Chicago Fire Season 14, Episode 1, “Kicking Down Doors,” is a surprisingly emotional episode that kicks off with one big moment and ends with another, on two very different sides of the emotional scale. Not at all shocking for an episode that had to give us answers about Carver, Ritter, and Damon, and that had to establish the next steps for Stellaride. It’s not my favorite episode of the show; some answers fall way short, and others I could have done without, not to mention some gimmicks that are waaay overdone, but as always, some of the stuff really works, particularly acting-wise.
This is especially true when it comes to some of the acting choices from people like Miranda Rae Mayo, Taylor Kinney, and, surprisingly, Joe Minoso. I remain as baffled and frustrated about Pascal as I was most of last season, and my general feeling about Sal Vasquez is …well, wait and see, but overall, this season premiere gives us a lot to work with going into the season.
Here are some teasers about what to expect in the Chicago Fire Season 14 premiere:
- Miranda Rae Mayo, the actor that you are. Taylor Kinney, the scene partner that you can be. I’ve loved them together every second, and it doesn’t seem like that’s changing in this upcoming storyline.
- A lot of whether you enjoy the changes to this upcoming season might hinge on whether you buy into Sal Vasquez, honestly. Brandon Larracuente is doing a good job of selling it, but I don’t know yet.
- Unsurprisingly, there’s already a strong sense of an admin storyline to this season, and this could be hit or miss depending on how they handle it.
- We get answers on Carver. We get answers on Ritter. We get answers on Damon. Whether those answers are satisfying or not, that’ll be up to you to decide.
- Violet Mikami is probably the most useful character on this show. And one of the best ones.
- I still don’t know what to think about Chief Pascal, if I’m being perfectly honest. I should probably know what to think about Chief Pascal at this point.
- Good Joe Cruz episode. We were all Joe this episode. Also felt like I related to Mouch so very much.
- Great to see an old familiar face from The X-Files on this one, even if I’m not yet sure if we’re supposed to like her. I always kinda default to liking her, though. Sue me.
- Novak feels like the kind of character who has chemistry with everyone. That’s great and bad, lol.
- There’s one moment of Stella being so badass this episode that I just… man, I love Stella Kidd. No one’s surprised I wrote down those words.
Are you excited for Chicago Fire Season 14, Episode 1 “Kicking Down Doors”? Share with us in the comments below!
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays on NBC.
I agree with most of your takes on this. I do like Pascal as a character though. I think they made a smart and deliberate decision to not try and make him similar to Boden. The only downside is, I did want to see Herman as Chief. It would have been a nice arc for his character as he has become less comic relief and more serious in recent seasons, though Herman losing his temper and going off on one of his rants is always a possibility. My big concern affecting all of One Chicago, is Mouch and Trudy. One Chicago is now cost conscious. They have been telegraphing that Mouch is approaching retirement age, that the CFD is making budget cuts and unfortunately Trudy’s role on PD has been greatly reduced. I was a little disappointed that Cook went from patrol to Intelligence as quickly as she did, I was hoping for a little more of the old dynamic with Trudy being Trudy and seeing her run patrol through Cook for a few episodes, but I digress. Based on both Mouch and Trudy being close to retirement age and Trudy’s declining role on PD, I could see One Chicago deciding it’s time for them to retire.