Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 17 ‘A Beast Like This’ feels like the piece of the puzzle we didn’t know was missing for the Stellaride baby plot that has been hanging over us for what feels like seasons. Because, in so many ways, Kelly and Stella were always meant to be parents. Even through the fear and the doubts. But perhaps they aren’t meant to be parents to a baby. At least, not yet. Maybe they were always meant to start off this way, mirroring Stella’s childhood.
That doesn’t mean Natalie is necessarily where that storyline is leading for them. But it does feel like the show is pointing in a different direction than what had been set up for them before, just as the show continues to dig in on exactly the same thing for Pascal. And it’s likely we’re going to get the resolution to both these things before the season ends. Pascal is going dark. Stella and Kelly are going to get their kid.
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A FAMILY OF… THREE?
From the moment this girl who genuinely looks up to Stella shows up at the Firehouse, it feels like the show is pointing Stella and Kelly in a new direction, one that doesn’t involve a baby. Perhaps we’ve just watched too much TV, but wouldn’t they be great parents to a teenager? And this doesn’t even mean they couldn’t adopt a baby in the future!
Especially because it feels like both Kelly and Stella would be really good at understanding where this girl is coming from. They both know what it’s like to feel unwanted. Being a teenager is hard, but as Herrman said, Stella has some experience with Girls on Fire. Kelly has less, but well, he already knows what he should not do. That’s something.
But what they have is love. For each other, and love to give. They want to start a family, and it feels like this is a great way that doesn’t really affect the stories the show would be able to tell. A baby doesn’t really take Stella out of commission with a pregnancy, but it still disrupts the stories the show is able to tell. A teenager doesn’t. In fact, a teenager might allow this show to tell some truly interesting stories and bring Kelly and Stella’s pasts back in a way Chicago Fire hasn’t before. I’m in for this possibility. I really am. At least for now. I still think they’d be great parents to a baby, and I would like to see that in the future.
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NO, BUT WE TRULY DON’T KNOW DOM PASCAL
I feel like I have been more than generous with Dom Pascal. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, even though he wasn’t Boden, and I was very clear he was never gonna be. In fact, I gave him the benefit of the doubt even though I knew he was likely not gonna even come close to Herrmann. But at this point, I feel like we’ve wasted a season on a character we still don’t know really well, and that hasn’t given us enough to be worth the time we have spent on him.
What has Pascal brought to Firehouse 51? What essential storylines has he given us? In what way has he made the other characters better or impacted them that other characters couldn’t have? All he’s done is been an obstacle to Herrmann becoming Chief too quickly, which was kind of okay for a while, but at this point, he’s more than overstayed his welcome. It’s hard to understand why anyone liked him, and even in the middle of his grief, it’s hard to empathize with him. And though Dermot Mulroney is a very good actor, he’s wasted on a grumpy, unlikeable character that doesn’t add much to Firehouse 51 or Chicago Fire.
Truly, at this point, the best the show could do is cut their losses and write him off. The experiment didn’t work, and Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 17 ‘A Beast Like This’ proves that. No more Dom Pascal, please.
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Things I think I think:
- Sure, sure, this is going to stay totally platonic. I believe it.
- “Why are you so much better at waiting than I am?”
- The friendship between Violet and Lizzie is something so important to me.
- Why is Pascal still so weird about his DEAD WIFE? Like, his entire vibe is off to me.
- Is there like, no one in charge at the CFD that can take a look at Pascal and be like, this man should not be back at work?
- This girl being so excited at Stella is me at Stella.
- Eh, Violet, I think the Flynn thing is dead.
- Hearing Damon call Herrmann Captain made me feel warm and fuzzy.
- Tough love from Stella? I love it.
- Novak and Pascal is another kinda weird thing, honestly. It’s been weird from the beginning!
- The way Severide looks at Stella will never not make me swoon.
- Stella talking about everything with Kelly. My favorite coupleeee.
- “For the record, the waiting has been getting to me too.”
- Damon just doesn’t feel like he belongs yet.
- I like how thorough Violet is.
- CARVER IS COMING BACK.
- Thank the Lord.
- Pascal is literally packing up his wife’s things and I do not care.
- OMG the four year old was Natalie.
- Allow me to cry.
- I’m crying.
- That picture!!!
- No, this has to happen now. I need it.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 17 ‘A Beast Like This’? Share with us in the comments below! And if you have your own opinion on the show, leave a review/rating on our Chicago Fire hub!
Chicago Fire airs on Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
Another teenage adoption? First Darden boys, than Javi… why? Just give them a baby. They wants a baby. We all want a baby.
There is a big big NO from me