Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 20 ‘Cut Me Open‘ is an episode about Stellaride. Other things are going on in the hour, of course, and the hour also serves as a great showcase for Herrmann’s leadership, which no one other than Herrmann has ever doubted. But the hour is mostly about how well Kelly and Stella work together, in good times and bad times.
“We got this, Stella,” Kelly tells Stella at the beginning of the episode, a twist on his usual “You got this, Stella,” catchphrase, and does it come true in the hour. Because ‘Cut Me Open’ is about how good they are at tackling difficult situations together. This should, of course, not be surprising for two people who run into literal fires together, but sometimes, metaphorical fires are harder than literal fires. Particularly for people trained for literal fires.
But Kelly and Stella have become very good partners outside of the job, as well. And this hasn’t just been luck. They’ve put in the work, little by little. And this episode is a culmination of that. Even when one jumps in without a parachute, the other is there to catch them. That’s what partnership is. Always being there to catch each other. Always having each other’s backs.
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WHAT IS A FAMILY?
Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 20 ‘Cut Me Open’ starts laying the foundation of how good Kelly and Stella are going to be at being parents long before we get any resolution on whether they will actually walk out of Chicago Med with a baby. And by the end of the episode, when they heartbreakingly don’t get to go home with the baby, the episode still managed to reinforce something that has just been an abstract concept.
We’ve wanted them to have a baby. We’ve known, because we know them as people and we know the couple they are, that they were going to be good parents. But it’s one thing to know and another thing to see it. We knew. Now we know. Now we’ve seen it. So now, when we say we want Stellaride to be parents, when we say we need them to be parents, it’s another thing. Because now this storyline that felt like a nice next step for them feels like not just that, but like the thing that needs to happen next.
How the show goes from here, we don’t know. There are only two episodes left. But if ‘Cut Me Open’ showed us something is that Stella Kidd is already a mom. Kelly Severide is already a dad. And now, well… now they’ve pretty much got everything they need to welcome that baby, thanks to their Firehouse 51 family. Now all they need is the baby. So, how about that for a season finale, Chicago Fire?
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Things I think I think:
- A Stellaride episode is already my favorite episode.
- “Yes, you are.” Severide sounds so sure.
- “Stella, we got this,” instead of “Stella, you got this.” I’M GONNA CRY.
- Pascal is out. Violet and Lizzie are out.
- An audit today?!
- So glad to see Hannah.
- A LOT OF PRESSURE.
- Stella is gonna be such a good mom.
- Honestly, there’s no need to cut characters, we can just pretend they’re doing different things every three episodes. I’ll suspend disbelief!
- Stella kinda made the decision without asking Kelly there.
- “I just need to know that we’re in this together.”
- “Our track record has been pretty good when it comes to curveballs.”
- Love Damon keeps checking in on Kelly, truly.
- BABY BOY. He’s so big and so pretty, and I’m actually so glad they didn’t give him to Stella to hold if she’s not gonna get to keep him. That would have broken me.
- Saving the dude is gonna get them a good score on the audit, I’m sure.
- I had a bad feeling from the trailer, and I hate that I was right.
- Stella’s pain hurts me.
- Budget cuts everywhere! NBC be killing me.
- “Us old-timers are not going anywhere.”
- You promise, Mouch?
- I’m so glad Kelly told Damon, because imagine if they’d moved all of that into the house and then they’d seen it. I’m gonna cry.
- That Hannah and Stella hug. “I’m so glad it was you.” We love that we get mini-crossovers again.
- “It’s enough.” I get the feeling, I do. But it just hurts.
- The focus on the hands. And the two of them walking out of the hospital together. MY FEELINGS HAVE FEELINGS.
- I love Stellaride and that’s why this episode made me emotional, but this episode would actually be a better episode if the One Chicago franchise didn’t try to emotionally manipulate us with babies and pregnancy once every 0.5 seasons. I said what I said.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 20 ‘Cut Me Open’? 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.
