Chicago Fire is back from another hiatus, but maybe the writers needed a longer break.
I'm not trying to shade anyone, but let's face it — like many others this season, this episode lacked a certain something. Substance? Interest? Whatever it was, it was missing.
When you have a show with this many characters, and you're constantly introducing new ones, it has to be hard to keep track of the storylines you're putting together. That's no reason to jump the shark, though, and it's starting to feel like that's what's happening.
On Chicago Fire Season 12 Episode 10, we at least had a bit of a theme going on. Most of the stories focused on family.
Hermann learned how to track his kids' locations on their phones, Cruz dealt with a potential threat regarding Javi's adoption, and Severide came close to having to watch Stella fall to her death.
Just another day in Chicagoland, right?
Speaking of Hermann's family, Cindy's take on the location tracking topic was interesting from a parenting perspective.
Most parents I know find it pretty normal to have location tracking turned on for their kids' cell phones, so it's odd that Cindy was so against it.
Especially given that they live in a large city, it makes sense for parents to know where their children are. Maybe that's anxiety speaking (for Hermann, too).
Cruz's situation was also weird. Frankly, the whole thing seemed poorly researched. Javi was legally adopted in Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 9.
I'm no adoption lawyer, but I'm pretty sure a random person claiming to be an uncle can't just threaten to disrupt a family.
Obviously, the threat wasn't real, and the whole thing was an extortion attempt, but the storyline wasn't believable anyway because no judge would have sided with Dennis.
Also, maybe I've been watching too many different shows set in firehouses, but it seems odd that Cruz kept asking Severide's permission to have visitors at the station.
Moving on to the most irritating thing about this show right now: what in the world is Novak's first name? Seriously, if you know, please enlighten me in the comments.
During Chicago Fire Season 12 Episode 9, which was Novak's first appearance, she introduces herself to the kid with the gun as "Rosie."
Toward the end of "The Wrong Guy," the emcee at her nunchucks competition calls her "Lizzie."
Meanwhile, online sources are listing her character as "Lyla Novak." So, which is it? Is this intentional? It feels sloppy, so if it's an attempt to make Novak seem mysterious, it's not landing.
There's a new guy in the house on this episode, but when is there not? This time, it's Jack Damon, who comes with his own share of secrets.
If his odd attitude toward joining the team wasn't bad enough, his creepy vibes around Stella were certainly offputting.
Damon obviously has baggage, but who knows what he has up his sleeve? With Chicago Fire, anything is on the table.
Time will tell if he's yet another secret half-sibling of Severide's or maybe someone else's long-lost love child.
On that note, let's talk about Stellaride for a minute. This is probably an unpopular opinion, but this is one ship that has lost its sails.
Where is the heat between these two? There's no chemistry at all. They interact like polite colleagues who share elevator small talk every morning.
It hasn't always been this way. Remember that smoldering hot scene from last season that had viewers fanning themselves and blowing up social media?
These days, the most we're getting that even suggests the two are together is the occasional gasp from one when the other narrowly escapes danger.
This episode saw Stella in a rocky situation when she nearly fell to her death after rescuing a crash victim.
When she made it out safely, Severide gave us a look of relief, but there was nothing in his expression that made us believe that he feared for his wife's life.
Is it really too much to ask for these folks to act like they're in love? They're literally married, and it hasn't even been that long.
Shouldn't they still be in the honeymoon phase?
Some people are going to argue that they're just being professional because they're at work, and they're limiting PDA on the job. I get it.
I've even complained about other shows (looking at you, Grey's Anatomy) for focusing too much on workplace romances. Still, there's something to be said for balance.
I'm not asking for them to start going at it in the locker rooms of the station, but something that lets us know they actually care about each other would be nice.
If I were just coming in as a new fan of the show, I'm not sure I'd even know Stellaride was a couple. Something tells me that we could turn up the heat a little and manage to keep it PG.
Sadly, this episode just didn't do it for me. Hopefully, the next installment will bring more believable and interesting storylines.
In the meantime, don't forget that you can watch Chicago Fire online. Connect with us about your thoughts in the comments, and we'll see you back here next week!