Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 20 Review: Never, Ever Make a Mistake
Denis Kimathi
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The rule has always remained the same: get in, do your best, never make promises and get out.
Sylvie and Stella broke this rule on Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 20, and the effects were catastrophic.
Sylvie has always had a soft spot for children, infants especially. We never knew where that came from until the events of this episode.
That call was harrowing, and no one denies it must have been harder than most, but its reaction was disproportional.
Seeing the baby looking blue and failing to respond to every trick she tried was disheartening. Even when they rushed her to the hospital, Sylvie was four five seconds from jumping out of that ambulance and running there on foot.
The only thing she did right was let the doctors do the rest of the job and not obsess over whether the kid was okay. That way, she could protect herself emotionally by assuming everything went perfectly.
If only she had extended that logic back at the firehouse instead of lashing out.
Mistakes happen, and after having a long stressful night shift, it would be understandable that the other shift would make a mistake, especially when Sylvie and Violet had just gotten in for their shift.
Sylvie: And first shift screwed up. They didn't replace the OB kit, so it wasn't there when we needed it. Probably cost a newborn girl her life.
Boden: And why didn't you two do morning inventory?
Violet: The bells went off right at shift change. It said emergency; there was no time. We did a quick checkout and raced off.
Her mind went to the extreme outcomes, and she decided that the worst had happened in another timeline, and someone must be responsible for it.
It didn't feel like Andler deserved to be threatened because of what could have been an honest mistake.
If you don't get charged for this, I will quit.
Sylvie [to Andler]
Sylvie later learned that Mary had been fired because she had made the same mistake twice and was almost happy that she was off the hook.
Except that she wasn't. She didn't know anything about Andler, and it seemed personal.
Sure, Andler might have been rude to Cruz, but in her position, I would have smacked someone because no one has the mental bandwidth to deal with such nonsense after a long night.
Even after Boden questioned her why the reaction was over the top, she claimed that she had been given up for adoption, but so what?
That young girl, the mother of that baby, she's 16. The same age my mother was when she had me. And gave me up for adoption.
Sylvie
There was zero correlation between those two situations.
In all honestly, Sylvie was unhinged, and her actions are indefensible.
In the Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 20 Spoilers post, I speculated that all this had something to do with Casey. Since he dropped by and left as fast as he came, she hasn't been the same. I still regard that to be true.
She should have left well enough alone because all's well that ends well. Can she earnestly never ever make a mistake?
Elsewhere, Stella tried to comfort a victim, not knowing that she was courting danger for herself.
In Stella's case, however, she didn't do anything that had not been done before.
Whenever they arrive, firefighters and emergency medical teams find people on possibly the worst day of their lives, and they can't help but comfort them when they start to spiral.
Stella saw that Shep was struggling and did what any rational person would.
It was also not unordinary that Shep showed up to thank her for rescuing him, but his behavior was weird. He looked visibly annoyed to see Carver tagging along with her, as if he expected to find her alone.
Carver developed feelings for Stella, but so far, he'd been doing a great job of hiding them.
I genuinely couldn't tell if Shep saw how Carver looked at Stella like a puppy and realized he was in love with her or if Shep was just being deluded.
It was hard to hold anything against him because of his mental illness, but his actions' consequences could have very real effects.
It seems that Carver can never catch a break because if estranged family members aren't tormenting him, he is being burnt by chemicals or arrested by police for assault.
Stella's night ended on a low, not even after riding the high of having her first Girls on Fire recruit pass her firefighter exam.
There was no doubt that Kylie would ace her tests because, one, Stella trained her, and two, she works in a firehouse.
Seeing Stella and Boden so expectant and eager for her must have made it too real, and she felt pressured.
Boden: You are going to ace these tests, Kylie.
Stella: You are, girl.
Boden: You are going to mop the floor with all the other applicants.
Stella: And leave them in your dust.
Boden: No one is more prepared than you are.
Stella: Nobody.
She realized she was carrying a lot of expectations on her shoulders. If she passed the test, Stella and Boden would be proud of her, and she would be a perfect example for the other girls in the program.
She would never live it down if she failed, as she would have set a bad precedent.
But hey, she passed, and all the stressing out was for nothing.
Extra thoughts
- While it made for great comedy seeing Herrmann try a better lifestyle, it wasn't as impressive as expected.
- That little girl was better off being adopted by someone else because she was very unwanted. Her mother was a child herself, and her grandmother hated children. She would have been the most unhappy child if she had grown up in that house.
- Sylvie was so good with her that it looked like she would adopt her. In fact, she still might.
- Cocky Gallo is back, and man, was that refreshing. It was hard seeing him suffer over the past two episodes.
"Never, Ever Make A Mistake" was quite balanced with humor, character development, and engaging emergencies.
What did you think? Was there a way to justify Sylvie's behavior?
Let us know in the comments section, and don't forget to watch Chicago Fire online via TV Fanatic.
Denis Kimathi was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.
