Chicago Fire season 7, episode 21 takeaways: The White Whale

What can Chicago Fire fans learn from The White Whale? Look closer at this week’s episode with our Chicago Fire season 7, episode 21 takeaways.

What did One Chicago fans learn from the latest Chicago Fire episode? Here’s what we took away from this week’s installment, “The White Whale.”

“The White Whale” featured Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) identifying the serial arsonist who had evaded his father more than a decade earlier. Meanwhile, the rest of Firehouse 51 came together to help a retiring firefighter who was struggling with depression.

If you missed any of this week’s episode or just want a refresher on the events that we’re about to discuss, you can catch up with our Chicago Fire recap.

Below are our takeaways from this week’s episode:

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1) Does everyone know Brett is interested in Casey?

Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) told her friends what was up with her and Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) in this episode, and neither of them seemed surprised. So are we supposed to believe that the characters have been reading as much into Brett and Casey’s interactions this season as the fans have?

It also feels weird that, well, no one else but Brett thinks this might be a bit weird. As she pointed out again, this is her best friend’s ex-husband. She dated Casey’s former brother-in-law.

There are a lot of reasons why this could be awkward, but Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Emily Foster (Annie Ilonzeh) didn’t seem to think it was odd at all.

Foster hasn’t been here long, so she has less context, but how long has Stella been thinking Brett has a thing for Casey? Is this something she’s just picked up on recently or is this an opinion she’s had for a while? Because otherwise it’d be even weirder, since you know, Casey was still married at the start of the season and the season doesn’t feel like it’s spanned more than a few months.

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2) Severide was right (of course)

The main storyline of “The White Whale” played out fairly by the numbers. Hero is right about the big bad, other people don’t believe him/her for whatever reason, then come around in the nick of time to save or almost save the day. Aside from the identity of the arsonist, Severide was spot on here, and he had to be—or this would’ve been an episode going nowhere.

But it would have been cool to actually see the scene where Captain Hubble presumably told him he was right, instead of having Chicago Fire cut away to show more of Casey and Brett. The show could have done a lot with that scene. The fans would have appreciated Severide getting a thanks or even maybe an apology, since Hubble had blown him off for half the episode.

And it could’ve also helped move the plot forward. Maybe they stood there and talked about what to do next? Maybe that’s where she said, “You should take charge of this investigation now and go make your father proud”? There were lots of options, but we were left to make up our own talk to get another reminder of what the episode already established: that Brett and Casey have romantic tension.

3) Ritter needs more screen time

Darren Ritter (recurring guest star Daniel Kyri) has been popping up fairly consistently on Chicago Fire since he was introduced in this season’s second episode, but “The White Whale” really was a great showcase for the character, what he has to offer, and how much he’s grown since he was a scared candidate in a stairwell.

He was fantastic in driving the Russ LaPointe story and making it personal by opening up about his uncle. It added a new dimension to his already established backstory. The question is, what will the show do with Ritter next season? Is he going to go by the wayside, like Jason Kannell and Scott Rice and other recurring characters?

Or is it time for a recurring character to be promoted to series regular again? After all, four of our current main cast members started as recurring. If it were up to us, we’d vote for more Ritter. And more Tuesday, too.

For the latest Chicago Fire season 7 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.