"Relief Cut" was sold as, and will be remembered as, the episode in which Stellaride decided to start a family. The whole episode was building up to their decision, and the final scene delivered with a twist that well, we have all seen before.
We digress. The episode also had some interesting subplots involving secondary characters. We had major developments in the romantic lives of two 51 members, one negative and one positive. We will start with the negative, which was bestowed upon poor Darren Ritter (Daniel Kyri).
Ritter's boyfriend broke up with him
The character had been dating a police officer for most of season 13, but things were starting to take a turn for the worse by the start of "Relief Cut." So much so, in fact, that he got distracted in the field, and failed to carry out a direct order from Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo).
Ritter apologized, and squared things away with Kidd, but he had reason to be distracted. His police officer boyfriend, Dwayne Morris (Samuel B. Jackson), decided to break up with him. Ritter had voiced a desire for personal space prior to the breakup, and frankly, the writing was on the wall from there. It was sad to see, but ultimately better for the character in the long run.
Ritter's breakup was not completely surprising. What was surprising, though, was the hook up that went down between Lizzy Novak (Jocelyn Hudon) and Kidd's cousin, Cole (Richard Blackmon). Cole was visiting from out of town, and staying with Stellaride in the meantime.
Lizzy Novak hooked up with Kidd's cousin
He quickly hit it off with Novak, however, and they ended up spending the night together. It was fun to see Novak be handed a lighter romantic subplot after some of the devastating stuff she's endured in season 13, and her interactions with Kidd as she left the apartment the next morning were hilarious.
Having the family member of a 51 character come into town and hit it off with someone is a Chicago Fire story beat that has worked in the past. Katie Nolan (Brittany Curran), the sister of Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney), had a brief romance with Otis (Yuri Sardarov) in season 2.
We don't anticipate there will be a lot more Novak and Cole moving forward, but given that the latter and Kidd repaired their familial dynamic, who knows! We could be looking at a romance that lasts all season. Either way, it was a fun development in a season that has mostly been pretty downbeat.