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!
Chicago Fire gave us a moment of Stellaride bliss…and that doesn’t come close to what they need to do. Where are they going with all this? Do you think the cute scenes in this episode make up for the inevitable drama to come? Do you think Chicago Fire lost the focus with the good work with the storylines that they were doing in the first part of the season?
Raquel: I’m always here for Stellaride goodness but I don’t think those good, cute, and loving scenes make us forget what’s coming. I wish the show was going to tell both of their points of view on this and the two of them are going to start communicating. But I think Fire decided to go to drama for drama’s sake and they are resorting to this resource too much.
We all know it’s going to be fixed, and I do enjoy a little bit of angst from time to time, but when that angst makes sense and makes the characters grow, not when it’s just… well, a weird thing that doesn’t have pointless and that is totally out of character. I don’t think the show is doing Stella or Stellaride any favors.
Yeah, I think the show lost a bit of focus when it came to storytelling compared to the first part of the season. When One Chicago started in May, Fire was the best of the three shows and now Med is the best and Fire dropped several places for me. They’re in time to solve things, but it’s time for them to get down to it.
Lizzie: I definitely think they’ve lost focus. Some of it is understandable, they lost Casey and that took away some of what they were building towards with Brettsey, and then Miranda took some time off. But the way they handled Miranda’s break was a decision, and I think it was the wrong one. Not even because of the story they chose to tell, but because of the way that story has been told, almost entirely through someone else’s POV. What is Stella feeling in all of this? We still don’t really know!
They keep cutting away from important conversations and focusing on Kelly’s frustrations when, frankly, we should be focusing on Stella’s. I’m also getting more than a little tired of seeing Stella apologize. Yes, she made a mistake. Kelly deserves frustration and time to process his feelings. But he’s not exactly Saint Kelly Who Has Never Made a Mistake, and when he’s messed up, well he’s apologized and that’s it. They’ve moved on. Stella, however, apparently needs to keep apologizing at least one more time, and hey, she can’t even ask about Seager, as if that’s bad.
We got a cute moment, yes, but Severide’s face makes it clear the drama for the sake of drama isn’t over and I’m tired. Tiiiired.
Lyra: I’m with Raquel and Lizzie on the feeling of being tired. This show needs a little bit more of balance when it comes to its characters. Because things feel really one-sided right now, making it so Stella looks like the bad guy. We don’t want to see that. What we do need is complex relationships that are built on a foundation of trust and communication. (The last one there being the most important.) Until that happens, the disappointment from us will continue.
Chicago P.D., true to its essence, had zero plot balance and we had no Upstead or Burzek at all. So let’s talk about the forgotten ones. Let’s talk about Kevin…and Celeste. Do you think it is a ship in which we can invest in the long term? Would you like the show to bet on it?
Raquel: Kevin is in a strange position. We hardly ever talk about him…because there’s never anything to talk about. Except in this episode. Kevin is in the middle of two ships that we love and sometimes he is like the hanging candle that the show doesn’t know where to put. Other times, like now, they give him the development that Kevin deserves. And it’s horrible that they don’t continue to do it more often.
I think Kevin and Celeste is a ship that we can invest in for the long term if the show takes the time to develop them as they deserve. At this time, Kevin lied to her and decided for her, putting her in a position that is…delicate to say the least. Such a toxic base is usually not a good base for any ship. But, sometimes, the best ships are like phoenixes, rising from the ashes. They just need time to do it.
Do I think Kevin and Celeste as a couple are interesting enough for the show to go to the trouble of fixing them? Yes. Is it something that Chicago PD will do? Only time will tell… but I hope so because Celeste is the woman Kevin needs, even though he doesn’t even know that he does. She’s a woman who will stand up to him and tell him to fix his shit when it needs to be told.
Lizzie: I adore Celeste. And I think and hope she’s here to stay. I also really appreciate the story the show is trying to tell with them and even the way they’ve approached it. Kevin just ends up suffering from the lack of balance in the show more than most. And it’s on episodes like this, when Chicago P.D. finally focuses on him, that we notice it the most.
Like, the show remembered he and Kim are friends this hour, which yay. But that’s not nearly enough after so much time. We need them to go back to learning on team dynamics, for the sake of every character but especially Kevin, who ends up being the odd man out more often than not.
But yes to Celeste, please. When she was calling out Kevin’s BS at the end of the episode I was nodding along and thinking, this is exactly what he needed. Let’s keep her. No need for a Rojas 2.0 situation.
Lyra: Balance is a thing that I need with this show. Because they’re giving me the possibility of a new ship with a base that really doesn’t seem like the best idea. But storytelling is a complex and twisting thing, so what do I know? Maybe it will work out. Maybe they will make us feel something for Kevin and Celeste. Only time will tell.
At Chicago Med, Hamstead begins to build slowly but surely. Do you like the way they are building the story? What do you like the most? Do you think it is safe to say that Med is investing in them for the long term?
Raquel: Oh yeah, I love the way Chicago Med is building this story! What I like the most is that they’re taking the time to develop each of the characters individually and tell their stories while slowly bringing them together, but without Stevie or Will losing their independence, without them losing their own stories.
I mean, they’re not just using Stevie as Will’s love interest, but Stevie Hammer has her past, her problems, her own story to tell us in addition to her story with Will. And they’re not using Will to make the same old bad decisions either, they’re making him learn along the way all the lessons he skipped over the years. And as they do that, Stevie and Will come together and their stories intertwine with each other. That is what I like the most.
Of course, Med is investing in them for the long term. It was so easy to make Will make the usual mistakes and make Stevie just another love interest. But they aren’t doing that. They’re taking the time to build Stevie as a character, rebuild Will, and show us along the way that they’re perfect for each other. You don’t take the time if it’s just a story you plan to drop soon.
Lizzie: This feels like baby Upstead to me, and you all know how much I love Upstead, so that’s nothing but a favorable comparison. And you know when I say that, I mean endgame. I particularly love that Med is taking it slow right now and taking the time to establish Stevie as a character and Stevie and Will as two people who might have known each other, but who didn’t truly know each other. So this is truly their beginning, even if it isn’t.
Slow and steady wins the race, they say. I’ve shipped people with Will before, and I’ve liked other characters on Med before, but it’s been less than a season and I can already honestly say Stevie Hammer is one of my favorite characters on this show. And that helps so much, not just in general, but in regards to Will Halstead, a character I’ve loved and wanted to strangle in equal measure over the years.
I’m invested. I was trying to take it slow, but at this point, I can honestly say I ship it. And I have not been this excited about Med in years.
Lyra: I think the most important part of Stevie and Will is the fact that they’re taking things slow. Slow is good. It means that they get to know each other as we the audience get to know them. That in turn leads to us being invested in each character for separate reasons. And like Lizzie and Raquel, I’m down.
One Chicago airs Wednesdays on NBC.