Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 14 Reveals Carver Is Barely Holding it Together

Critic’s Rating: 3.3 / 5.0

3.3

It’s time to shake things up because Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 14 was a little on the slow side.

It’s not that it wasn’t a decent hour to watch; it’s more that there is almost nothing to talk about.

Chicago Fire is one of those shows that can fire on all cylinders, but when it doesn’t, covering the show is pretty tough.

Herrmann’s still getting his feet wet with his new authority, and Pascal left him in charge while he was off somewhere else.

It wasn’t really important where it was — it was one of those “the cast has to go away so we can save costs” maneuvers.

We’ve come to understand that those things happen, but when some of the most interesting characters are off-screen, it can become a bit of a slugfest.

Some characters just have more life in them than others story-wise.

Severide and Pascal are at the top of that list. They were both MIA. Stella is, as well, and while she was present during “Bar Time,” she was more of a supporting player than a focal point.

Herrmann made a good call taking an injured drop-off to the hospital in the big rig, but it wasn’t too exciting. Even less exciting was his piles of paperwork.

Teamwork makes the dream work, and Herrmann needed the entire team to help him dig through everything on time.

I’ll just say that I prefer to forget that being a Fire Chief is a sedentary, bureaucratic position. I’d rather live in my TV fiction bubble, thinking that attaining the role of chief comes with some drama.

Herrmann was no closer to understanding where he fits in the end than he was at the beginning of the episode, let alone the beginning of Chicago Fire Season 13.

I need something really significant to be the deciding factor, but I don’t know enough about being a real fire chief to know what that is. And I’m not sure that I care.

Boden and Pascal have a gravitas for the role that Herrmann doesn’t.

They work well with the stern, somewhat boring endeavor of rules and paperwork. Herrmann, on the other hand, is a lighthearted family man with a strong soul, which is at risk of being sucked dry if he becomes chief.

Even meeting Lizzie’s ex-fiance wasn’t all that exciting, which is strange since I have been eager to get to know more about her.

I also like the actor who played Scott, although I’ll be darned if I can remember where I’ve seen him before. If he’s not listed on IMDB, then I’m toast.

Lizzie’s ex-fiance, Scott, was a nice guy. I loved that he called a pain in the butt they met on a call “Trucker Hat.”

His main point of arrival was to show us that Lizzie used to be ephemeral. She never stayed put or put down roots, but she’s changed. Perhaps that will open up more stories for her in the future.

The biggest story was about Carver, as his struggles from Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 13 grew considerably after Violet was put in danger.

Not only did he begin drinking, but he hasn’t been going to meetings, and after meeting Lee, who could blame him? But he lied about it to Violet, which really hurt her.

Seeing what happened with Trucker Hat and his pal is a sharp reminder for Carver of where he could end up if he doesn’t pull himself together.

He can’t work endlessly to mask the pain, so he’s got to find another avenue to move forward. He’s decided to take some time for himself.

This is clearly another “we need to move a character off campus” situation like we’ve seen done with Severide and Kidd so many times. But in this case, it makes real sense.

Carver didn’t come out and say it, but I got the impression he’ll go to rehab. If he can’t be on his own, then that’s the only alternative.

I hate to see him go even temporarily, but Jake Hackett made the most of his exit. When his eyes welled up with tears as Carver talked with Kidd, I wasn’t far behind.

The stronger and more flippant someone is about life, the more I fall for their softer moments, and Carver’s growth has been one of my favorite things about Chicago Fire in the past few seasons.

Of course, Stella wasn’t upset with him. She was proud that he was taking responsibility and doing what he needed to do.

And although Violet thought Carver was lying to her about going to meetings and turning a corner because she didn’t matter to him, it was the opposite, and he told her so in a short but meaningful note he left behind.

Since he hasn’t been at his best recently, I’m glad he won’t be around for Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 15 when someone won’t make it out of the episode alive.

My Spidy senses are tingling, and I think Damon will be the one who goes to an early grave.

It was jarring that he was in Molly’s when the girl went down. Wasn’t that him in the helmet during the preview?

Severide needs something weighing on him since he and Kidd are moving forward with their plans to adopt, and what could be worse than losing your brother?

Most everyone else is safe, as big, unexpected deaths are a thing of the past on American TV.

Since I haven’t had a comment on one of these posts in ages, I suspect I’m not alone in finding it incredibly difficult to really discuss Chicago Fire lately.

So, let’s see if things change the next time out.

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