Chicago Fire season 9 character preview: Stella Kidd

What should happen

Chicago Fire was extraordinarily kind to Stella last season, whether it was Boden thinking of her like she was the future of Firehouse 51, or having her do better at that conference than everyone else. If not for that car accident, it would have come across like she was kind of perfect.

That should never be the case for any character, and it didn’t quite work for Stella. While she is the de facto female lead on the show since the departure of Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund), she doesn’t have that kind of presence where it feels natural for her to be charging up the ranks. Yes, she’s pretty fearless on the job—but so is everyone on the show. And Stella has shown herself to be a little neurotic and a little immature, too; she’s still got some growing to do.

In Chicago Fire season 9 it would be great to actually see her taking the steps toward possible promotion, rather than just having opportunities given to her or having things work out for her. Even if she were to make mistakes, that’s part of the process. Then it would be more believable when she outshines other firefighters or gets some kind of commendation, because we’ve seen her improve her skills and earn it.

It also goes without saying (but we will anyway) that it was nice not to have some drama in the Stellaride relationship, so let’s hoping that continues next season.