Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 12 Revisits A Tiresome Plotline (Again)

Contains spoilers for "Chicago Fire," Season 13, Episode 12

It looks like "Chicago Fire" is going back to a classic plotline — one that they've addressed over and over again. And at this point, audiences are likely ready to say "enough is enough" with this now-routine plot development. No matter how emotionally involving it is, it's getting repetitive at this point. What is it? The notion of characters adopting instead of having biological kids, which is a perfectly valid way to start a family, but it's also a frequently repeated storyline on the drama.

What's the big plot twist? What did Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) agree to do? How many other "Chicago Fire" couples have tried out adoption, only to have it turn out poorly for them in the end — or succeed beyond their wildest imaginings? Here's why we think the drama ought to cool their heels regarding this repetitive plotline. 

During "Relief Cut," Stella's cousin, Cole Williams (Richard Blackmon) comes to town. After settling old accounts regarding Stella cutting off the Williams side of the family after marrying Kelly, their fences are mended. Kelly takes Cole out for drinks at Molly's, and there Cole reveals Stella's tragic childhood backstory – and what's kept her from trying out motherhood.

It seems that Stella made herself responsible for Cole's younger brother when he was born after her Aunt Laverne suffered from dire post-partum depression. Stella basically raised her young cousin, which caused her to seek relief via drugs and a terrible first marriage. Knowing this, Kelly now has a deeper understanding of Stella — and they reopen their discussion about having children. It turns out that Stella does indeed want to have children: But she wants to adopt them, giving another child the same chance her aunt gave her. Ergo, there may be a Stellaride baby in the cards after all – only it might not be a baby, but an older child. It's a nice story — but there's one problem with it. "Chicago Fire" has done many adoption-based storylines already.

The earliest example of an adoption storyline on "Chicago Fire" stems from Gabriela "Gabby" Dawson (Monica Raymund) and Matt Casey's (Jesse Spencer) attempt at having a child. Gabby takes in the seemingly-orphaned Louie at the scene of a fire, and she and Matt work to foster and then consider adopting him. "The way he jumped into my arms and held on with all his might ... I have a feeling this was meant to be," Gabby declares.

Unfortunately for them, Louie's biological father surfaces soon after and demands custody of him. When Gabby figures out what a strongly-knit family he has, she lets Louie go with him, despite devastation overwhelming her. It was ultimately a storyline fans considered totally useless — especially because we never see Louie again. Matt and Gabby break up soon afterward, at least partially a result of her efforts to get pregnant afterward, even though an earlier miscarriage confirmed that she'll never be able to have children biologically without risking her own death. Fortunately, not all of the adoption storylines portrayed on "Chicago Fire" have ended poorly.

Much more successful in the adoption game are Sylvie Brett (Kara Kilmer) and Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso). Near the end of her time on "Chicago Fire," Sylvie encounters a teenager who wants to give up her child. An adoptee herself, Sylvie is drawn to the infant. Initially, she adopts the baby girl — whom she names Julia after her late biological mother — as a solo parent. But then she and Matt Casey get back together, get married, and move to Colorado ... with Casey's own brood of adopted kids.

Fans complained plenty about Sylvie's adoption struggle, mostly because they felt it was rehashed from Gabby's story and they had already emotionally invested in the Cruz family's journey. Joe, too, successfully experiences adoption when his family adds Javi (Carlos S. Sanchez), a child from Honduras, to their family. Cruz ends up adopting Javi when he learns that the woman taking care of him can't afford to anymore. The process was long, and when Javi was finally adopted, "Chicago Fire" fans admitted to weeping tears of joy. They were, after all, already thrilled when Cruz's adopted son referred to him as "dad." While his guardianship of the boy was briefly threatened before, they have been a solid family unit for years now. It seems as if "Chicago Med" has told this kind of tale a thousand times at this point.

There's no denying adoption is a wonderful thing, or even that "Chicago Fire" has done a great job with its adoption-based storylines. But we haven't had a character successfully bring forth a biological child since Chloe Cruz (Kristen Gutoskie) had Brian in Season 9. At this point, someone giving birth would be refreshing, even though it's understandable why the show wouldn't want to take one of its characters out of the action for an extended period of time.

Still, that would be better than subjecting the show's character to the same rigmarole over and over again. The notion of Stella having to battle with her fears and grapple with her worries would be far more compelling at this point than seeing them go through yet another fraught, possibly heartbreaking adoption process. It's been a long time since someone's had a kid on the show the old-fashioned way, and at this point it'd be an interesting twist that "Chicago Fire" should try out.