Chicago Fire Season 12 Episode 3 Review: Trapped

Brett and Violet work to save a kidnapping victim on Chicago Fire Season 12 Episode 3, “Trapped.” This episode shows the season, which got off to a rocky start, is slowly beginning to improve. 

It’s a suspenseful storyline that showcases the dynamic between Brett and Violet and gives each of their characters an interesting conflict. This is all also entirely in line with Brett’s character, who finds she can’t rest until she figures out a way to save this woman after the car manages to leave their sight. 

That said, it’s another case of the first responders at Firehouse 51 going way beyond their job descriptions. Chicago Fire relies on this device far too often, which makes it less entertaining when it does happen. 

Additionally, it feels like a missed opportunity that Brett and Violet aren’t dealing with any characters from Chicago P.D. This could have made for such an excellent crossover, even if it were just an appearance from one of the characters on the spinoff.  

But, the suspense and the high-stakes action, plus the way Brett and Violet carry this whole thing emotionally, makes for an exciting storyline — and one that has a satisfying conclusion, too. It’s a close call, but the woman is rescued, and the only causality is the front end of the ambo.

Meanwhile, Mouch is focused on vetting the newest firefighter on their team, Derrick Gibson (Rome Flynn). He really takes on the role of the audience in some ways by being suspicious of the newcomer. We’ve been trained, after all, that new folks can sometimes be problematic.

He tries to enlist Carver to help him investigate Gibson, who reminds him that it wasn’t long ago that he was new to the team. If anything, this dynamic allows Carver to feel more like a part of the family. He’s not the new guy anymore, and he even feels like he’s matured since being there. 

Now, it turns out that Gibson does have a secret related to a boxing championship, but the significance of that feels slight, at least for the moment.

And Mouch already feels better toward Gibson after Gibson steps in to handle crowd control during a call that is the stuff of nightmares. (Really, I didn’t need that image of a woman being impaled by a forklift.)

Speaking of Carver, we need to talk about him and Violet.

As much as it feels like a default scenario to have a romance between them, they definitely do have chemistry. And rather than having it be the classic style of slow burn, the fact that they just go home together at the end of this episode is a nice change of pace.

However, I suspect Violet approaches it this way because of what she says to Brett about falling for another first responder. It should make for an entertaining storyline, no matter how that shakes out. It’s just too bad it’s so obvious that these two would be thrown together as the two single people in the firehouse. 

Then there’s the whole thing with Kidd and Severide, which feels extraordinarily forced.

I’d go so far as to say any conflict between these two is unnecessary, at least for a while. Instead, we have a conflict that hardly makes any sense.

It doesn’t make sense that Severide ghosted Stella, and it doesn’t make sense that she’s being so hard on him about the O.F.I. work, either. Thankfully, that whole mess is resolved when Stella encourages Kelly to go on the next investigation after all, after noticing a parallel with Cruz. 

I wonder how often Severide will be traveling now, though.

Other thoughts:

• Cruz is sticking around for now! It’s such a relief, and it’s a nice compromise that he’ll still be able to practice his leadership skills.
• Herrmann’s use of hearing aids makes for an endearing part of the episode. He’s worried about being perceived as an “old-timer” but winds up warming to the devices pretty quickly. 

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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