Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 3, “All Kinds of Crazy” is the episode where fans of the NBC show can finally relax. While there was some panic that actor Taylor Kinney was leaving again, this episode reaffirms that not only is Kinney staying, but that the series needs his character Kelly Severide. This is the hour where Severide soars — and Jack Damon takes a good, hard fall right on his face.
All Kinds of Crazy” deals with the Damon situation that’s been percolating since the end of Season 12, and does so in a way that adds a little more depth to new Battalion Chief Dom Pascal. If only the writers could handle Pascal and Sam Carver’s strange romantic subplots with the same efficiency. However, those are two of the only weak spots in an episode that cleans things up so the season can move forward.
Is Jack Damon Actually Leaving Chicago Fire?
Season 13, Episode 3 Shows Damon the Firehouse Door
The most important thing that Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 3 does is be done with Jack Damon, who is transferred out of Firehouse 51 before the end of the hour. Damon emphatically wore out his welcome with the boat incident in Season 13, Episode 2, “Ride the Blade,” and since that episode ended with Severide giving him an ultimatum, the writers had no choice but to get rid of him. “All Kinds of Crazy” picks up where “Ride the Blade” left off in more ways than one. Now that Damon’s manipulative ways have been revealed, actor Michael Bradway continues to make his character as creepy as possible. Damon is so fake-earnest with Chief Pascal that it hurts — and in his last scene with Severide, looks like he’s doing his best serial killer glare.
Dom Pascal: You’ve broken the trust with your lieutenant, and there’s no getting it back. Dismissing you from this firehouse is the only option.
Damon’s arc over the opening of Season 13 definitely supports showrunner Andrea Newman telling CBR that there was going to be “crazy in the firehouse.” The way that Bradway plays him, he’s not just angry or jealous; he seems mentally unstable. Whatever he is, there’s no doubt that he’s gone. Pascal tells Stella that “Damon’s done at 51” and that there’s already a floater taking his place. It’s possible that Damon could pop back up on a revenge tour like Emma Jacobs did, but what would be the point in that? Even his insistence that Severide is just like his father falls completely flat, because the audience not only doesn’t trust him, they outright dislike him. There’s no reason to take anything he says seriously.
One smart move that the episode makes is to use the negative of the Damon situation to create a much-needed positive for Pascal. So far, Dermot Mulroney’s character hasn’t endeared himself to audiences, because the only other side of him they’ve seen is his odd personal life. But in “All Kinds of Crazy,” when handed a literal pile of evidence by Mouch, Pascal does a 180 on his opinion of Stella Kidd and kicks Damon to the curb. Pascal needed some credibility with viewers, some reason for them to care about him, and seeing sense stops him from being just an antagonist — especially when that epiphany leads him to getting rid of an actual antagonist. He gets a lot of brownie points in this episode, but he’s not out of the woods yet.
Chicago Fire’s Romantic Tension Continues to Fizzle
Pascal and Carver’s Subplots Still Need Work
“Ride the Blade’ was a flop because it tilted Chicago Fire‘s balance too far toward personal drama, and the personal stories felt like they were just too much. Though Damon is gone, the show still has Pascal and Carver’s messy personal lives to deal with. Pascal’s relationship with his wife Monica continues to be just plain bizarre; her response to finding out he assaulted his old friend out of jealousy is to make out with him. It’s still not clear exactly what their deal is… but at this point it almost seems better not to know. Despite the efforts of Dermot Mulroney and KaDee Strickland, this pairing isn’t at all entertaining to watch.