Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 20 Review: Cut Me Open

Stella and Kelly come close to becoming parents, only to have that hope ripped away on an emotional episode of Chicago Fire. At the beginning of Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 20, “Cut Me Open,” they arrive for work only to get word that there’s a mother in labor who wants them to adopt her baby.

So, they leave Herrmann and Mouch in charge of an already stretched-thin firehouse and head to the hospital. 

It would be too easy if this worked out, so watching how everything unfolds is more of an exercise in trying to predict where this process will go wrong. It could be in the interview — the nineteen-year-old mother, Jade, could decide she doesn’t want them to be the couple to adopt and could ask to meet another — or it could be something more complicated.

Unsurprisingly, Stella bonds with Jade right away. She’s naturally a mentor in so many situations, so her offering of a hand to squeeze, and non-judgmental attitude after she and Kelly learn the mother has been using drugs, make perfect sense for her character.

However, this also sets her up to have her heart broken that much harder when everything falls through. 

In fact, her advice is so helpful and her own story of overcoming addiction is so inspiring, that Jade decides to keep her baby. Jade is also in awe of Stella and Kelly both being lieutenants and firefighters who save lives on a regular basis.

She seems certain they’d be the perfect parents, until Stella’s words convince her that maybe she could be like Stella one day, in her own way. 

Jade’s father is part of the reason, too. After not seeing his daughter for two years, he shows up at the hospital too late to be in the room when Jane has an emergency C-section.

In the waiting room, he meets Kelly, and that conversation is an emotional one as well. Jade’s father feels like he failed his daughter despite doing everything he could to be a good parent, and Kelly takes all of that in. Kelly is stoic, understanding, and underneath the surface, maybe just a little worried. 

Jade’s father seems invested, so it’s not a total shock to learn that when Jade decides to keep her baby, it’s partly because her father is going to help. 

As disappointing as this is for Stella and Kelly, it’s a story with a happy ending for Jade and her dad, and even their feelings about it are complicated because of that. There’s another layer to this, though, and that’s the fact that there’s a slight disconnect when Stella and Kelly learn the baby could have health and behavioral problems because the mom had been using.

When asked if they’re still willing to adopt, Stella answers without hesitation, not bringing Kelly into that decision at all. Kelly says he’s just as willing, but the lack of conversation takes him aback before answering that question so quickly.

This may suggest they have a few more things to get on the same page about before the next opportunity, but it ultimately feels like an issue that’s already resolved.

Meanwhile, back at the firehouse, the crew is working together to gather supplies for Stella and Kelly and help them set up a nursery before they come home. Cindy helps, not by bringing things she and Herrmann had packed away in their basement, but by posting in a “Buy Nothing” group on Facebook.

Together, the crew manages to get everything Stella and Kelly would need to get started — a sweet, endearing mission that really speaks to the theme of found family. Thankfully, Damon gets word that they won’t be coming home with a baby after all before they all set up the nursery, so they decide to store everything for now instead.

Unfortunately, their mission is made a little more difficult because this is the day that an “efficiency expert” shows up to audit the firehouse. 

They’re already operating with a skeleton crew, and this outsider, Ambrose Sterling, has come to do an audit and question things that Mouch and Herrmann point out he wouldn’t be asking about if he himself were a first responder.

This isn’t someone who has experience as a firefighter or anything of that nature. He’s in the position because of some software he created.

This is no doubt a subtle commentary on current events, which is made even clearer when Ambrose tells Herrmann and Mouch that cuts are coming, including buyouts for those close to retirement. 

He has to pass them on the audit, though, given how efficient the crew is in helping him when he passes out from heat exhaustion. 

I do hope those buyouts don’t cause an issue for Herrmann and Mouch, especially since they’re both so close to being promoted. It’s worth noting too, how well Herrmann does on this episode while in charge of the firehouse.

He’s finally come into his own and is showing that he’d do well as Chief, an opportunity that must be on the horizon soon. 

Both of these storylines together make for an engaging and emotional episode that’s character-focused, which is never a bad thing. The problem? It’s yet another episode this season that uses thin explanations to have characters missing altogether.

At this point, it feels like a running joke that someone will be on some trip or at some training, and therefore, not present in the episode at all.

We’ve heard this is all about cutting costs (oddly meta given what Ambrose tells Herrmann and Mouch), but it has a detrimental effect on the energy of the show and its storytelling.

Imagine how much more interesting this episode could have been if Violet, Novak, and Carver weren’t missing, or if Pascal had been there even just for a few minutes. If this were the case on just one episode, it would feel okay, but it’s frustrating that this has been the case almost the entire season.

Other thoughts:

• Jessy Schram makes a special appearance as Dr. Hannah Asher from Chicago Med on this episode. She’s the doctor working with Jade, and it’s nice to have that bit of crossover since it’s such a personal storyline for Stella and Kelly as well.
• Before Stella and Kelly get the message about the possible adoption, Kelly gives Stella the broken picture frame Natalie brought him. It’s unclear what it means or why Natalie would want her to have it, but this must be setting up a larger story as we move toward the end of the season.

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Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.

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