Everybody loves a good first responder procedural, and it’s why Chicago Fire has seen such massive success.
The firehouse-focused NBC hit quickly spawned two equally popular spinoffs and continues to celebrate its accomplishments midway through its thirteenth season.
As much as the action keeps things interesting, there’s a large portion of the fanbase that tunes in each week for something else entirely.
I’ve gushed about this show’s strengths before, from its heartfelt friendships to its commitment to accuracy (fun fact: Anthony Ferraris, who plays Tony, is an actual CFD firefighter).
Fans love the show for a plethora of reasons, and with a dynamic cast and talented showrunner (Andrea Newman), it’s easy to understand the hype.
But if you zoom in a bit, looking past the general audience of casual Wednesday night viewers and focusing on the fandom, it’s hard to miss the Stellaride-shaped beacon that keeps the most devoted fans engaged.
The relationship was complicated and it took time for them to get where they are, but Kidd and Severide figured it out, and nearly a decade in are now happily married.
They’re the couple at the front of the cast, a leading pair that rivals Grey’s Anatomy’s Meredith and Derek.
So why has Stellaride’s relationship been stuck on the back burner?
Each week, excited fans wait for glimpses of Stellaride, whether that looks like intimate moments in the bunks, words of encouragement for each other at work, or steamy scenes in their loft.
But more often than not, those moments are fleeting, and it seems like they’re coming less and less frequently.
The most surprising aspect of the choice to sideline the show’s main couple is that Chicago Fire Season 12 ended with bombshell reveals that set up a Stellaride-centric follow-up season.
Instead of diving in to explore their clashing opinions on when and whether to have a baby, or digging further into the impact that the latest secret Severide sibling had on their marriage, both of those storylines just … fizzled.
Other than a brief mention of the baby topic early this season (which was little more than Stella reminding Kelly that she’s not ready), the conversation seems to have been completely tabled.
That begs the question: why was Kelly’s confession about wanting a baby treated like a huge cliffhanger in Chicago Fire Season 12 Episode 13?
The Damon drama was over as quickly as it began, with Kelly bonding with his newly discovered brother, butting heads with him briefly, and then just never seeing him again.
Everyone seems totally fine with how that went down, by the way, since no one ever brings him up anymore.
Kidd and Severide have been seen together this season, but they haven’t been given much to work with, and that has left fans feeling disappointed.
By the time Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 8 ended, marking the end of the first half of the season, the fandom lit up social media with questions about why Severide wasn’t even in the episode.
Given the importance of the fall finale on network television, it was certainly an odd choice to have the show’s it-couple pushed to the background, half absent.
It’s hard to understand the decision when comparing Chicago Fire with other major shows.
I’m obviously not in the writers room, so come January, I’ll probably look pretty ridiculous if Stellaride takes center stage again and drives the narrative for the rest of the season.
But even if that happens, it’s still baffling to look at how little screen time the couple has had together lately, despite being relative newlyweds with a laundry list of potential storylines between them.
Tons of shows have blamed tight budgets for decisions like limiting character appearances, toning down storylines that need special effects, and culling casts.
Maybe budgetary concerns have played a role in the ever-dwindling Stellaride scenes in favor of focusing on new characters like Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) or Lizzie Novak (Jocelyn Hudon).
And if that’s the case, then that’s fair enough.
But at the end of the day, Stellaride is the heart of Chicago Fire, and it’s a disservice to their story and their characters to sideline the relationship.
What say you, TV Fanatics?
Have you been put off by the lack of Stellaride scenes lately, or are you happy the show is focusing on other storylines?
Let’s chat about it in the comments!
Chicago Fire will return on Wednesday, January 8, at 9/8c on NBC.
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