They teased the return of one of the series’ worst villains to date, and you can’t deny Emma fits the bill.
And while her return was enough to put a person on edge during Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 9, it didn’t go as planned, and as of now, nothing significant came from it.
Emma’s return didn’t carry the high stakes one would’ve imagined, but Carver and Stella sustaining injuries or succumbing to a blast brought the intensity.
It was a fairly understated midseason finale that addressed and carried on with most of the season’s arcs thus far.
There was some genuine happiness with the Cruz family plot. After a few bumps in the road, they landed a miraculously early court day and could make things official.
It was sweet to see Cruz and Javi shopping for suits as they went back and forth about the family they now share. Javi was over the moon, and this kid had gotten the chance to thrive with the Cruz family.
And Cruz did one of the sweet paternal things by allowing Javi to choose the suit that made his face light up. You could see his excitement in his leopard-accented suit compared to Cruz’s blue pinstripe pick.
He looked so happy at his ceremony, and the fact that the entire squad was there made the moment all the sweeter. Those are the family moments that remain endearing about the show.
And the humor adds to that too. Gallo stressing himself out trying to get Hermann this trip because of his guilt over sleeping with Hermann’s niece was hilarious.
But the icing was when they learned that it wasn’t some fun trip to Miami, Florida, they were vying for but rather Miami, Ohio.
The only thing worse than that is finding out you’re headed to Paris, Texas, instead of Paris, France.
Gallo: Hermann, by the way, I slept with your niece.
Hermann: What?
Gallo: I slept with Tracy, sorry.
Gallo going for broke after that letdown by telling Hermann he slept with Tracy is classic Gallo. He probably should’ve listened to Ritter and taken that to the grave.
It was a surprisingly light storyline for Gallo to have when we last saw him reeling from the death by suicide call. While the lightness is always appreciated, and he did have a great outlet that Carver shockingly provided, it was still jarring to see him so “okay.”
Surprisingly, he was picking up the sillier, lighter storylines again as if that didn’t shatter his world during that moment. We also got a brief update about Brett’s dating life and her plans to go to a concert with the new guy. It’s hard to invest in any of that right now, and it barely seems like Brett is getting invested in that relationship, either.
Brett is a character who still seems lost without Casey and doesn’t have anything important to do. She’s disappearing slowly but surely into her surroundings.
The biggest arcs involved Severide, Stella, the Pryma situation, and Carver, Stella, and Emma’s return. It’s remarkable how quickly Carver has grown on a girl. He worked his way into 51 and became part of the family. Heaven knows it was a rocky path to get to that point, and no one made it easy on either side.
But he did nothing wrong when they responded to that call. It was disturbing to hear that city worker speak so callously about the motorcyclist stuck on the bridge. Regardless of if the guy made a dumb error or not, he didn’t deserve to die for it.
Carver had no choice but to behave the way he did, and it got the desired result since they were able to save the man in the end.
It’s ridiculous that the city employee raised such a stink about it, and IAD had to get involved at all. But it led to a great moment for Carver and Stella.
Stella: Rumor has it you can be charming when you want to be, Carver. So charm this guy. Kiss his ass a little bit if you have to, just don’t screw this up. We need you hear, to make us all feel better about our drinking habits.
Carver: We’ve come a long way, huh? You actually seem concerned about me.
They really have come a long way in their relationship, and it was sweet that Stella was not only concerned about him and adamant about giving him advice to save his job, but she flat-out told him how much they value and need him at 51.
It’s doubtful Carver ever anticipated a time where he’d be welcome into the fold like that, and you could tell that mattered to him and meant something.
His gratitude toward Stella later at the bar was another great moment for the pair, and they do have a great chemistry that sparks some interest, whether they’re at each other’s throats or having meaningful moments like that.
Everything should’ve been simple, but Emma waltzing in made the situation unpredictable.
No one knew what she had planned or if she’d use Carver and his career to exact some revenge on 51. She had nothing to hold over Violet’s head anymore, so it wasn’t like she could come at her any longer.
And sadly, Hawkins has passed away, so there’s no angle she could work there. Maybe that’s why she showed mercy (for Emma) on Violet, Carver, and 51.
It’s concerning that someone as unhinged as Emma is working in IAD. How did she even land such a cushy gig after her public meltdown that cost her everything?
Hell, if she’s IAD, who is scrutinizing and investigating them regularly to ensure they’re on the up and up?
Fortunately, Emma did the right thing and didn’t set Carver up for disciplinary action. But she couldn’t resist getting a feel for how he was welcome into 51 and his feelings about the place.
She couldn’t resist that dig implying her own behavior resulted from a bad day. And she couldn’t wait to talk to Violet, acting as if nothing had ever transpired between them and they were the best of friends.
What’s scarier? Emma after a person or when she’s being randomly nice for no apparent reason?
Emma’s parting words about how it’s advantageous to have a “friend” in IAD will make you wonder if we’ll see her again and if there will come a time when someone has to “humble themselves” and seek her assistance.
Carver: I want to say thanks for having my back, not just on this IAD thing, but no matter how this all shakes out.
Stella: Oh come on, Carver, it’s not time for the goodbye speech yet.
Carver: Yeah, well with 51’s arch-nemesis on my case it doesn’t feel so far away either.
Emma is delusional enough to think she can be friends with these people after everything she did, but it may come in handy one day.
That said, the whole Emma return was anti-climatic because there was barely enough time to worry about whether or not Carver would still have a job or if Emma intended to be a repeat threat to anyone at 51 again.
And maybe it was too soon for her to return. We didn’t have enough time to bask in any stakes, and they should’ve dragged out Carver’s career in limbo for a bit longer.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that he didn’t make it out of that explosion alive in their attempt to save Pryma.
Emma: How’d you end up at 51.
Carver: Chief Boden recommended me.
Emma: The Deputy District Chief, that’s quite the endorsement.
Carver: Yeah, I guess, is this–
Emma: And how are you liking it here? I know 51 isn’t always the most welcoming with new people. It can be a little, I don’t want to say cliquey but yeah cliquey, has that been your experience?
Stella is better than I because it didn’t seem rational to risk one’s life to that degree to enter a home with a bomb that hasn’t been engaged yet to save someone who could already be on the verge of death.
Sadly, the Martucci case, Pryma, and all relating to it have turned Severide into this depressing, cantankerous person. We’re not living in the honeymoon stage of Stellaride because of all of this.
He’s not the type who doesn’t help. It’s in his nature to do so, and Stella quickly called him out on it and explained why his mood changed because of it.
It was well within Severide’s characterization to reach out to Pryma and do his best. He wanted to meet the dirty cop behind nearly getting him, and Stella killed.
I don’t know what he hoped to get from that exchange, but while it didn’t do anything for Severide, specifically, the guy did give up information about Martucci that helped.
And that’s how we got to that massive barricade with everyone there. One can’t pretend to understand how Martucci got to a point where he required half the police department, the bomb squad, 51, and others, but it is what it is.
It also seems wild that the bomb squad couldn’t find a way to disengage the grenade before Stella and Carver went in, and it felt like such a massive risk to take overall.
Stella volunteered to go for it, and it’s just like her to be the hero and risk her life. Carver accompanying her felt right, too, especially with their newfound respect for one another and loyalty.
It was pretty intense there as they worked to get that grenade out of Pryma’s leg, and it seemed impossible to ask a man experiencing that kind of agony to “stay still.”
While it looks like Carver and Stella took cover in time before the grenade exploded, and one can hope they’d be fine after all of that, you can never be too certain with this series.
And now we’re left to wonder if there are any casualties or severe injuries after that ordeal.
If Pryma dies, it will bookend the Martucci debacle, and we can move on to something else.
It’s the millionth time they’ve jeopardized Stella, so at the moment, she’ll likely be fine.
However, Carver has managed to have a turnaround, grow on people, make a place for himself at 51, and had some meaningful moments with the two people he was most adversarial with over time, so it’s possible they could set things up for his death or departure.
He was just lamenting the end of his career if Emma retaliated against 51, and that could’ve been foreshadowing for something more tragic.
Of course, that’s assuming anyone dies at all.
Over to you, Chicago Fire Fanatics. What are your thoughts? Do you think everyone in the blast will survive? How do you feel about Emma’s return? Sound off below.
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Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.