Chicago Fire is known for big premieres and big finales. The NBC show adds to that reputation with the Season 14 premiere, which breaks the audience’s hearts more than once. Yet “Kicking Down Doors” also comes with an amount of controversy.
That controversy comes from an early scene in which Stella Kidd learns that she has lost the pregnancy she revealed in the Season 10 finale. The back and forth with Stellaride’s parenthood seems cruel at this point—first the failed adoption attempt, then the pregnancy announcement, and not only taking that back but then also dangling the idea of another adoption in front of them as well as the fans. It’s true that becoming parents is the last step for any TV couple, so it’s not a plotline to pursue lightly. But why end Season 10 with the news that so many people wanted to hear, on and off-screen, only to take it away?
Past that, the Chicago Fire Season 14 premiere is focused on drumming up mystery around the firehouse’s new arrival, Sal Vasquez. It’s fantastic to see actor Brandon Larracuente with a new gig after he was so fantastic in another Dick Wolf series, On Call. He slides perfectly from wide-eyed rookie cop to smart-alec tough-guy firefighter. Audiences know that Vasquez’s placement at Firehouse 51 is “a favor” involuntarily done by Chief Dom Pascal, and by the end of the episode, Stella knows that too. Vasquez’s first episode is about establishing him as a rogue element—a story that’s been told before, such as when Jack Damon arrived and was also vague before being revealed as Kelly Severide’s half-brother. But the strength of Larracuente’s performance buys him some goodwill with the audience.
He’s the replacement for Jake Lockett as Sam Carver, who does not appear for a farewell after Carver declared his intention to transfer out of state. The other departing cast member, Daniel Kyri, does get a sendoff of sorts. His character Darren Ritter doesn’t specifically state that he’s leaving, but is seen arriving at a New York hospital after his love interest Dwayne is shot in the line of duty. Audiences can clearly connect the dots and know that Ritter will be off to New York to pursue the happy ending he wasn’t quite ready for in Chicago. That’s a better exit story than most even if it remains sad to think that the Three Musketeers—Violet, Ritter and Blake Gallo—are completely over now.
The case of the week in “Kicking Down Doors” is a bigger idea that the new mayor of Chicago is severely cutting funding to 911 dispatchers, the Chicago Police Department and then (as was warned about in Season 10) the Fire Department, too. Violet makes a comment about 49 percent of all emergency calls going unanswered due to a staffing shortage. Pascal meets with the mayor’s Chief of Staff—played by The X-Files and Brotherhood star Annabeth Gish—for more political arguing that gets nowhere yet. This isn’t the first time that Chicago Fire has done a political or business-minded storyline. But this one hits different because of the timing. Audiences can more easily believe the fictional budget constraints because they’re living through real economic pressures.
By episode’s end, showrunner Andrea Newman has effectively turned over the table between seasons. There’s a clear idea of where the main characters are going in Chicago Fire Season 14. Vasquez has been introduced with his ongoing mystery, Ritter has an exit point, Stellaride have another adoption story, and the firehouse has its financial problems. Fans have a lot to look forward to. They may not agree with all of it, but they know there is no shortage of possibility. “Kicking Down Doors” is an effective return to Firehouse 51 that delivers everything Chicago Fire is known for.
