After our episodes were so rudely interrupted by a presidential address, we are back with Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 10.
So, was the wait worth it? We’ll get to that in a minute. First, we have a word from our sponsors, so to speak.
As this episode ends, we’re on the cusp of an epic One Chicago crossover. Love them or hate them, the next episode, at a special time, will be the first time such a crossover has occurred since 2019.
Yes, the next new Chicago Fire episode will be on at 8/7c, so be sure to do whatever you need to do, so don’t miss it. And if whatever happens propels you to Chicago Med and Chicago PD, then that’s good for all of us!
Yeah, yeah, but what about “Chaos Theory”? I’m glad you asked. Let’s dig in.
Have We Still Got a Cruz Problem?

Cruz decided against calling 9-1-1 and called Leon instead, who gave him the unsound advice to go home and pretend nothing ever happened. Sweet Hades, how do people always recommend the wrong thing? Have we learned nothing?
Cruz gives jumpy a new name. He heard laughter and nearly jumped out of his skin.
I have no idea how he managed to put Flaco’s death behind him for over a decade, but now that he’s been activated again with Junior’s death, he’s got to make things right, not for Flaco or his family, but for Cruz and his.
The timing of his being called into a conversation about Flaco’s death would have had me hyperventilating. But good on Pascal for asking the right question: why is Flaco’s family coming forward now when they’ve had 12 years to do it?
Cruz should have come through right then, but he chose to remain silent. Even worse, Leon knew Junior was getting out of jail and didn’t bother telling Cruz. That’s what you get when you remain silent. A whole lot of trouble.
Cruz finally did the right thing by going to Severide, but it was after Pascal already asked him to do a complete arson investigation. Thankfully, that decision should change how this story ends.

By asking Severide to investigate, Pascal ensured that the full story was known before Cruz went to the police.
He couldn’t have known that, but it’s nice to think that maybe that’s why he assigned it in the first place.
Wasn’t it just on Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 9 that Pascal was annoyed about Severide’s arson investigations? Maybe he was serious when he said he wanted to take advantage of Severide’s skills in the area.
But even clearing Cruz with science wasn’t enough to save him from himself. He knew he wasn’t at fault for Flaco’s death, but he was still determined to clear his conscience. Maybe determined isn’t the right word.

When Chicago PD‘s Atwater brought Cruz up, he hesitated at the gate. By the end, Cruz was well and truly off the hook. He told the whole truth and nothing but, and there will be no charges against him.
Sometimes, charges are the least of your worries as your internal thoughts can be far more damaging.
Time will tell if Cruz can wipe those out of his mind, but he’s got Pascal’s respect for admitting his guilt even when he knew he was in the clear.
He’s got two weeks to think about it with a suspension. I wonder if he will be a part of the crossover event. This arc ended much sooner than I expected. How about you?
Has the way Pascal acted during this story affected the way you feel about him? I hope he sticks around.

Superman and Daredevil
Did Violet really offer the services of her new guy to her former guy? Really?
And it wasn’t kind of weird how Flynn patted Carver on the shoulder twice while giving him advice that he didn’t request. I mean, it’s nice that he offered it, but it felt condescending.
Is Violet going to discover her new guy isn’t as nice as she thinks?
Or am I projecting my own feelings for Violet and Carver to get together on poor Flynn (Steven Strait, who I also adore… anybody else see him sing in the 2005 movie Undiscovered or fall for him on the tragically short period series Magic City?).

The way things ended, it seems unlikely that Violet is really happy with Flynn. It still seems like she and Carver are on intersecting paths and that they will cross again, maybe for good.
That makes it harder to connect with any other people they date because you don’t expect it to last.
The look on Violet’s face when Carver went into Superman mode when tossing the manhole cover, said I’m not far off. She even called him Superman!
But Flynn countered by assigning himself the Daredevil moniker, which was a good response. Maybe he is a keeper.
Strait is a pretty good recurring guest star, so maybe he’ll be around longer than I expect. How do you feel about Violet and the two men in her life? Should she be with Carver or play it straight with Flynn (see what I did there?)?

Could Herrmann Really Be Chief?
Herrmann just made captain, and now he’s considering a promotion to chief. Is Dom Pascal a blow-through character who will step aside so that Herrmann (or Mouch) can step into the position?
Please tell me that nobody would ever really test tear gas and pepper spray in the city limits like that.
At least Herrmann was as outraged as I was. But his outrage was another clue that Herrmann likes to be active and that sitting behind a desk would kill him.

But where did he get the idea that being Chief is a desk job? Pascal and Boden before him sat behind the desk as much as Herrmann sits at that kitchen table doing nothing.
As the “perfect passenger” story with Ritter and the rideshare rating suggests, Herrmann is either always going to be a handful or will always be expected to be one. That’s not what you want from a chief.
Stella Returned
Finally, Stella and Severide share a passionate hello again. Too often, they’re saying goodbye. This was a nice change of pace.
It was also pretty sweet that she helped a schoolteacher named Amy find her place in the world again after a close call. Her stories have been mostly about others lately, and I’m eager to see her get her own story arc again.

And that’s all we’ve got for now.
This season is, I daresay, kind of uneventful. I can’t put my finger on why that is, so maybe you can figure it out. All I know is that I’m not excited about what’s ahead. It just is.
If you have ideas about that or anything else, please share them with me in the comments below!
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