Chicago Fire doesn’t skimp on action in season 13. The firefighter drama has been intense in the second half of the season, with the episode “Cut Me Open” keeping up the breakneck pace. SPOILERS AHEAD!
The episode opens with Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) excited and a little nervous as they discuss their plans to adopt a child with 51 of their coworkers. Herrmann (David Eigenberg) gives them some much-needed encouragement, which makes sense since he’s a father of five, but the firefighters go their separate ways soon after.
Kidd and Severide think they still have weeks before the woman named Jade, who’s planning to put her child up for adoption, gives birth. Jade is similarly impressed, as she hasn’t yet completed the entire adoption process before she suddenly goes into labor. She’ll have to meet the 51s while she’s at the hospital and determine in real time whether they’re a good match for her unborn child.
Herrmann faces the possibility of firing 51
Meanwhile, Herrmann is left with a 51 team that’s extremely thin. Not only are Kidd and Severide missing, but Sam Carver (Jake Lockett) is also working part-time and therefore absent this shift. Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) has decided to take the day off, and paramedics Lizzie Novak (Joceyln Hudon) and Violet Mikami (Hanako Greensmith) are nowhere to be seen.
Normally, this would be a minor inconvenience, but Herrmann is dealing with a performance efficiency expert who has a reputation for being tough when it comes to cutting department staff. The specialist is said to have put a fire engine at Fire Station 28 out of commission, so Herrmann is pretty stressed out about having to prove the worth of everyone he works with (despite their absence).
Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) was eager to welcome Kidd and Severide at the beginning of the episode, but her presence really comes into play when she has to deliver some sad news to the couple. It turns out the woman who is pregnant with their potential child has a history of opiate addiction and was using them just two days before arriving. You can see both Kidd and Severide losing their cool and worrying about how this will affect the child medically.
