Chicago Fire Review: The White Whale (Season 7 Episode 21)
The meaningful and interesting part of Chicago Fire Season 7 Episode 21, “The White Whale,” has nothing to do with Kelly’s investigation or the budding romance (?) between Casey and Brett.
Instead, it’s the retirement celebration of a fellow firefighter, Russ LaPointe, and what’s going on with him beneath the surface.
He’s a beloved firefighter, aside from Mouch’s beef with him, and on the outside, he seems okay at first. That is until he laughs through the grim story of seeing a woman who had been skinned alive. It’s a reminder that this job takes an emotional toll.
Then he surprises Mouch by apologizing to him and giving him the medal Mouch had hoped to win back in the day.
The signs are subtle, but they’re there, and the first person to realize it is Ritter, who has seen them first hand. LaPointe is considering taking his own life.
It’s a really worthwhile story to show, because it would be easy to forget the kinds of things our first responders deal with on a regular basis. In fact, I’d like to see more of this kind of thing on Chicago Fire. We still haven’t circled back to Otis’s PTSD, which Dr. Charles tried to help him with on the crossover earlier this season.
Heck, even Casey already seems to have moved on just fine now from having a gun pointed at him. All of these things could be connected with just a little more follow through.
But, back to this episode in particular, the good news is that the firehouse family is just that — a family. It’s not just one or two people who show up to check on LaPointe and get him the help he needs. It’s a whole group, and it’s a really beautiful scene to watch.
The trauma center is something I really do hope the show returns to.
Elsewhere on the episode is Kelly’s investigation, which gets dangerous pretty quickly. The details of this whole thing feel a bit messy if you ask me, but I do like that Kelly is having the chance to finish something his father started. It’s not over yet, but now they at least know who the arsonist is.
There’s also a close call with her next target, which is a church full of people. It’s only put to a stop, and just in time, because Kelly figures out that’s what’s next on her list.
As for Kelly himself, his focus on this makes perfect sense to me, and it’s fitting with his character. What’s not fitting is his outburst to the chief. That all falls away pretty quickly, but it’s one of those moments that feels like it comes out of nowhere — a problem Chicago Fire seems to be having a lot lately.
I won’t spend a lot of time on the romance that’s brewing between Casey and Brett, because I don’t have much new to say beyond what I mentioned in my review of Chicago Fire Season 7 Episode 20, “Try Like Hell.”
I still like the concept of these two together because their characters seem like they would fit together really well, but the lead up we’re getting feels awkward and forced.
I’m just not buying it, and I think it’s because it’s all starting to feel a bit heavy handed. Let it burn a little slower, and it might just work, but at the moment, it’s not.
What did you think of this episode of Chicago Fire? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
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Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.