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‘Chicago Fire’ Fans Debate What’s Next for the Show

For 10 years, Chicago Fire has taken us through the trials and tribulations of a heroic, tightly knit fire station. But now that the show has reached double digits, some fans feel that the show has lost its thrill. Nail-biting emergency situations have been replaced with complex social situations, and it just doesn’t isn’t as exciting.

Frustrated with the lackluster writing, Chicago Fire fans took to Reddit to share their grievances about the show’s developments. The author even titled the thread, “Is the series getting stagnant?”

“I’m well into S10 and I’m getting the sense that the script writers are growing stagnant with the story line. Aside from Casey leaving the show, there hasn’t been anything dramatic that really gets your attention,” the Reddit user wrote. “In previous seasons, there was some life-changing event or something incredibly funny that has happened to House 51 which made the show interesting. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching this show from S1, but I hate admit that I’m becoming a bit bored with the show.”

Despite the lag in action, most fans are willing to stay with the series. After all, the dramatic fires and emergency situations may have attracted them to Chicago Fire. But it was the characters that kept them coming back.

“I agree that the show is a bit slower than in the past but I sort of expected it since we’re missing two major characters,” one Chicago Med fan responded. “But I also think there has been a majorly lack of firefighting action in the scripts for a while.”

‘Chicago Fire’ Fans Debate Reason for Show’s Slow Plotline

Some Chicago Fire fans hoped that the slow storyline was in preparation for an explosive holiday episode. Meanwhile, another Reddit user theorized that the lack of firefights came from a precautionary stance.

“I’m thinking one of the possible reasons they have a lack of major firefighting action is probably because the covid protocols still in place somewhat prevents them from doing mass-casualty events since they need to test every extra needed for those scenes,” the fan wrote. “So what they did in place is a mix of various types of accidents and small home or building fires rather than massive mass-casualty fires and events.”

This isn’t a farfetched idea. Chicago Fire depicts emergency situations in a highly populated city. So, any big fire events require a large number of extras in order to capture the realism of the scene. Unfortunately, though, these moments aren’t as easily constructible as they used to be. Masks, testing and social distancing all have to play a part in the filming. Add to that extra takes and angles and that equals a long day of shooting for just one scene.

Perhaps in future episodes, the show’s writers will find a way to cater to fans’ need for excitement in ways that require fewer people on the set.