Heading into Chicago Fire season 14, episode 16, we had a growing suspicion that the episode would be without several key members of the cast.
While there are always some instances in which a character or two might not be included in the photos or promotional materials for the episode, it was hard to overlook the fact that all of the promotional materials for the episode focused exclusively on Squad 3. There was not a single photo or mention of any characters outside of Severide, Cruz, Tony, and Capp, which threw up some red flags and suggested that the episode could be without several key characters.
Those suspicions proved true as the episode wrote out literally over half of the season 14 series regulars. The episode was without Miranda Rae Mayo (Kidd), David Eigenberg (Herrmann), Christian Stolte (Mouch), Hanako Greensmith (Violet), Jocelyn Hudon (Novak), and Brandon Larracuente (Vasquez), whose characters were all written out of the episode and failed to make an appearance of any kind.
It was explained early in the episode that Kidd and Truck were out for the shift for a wildfire training session and that Ambo was off shift as well for the day. This gave us at least an explanation as to where the characters were in the episode, but finding this information out right at the top of the episode definitely made us worry how the show was going to pull off an episode in which over half of its core characters would be sidelined.
After all, how do you tell a compelling story when you’re without most of your cast?
Somehow, though, the show managed to not only make it work but also gave us one of the season’s strongest episodes.
Because most of the ensemble was not present, the show was able to really put a spotlight on the members of Squad 3, which resulted in some incredible storylines that might not have otherwise been told. These stories were told so well that we honestly forgot that the rest of the cast was not present in the episode because they held our attention and really pulled us in in a brilliant way.
Take for example the storyline with Cruz, Chloe, and Javi. While we got to see Chloe and Javi back for the One Chicago crossover scene, the pair didn’t get much screen time amid everything going on. That changed in episode 16 as the show gave us one of the strongest Cruz storylines in quite some time.
In the episode, we learned that Cruz and Chloe were expecting another child and watched as the pair navigated concerns about how the new baby was impacting Javi, who had become a bit withdrawn lately. When Chloe discovered an email Javi sent trying to find information about his family in Honduras, the pair feared that the new baby had Javi questioning his place in their family.
They’d come to learn that he had sent the email before they even knew about the baby and that this was simply his way of trying to find out more about his roots and where he comes from. With the room to fully flesh this storyline out, we got to see Cruz and Chloe navigate the storyline with Javi in a really beautiful way as the show shined a spotlight on the internal struggles children who are adopted go through in trying to learn more about their roots as they figure out who they are. While we won’t likely get to see Cruz and Javi taking their trip to Honduras, we do hope that it opens the door for more storylines about Cruz and his family.
The episode also gave the writers the chance to give Capp and Tony a central storyline in which they took center stage in a B-story. It was honestly amazing to see Capp and Tony involved in their own more central storyline in the episode instead of being relegated to the background as is often the case.
These are two amazing characters who have been with the show from the beginning, and it's nice when the show gives them storylines to work with, even if as comedic humor. Their storyline with the CFD rival said to be connected to the Pope was just what the episode needed to break up the heavier tones from the Severide and Hopkins storyline and bring some much-needed levity in the episode.
And speaking of Severide, the writers did a brilliant job of using his storyline to carry the episode in creating the tension between him and Hopkins right out of the gate. It's always nice when we get a Severide-forward episode, and the show did an amazing job of weaving the storylines together for a standout episode that celebrated Squad 3 in a way we haven't really ever seen before.