Chicago Fire season 8, episode 5 preview: Buckle Up

What should fans watch for in tonight’s Chicago Fire? Get ready for Buckle Up with our Chicago Fire season 8, episode 5 preview.

There’s a plot twist coming in this week’s Chicago Fire, so One Chicago fans will want to be on the edge of their seats.

Wednesday’s episode “Buckle Up” has a very simple premise—so simple, in fact, that it’s clear that the writers are holding something back. Its A-story has to do with two car accidents, and that isn’t enough for a main plotline…unless there’s something more at work.

We’ve seen this before; remember the motorcycle accident last season that turned out to be a cop trying to cover up his own mistake? So the sleight of hand isn’t a surprise.

The surprise is going to be whatever curveball Derek Haas and company have come up with that connects these two car accidents, and makes the story big enough to lead the entire hour.

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In other news, “Buckle Up” features Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) going to the conference that was mentioned a few episodes ago. Will this be a fun subplot, or is it foreshadowing for something?

Since the departure of Monica Raymund, it’s clear that Stella has replaced Gabriela Dawson as the show’s female lead. Stella and Stellaride have now become major parts of almost every episode.

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That’s why it’s hard to gauge how much we’re supposed to care about this story. Is this just Stella going off and doing something different, like when she took Tuesday to the dog competition?

Or is this Chicago Fire trying to position her character to move into a bigger role professionally, be it this season or later down the line? The show’s had two characters promoted in two seasons, so there wouldn’t seem to be much room for her to go up in rank, but that doesn’t mean something couldn’t open up.

With that in mind, it’s fairly safe to say one of two things will happen: either Stella will shine at this conference and have a new opportunity, or she’ll come back talking about how she hated it and is only interested in being a rank-and-file firefighter. But either way, this is going to tell us a bit about how the show intends to develop her character.

How will everyone else function without her? That’ll be interesting to see, since it looks like they have their hands full with these car wrecks! It’s not the best week to be down a firefighter, or will someone like Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende) step up in Stella’s absence? Watch and see.

For the latest Chicago Fire season 8 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.