Chicago Fire Review: Try Like Hell (Season 7 Episode 20)
One of the things that often sets Chicago Fire apart, not only from other dramas but from its spinoffs as well, is its ability to have fun and strike a lighter tone.
The everyday life of the firefighters and the low stakes antics make it a fun watch. We get that with Chicago Fire Season 7 Episode 20, “Try Like Hell,” but that’s also in contrast to an arson case that Kelly finds himself deeply involved with.
Oh, and then there’s a new potential couple on the horizon.
It’s all fine and it’s entertaining, but it does feel like we’re going around in circles a bit. The idea that one of the firefighters becomes invested in an arson case and spends personal time working on it isn’t new on this show. Neither is a feud between firehouses.
Both of those things are intriguing in their own ways, but it makes things feel like they’re running together a bit.
The feud over the nozzle definitely does offer some humor, especially with Stella’s excitement over planning a caper to return the nozzle the group was so certain at first they didn’t have that Chief Boden vouched for them.
When they’re caught by the floater, they’re so focused on Boden not finding out that they’re willing to try to get the guy into their own firehouse, which Boden sees through quickly. I do love Boden in moments like this.
Meanwhile, there’s the arson case. Maybe Kelly does throw himself into it as a way of avoiding going to his father’s cabin — a distraction — but Kelly has always been a firefighter who becomes invested and goes the extra mile. It’s one of the things we love about him.
It’s worth noting that his gut instinct is right, too. He insists to the investigator that he’s seen enough people lose their homes or businesses to know when they’re truly grieving, and it turns out he’s not wrong about the salon owner.
There are a lot of details that pull on our heart-strings. The woman who takes that fall and winds up with a spinal injury, the dog who is beaten to death… all of that is honestly a bit hard to watch.
Worse, is that we don’t have an answer just yet. What makes this episode stand out is that Kelly recognizes details from the arson. He’s seen it before. And he finally realizes that, after going to Benny’s cabin, that it’s someone Benny had been looking for for years.
That connection is meaningful because it’s going to connect Kelly to his father and maybe, just maybe, offer some needed closure. Add to that, he’d been avoiding his father’s cabin, and that’s exactly where the answer was all along. Now, there’s going to be a chance for him to allow Benny’s legacy to live on in a new way.
I mentioned there was a new potential couple on the horizon as well. The set up of this feels a bit awkward and forced, particularly with the game night, but I do see some positives for Brett and Casey as a couple.
It’s complicated, sure, especially because Brett and Gabby were such good friends. But their personalities do match up, and I think it could work if it’s a slow build. We’ll see.
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.