Chicago Fire’s Stellaride Are Toxic, but at Least They Keep It Real

Summary:

• Chicago Fire is an NBC procedural drama that has been on the air since 2012.
• The show follows the lives of firefighters and paramedics on Firehouse 51 located in Chicago.
• Stella Kidd and Kelly Severide are now the central couple of the show, but fans don’t see their relationship as functional.

To be entertaining, a series must combine many different features. The cast should have vibrant characters with strong personalities, there should be drama and conflict between them, and of course the plot should move forward and not stagnate after a couple of seasons.

Once upon a time, Chicago Fire met all of these requirements, and it was this balance that made the audience so addicted to the show. With each new season, however, the series continues to lose the spark that once captivated its fans.

With the departure of several key characters, who were beloved by the fandom, the issue of viewer retention is especially poignant. One of the biggest problems is that the writers have missed every opportunity to restore romance in the main couple, but are too afraid to fully break them up.

Will Severide and Stella End Up Together?

No matter how beautifully Stella Kidd and Kelly Severide's love story unfolded and how lovely their wedding was, it could not save their relationship. Behind the pretty picture, there was always too much pain and unresolved trauma that continued to prevent the couple from being happy.

On the one hand, such a turn of events is very realistic. Given both characters' backgrounds of addiction, loss, and difficult recovery, their desire for control is completely understandable. However, this realism does not make their relationship in any way more appealing to the viewers.

On the contrary, the further Stellaride goes in their struggles, the stronger the audience's desire to finally free them from one another.

In an ideal world, Stella and Severide would both still be urgently seeking therapy. They are good at what they do at their job, but terrible at controlling their own emotions outside of it. At the same time, their relationship lacks open communication, which makes it seem like they are not moving forward at all.

In the reality created by the Chicago Fire production team, the couple has only two options. They can continue to stay together and coexist in this toxic relationship, ignoring all the red flags in each other, until the writers get to the cheating storyline and the whole bubble bursts, or get a divorce. It’s not that hard to see how the second option has more appeal to it.

To see which scenario the show will actually follow, make sure to tune in to Chicago Fire’s new episodes each Wednesday on NBC.