Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 3 Review: All Kinds of Crazy
Kelly Severide being compared to his father is about the worst insult he could get. And that’s exactly what happens at the end of Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 3, “All Kinds of Crazy.”
It ultimately comes from a childish place, but I have a feeling those words are going to stick, especially considering that Severide and Kidd have been thinking about starting a family.
What’s tricky about how all of this goes down is that Pascal doesn’t know Severide and Damon are related. When Kidd goes to Pascal to ask him to get rid of Damon, he’s rightfully suspicious — but doesn’t know the details.
Pascal questions Kidd’s leadership. He’s already noted his concern about high turnover on her team, and now she’s asking for another change. Given that there were no reports of Damon ignoring commands or anything else that would show cause for him to be let go from 51, Pascal sees this is a problem when it comes to Kidd, not Damon.
As an outsider, quite frankly, that makes sense. Kidd already had a problem with Pascal to begin with, and Pascal doesn’t know her the way Boden did. Not yet.
For a good part of the episode, we’re actually left thinking that Pascal is going to fire Stella Kidd. He approaches Mouch and asks him if he would take the lietentant exam and be ready to fill a space on 51 if needed, but Mouch being the sweet, loyal person that he is takes this as an opportunity to help Stella rather than to advance his own career.
He visits Pascal’s home with an armful of reports that show what an excellent leader Stella Kidd is. This says a lot about Mouch, for one thing, but it also tells us something about Pascal.
Pascal is open to what Mouch has to say, reads the records, and changes his entire attitude toward Kidd because of it. Given the proof, he ultimately puts Damon back in the floater pool and gives Kidd the chance to choose who will fill that permanent spot.
This should tell Pascal quite a lot about what kind of crew he’s working with at 51, too. There’s just one problem: he hasn’t been told the entire truth.
I can’t imagine that the secret that Damon and Severide are brothers won’t come back to bite both Stella and Severide. That’s especially true since Damon is blaming the both of them for being let go.
That he would say the untrue things about Stella says a lot about his character, and that he would turn on Severide is even worse.
Does he have a point about Severide taking off to work on an arson case rather than being there for his brother? Honestly, it’s hard to know.
The mistake of this season is that the six-month time jump deprived the audience of seeing a relationship form between Severide and Damon. Without that, it’s hard to know how to feel, and it makes all of this a lot less emotional than it could be.
Severide getting wrapped up in another arson case is old hat at this point, and while it adds another layer of storytelling to the show, it remains tired. I can’t help but think the best course would be to lean into it further and have Severide working there full-time.
Meanwhile, Ritter spends much of the episode in the hospital, largely unscathed from being catapulted out a window at the top of the episode.
As glad as I am that Ritter is okay, it’s not totally believable that he wasn’t hurt worse. The incident is more used to show the development of his relationship with Dwayne, even to the point of getting some fatherly approval from Herrmann.
It also adds to the family dynamic, and though it’s subtle, Pascal seems to notice how much everyone cares about one another.
The situation with Carver in Violet also takes a turn on this episode, and it’s an uncomfortable one. Carver is bringing his new girlfriend around more, now to Molly’s, and she’s terrible.
She confronts Violet, revealing that she deleted Violet’s late-night text to Carver before he was able to see it, and declaring that she won’t let Violet come between the two of them.
It’s awkward and heartbreaking, and I just hope we get more details soon about whatever Carver’s past (and present) is with her.
What did you think of this episode of Chicago Fire? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
Follow us on X and on Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
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.