"Too Close" was a very dramatic episode. There were lots of exciting developments, and plot points that will seemingly be fleshed out into bigger storylines in the future. The main focus of the episode, the thing NBC hinged their promo on, was the surprise death of a character.
Here's the thing: it wasn't very surprising. The promo focused on the emotional reaction of Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) when he discovered who died, and that narrowed the focus to basically one character: his wife, Monica (KaDee Strickland). She was the most obvious candidate, and it turned out to be her.
The show telegraphed Monica Pascal's death
Chicago Fire executed the death scene well, and Mulroney and company gave startling performances during the final few minutes of the episode. The problem lies in the way the death was telegraphed. It was always going to be Monica Pascal, and the show never tried to fake us out or throw us off the trail by teasing someone else's death.
The show is generally good when it comes to bait and switches. In season 13 alone, Chicago Fire was able to trick us by teasing the return of a foe for Violet Mikami (Hanako Greensmith). All signs pointed to it being Emma Jacobs (Caitlin Carver). In the end, though the returning foe turned out to be Lennox (Wesam Keesh). We were surprised, and pleasantly so.
It didn't help that the writing was on the wall from the moment Monica Pascal was introduced. The character was set up as a foil for the Chief, but every scene she appeared effectively ended in there being an argument. Estranged was putting it mildly. Because Monica existed outside of 51, though, the show was never going to have enough time to flesh her character out. She was, and always was going to be, an accessory to Chief Pascal.
Chief Pascal is on the warpath
The promo for the March 26 episode all but confirms this. Chief Pascal flies off the handle, and his grief begins to take a toll on his work performance. He accosts the man responsible for accident that killed Monica, and he begins slipping (in some instances, literally) during emergency calls.
Chief Pascal is set to have a fascinating arc over the next couple of episodes, and the severity of his behavior in the promo leads us to question whether the character will hold on to his position for long enough to see season 14. Will be forced to hand the reins off to Herrmann (David Eigenberg)? We've no clue. We do know, however, that Chicago Fire is going to have to be more subtle when it comes to teasing major deaths.