Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 2 Review: Every Scar Tells a Story

No one can compete with Severide.

Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 2, “Every Scar Tells a Story” offers some levity by bringing in a very adorable Javi to do some “training” at Firehouse 51 on his days off from school.

It’s a sweet way to bring him in and show how the relationship between he and Cruz has been developing, and it’s also a great example of how much Firehouse 51 really is a family. It’s endearing how seriously everyone at the firehouse takes it, making Javi feel like he’s a real part of the firehouse.

It also sets up what could have been a more interesting conflict, and that’s how taken Javi is with Severide. He is the coolest firefighter of them all, and it clearly disappoints Cruz to see how Javi reacts to Severide over him.

It’s harmless, and Herrmann bonds with Cruz over it a bit, noting his kids all had the same reaction. But otherwise, it’s just a fun aside to the more important parts of this episode.

Largely, that’s the focus on Carver, who seems to be fitting in quickly with his new firehouse. He goes above and beyond, getting slightly hurt in the process, on a call where he knows one of the victims, and it winds up personally affecting him. 

He’s a good firefighter, and we see right away that he also has a good heart. There’s more backstory there with some real potential, but for now, this is enough to help the audience understand that we should root for him. 

Even better is how much Stella’s leadership comes into play. She continues to make Carver feel welcome despite her past feelings about him, and she goes so far as to help Carver off duty when he realizes his former co-worker, who winds up being injured during that accident, is getting railroaded.

She also tells Carver that leaving everything behind after they get their victims to the hospital? Not how they do things at 51. So we’ve seen time and again, for better or worse. That is, after all, what gives the show its heart. 

Add to that, we’re used to seeing Severide play “fire cop” but now Stella is doing that too. She helps Carver investigate what really happened during that accident, which winds up clearing Carver’s friend in the end. 

Something else that’s really fun to watch on this episode is Stella and Severide leading together — and doing it really well. It’s satisfying to see Stella really own this role as a lieutenant, and it’s interesting how it creates a new dynamic of her and Severide leading together as opposed to Casey and Severide leading together. 

Speaking of Casey’s absence, Brett is dealing with the official breakup between the two of them in her own way. She’s keeping the news fairly quiet and focuses on keeping herself busy.

It’s nice to see the paramedicine program be featured again — I’d worried that was going to wind up disappearing without explanation — and the dynamic between Brett and Mouch is more fun in this way than I expected. 

Naturally, there has to be a little danger there too, just for the sake of television. 

That all ends with some nice bonding, though, plus an appearance from Trudy, which is always a treat. 

Other thoughts:

• Violet and Hawkins finally being able to be so openly together brings me a lot of joy, as does Violet’s willingness to travel in order to make time for him. I do hope these two last a while.
• Some additional comedy comes in the form of Gallo’s latest hookup. He knows there’s no real potential there, but Ritter encourages him… then it turns out that she’s Herrmann’s niece. That could certainly provide some interesting conflict moving forward!

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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Hanako Greensmith, Alberto Rosende, and Daniel Kyri Talk ‘Chicago Fire’ Season 11, What’s Next for Violet and Hawkins [Video]