‘Chicago Fire’ 10×11 Review: “Fog of War”

Chicago Fire 10×11 “Fog of War” is an episode about why Pelham is a problem, and also an episode about how Stellaride drama is never as bad as it looks, but it still isn’t truly done, for reasons. Which means it’s basically a pretty frustrating episode, because so much of what’s going on feels anything but organic.

Stella and Severide having communication issues is okay. But giving us cliffhanger after cliffhanger only to have the conversations we want to see happen off-screen is really not what we want. And we especially don’t want that plus new manufactured drama the next episode. This hour ends on a high note, and with the kind of declaration we wanted, but at this point, can we trust it? Can we trust the show not to give us more drama when Seager inevitably shows up?

And that’s not even going into the Pelham of it all. So, he’s not everyone’s favorite. He’s been shown to be a good guy, and a good firefighter. And yet we know he’s not staying. But we don’t want him to go because he somehow makes a big mistake, much less because he decides to step back. This storyline should be about how Stella deserves this post, not about how someone else lost it, or decided to step aside.

So, let’s go into the Stella and Severide drama that shouldn’t be, and the Pelham drama that’s even more annoying than the Stellaride drama, as we discuss Chicago Fire 10×11 “Fog of War”:

YOU ARE THE PERFECT ONE FOR ME

This episode barely scratches the surface of Stella’s issues, but at least they finally try, as Stella confesses to Kelly that she wants to be the perfect one for him, and she feels like she’s failing. Except she couldn’t. Not unless she stops trying. Because she doesn’t need to be anything else than who she is to be perfect for Kelly, and to be perfect for Firehouse 51, for that matter.

Severide gives her the reassurance she wants, the one she needs, and the episode ends on a high note, but just a second before, his frustration was getting the best of him. Because he needs time to process Stella’s silence. He needs time to process how that’s making him feel. And that’s understandable, it really is. It’s just that the show never gave Stella “time to process her feelings” all those times Kelly made a mistake that jeopardized their relationship. And Kelly’s acting so weird that it’s hard to tell if this is all just about Stella not picking up the phone.

The writing for this whole drama after drama after drama for Stellaride has been shaky at best, and part of the problem is follow-through. We had two important conversations happen off-screen, and though this episode finally gave us one, that’s not nearly enough. The issues that were brought up by the way Stella’s absence was written aren’t solved with a quick convo. Or two.

We need more. And we need to see it. And not because Wendy Seager shows back up, but because Kelly and Stella want to do a better job of communicating with the person they love, the person they’re gonna marry. The person they’ve chosen. That’s what matters. They’re what matters.

THEY’RE RECOMENDING TERMINATION

Ah, Pelham. The perfect guy we absolutely do not care about. It’s nothing about him, or even the storyline, which is probably written about as well as it can be to make him the perfect underdog. It isn’t even anything against the actor, who’s about as good at the earnestness that the character requires. It’s just that he’s been here for 0.2 seconds, and he’s got Stella’s job, and we don’t like that.

Of course, there’s also the fact that this storyline increasingly feels like Pelham has to fail for Stella to get the job we all know she earned. The one she deserves. But it shouldn’t be like that. If Stella got freaked and passed on the job, the show should be going deeper into her reasons, not spending so much time setting up Pelham’s redemption tour.

Stella Kidd deserves the job Pelham has. And yes, perhaps he does too. He’s a good guy and a good firefighter. We’re just not going to suddenly start caring about him, and we’re never going to care about him more than we care about Stella. We didn’t want this storyline, but if we had to get it, we wanted it to be about Stella. Instead, we just spent episodes on a guy who is not sticking around, and that’s show time we can never get back.

Things I think I think:

• Cute loft moments for my faves? Yay. Conversations happening off-screen? Nay.
• Sometimes I look at the calls these guys go on and think: how can so many things go wrong at once?
• All my trips to see Matt? ALL? How many is that exactly, Sylvie? Inquiring minds want to know.
• The adorableness that is Amelia. And the way the show literally just brought her back to introduce a storyline that basically tells Brettsey fans: hey Brettsey is okay, it’s solid, let’s make that clear.
• Stella is all of us at the Seager mention.
• And Ritter is all of us at Gallo, every single time.
• I’m just going to pretend that call Sylvie and Violet went on this episode absolutely did not happen.
• “My hope or you: that you get as much time as possible with Matt.”
• This feels like setup. It could go a few ways still, but it’s very heavy handed.
• So I guess that’s a yes on Chief Hawkins and feelings?
• Come on Kelly, she’s got a right to ask abut Seager. That’s all she’s doing, asking.
• The way Stellaride goes from peak frustration to peak softness just got me this episode.
• I’M TIRED OF PELHAM. TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRED.

Agree? Disagree? What did you think about Chicago Fire 10×11 “Fog of War”? Share with us in the comments below!

Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays on NBC.