bet on each other. And I do too.
Lizzie: I didn’t expect more, in fact that we got one line was already a lot, to be honest. But as I said in my review – one line said a great deal, so I’ll take it. As for what we need to see, it mostly depends on if that conversation you refer to is the “what happened” conversation, because no, I don’t think we need to rehash that. If they had a feelings convo, we do need to see that, but I’m not sure they have really gone there as much, or that the show would completely ignore that. That we DO need to see.
But the feelings are …clear, too. There’s love. It’s obvious to anyone who looks at them. And yes, there’s trust, even if it feels like it’s on shaky ground right now. I’m not all that worried about the endgame, to be honest. The show has bet on this ship, and we should too. If anything, I’m hoping the show does the journey and what the actors always manage to convey with these characters credit.
What’s coming? Well, hopefully, again, as I’ve said for a while, some sort of reckoning for Voight. That might get messy for Hailey for a while, but it’s absolutely necessary. And Upstead, well, I think they’re strong. Sure, there are issues, but the sort of issues you get over. You know how I know? Well, they were still sleeping on the same bed. If they were gonna break up, it was gonna be that night.
Logan: I think PD will always struggle with balance and because of that follow through suffers as well. Hopefully we’ll see more of that continuing conversation during the next Upstead focused episode. We better, anyway. The audience deserves to be a part of the resolution too.
In Chicago Med Will and Stevie joined forces in a non-romantic way…yet. Did you expect it? Do you like where the show is taking the relationship between the two? Do you think they will stay friends?
Raquel: I have to be honest and I wasn’t expecting Will and Stevie to bond that much yet but I love it! I like when shows surprise me like that. And I love the way they are building this, it’s just a friendship, one in which you are absolutely sincere with each other, even if it hurts but this is what they need right now, just to start being there, just for being there to become into a routine for them, that they start to become important to each other.
Yes, I definitely think this is going to lead to a romance down the road and that they’re building it like that gives me hope that it’s one that Med really, really, gets it right because they are lifting it from the ground up, slow burn…and that is always a good sign. Honestly, if a month ago someone had told me that I would be feeling this for Mes, I would have laughed out loud. So…fingers crossed!
Lizzie: I expected it, and hoped for it, and …liked it. This is how I want them to start building the relationship, take the romance out of the equation for now. What Stevie needs, and hell, what Will needs …is a friend. And if they can become each other’s friends, then …the rest will just naturally happen. More importantly, we’ll want it to. There isn’t much more to say about it now, though I do want to say this …I’m interested in Med again, and that’s a win.
Logan: I really love what the show is doing with Will and Stevie so far. I want to keep seeing their rapport grow and their friendship deepen. I love their banter and the way they’re brutally honest with each other. To me they have a very Tony Stark and Pepper Potts energy and I am eager to see where it leads as long as it doesn’t get there too quickly.
Agree? Desagree? Don’t hesitate to share it with us in the comments below!
One Chicago airs Wednesdays on NBC.