Chicago Fire Season 12 Episode 7 Review: Red Flag

Uh, no.

Who didn’t know as soon as Chief Robinson was introduced that she was going to be trouble?

Well, Chicago Fire Season 12 Episode 7 just proved it.

What do all of you do in your lives?

Do you make it your business to tear down any and everything that you don’t understand, agree with, or condone, no matter who it affects?

I sure as hell hope not. It’s such a miserable place to be, and it’s been a guiding light of this series since Chicago Fire Season 1.

Well before we knew this place like the backs of our hands, people had been trying to destroy it. It could be ironic that first responders and rescuers are always under attack, but instead, it’s just annoying.

It’s natural to revisit storylines on long-running shows, but the number of times people have infiltrated Firehouse 51 to hurry along its demise is alarming.

There are three-alarm fires, and then there are the Firehouse 51 naysayers.

Jealous much?

These storylines highlight childish people who snarl and work underhandedly to achieve their nefarious goals. The worst part about “Red Flag” was that it came at us on two fronts.

Well, I lied. Even worse than the two-fronted assault was that the characters at the core of them were buffoons.

Look, we always knew that when Sylvie Brett left, Violet would spend a good deal of time suffering as a result. Nobody ever gets a good partner when their old departs. That would be too normal.

Normal people go to work and just have a day. Things happen. They may go your way or they may not, but you can generally rest assured that nobody is out to get you.

Chief Robinson is cartoonish in her deception and desire to destroy Firehouse 51. In what world wouldn’t one chief give another a heads-up about a new employee? Any new employee, let alone one who is tasked with saving lives!

When Robinson did visit Boden far too late to be of any service, her face distorted when she attempted a smile, one engaging enough to be found in Smile 2, coming this fall.

There wasn’t a hint of camaraderie or truth behind that smile, and it made me sick. She was practically gleeful at treating her fellow Chief with such disdain.

So who in the hell is she?

Robinson has been in for Ambo 61 since we first got wind of her on Chicago Fire Season 12 Episode 3. I thought it may have been because Sylvie and Violet were chasing bad guys instead of doing their job, but there has to be more to it than that.

The way she’s playing it, it’s as if she has it out for the whole of Chicago Fire.

Why would you risk lives by toying with medics?

Braying that she wants the very best for the CFD makes no sense. She pulled a very green medic from the burbs to partner with Violet her first time out at PIC.

There’s no way she missed the signs of the boys’ network that must have been the Greenview Fire Department. As a woman, that’s not something you overlook.

You wouldn’t want anyone to reconsider bringing on a man’s man to a job where you, a woman, are in control, but if you spot it, you need to be aware and accommodate the behavior.

Honestly, I considered that it was all a mistake and that Danny might have been Dani, and Violet and Stella are so used to things going wrong that they misread Lennox’s intentions.

Silly me!

Lennox is both disrespectful and overly verbose. Calling out Violet as “new” on scene was callous and rude and could have cost a man his life.

If his wife had been of a mind, she could have demanded Violet stop treatment. Then what would have happened?

By the end of the hour, it seemed like Lennox was brought in specifically by Robinson to make waves. Why else would he open up with Carver and begin bad-mouthing his coworkers?

Sure, it’s not the first time Carver has taken that role, but nothing about him screams confidante.

We also had the nitwits from the Chicago PD hoping to abscond with drug money and probably hoping no nail its disappearance on a teenage girl in the process.

Severide is always in protection mode and handled the issue well, but that whole story was bordering on farce.

Apologies to the fellows playing the CPD officers, but they were very out of place. Perhaps that’s how the scripts were written. Or perhaps the well of talent in Chicago is finally drying up after over 25 full seasons of content created without too many familiar faces.

As a teenager caught in an impossible situation, Maya was also off-kilter. Someone was trying to kill her on a city street, and she didn’t make a peep. Her facial expression never changed.

Look, I love the Chicago universe, but care needs to be taken so that too many ludicrous, over-the-top stories don’t occur at once.

You might think that means Mouch’s antics with the parking ticket. Nope. That’s what we expect — lighthearted and playful scenes to provide levity for the more terrifying scenes of fires and spiders choking the life out of people.

But when what is supposed to be a dramatic scene is filled with characters doing their best Snidely Whiplash impressions, then they need to be called out.

How the show would recover after losing Gallo and Brett was a concern, and that’s not going away any time soon.

The strange look on Ritter’s face as he hid his new guy from view was weird. It seemed strange that all of a sudden, he was worried about his sexuality, so it was a relief that it was a little different than that.

Chippy, I’m not secretly gay. I’m secretly dating a cop.

Ritter

But to use the show’s title, the guy going through Ritter’s wallet and even looking at the dates on his receipts was a “Red Flag.”

We need a little romance, so here’s hoping the guy turns out to be a good catch and not another Snidley in disguise. We have enough dark characters lurking around. Bring on the joy!

I guess the good news is that we are already halfway done with Chicago Fire Season 12, so we don’t have to strap in for too rough of a ride as the forces of darkness try to close Firehouse 51.

But I have to ask: do you enjoy these repeated storylines?

Would you like just once for a new character to arrive without a shadow of doubt following them?

What’s next for 51?

Hit the comments, and share your thoughts!

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Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.