12 Years Later, Chicago Fire Must Finally Stop Baby-Sitting Its Characters
Chicago Fire handicaps its characters by preventing them from making mistakes.
Summary:
– Chicago Fire shields its main characters from making serious mistakes on calls which removes tension and stakes from the show.
– Fans want to see firefighters deal with the consequences of their errors which could add interesting new storylines.
– The point is not to have Severide or Violet booted from the firehouse but to see how they’d act under such circumstances.
In a perfect TV show, its characters feel like real human beings. A quick fun fact about real human beings: they mess up, and many of them mess up a lot. And when they do, they have to deal with the consequences; that’s how they become better or, at the very least, learn something new.
That barely happens in Chicago Fire: the main characters are forced into professional near-perfection, and they just aren’t able to make mistakes.
Chicago Fire Babysits Its Main Characters
You might think, “But wait — don’t Chicago Fire characters mess up all the time?” You’d be correct, of course: they do… But for the most part, in their relationships. Ask yourself, when was the last time Kelly Severide, Stella Kidd, Christopher Herrmann, or any other major character made a serious mistake on a call? Like, a big one, with real consequences that aren’t resolved with a couple of words.
As Chicago Fire itself shifts from being a firefighter show to a soap opera, so do its characters. You can’t feel the stakes if there are none; if the characters aren’t even able to mess up; if you know that in the end, everything will work out just fine. Interpersonal drama is cool and all, but it’s not what this show was supposed to be about.
Fans Want Characters to Make Mistakes
Over at the Chicago Fire subreddit, the show’s fans agree that it would have been nice to see some occasional slips and errors from time to time. Not because they want Severide or Violet to be booted, of course — but to see how they would act in a self-inflicted crisis and deal with the consequences of their own mistakes.
“Obviously, I don’t want them to lose their careers over it, especially the veteran firefighters like Herrmann & Severide, but I’d love for them to be human and make a mistake. I’d love to see the emotional toll it might take on one of them and what path they might go down to deal with that remorse/grief. <…> I’d love a storyline like that,” user oktobeokk noted.
Firehouse 51 has some of the strongest people in the city, the ones who are willing to put their lives on the line every day to save others. They don’t need to be protected from slip-ups and such — and we just so happen to need more interesting stories. It’s a match made in heaven, so why not finally have someone mess up?
