‘Chicago Fire’ 11×22 Review: “Red Waterfall”

Chicago Fire 11×22 “Red Waterfall” is a very Chicago Fire season finale, in that there’s a cliffhanger that leaves us worried about one member of this firehouse – the kind that comes out of nowhere, some heartfelt conversations, this family coming through for one of their own, and of course, there are some big moments for the ships of the show (yes, there is no doubt Brettsey is exactly that), because it couldn’t be a finale without that.

The episode starts with doubt for Stellaride, and ends up with hope – as it leaves the door open for Taylor Kinney’s eventual return. They could have pulled an Upstead (and boy, does it feel like a knife to the heart that that term can be used as a synonym for ghosting your wife), but they didn’t. Instead, Kelly picks up the phone, and Stella doesn’t just accept his excuses but gets on a plane to get her husband back. Because when you love someone, you give it everything you have.

Stellaride is the foundation

Stellaride remains the bedrock of this show – and Taylor Kinney’s return is still essential. Whatever this show looks like in Season 12 depends on Kelly Severide. But just for a moment, imagine that Stella can get him back. Imagine that whatever issues he was having are issues that have to be worked through on screen. They will still not make much sense, but we’ll take seeing the work. We’ll take the conversations. We’ll take the Stellaride we missed out on at the end of Season 11.

The foundation of this show — of this couple, has been that. Communication. Working through stuff where we can see them. Not in always knowing how to handle problems, but in handling them together. Talking through what’s going on with each other, even if it doesn’t involve the other person, because that’s a partnership. We want that again. And we would love for a reason that made even a little bit of sense for why Severide would stay away. We’re not sure what it could be at this point, but we’ll take that, please.

And we will also take the little moments we missed out on with Stella and other characters that could have benefited from Kelly being there. Or the little moments of Kelly and other characters that could have benefited from Stella being there. And, now if, you add Casey to the equation …well, that makes it even better. Because we are adding Casey to the equation, at least temporarily, right?

Right?

That’s gotta be a yes

We didn’t get an answer to the proposal, but there should really be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the answer is yes. Everything the show has been doing in the past few years has been leading here. And though, in many ways, this feels like a storyline One Chicago has done quite a few times before (original they are not), that doesn’t mean there isn’t something incredibly satisfying for fans about seeing the payoff.

For Brett, the pieces of the puzzle make sense – and even if they don’t to us, the truth is, they only really have to make sense to her. It both feels absurdly sudden and like sometimes things click in the perfect way, at the perfect time. Marriage and motherhood don’t have to be everyone’s dream, but that doesn’t mean they cannot be someone’s dream at one particular point in time. And even if they weren’t your dream yesterday, that doesn’t mean they can’t be your dream tomorrow.

The same goes for Matt, though I will argue this has been his dream all along. He’s always wanted the family. He’s always wanted this happily ever after. Matt Casey’s perfect has never been being the hero, just being a father and a husband. Being there for someone. For Brett. That’s why he jumps at the chance (way too fast, Matt, my man, explanations are needed). And though the edit attempts to leave this at a cliffhanger, as I said before, is there really any doubt?

She’s gonna say yes. And whether that means she and Casey are going to leave the show (likely), or going to recur, or going to show up to just say hi to a returning Severide in the premiere, either way, the hiatus looks like one of promise for Chicago Fire, at least ship-wise. And that’s more than we can usually say.

Why do we always have to worry?

But, because this show never wants us to spend a hiatus without worrying, there’s Mouch. And first of all, rude that I gotta go into the hiatus worrying that he’s going to bleed out and Trudy isn’t even around. But also, rude that I gotta go into the hiatus thinking he’s going to bleed out at all. Mouch! The one I thought was safe. Casey, Stella and Carver were getting shot at! Directly! And yet it’s Mouch that ends up bleeding out. How is that fair?

On the surface, it might seem like Mouch isn’t such an important character. A casual viewer might think, well, if the ships are safe, Mouch is someone we could afford to lose. That isn’t the case. Mouch is part of the soul of Chicago Fire. This show is about family – found family, and even though characters like Severide and Stella are at the center of what makes it work, the foundation is made up of Boden, Mouch, Herrmann, Cap, Tony, Ritter, Gallo …the show doesn’t work without them either. And though they are often just the B or even the C plot in the episodes, to the point where I will often go through entire reviews without getting to discuss their storylines, they make the show what it is. And going into Season 11, Chicago Fire cannot really afford to lose more characters we love.

So please, bring Severide back. Keep Mouch safe. Pay writers what they deserve. And we’ll see each other for Season 12.

Things I think I think:

• More scenes with the women of Chicago Fire, please. We haven’t had nearly enough.
• It was …fine? FINE?
• WTF is up with this Severide storyline?
• Drama for the sake of drama.
• “You are going to experience great pain very soon.”
• Who says that? No, seriously, who says that?
• Stella, did you have to bring up Benny? DID YOU?
• I did like that you went to Boden, though.
• At least the Violet and Carver thing didn’t just disappear. I like continuity.
• I kinda like the Sylvie and Stella convo, it’s real.
• LOL, One Chicago writers really do have one playbook.
• This scene, with everyone speaking on behalf of Sylvie, is kinda amazing.
• JULIA!
• Okay, bye Dylan. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
• “All due respect, I don’t answer to you anymore.”
• GALLO.
• CARVER.
• Man, the firefighters are more useful than the cops.
• No, Mouch.
• No.
• Kylieeeeeeeeee.
• “Going to get my husband and bring him back to Chicago.”
• Hell yeah.
• WHERE IS TRUDY?
• WHERE?!!??!!?
• Somewhere on that PD finale where I bet no one will even mention Mouch, because what is coherency…
• I would have started with, btw, I am single, and ALSO, would you marry me? Just saying.
• They really, really don’t give much thought to the optics of some of the storytelling decisions for their POC characters vs their white characters, and it shows.
• Worth remembering that decisions about the final cuts of this episode (and likewise, the PD finale) were made without showrunners/writers’ input, as the WGA strike started before this episode was locked.

Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago Fire 11×22 “Red Waterfall”? Share with us in the comments below!

Chicago Fire aired Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.