SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Chicago Fire Season 15, Episode 2.
Episode 2 of Chicago Fire Season 15 is called “Rattle the Cage,” and boy, is everybody rattled. There are moments where this episode makes Firehouse 51 look like high school. And then the NBC show mixes in a call of the week that is incredibly depressing. But hopefully, this whole thing just paves the way for future character growth.
The main plotline is that newly minted Captain Kelly Severide gets self-conscious when he’s told that people at headquarters are questioning his ability to run the firehouse—particularly when it comes to his wife. Fans have every right to roll their eyes, because Severide and Stella Kidd’s alleged conflict of interest has been plot fodder multiple times before. Having someone in authority think the two of them can’t work together because they’re romantically involved is such a tired plot point. They’ve proven their professionalism by now, and Stella in particular has done enough to be recognized by the Chicago Fire Department brass before. Remember when she got picked for that prestigious leadership conference in Season 8? That may have been years ago, but she should have a pretty good reputation at this point.
The questioning of Severide, conversely, isn’t entirely unfounded given that his reputation runs in the opposite direction. He’s great at his job, but he’s also well known for going rogue. While he’s matured in the last few seasons, he’s done enough risky things in the past and Firehouse 51 is prominent enough that it makes sense people would be skeptical of him as Captain. It’s not just his relationship with Stella that’s in question, but that should be a minor worry compared to the fact that this is a guy who once rode on top of a stolen fire truck. And he shows how unprepared he is for command when he fights with Stella over her decision to send Sal Vasquez home early; the argument between them could’ve been written better. The point is for him to be wrong—but it doesn’t seem like it gets there naturally. Instead, it comes across as almost petty. The scene in which he apologizes to Stella later feels much more like Severide. “Rattle the Cage” is proof of what Dom Pascal was saying to Kelly: that being a good firefighter doesn’t necessarily make him a good captain.
Vasquez and candidate Marcus Burke (new series regular Da’Vinchi) also feel like they’re acting like teenagers here. Vasquez saves Burke from being injured on a call, which Burke takes as Vasquez showing him up. This turns into a physical fight between the two in the locker room—which Vasquez takes the fall for. And it only gets more cringe-worthy from there: it’s laughable when Burke tells fellow candidate McCaffrey that Vasquez has it out for him. Of course it’s a vendetta; it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that your ego led to a paramedic being hit by a car. At least that scene also reveals more about McCaffrey (played by Andrew Daddario from Shadowhunters). Even when Burke tries to thank Vasquez for covering for him, it just turns into another argument. Vasquez is right when he says Burke has the recipe for disaster, but they both need to sit down and shut up.
In the B-story, paramedics Violet Mikami and Lizzie Novak help an upset woman named Anita, who’s clearly going through a mental health crisis. The short version of this storyline is that Anita is being held far longer than necessary at a mental health facility that treats its patients as profit sources. The only good thing about this story is that it allows for a guest appearance by Oliver Platt from Chicago Med, as Violet and Novak ask Dr. Daniel Charles for advice. (Shoutout to Med, as the hospital appeared in both Fire and Chicago PD this week.) While Violet and Novak are able to get Anita to Chicago Med like Violet promised, so the plot has a happy ending, the whole audience is Novak at the end. This subplot is depressing to think about. It’s the dramatic version of the King of the Hill episode “Bill’s House,” and the facility director Novak and Violet argue with may as well be twirling his evil mustache.
It also is jarring to interrupt the paramedics’ serious talk about how many “other Anitas” there might be with a reminder that reporter Jacob is likely Violet’s next love interest. Perhaps the script is trying to break the depression with something more light-hearted, but it doesn’t work. It feels like breaking up a scene that really had something to say with something that could’ve waited another week. Plus, Jacob is trying too hard.
Speaking of trying too hard, Chicago Fire‘s comedic subplot about Mouch being contracted to do a book reading of his hit romance novel feels like someone in the writers’ room realized this episode needed a funny subplot and tossed one in quickly. As soon as the subplot even begins, fans know that Mouch will end up doing the public appearance himself. Despite the best efforts of Christian Stolte and David Eigenberg, the C-story is little more than a time filler.
Chicago Fire has done better than “Rattle the Cage,” both in terms of characterization and plot. It’s obvious what themes Season 15, Episode 2 wants to carry forward, namely Severide’s leadership issues and the rivalry between Burke and Vasquez. But large parts of this episode just feel so on the nose, and there’s not really that attention-grabbing moment that makes an episode stick in the viewers’ memory. Maybe with some of the vitriol out of the way, Episode 3 will be better.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
