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!
This week’s Chicago Fire is still in top form. Stellaride and Hawkami have the best of us, and today our question will be simple. What do they make you feel? Break down all your feelings for them!
Raquel: We usually joke that Stellaride is perfection…but that’s not a joke at all. It’s a reflection that all ships must look at, not just on Chicago Fire, but on TV. Severide was a mess when he met Stella and she knew it.
But she…she made him want to be better for her. Severide promised him that he would be the man she deserved and he did. Every step of the way, Severide chose Stella, he chose to grow up to be the man she deserves and the best thing about this is that Stella grew up with him and witnessed Severide’s efforts and how far he came. Stella is aware of Severide’s past mistakes but she doesn’t care because it’s not the man he is today.
The man he is today is the man she deserves. He is the man she chooses. That doesn’t mean that Severide is perfect or that she is, no one is. It just means that Stellaride doesn’t let the mistakes they make get the best of them. The two choose each other, especially in those moments, the two choose to hold hands and not let go in the worst of times. Both choose to fix whatever is wrong.
Stellaride choose a life together every step of the way and they make it feel real, they make it feel to you in such a way that you know you shouldn’t settle for less. It’s difficult to find this magic and it’s difficult to maintain it. This show did all of that and that’s why Stellaride is perfection.
Hawkami is Stellaride young version. I love spontaneous love statements – hopelessly romantic and stuff. They didn’t expect this and, frankly, neither did we. They didn’t feel ready to start something with someone. But, like the best things in life, it started unexpectedly. It was natural and unexpected. They didn’t realize what they felt until this moment.
At first, they just thought it was going to be sex but they got carried away, the feelings grew…and we came to capital L word. Without expecting it, without wanting it… but without being afraid to feel it.
Things are complicated for Hawkami and the easiest thing would be to let it go, but they don’t do it because they choose to hold hands in hard times. They’re willing to fight for what they feel and yes, my romantic heart loves this.
Lizzie: I think this is one of the best moments this show has seen, ships wise. We have one established, strong couple, and a new one that’s sort of trying to find their bearings. And they both work really, really well. There’s chemistry between the actors, and a real sense that they all enjoy having scenes together, which translates to two couples we believe in. So that’s something the show needs to consider going forward.
For Stellaride, I always …I wax poetic about Stella Kidd a lot, and it’s not even that hard. I came to this show for Stella, I stayed for Stella and I love her best. But I also love the way Kelly Severide loves her. You cannot appreciate a character the way I appreciate Stella and not be moved by the way Severide looks at her, by the way he’s calmer, better around her.
He promised her he was going to become the man she deserved, and he did. No ifs or buts about it. And Stella, she looks at him and …she doesn’t see the fuck ups. She doesn’t see the ways in which he has messed up, which so many other people have never let go of.
Instead she sees the good man he is, the way he always tries, and the way he is always there for her. Their love isn’t the stuff of fairytales, it’s even better. It ‘s real. And it’s perfect, even when it isn’t. Especially when it isn’t.
Then, Hawkami, oh boy …did the love confession catch them both a little by surprise. Because it wasn’t what they planned, what they were looking for, even what they expected. But it’s beautiful because, like everything else in their lives, it is a choice.
Not to say it, per se, but to feel it. They’ve chosen to be together at every step of the journey. Choice. Even when perhaps it was best to let go, they’ve chosen each other. And I don’t think there’s anything more romantic than someone who chooses you, over and over again. In the good times, and in the bad times.
Shana: The thing about Stellaride is this: Kelly Severide is not always the smartest person on the planet, but boy, does he try for Stella Kidd. And together, they’ve managed to build this really beautiful, unbreakable thing. It’s not like neither of them has ever made a mistake—and probably not like they never will again…because, eh, human—but they just don’t let it ruin them.
They don’t just try to lay something pretty over the cracks and cover them up; they actually make sure to repair them instead. And that makes all the difference. It’s what makes them work so well…that and, to be honest, we should all have someone who looks at us with the literal embodiment of heart-eyes that Kelly’s always giving Stella. That’s the goal.
Hawkami, on the other hand…They’re their own thing. They started out as pure, undeniable chemistry (and, to be honest, who wouldn’t be hot for Hawkins. Let the record show he’s unfairly pretty). I don’t think either of them was looking for anything or expected to suddenly find themselves becoming something more, but here we obviously are.
I’m such a sucker for a spontaneous, unintended confession of love. Especially when that confession seems like it’s as much of a surprise to the person giving it as the one hearing it, which is what it kind of felt like with Violet here.
They have some obvious obstacles in their way because of work, but the fact that they’ve been trying to deal with those obstacles, even when they were using big, important words like “love,” is kind of a huge deal.
Honestly, these two ships are the best this show has had…I’m sure I’ve just pissed off everyone about every other ship, but I said what I said.
This week’s Chicago P.D. focuses on Kevin Atwater. And, although we didn’t get so much about ships, we’re curious, after all this time, do you still ship Kevin with Celeste? Do you think there may be something there in the long term?
Raquel: I think Celeste was good for Kevin. I want him to be happy and with her, I felt that he was. Relationships based on a lie should have everything lost from the second one – and it always is like that for me – but there is something that… that calls me to say that I wish it wasn’t that way with them in Chicago P.D.
Sometimes, a lie can be forgiven because the possibilities behind that forgiveness are good and hopeful, and worthwhile. Yeah, I wish Kevin would take the time to win back Celeste’s trust and show her who he really is so we can see what they can be together.
Lizzie: It’s hard because she hasn’t truly been around that much, and though I liked them together, what I truly ship is Kevin and happiness. He just …can’t seem to get there. Man, I miss Vanessa Rojas. Just throwing that out there. But yeah, I just …want Kevin to be happy.
Shana: That’s a no from me. A relationship built on a lie is not a relationship worth chasing. Kevin is probably my favorite character on this show and had some really great arcs when Eriq La Salle was involved, so I only want good things for him. But…the foundations of this particular potential “good” thing is rotten.
At Chicago Med, things are a bit…messy. Dylan seems to give us the only hint when it comes to ships, do you like this? Do you want Blake to come back to tidy up a bit? Do you think Will and Hannah could end up fitting together or should we just give up on the ships in this show?
Raquel: Dylan and I don’t know who boring me like I fall asleep every time they appear on my screen. And that this salt-free ship carries the weight of the main ship in Chicago Med, says a lot about how lost this show is.
I want Blake back because I love her and right now she’s the one best thing on this show. However, I’m quite concerned about her because, as everyone knows, Sarah Rafferty has a new project.
Blake won’t show up anymore? Will she be another woman replaced? It shouldn’t be because she doesn’t have a central or series regular role and the actress could juggle the two projects, but frankly, with the show’s track record in this regard, I’m not very hopeful that Blake will be back. She will surely be replaced with another redhead as if women were interchangeable cards. Bad message to the world, Chicago Med, bad message.
Lizzie: This is a worse ship for Dylan than Carmen, and that’s saying something. Other than that, I have no feelings.
I have many feelings for Sarah Rafferty, obvs, but I also just have …no idea where her storyline with Dr. Criminally Pretty is or could be going. She got another job, so is she being written out?
She doesn’t have to, she’s not a series regular, so presumably she could do both, but like …the revolving door on Chicago Med doesn’t truly inspire much confidence. And boy, if they set up another ship just to make it crash and burn on him just as he was starting to feel like he could be vulnerable, Dr. Marcel is going to go celibate or something. So, I kinda hope Sarah is staying …for me and for Dr. Marcel.
Will and Hannah, eh, that’s still a no for me, though they had a good moment this episode. They were honest, and they had an adult conversation, and hey maybe they can be friends. If the show manages to make that happen, then maybe, in the future, I can change my mind. For now, though, it’s a no.
Shana: I…honestly zone out when Dylan and Whatshername are on screen. The whole storyline just does nothing for me.
I want Dr. Blake back in general because I love Sarah Rafferty, but I also don’t want her brought back just to be a prop for Dr. Whywasheevenprettierinblackthisweek. I think, with Rafferty being attached to a new project, and with the way Dick Wolf shows—this one in particular—deal with women in general, I’m actually terrified of what’s going to be done to Dr. Blake.
Should I root for some sort of epic, tragic death just so there’s actual closure (unlike with Steve, still WTF)? Or…do I just hope she disappears and is replaced with a random new redhead? Eh. Whichever.
Will did a very sweet thing with the coffee maker—and might I point out, I’ve never been at a meeting with people who suddenly don’t do caffeine anymore just because they’re clean and sober.
I mean, I’m sure that happens for some people, but it’s…I’ve never seen it in my loved one’s over 19 years of being sober. However, I still think he and Hannah work best as friends and nothing else. If I refer back to my rotten foundation comment on Atwater at P.D., applies here, too, just for different reasons.
AND MIGHT I ADD IN A BIT OF A TANGENT HERE: Why, on Mariska Hargitay’s television airwaves, in the Year of Our Totally Fucking Absent Lord 2022, did Will Halstead and Hannah Asher get to have the “you hurt me by ghosting me after I thought we were close thing” when she’s been back five minutes, yet Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler haven’t hashed out their bullshit when this man has been back over a year?
While we’re at it: Will and Hannah barely had a relationship for five minutes, too…and she was gone a couple years…whereas Baldy was gone 10 years after a 13ish-year partnership? Dick Wolf Entertainment, besties and production overlords, WTF? Truly.
Apologies to the One Chicago stans, but it had to be said.
Now, let’s YOLO it up and randomly replace a mysteriously-disappeared Dr. Blake with Suddenly-Ginger Natalie Manning for some real chaos. We may as well at this point. Women are either easy substitutes for one another or need to be punished for being BAMFs anyway.
One Chicago airs Wednesdays on NBC.
