Heading into Chicago Fire season 14, episode 18, "Instincts,” we had a feeling that the episode might be working with a skeleton crew. What we did not expect was that the episode would literally be without nearly all of its series regulars.
That’s right, the latest installment of Chicago Fire sidelined nearly its entire roster, with only three series regulars and one recurring character appearing in the episode. This was due to the unique nature of the episode, which saw Violet and Novak taken captive by an armed man who lured them to his office basement, where they discovered he was keeping a young woman captive.
The episode focused almost exclusively on Violet and Novak, whose partnership is put to the ultimate test after they’re taken hostage by a disturbed building super while trying to help a pregnant woman he’s been holding captive. As they work to keep both the mother and another shooting victim alive, the two must rely on their instincts and each other to survive, all while Vasquez races against time to track them down. In the end, Violet and Novak manage to outsmart their captor and are rescued, leading to an emotional moment where Violet admits she should never have kept secrets, reinforcing that trust is the foundation of their partnership.
It was a standout episode for Violet and Novak, with Vasquez used brilliantly in a supporting capacity alongside Lucy. However, in putting the spotlight on the group, the show neglected many of its other series regulars.
Chicago Fire season 14, episode 18, not only failed to feature the majority of the show’s core ensemble, but the writers didn’t even offer up an explanation as to where everyone else was during the events of the episode. The only character whose absence was acknowledged was Chief Hopkins, with Lucy explaining early in the episode that he was working at another firehouse.
There was no explanation provided as to where the rest of the Firehouse 51 team was throughout the episode, which felt quite jarring considering the episode was missing over half of its series regular ensemble!
Missing from the episode were Kidd, Severide, Cruz, Herrmann, Mouch, Capp, and Tony. None of the characters appeared in the episode or were even mentioned across the episode. And for many of these characters, this marked yet another consecutive week without them appearing on-screen.
This was also the latest in a streak of episodes that wrote off a large number of cast members in a singular episode. Episode 17 was without Cruz, Mouch, and Severide; episode 16 saw the show sideline Kidd, Herrmann, Mouch, Violet, and Novak; episode 15 was without Severide, Cruz, Capp, and Tony; and episode 14 sidelined Novak, Violet, and Vasquez. In other words, we haven't seen the full core ensemble appear in a single episode of the show since the One Chicago crossover episode aired back in the first week of March.
Hopefully, with just three episodes left in the season, we'll get to see the core cast back together on-screen, as it's been a strange few weeks for Chicago Fire fans. We've enjoyed some of these bottle episodes, but we're ready for the complete ensemble to be reunited. Here's hoping that episode 19 will finally be the episode to break this streak and feature the full ensemble!
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