Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 5 Review: Have Violet and Carver Been Together Long Enough?
Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 5, “Down the Rabbit Hole” is a reminder that not every episode of television can be a success. Even great shows have bad moments, and while this episode wasn’t terrible, it was certainly one of the weakest of the season so far. That’s because the plot on which it built much of its tension has worn thin — and the developments here push it into outright frustrating territory.
“Down the Rabbit Hole” finds Stella Kidd and Kelly Severide investigating an unethical trucking company that seems to be responsible for multiple accidents, with Stella trying to convince a driver to betray her boss. Meanwhile, Christopher Herrmann enlists the newest member of the Engine in his latest crusade to get new radios. But most of the plot revolves around Violet Mikami and Sam Carver, and that leaves the audience wishing that Violet and Carver would get back together or move on.
Some of Kelly Severide’s best storylines were when he went to investigate the arson case, which viewers just saw in Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 3, “All Kinds of Crazy.” This episode follows a similar setup, but instead of arson, it was an accident and it brought Stella Kidd into the mix with Severide. In fact, it’s more of a Stella story since she’s the one who puts the trucking company on Severide’s radar and she’s the one who comes up with the idea of going after driver Lisa as a witness. While Stellaride’s romance and marriage bring the show together, it’s nice that the writers remember that they also make a great professional team.
However, in terms of cases of the week, this isn’t one of the most memorable. Trucking company boss Maddox is clearly the bad guy from the moment he shows up aggressively at the scene of the latest accident, which means viewers are just waiting for Stella and Severide to jump a few hurdles before they inevitably take him down. And those speed bumps are predictable: Lisa doesn’t want to say anything for fear of losing her job. The Department of Transportation can’t help but pursue the case. The most exciting moment comes near the end of the film, when everyone is called to Maddox’s building and Stella discovers Lisa’s son Michael injured after a fight. Even then, it’s only the moment Stella finally gets to tell him what she thinks.
However, this allows Chief of Police Dom Pascal to sum up Stella in one sentence perfectly, when he tells Severide that she’s “a terrible nuisance.” It’s funny that he says it so bluntly, and to her husband, but he’s not wrong either. Miranda Rae Mayo is great when Stella can be antagonistic — and this is one of those episodes. It seems like Pascal’s concerns about Severide and Stella working at the same fire station were overlooked.
In contrast to Stellaride’s solid marriage is the mess that Chicago Fire has made for Violet and Carver. Whether fans pair them together or not, there’s no denying that the entire Violet, Carver, and Tori storyline has been played out and is now beyond the bounds of plausibility. Especially after Season 13, Episode 4, “Through the Skin” was such a great episode for Violet, it’s disappointing to see how much this episode has disappointed both her and Carver.
Their subplot is Carver finally finding out about the text message Violet sent him at the beginning of Season 13. It’s clear that Carver still cares about Violet, as evidenced by the fact that he initially says he won’t be coming to her birthday party, but then changes his mind and shows up at Molly’s anyway – only for Tori to walk into the bar. It’s worth noting that Carver handles the whole situation horribly, making flimsy excuses for both women, so he’s not an innocent party. But thanks to Ritter, he’s also able to recover the text message from Violet, and he’s also flimsy when it comes to confronting his girlfriend about it. This should be the scene where he explodes and stands up for himself, especially since Tori is spouting obvious nonsense about Violet “manipulating” him and trying to mess with his head. Even considering Carver and Violet’s past, one would think he’d give Violet more credit than that. Or at least reject Tori for her manipulation and become single. But he doesn’t, and goes back to kissing Tori.
