Heart of the Inferno: Inside Firehouse 51, Where Brotherhood Forges Heroes and Every Call is a Fight for Survival.

Chicago Fire Season 13, Episode 6, “Birds of Prey” is not an episode fans are going to remember on its own — except for maybe Mouch being attacked by a bird. The value of the episode is that its main story, involving yet another suspicious fire in Chicago, sets up an ongoing subplot for Kelly Severide and Chief Dom Pascal. And in so doing, it gives Pascal some valuable character development.

“Birds of Prey” largely revolves around a fire that breaks out at a storage facility. Upon inspecting the affected storage units, Firehouse 51 finds several cases of 3D-printed guns — and stumbles into an Illinois State Police investigation. The usual territorial drama follows, but Taylor Kinney is always reliable in such stories, and Dermot Mulroney makes a more than capable wingman for him.

Chicago Fire Season 13 Finds Something Else for Pascal

The New Chief Has a Better Storyline to Work With

The general beats of the A-story in “Birds of Prey” are familiar: someone at Firehouse 51 (usually Severide) disagrees with an outside group or agency about how something is handled, and Firehouse 51 turns out to be right, or at least on the right track. What makes this one work is the same thing that’s made previous stories of this type work — the conviction of Taylor Kinney. He always plays Severide with such determination and self-confidence that it’s impossible not to root for him against whoever is standing in his way. It seems strange at first to pair him with Chief Pascal, but Kinney and Mulroney mesh pretty well together.