“All Kinds of Crazy” also serves up a pretty big fire scene, and throwing Ritter out the window isn’t the only interesting thing that comes out of it. This is another episode where Severide gets to play arson investigator — or “fire cop” as he puts it — and there’s a reason that he once thought about permanently moving to that kind of role. Not only is he good at it, but the writers clearly have a lot of fun doing these stories. They show a whole different side of Severide’s personality and skill set, and even more of Taylor Kinney’s range. This time it’s a fire that starts in the kitchen of a restaurant and engulfs the apartments above. There’s no way that any viewer had “paint thinner in the rice cooker” on their Chicago Fire bingo card.
While the fans know there has to be some kind of twist coming, it’s a plot that links up perfectly with the rest of the episode. Severide and the ever-reliable Captain Van Meter deduce that the restaurant owners’ daughter tried to burn the place down. Her parents could retire when they collected the insurance money, and she would be free to pursue her own dreams instead of feeling obligated to take over their business. When Severide calls out the mother for trying to take the fall, it’s clear that he’s not only talking about her, but also talking about himself.
Kelly Severide: I get wanting to protect your family, believe me. But you can’t save them from themselves.
“All Kinds of Crazy” paces the arson plot well enough that the audience can follow along and have fun guessing what the big reveal is going to be. Between that, a final and proper resolution to the Damon situation, and getting at least one reason to care about Pascal, the episode scores a lot of points not only on its own, but for moving the entirety of Season 13 forward. The personal drama is mostly resolved, there’s an exciting fire to keep that part of the show going, and the new chief is seen in his best light yet. Firehouse 51 is now free to go on to bigger and better things.
