S10.E10: Back with a Bang

[jewel21]

 

Quote

Stella Kidd returns to Firehouse 51. The team must work together to put out a potassium fire in a tunnel. After that incident, Ritter begins to worry about a young cop who witnessed the fiery death of a truck driver.

Airdate: 01/05/2021

[Court]

I'd be happy if Kidd stayed away. 

[FnkyChkn34]

At least the fire in a tunnel part sounds interesting?

[AnnA]

On 1/2/2022 at 10:41 PM, Court said:

I'd be happy if Kidd stayed away. 

Me too!

[Res]

I really hope that Stella goes back to the Girls on Fire Roadshow and doesn't come back. Hopefully Severide doesn't welcome her back with open arms and all her ghosting isn't swept under the rug. I liked the show better when she was gone.

 

ETA: Ugh! It's as bad as I thought it would be with her back. And apparently no consequences as usual.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Res

[jewel21]

I really like the new lieutenant. So naturally, now that Kidd is back, there are anvils dropping that he's evil and incompetent. And I hate that because it means his time at 51 is coming to a close and Stella, who took a step back from wanting to become lieutenant, will now get the gig. And just no, damn it. I do not want. He's a great leader, he's fair, and now I feel like they're going to go back on all these points and massacre his character. 

[sheetmoss]

I wonder if Ritter is getting a cop boyfriend?

[FnkyChkn34]

10 hours ago, jewel21 said:

I really like the new lieutenant. So naturally, now that Kidd is back, there are anvils dropping that he's evil and incompetent. And I hate that because it means his time at 51 is coming to a close and Stella, who took a step back from wanting to become lieutenant, will now get the gig. And just no, damn it. I do not want. He's a great leader, he's fair, and now I feel like they're going to go back on all these points and massacre his character. 

I thought that the show was - awkwardly - fixing itself by realizing that they pushed Stella through the lieutenant program when they shouldn't have.  By her saying she wasn't ready, it was their way of sort of retconning and being able to ignore it for the near future.  Fine with me.  Weird, but good.  

But nope.  The end had to go and bring new allegations of crap against the new guy.  Ugh.  

[greyhorse]

What was the reason why Stella was gone in the first place?  Did the actress film a movie?  Took some time off?  Honestly I'm not sure I realized she was gone for THAT long.  It is apparent that we're going to get brooding Stella now.  "You got the job because I stepped away."  Meaning, I'm going to try to reclaim it when I can.

I don't like how there's no clarity about what exactly happened.  I thought the old retired guy that Boden met with a few episodes ago talked about how honorable New Guy was and took the fall/blame for something that wasn't his fault.  But now we got another Big Wig who implies that New Guy is a problem again.  Huh?  So there's something else that happened in his career?

The whole storyline was confusing with Kelly and Stella.  Kelly is right to be pissed and standoffish.

Most unrealistic paramedic scene ever was the home birth.  The baby was not breathing and in the mother's arms.  The mother was fully clothed.  So presumably she didn't deliver one minute ago.  She had time to have the baby, get out of the portable tub, dry herself, and then put on her clothes.  The midwife had time to call 911.  So how long do we think that it took before they got there?  Maybe at least 15 minutes?  And suctioning out that meconium magically woke up the baby after 15 minutes?  Uh, I think that baby would have severe issues and brain damage.

 

[FnkyChkn34]

1 hour ago, greyhorse said:

Most unrealistic paramedic scene ever was the home birth.  The baby was not breathing and in the mother's arms.  The mother was fully clothed.  So presumably she didn't deliver one minute ago.  She had time to have the baby, get out of the portable tub, dry herself, and then put on her clothes.  The midwife had time to call 911.  So how long do we think that it took before they got there?  Maybe at least 15 minutes?  And suctioning out that meconium magically woke up the baby after 15 minutes?  Uh, I think that baby would have severe issues and brain damage.

I thought the same thing.  The midwife said something about how she tried to work on the baby for 10 minutes or so?  I think that was 10 minutes before they called 911, then the time it took for them to get there.  So the mom probably had 20 minutes to get dressed?  Violet also said something about shallow breath sounds, so the baby wasn't totally not breathing...  It was definitely not realistic though, I agree.  

[MadeleineElster]

I agree with everyone. Frustrating episode. Kidd is an arrogant character.  She was inappropriately rude to the new lieutenant with her "wait and see" attitude.  Like she has a right to judge, since she didn't go for the job. And I fail to see much excitement about the "girls on fire" program-- for instance, what's happening with the Chicago program since she left? It's not like the "girls" showed up to welcome her back.  Generally sloppy writing about this storyline. Even if you can buy why she left, there's no excuse not to communicate with Kelly and the Captain. She didn't want to discuss things on a phone? How 'bout Zoom or at least sending a text explaining that.  

And, having worked in a NICU, the meconium story was total BS.  That length of time without oxygen we're talking serious brain issues. So glad others caught the "perfect" looking mother. That made no sense at all. 

The fire was interesting and the backstory of the young policeman was good, I thought. 

After bingeing over the holidays with Ted Lasso and The Morning Show, all I can say is, do better writers. Network TV needs to step up its game. 

[Court]

I haven't watched yet but I think I'm giving up this show 

[dovegrey]

It’s sad that Boden got promoted to DDC only to effectively devolve into Casey’s vacated captain role, while a DDC white shirt we haven’t seen in years was effectively doing Boden’s old job as BC. (Funny, I didn’t actually see any BCs in the tunnel scene, just two DDCs…) I’m glad Walker got screentime, but the writers don’t know what to do without Casey, still.

Kidd’s storyline is a complete and total mess. She eagerly wants to be a lieutenant so much she whines about it for 1.5 years, then she gets first dibs on a plum spot and ghosts everyone involved, then she wants to step back from being a lieutenant, then she wants to just slow down her progression, then she clearly wants to be a lieutenant, and now she’s passively eavesdropping and low-key gossiping about the guy who got the job she didn’t want but oops actually did want. They could have written her a non-life-threatening injury that sidelined her, had Severide keep sweet with a Brettsey-esque offscreen relationship, and all of this would have been easily explained.

I was approaching this episode as I didn’t mind Kidd coming back so much as I minded the inevitable return of Stellaride (like kissing at the Squad table). I used to like Kidd. But her whiny bullshitting, entitlement, and attitude in this episode was beyond. I tried to think of it in terms of what would I think if it was Male Firefighter Casey instead of Female Firefighter Kidd, and I think I’d be as annoyed. She bailed out, said she didn’t want the job, and is now passively pissed that she doesn’t have the job, while all but telling her new boss that she let him have the job. Grow up, Stella Kidd.

7 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

But nope.  The end had to go and bring new allegations of crap against the new guy.  Ugh.  

I couldn't tell if the chief was threatening Boden or warning Boden.

A part of me wonders if the showrunners didn’t know if or when Kidd's actress was going to return - which would be pretty silly for a network TV contract, but, then, I don't think Kidd is a critical character nor do I think Stellaride is a worthy anchor for a show - and tried to make Pelham viable enough to last but questionable enough to write off. Maybe they didn't realize he would be so well-received? It's such a weird situation.

I said I'd stop watching but nothing else is on. Bad habits, I guess.

[Artsda]

Can Kidd leave again.

[Dowel Jones]

4 hours ago, dovegrey said:

I couldn't tell if the chief was threatening Boden or warning Boden.

I wonder if something is coming down the line that will result in Boden resigning the DDC position to become a BC again.

[TM101]

I still don’t get it with this whole Kidd plot? She was on some rodeo in Boston not in the Peace Corps overseas in Africa. She couldn’t communicate with her Fiancé AT ALL during this time with a cell phone?

 

[jabRI]

The Kidd storyline is horrible, and a bad representation of women in leadership.  Can you imagine a male counterpart wanting to 'slow down the process', he'd be laughed out of the room.  Not that she should have gotten Casey's job, as she should not be in the same firehouse as her fiancee (which is bad enough) .  The point is that there are a lot of people ready to step up, you dont take the leiut exam unless you are ready to take the next open position.   She should be ashamed of herself, not coming back as if nothing has happened.   If she didn't want the responsibility she could have worked on expanding the 'girls on fire' program on a non-management track.  

 

As always, the most professional woman portrayed on the show is Trudy.  She should get her own show.

[WinJet0819]

3 hours ago, jabRI said:

The Kidd storyline is horrible, and a bad representation of women in leadership.  Can you imagine a male counterpart wanting to 'slow down the process', he'd be laughed out of the room.  Not that she should have gotten Casey's job, as she should not be in the same firehouse as her fiancee (which is bad enough) .  The point is that there are a lot of people ready to step up, you dont take the leiut exam unless you are ready to take the next open position.   She should be ashamed of herself, not coming back as if nothing has happened.   If she didn't want the responsibility she could have worked on expanding the 'girls on fire' program on a non-management track.  

 

As always, the most professional woman portrayed on the show is Trudy.  She should get her own show.

This is what I was saying last year. The fact that she was actually willing to not take the test simply because her Lieutenant boyfriend wasn't talking to her and giving her encouragement was an insult to all women in male-dominated environments. Needing to hear Severide constantly tell her "You got this Stella Kidd" is just a joke. Strong women don't need a man to give them positive re-enforcement. They have the confidence to believe in themselves. And that showed she wasn't ready at that point. And now after taking the test and passing, and Boden, Severide & Casey discussing her future, she realizes she's not ready. The writers have made Stella very weak, compared to when she first came onto the show, and was full of self-confidence.

Edited January 7, 2022 by WinJet0819

[dovegrey]

1 hour ago, WinJet0819 said:

This is what I was saying last year. The fact that she was actually willing to not take the test simply because her Lieutenant boyfriend wasn't talking to her and giving her encouragement was an insult to all women in male-dominated environments.

See, I would buy it if she came back and really didn’t want the lieutenant spot, if she realized that she was riding opportunity inertia when Boden pushed her toward the exam. She wanted it because Boden wanted it for her and everyone said it was a good idea. It happens! That would have explained her wanting to quit when Severide stopped supporting her and it would explain her disinterest in the position once she was out of the firehouse/sphere of influence. But she now clearly wants the job and the whole debacle makes her look indecisive and plain bad. I don’t think it was originally her storyline because of the description for Episode 4, so this is just how bad the writers are at…well, writing.

[iMonrey]

This episode sat on my DVR for two days before I got around to watching it. That speaks to my level of interest anymore. 

So Her Royal Highness Stella Kidd has returned. The balls on that woman, telling Pelham he's basically on probation until she deigns to determine whether or not he is worthy of the job and only has it because she turned it down. 

The show has severely overestimated our interest in Stella and Severide. Perhaps they think they've got another Casey and Gabby power couple on their hands but ending the show on the "cliff-hanger" of whether Stella still wants to marry Kelly hit the wrong note. I want to reach through the TV and tell Kelly to run and never look back.

I also don't understand what the hell is going on with this story. One minute Pelham is a bad guy, the next he's exonerated, then Stella returns and now he's under suspicion yet again. It really does feel as though art is imitating life, and the show put itself in limbo while Miranda Rae Mayo went off to do something else, not knowing whether or not she was coming back.

BTW - Jack Conley, who played Chief Kilbourne in this episode (the one who warned Boden about Pelham) also played a captain on 9-1-1 Lonestar this week. He's all over the place, as a fireman. He also plays a caption on Station 19!

[greyhorse]

https://www.tvguide.com/news/chicago-fire-miranda-rae-mayo-explains-kidd-extended-absence/

Googling about the actress' absence and all I can find is stupid interviews like this where the actress "explains" Kidd's absence in the context of putting herself in character and talking about the reasons, what Kidd is thinking, etc.

What I want to know instead of all this made-up crap...WHY was the REAL LIFE ACTRESS missing for a good chunk of this season?  Was she going to quit?  Was she filming a movie?  Was there a contract dispute and the show runners were prepared to write her off the show?  What in the world happened?

[Bobcatkitten]

Even if I could buy Kidd wanting to slow down the Lt. train, her not communicating with her bosses and fiance is crazy. And I lost all respect for her when she pulled that arrogant crap with the new lieutenant acting like she gave him the spot and if she wants it it is hers. Terrible. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

What I want to know instead of all this made-up crap...WHY was the REAL LIFE ACTRESS missing for a good chunk of this season?  Was she going to quit?  Was she filming a movie?

She's in something called "Going Places" that's in post-production, so it's possible she was filming that. Who knows.

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And I lost all respect for her when she pulled that arrogant crap with the new lieutenant acting like she gave him the spot and if she wants it it is hers.

I never had any respect for her in the first place.

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Even if I could buy Kidd wanting to slow down the Lt. train, her not communicating with her bosses and fiance is crazy. 

Ghosting Boden in itself should have put her on permanent suspension if not gotten her fired from her job. You can't just walk away from your job and expect to waltz back in and start up again whenever you want. They would have had to find a replacement for her. 

[jabRI]

39 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Ghosting Boden in itself should have put her on permanent suspension if not gotten her fired from her job. You can't just walk away from your job and expect to waltz back in and start up again whenever you want. They would have had to find a replacement for her. 

Right? Like who can just be MIA from a first responders job? And her 'I didn't want to do it over the phone'?  She was on the east coast, an hour by plane from Chicago, not like she was going via stagecoach.  Even driving herself would be a one night stop.  It wouldn't take her a week to get home, that's just stupid writing (as usual).

[FnkyChkn34]

On 1/7/2022 at 10:24 PM, greyhorse said:

What I want to know instead of all this made-up crap...WHY was the REAL LIFE ACTRESS missing for a good chunk of this season?  Was she going to quit?  Was she filming a movie?  Was there a contract dispute and the show runners were prepared to write her off the show?  What in the world happened?

 

On 1/8/2022 at 12:58 PM, iMonrey said:

She's in something called "Going Places" that's in post-production, so it's possible she was filming that. Who knows.

I was wondering if maybe she had covid and they just don't want to reveal that she had covid?  Anything is possible, I don't mean to speculate about someone's personal life...

[dovegrey]

1 hour ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

 

I was wondering if maybe she had covid and they just don't want to reveal that she had covid?  Anything is possible, I don't mean to speculate about someone's personal life...

Most sources, though informal, have said that she was filming a web film or a YouTube project. I sort of buy that and figure the showrunner knew ahead of time and just didn’t plan ahead, which he has done before (Gabby).

But it would have been a great storyline for Kidd to have gotten COVID and been out for that reason. Very believable, easy to explain, easy to say no one was allowed to visit her hence no scenes, and would somewhat justify her current behavior toward Pelham. The only nice thing I’ll say about the writers is they had to balance Casey leaving with Kidd being absent at a pivotal time without him looking bad. 

[greyhorse]

12 hours ago, dovegrey said:

But it would have been a great storyline for Kidd to have gotten COVID and been out for that reason. Very believable, easy to explain, easy to say no one was allowed to visit her hence no scenes, and would somewhat justify her current behavior toward Pelham. The only nice thing I’ll say about the writers is they had to balance Casey leaving with Kidd being absent at a pivotal time without him looking bad. 

Only problem with that suggestion is that Covid no longer seems to exist in One Chicago.  Last year, at least on Fire and Med, you had them wearing masks at times in the field.  Usually the paramedics.  At Med, they'd wear the masks outside and then take them off when they were inside, which we all know is ridiculous.  But this year, not a single mask, temperature screening station, etc.  I kind of like it better that way.  Unless you were going to have the actors masked for the entire show, it really was ridiculous.

[NJRadioGuy]

11 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Only problem with that suggestion is that Covid no longer seems to exist in One Chicago. 

I doubt many of us today would want to actually watch people wearing masks. We watch for the story. Also, this show will be syndicated in reruns for decades when masks will (hopefully) be "something your grandfather had to wear." Think how long "Emergency!" reruns have lasted.

[greyhorse]

1 hour ago, NJRadioGuy said:

I doubt many of us today would want to actually watch people wearing masks. We watch for the story. Also, this show will be syndicated in reruns for decades when masks will (hopefully) be "something your grandfather had to wear." Think how long "Emergency!" reruns have lasted.

Yes, as I said, I like it better that Covid doesn't exist in this year's episodes.  Last year they half-a$$ed it to the point where it was so inconsistent and just didn't make sense.  Easier to just pretend there is no Covid.  I think I remember perhaps one of the Law and Order SVUs where they wore masks the entire episode?

[dovegrey]

17 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Only problem with that suggestion is that Covid no longer seems to exist in One Chicago.  Last year, at least on Fire and Med, you had them wearing masks at times in the field.  Usually the paramedics.  At Med, they'd wear the masks outside and then take them off when they were inside, which we all know is ridiculous.  But this year, not a single mask, temperature screening station, etc.  I kind of like it better that way.  Unless you were going to have the actors masked for the entire show, it really was ridiculous.

Honestly, I wouldn't have batted an eye at "Kidd was on furlough last week and caught COVID; she's fine but out for a bit" and a few "yeah, Kidd's doing better; she's good" lines here and there until she came back. But she could have gotten the flu, salmonella poisoning, etc, whatever. I have a bigger issue with how they've written her absence, because it doesn't make any sense to have her come back from an absence she chose and controlled, only to start immediately gunning for the job she didn't want. (FWIW, in my part of the Midwest, most people aren't wearing masks and there are no temperature screening stations, not even at hospitals. The show looks like my reality. Dunno what Chicago looks like these days.)

[WinJet0819]

17 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Yes, as I said, I like it better that Covid doesn't exist in this year's episodes.  Last year they half-a$$ed it to the point where it was so inconsistent and just didn't make sense.  Easier to just pretend there is no Covid.  I think I remember perhaps one of the Law and Order SVUs where they wore masks the entire episode?

I remember that being just such a joke, especially with Med. Pick a lane. If you include COVID, then properly portray it. Otherwise, just do a time jump to where COVID has been eliminated. The one foot in, one foot out part, while sprinkling in some COVID-related cases, was just very off-putting, and another sign of lazy writing.

[FnkyChkn34]

I watch two shows, Grey's Anatomy and Station 19, where there's a disclaimer (either at the beginning or the end, I forget) that says that these shows portray fictional realities where Covid-19 no longer exists and to get more information about getting vaccinated, go to whatever websites.  In future syndication, they can just remove the disclaimer.  Personally, I think that's a great way to handle it.

[greyhorse]

2 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I watch two shows, Grey's Anatomy and Station 19, where there's a disclaimer (either at the beginning or the end, I forget) that says that these shows portray fictional realities where Covid-19 no longer exists and to get more information about getting vaccinated, go to whatever websites.  In future syndication, they can just remove the disclaimer.  Personally, I think that's a great way to handle it.

Yes, that would be great.  I think we all understand that these are fictional shows.  We don't need to see a show where all the characters are wearing masks all the time (now I think it wasn't SVU but it was some type of lawyer show that I'm recalling).  Heck, on Med we see the surgeons scrubbing without face masks on (even before Covid), only to then magically have masks on later.  So there is a suspension of reality here.  Even on Amazing Race, when the first episode played last week, there was a little blurb from Phil about how it was started to film before Covid became an issue.

We don't need to see our television fiction exactly mirror real life, we all get it.  

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I watch two shows, Grey's Anatomy and Station 19,

Station 19 needs a lot of disclaimers.

[FnkyChkn34]

31 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

Station 19 needs a lot of disclaimers.

It's not much worse than Chicago Fire.  I know that tons of people hate on Station 19 all the time, but it's just like every other show that everyone still watches, IMO.  Like @greyhorse said above, all shows require viewers to understand the suspension of reality.  

[NJRadioGuy]

7 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

It's not much worse than Chicago Fire.  I know that tons of people hate on Station 19 all the time, but it's just like every other show that everyone still watches, IMO.  Like @greyhorse said above, all shows require viewers to understand the suspension of reality.  

I'm willing to suspend my disbelief, but not have it hanged by the neck until it's dead. CF at least plays fast and loose with reality. S19 is a train wreck that I gave up on two years ago. 

[SnarkySheep]

My biggest peeve with the Stella plot still continues to be the way everyone acts like Girls on Fire is this revolutionary concept she's bringing to the masses. I live in CT, one of the places she supposedly visited, and I can assure you we already have high school firefighting programs that are very inclusive of girls. Ours even offers a bus ride home, so interested students aren't left out just because of transportation difficulties.