Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 21 Review: Change of Plans
So Chicago Fire is really just over here recycling stories, huh?
On Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 21, “Change of Plans,” we learn that Severide has finished his special training in Alabama, apparently, and is working on an investigation elsewhere. Yet no one, not even Stella, had any idea he was no longer in Alabama.
Sound familiar?
Unless this is a trick the show is playing on the audience, where the person who told Cruz this information had it wrong, then we’re right back to where we were when Stella ghosted everyone last season. The situation is eerily similar. And it’s not good for the show.
It’s also not fitting for Severide’s character to do something like this… at all.
We know Taylor Kinney is on a sudden leave of absence that had to be explained away, but why change his story like this when he was written out in such a logical way to begin with? It all feels like an afterthought, and again, a little like recycling storytelling.
And that’s not the only plot point that feels that way on this episode, either.
Listen, I love that Sylvie Brett is finally getting a storyline with some more substance. But this particular adoption storyline feels too similar to Dawson and Casey’s from years ago. (Let’s also not forget that Cruz and Chloe recently adopted a child in need.)
It’s a good storyline for her, I’ll give it that. It’s just not unique. But it fits well with Sylvie’s backstory and adds some interesting progression to her character.
It’s emotional, and Kara Killmer plays it all perfectly too.
Meanwhile on this episode, Carver is dealing with the fallout from Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 18. Boden and Stella are quick to get Carver out of jail, and Boden has ever intention of keeping things quiet so Carver won’t have to deal with Internal Affairs.
That doesn’t work out the way they hope, though, and Carver is unfairly put on suspension. Worse, he’s looking at real jail time, despite it being self-defense.
It’s Carver’s temper that has set the precedent here, but it all feels a little silly the way it all goes down. It does do wonders for his character though — Carver’s development since he joined the cast has been incredible, and he’s already become one of my favorite characters.
It’s storylines like this one that have made that happen.
For everyone else, the episode is spent dealing with changes to a firehouse group chat. It’s a funny way to add some levity and showcases the community they all have with one another. It’s entirely believable that Capp would be left out of the group chat, too.
But the best part is knowing that Boden was part of it all along, and that he really enjoys memes with frogs.
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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.