Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
If we’re being honest, Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 7 didn’t answer as many questions as we might have hoped.
We still don’t know what happened with Pascal in Miami, Lizzie’s emotions about her new passion project suggest that it might be more personal than she’s letting on, and the ongoing dirty cop storyline isn’t exactly resolved.
But we did get quite a few good character scenes, and no matter what is going on, this show always does those well.
Unfortunately, this episode — much like the last few — started with a Carver/Tori scene.
It’s no secret that this particular relationship didn’t exactly resonate with fans, but I don’t think it was ever supposed to.
We now know that the relationship started as a result of a trauma bond, which might explain the toxicity between Carver and Tori.
Obviously, Carver has been going through it since Chicago Fire Season 12 Episode 13, when he dropped an “I love you” bomb on Violet and then left the state. Classic.
To his credit, Stella’s stern lecture seems to have sunk in, and now he’s focused on work.
At least, he’s trying to be.
By the end of the hour, Tori’s things were cleared out of Carver’s closet and a proverbial nail was driven into the Carver/Tori coffin.
But why Carver stuck it out for as long as he did, even while the relationship was clearly impacting his career, will forever remain a mystery.
In other relationship news, Violet finally let her guard down with Flynn in this episode!
Of course, in true Violet fashion, she did it in an awkward and potentially inappropriate way, but hey.
We’re proud of our girl for putting her cards on the table.
Attending a funeral together as a date may be a little strange, but trauma-dumping about your ex dying in front of you on a date is a little strange, too.
Maybe Flynn and Violet really are a great match.
To nobody’s surprise, the episode was filled to the brim with examples of why Chicago Fire’s friendships are some of the best on TV.
Cruz and Ritter both took time to encourage Mouch, who spent the hour stressing about his upcoming lieutenant’s exam.
Cruz missed the mark a bit, sure, but by the end of the episode he’d figured out what Mouch needed to hear from him.
Violet stood by Lizzie and offered support and encouragement as she fought through red tape to bring a whole blood program to the ambo.
Even Severide and Pascal bounced off each other while working their way through an ongoing arson investigation.
Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t know if I trust Pascal.
But I can’t deny that he and Severide are getting closer.
Severide is a great guy and a good friend, but the fact that he was willing to stay late at work to help Pascal with paperwork is pretty meaningful.
My concern is that Pascal has something shady up his sleeve, and wants to keep Severide close because he knows that’s his best chance of flying under the radar.
Not to be a total conspiracy theorist, but what if that leads to Severide getting hurt somehow?
With the Stellaride baby topic still simmering on the back burner, a near-death experience for Kelly would make for a dramatic storyline leading into a pregnancy.
Given all the curveballs this show has thrown at us over the years, it wouldn’t even be the most shocking thing to happen to a happy couple.
As for the case itself, it almost looked like a resolution was on its way.
Multi-episode storylines are relatively rare for Chicago Fire, so I can’t say I expected the Bishop-dirty-cop thing to last this long.
Bishop may be on his way to jail for now, and Pascal seems to think that is good news for his family (and Severide’s), but something is missing.
There’s no chance Bishop doesn’t have multiple people working behind the scenes, so his absence doesn’t mean much to me.
You don’t make the kind of threats that Bishop made, especially to people you know are well connected, if you can’t follow through with them.
If anything, Pascal’s confidence that Bishop can’t hurt anyone anymore raises my hackles even more.
Exactly what is our mysterious new chief hiding?
What happened in Miami, Pascal?!
Here’s hoping we get a flashback episode at some point, because I’m going to need more than just a quick explanation after all this buildup.
Bits and Bobs
Stella has been putting on her hardass hat more often lately, and I love watching her put the men of 51 in their place when they’re fooling around.
Lizzie’s ponytail will always be iconic, and we got to see her let her hair down in this episode. Turns out, she’s just gorgeous either way.
Why exactly does Severide have cigars stashed in his locker?
I will never get tired of seeing my favorite bestie trio in scenes together. Lizzie, Violet, and Ritter, you will always be famous.
Do the powers that be know that they are criminally underutilizing KaDee Strickland?
Ritter having Chicago P.D.‘s Dwayne saved as “hot cop” in his phone until things got serious is honestly such a vibe.
Next week’s episode promises to be another action-and-drama-packed hour, so don’t miss it!
Given that it will be the last episode before a lengthy winter hiatus, we can probably bank on a cliffhanger or two.
In the meantime, let’s talk — let me know what you thought about the episode in the comments, and rate it below!
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
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