Chicago Fire “Fog of War” Spoilers Ahead
What is perfection? In short, the answer is always personal. It’s personal to me, personal to you, and personal for Kelly Severide and Stella Kidd. However, what cannot be defined by a personal definition of perfection is sloppy writing. Chicago Fire is still the best in the One Chicago universe because the series understands its characters enough to allow them opportunities to grow when necessary. Where last week’s episode, “Back With a Bang,” intrinsically addresses burnout, Chicago Fire “Fog of War” takes a few steps back by forgetting the path these characters were once on.
There’s nothing critical to be said about how lovely it is to know that Sylvie and Matt continue to grow strong even while they’re physically apart. It’s refreshing, instead, to know that the promises they made to each other back in “Two Hundred” haven’t faltered. They’re in this for the long haul, and they’re committed to making it work. It’s also pleasant to see Sylvie spend time with her baby-sister and have Violet come along with them, proving thus, that the female friendships on this show are one of its strengths.
I’m not one to pose scruples with necessary drama. Romance in the real and fictional worlds requires trouble to strengthen both parties. But there’s a colossal difference between organic perils and fabricated ones. There’s also the matter of remembering that both parties have issues. The biggest problem I have with Chicago Fire’s treatment of Stella and Kelly’s relationship is that right now, the writing is forgetting how many times he’s put her through hell.
Kelly says she’s the one who won’t let it go when he’s the one who’s been acting bizarre this entire time. If he needs time, that’s perfectly fine, but he isn’t vocalizing that he’s merely putting up a front where he says everything is okay when it isn’t. He has his walls up, and though it’s entirely understandable, the writing needs to remember that transparency matters more than drama here. He needs to make it clear that something’s off, but it’s no longer his doubts about Stella wanting him, it’s a front that he can’t get past because though his words say one thing, his behavior says another.
Kelly and Stella are the couple on this series—we know they’ll be fine, we know they’re going to make it through, but it still isn’t fun to see what’s lingering without concrete words as to why. Maybe Stella never needed the same amount of time to process as he does, but at the very least, she was honest about it, and that’s what matters.
Stella Kidd is perfect in her own right, and she is absolutely perfect for Kelly Severide, so here’s to hoping that final scene with them puts an end to the miscommunication, and here’s to hoping there’s no drama with Seager either. No one wants that.
I never want to hear Stella Kidd apologize again because she feels she needs to. Once was indeed enough because her transparency at that moment was perfectly equipped with the contents of her heart, but I don’t blame her for feeling like she needs to repeat it because Kelly is continuing to be cross with her. Something within Kelly seems to finally snap when she says that she wants to be the perfect one for him, and it looks as though he gets it. It seems as though they’re back on the right path without doubts or hesitations, remembering why they want to marry each other in the first place. They’re each other’s safe space—they’ve always been and will be, and onward should equate to ceaselessly allowing one another more opportunities to be transparent.
In love, it’s important to feel everything that’s necessary. It’s important to vocalize hardships, and it’s essential to come out of it knowing you are in a better place than where you began. Despite how messy some of this drama has been, it could lead to this exceptional place where their love is even stronger, so long as they learn from this moment.
What are your thoughts on Chicago Fire “Fog of War?” Let us know in the comments below.