Last night’s Chicago Fire put the spotlight on a dynamic that we hadn’t quite been privy too before.
“Shut it down” brought a story about how a series of apparently unexplainable gas leaks all over Chicago threatened thousands of lives. And while that plot was well done and exciting to watch, what brought it home for me were the relationships showcased in the episode.
I don’t think Kidd and Gallo had interacted a lot before “Shut it down,” and last night’s Chicago Fire did an excellent job of introducing a budding friendship between the two of them.
Blake Gallo’s big heart
Chicago Fire Season 8 Episode 14 started with a bang. Firehouse 51 got a call about a potential gas leak, but they only made it there in time to see the house explode.
They immediately rescued a woman, and then Gallo and Kidd searched the place further, only to find a little girl unconscious and very badly burnt.
Gallo is the one who gets her out, and he is deeply impacted by it. After all, rescuing a child from a burning home always brings back memories of his tragic past. Lucy — the little girl he rescued — happens to be seven years old, the same age his little sister was when she died in the fire.
Needless to say that he was out of sorts for the rest of his shift, Lucy never straying too far from his mind.
And that’s where my girl Stella Kidd comes in. When she realizes that this case hit a little too close to home for him — on top of his very first injury on the job — she takes it upon herself to help him get through it.
That scene where she very consciously teases him about his burnt wrist in front of the guys — prompting an immediate scars show-and-tell from their fellow firefighters — was the epitome of camaraderie.
The guys started retelling stories of their injuries very loudly, which made Gallo laugh and took his mind off of their previous call, even if it was just for a little while.
The rest of their interactions throughout the episode just screamed a big sister/little brother vibe, and I really hope we get to see more of those two together. Especially now that Stella knows what happened to him when he was a kid and why he was so affected by Lucy’s case.
Let’s not forget to mention, of course, just how precious our baby Blake Gallo is. He couldn’t save his sister when he was a kid, but now he’s taking it upon himself to check in on little Lucy every chance he gets.
When he brought her that blanket and told her parents that the gas leak was not the mom’s fault, I just wanted to hug him tight, put him in a bubble and protect him from everything, because he’s just too precious for this world.
Here’s hoping we get to see more of Stella and Gallo being adorable siblings while being kickass firefighters.
The Brettsey of it all
The Powers That Be are all in, going full steam ahead on this relationship, aren’t they?
Following last week’s plot, an adoption intermediary shows up at Firehouse 51, looking for Brett, despite her best efforts to ignore the whole situation altogether. He hands her a letter from her birth mother and says that there’s no pressure.
Of course, Brett completely freaks out and asks Casey to get rid of the letter for her, because she’s not strong enough to open it or to throw it away, herself.
After a while, she asks him if he really did it — which of course he didn’t — and yells at him to throw it away immediately, claiming that she’s sure she doesn’t want to open it or hear anything about her birth mother.
Casey dumps it in the trash in front of her. It appeases her enough to lock arms and drag him out of the firehouse, away from the incriminating letter.
But obviously, it doesn’t take long for her to regret her rash decision, and she shows up at his place, begging for the letter she knows he kept, despite asking him to throw it away.
That scene was just so adorable and tender that it firmly cemented for me that this is really happening. No going back now. And I admit I was very skeptical at first about these two.
But they work well together and, while their chemistry isn’t as amazing as Stella and Kelly for me, they’re still pretty great and I can’t wait to see where this is going.
I like the pace they’re taking with this relationship, though. There’s no rush, and it feels like they’re just kids crushing on each other.
Other highlights of Chicago Fire
- I know I already talked plenty about my girl Stella Kidd, but she was phenomenal last night. Not only with Gallo, but encouraging Severide to be there for Joe. When Kelly finally got what she meant, I loved the proud wife look she had going on.
- Speaking of proud wife, Casey’s comment about how Severide could be next when Joe was freaking out about his wedding? Foreshadowing at its best. I keep telling you guys, Kelly is going to pop the question before this season is through. Mark my words.
Chicago Fire airs on Wednesdays at 9/8C on NBC.