#jack damon

[sharonccrter]

Chicago Fire, Season 13:

Kelly Severide and Jack Damon + development.

[lucy-bradford]

CHICAGO FIRE 13x02, Ride the Blade

I actually thought you might have my back on this. I did. That’s the problem. I lied to protect you, which is something I wouldn’t have done for anyone else. What’d she say? She’s pissed. She has every right to be. At both of us.

[thena0315]

One Chicago Siblings

Dawson Siblings (Fire x PD)

Halstead Brothers (PD x Med)

Sexton Siblings (Med)

Charles Sisters (Med)

Severide Siblings (Fire)

[sailingfireshipz]

So i just want to preface this by saying this entire dissertation was sparked by the episode rewatch from day 5. From that, a conversation started with @chicagofires and I.

That discussion, led me to make a post about how the absusive and manipulative tendencies that Grant displayed towards Stella throughout and post their relationship can be linked to similar behaviors and themes in how Carver, Damon, and Pascal have treated her. From that post, a few of you said you'd actually want to read my thoughts on that, so here we go! If you're new to this, go ahead and grab yourself a little snacky snack we've got a lot to unpack.

So it's like they found a way to continue the victimization that Stella went through with Grant just through her professional relationships versus a personal one.

We saw Grant display verbal, emotional, and physical forms of abuse through weaponizing his addiction to guilt trip her. Quick to anger, yelling, as well as a lack of accountability, manipulation, and threatening behavior when he didn't get his way.

Grant messes up. Apologizes, I'll never do it again,  I'll be better, just give me another chance. Then, like clockwork, he does it again. Thus, it becomes a vicious cycle... Of not only him continously messing up but also of her trying to make sense of it, tryijg to make him better, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt in hopes that if she just keeps showing up and showing that she cares he'll be better next time.

So tell me, that doesn't mirror S11 Carver & Stella dynamic?

Carver comes through the door questioning how Stella got her promotion; implying she got a leg up because she's woc, thus invalidating her experience and achievements. Then, he proceeds to lie to her for the majority of S11,  dragging her further into the drama by putting her in situations like bailing him out(whether it was intentional or not). Calling off work under the guise of being sick, leaving her short handed with no notice, then flipping a switch, showing, and acting like nothing happened and making it seem like she's overreacting or too involved when his behavior is negatively impacting her rig.

Then, instead of allowing her to stand up for herself and say enough is enough, you need to go. The writers wrote it so that she gave him a chance, after chance. Which yes, we know that that's who Stella is, but at what cost/detriment? What makes the situation equally frustrating is they acknowledged how out of control his behavior was through conversations with Stellaride but also Gallo. They literally had Stellaride have multiple conversations about Carvers behavior, and Kelly told her multiple times that 1. It was unacceptable/should not be tolerated and 2.no one would judge her for cutting him loose yet they still had her trying to play how to fix an emotionally stunted Carver which is exactly what she tried to do with Grant and in the end where did that leave her really?

She goes and shows support for Carver so many times throughout the season despite her initial hesitation from clearly a poor experience with him in the past, and time after time, he gives her his ass to kiss. The straw for me was when she took the award, they were getting post 11x09 to the meeting with his brother. She stood up for Carver in that setting, and I'm sure she walked away from that interaction, probably thinking they were on the way to a better dynamic. Yet in later episodes, he snaps on her in the locker room and leaves her hanging with little to no notice.

S12 was better, yes, but let's be clear 12x13 no matter how bad of an asshole that dad was was so far out of line, and I fear we don't really talk about that enough! Then he does what he does best and takes furlough leaving her further fucked because now she's just left with Mouch and Damon... S13 Carvers behavior continues to regress and yes I know that that's in part due to his addiction however it still speaks to the vicious cycle that's referenced above.

So going back to Grant who was also manipulative and used his addiction to not allow her to make a clean break because she felt guilty and an obligation to him because of what he was to her when she was going through her addiction estranged from her family. He at the time represented what she thought was all she had or was worthy of having.

We now transition into the Damon dynamic and how he manipulated so many situations with Stella as it relates to his connection to Kelly. He came to 51 under false pretenses used lies and manipulation a few times to stay there. Look at how, in 12x11; Stella was genuinely terrified and concerned that Damon was involved in Kelly's abduction. There were no viable leads, and notice that even then, Damon STILL didn't come clean to her if only to ease her doubt/worry. He still went along with the lie until it no longer served HIM. No consideration or empathy for his sister in law/lieutenant or even his brother. Not until he was once again in hot water because of HIS actions, not the actions of Stella Kidd.

We know how big Stella is on trust and honesty (where do we think that came from? Idk maybe her past trauma with Grant). So for her to once again go against her gut, her instincts, she lets him stay. Maybe out of an unspoke obligation to her husband because she knows he wants to build this connection with his newnfound brother whatever the reason Stella has a bad hit on this guy but she pushes it to the side. You'd think he'd take the win, right?

So now she's complicit in a lie between her family and new BC that she's already not off to a great foot with but she goes with it. Because what can go wrong right?

Just for that man to go intentionally defy her orders, lie about it, and then when called to the mat multiple times, he took 0 accountability. Actually made excuses for it when he said to Kelly something along the lines of "You know Stella's had it out for me"....?? Accusing the woman of having it out for you when she's allowed you to stay gainfully employed on her rig AFTER finding out that you witheld and lied to her for weeks/months? Then, to add the cherry on top, he proceeded to offer his sister in law up as collateral if it meant saving his own ass. So you'd think that'd be the end of it, right?

Noooope! They then have her be the one to play captain, save another troubled firefighter, and offer up the solution to save Damon AGAIN by planting the seed that he should come back to 51. I'm all for forgiveness and them rebuilding their relationship, but it did not nor should have been in the same house that he almost got HER fired from. Build that relationship over theeeere 👉🏽. 

Then there's Pascal, who appears to only have a continued issue with Stella. The only correlation that I can piece together is because of what happened in 13x01 but instead of allowing Stella and their dynamic to grow from that one negative interaction the fact that they continued to allow the dynamic to be so tense and continuous that others within the house picked up on it. Then 13x18 happens; if you notice during the flashback of the call, Pascal snaps at Stella, and she sort of just gives this look of just frustration being suppressed once again. In her conversation with Boden, she tells her truth.

That things have been tricky because they have been, yet they have her go and backtrack it as if she just outright dragged the man when she didn't. So it becomes one of those things again of her trying to get this man to at bare minimum give her the benefit of the doubt as it relates to her competencies as LT on T81. Yet they're having her apologize for vocalizing what her experience has been with him like I'm sure she apologized to Grant when he'd get set off.

@chicagofires made a valid observation that the whole point of Stella’s character is that she has OVERCOME that abuse and manipulation to be the more secure/confident woman that she is today. So why are they continuously subjecting her to these dynamics with men in which she comes away from them, literally fighting for her job or respect as lieutenant on T81. Then, not only that, but why are they writing her in a way that makes it appear she just have to grin and bear it?

Even with the introduction of this new character. Yes, I'm going to try and go into with an open mind. However, the fact that they're already stating that he's going to be a "real challenge to Kidd" or to expect some "sparring between him and his lieutenant"... I'm so sorry, but absolutely NOT!

Get somebody else to deal with this shit. Mouch is literally right there with an ex captain on his rig, and Stella's forced to once again build from the ground up and be disrespected in the process?

Same men. Different fonts, yet the impact is still the same. Free my girl from the shackles of men, making her life a living hell.

So IF you've made it this far. Thank you for reading. If you're up for a little bit of discourse, let me know your thoughts! Am I crazy?

[stellariders]

these two are smirking because they know they piss off their lieutenant constantly

[thedorkestra]

[fanaticlizzie]

what😭if😭the😭opening😭scene😭is😭damon😭and😭novak😭

[princess-olaf]

Ok, I’ve listened to first few minutes of the podcast and I’m fuming. AN is rarely the biggest delulu of us all, cause the things she is saying…

Redemption arc is one of the most ridiculous things she did this season - and the worst part is that Damon didn’t really deserve that.

Let’s sum up this storyline, shall we?

He goes around, collecting information about his brother and his sister in law, purposely not saying a word about who he really is to them

His first shift and he disobeyed Stella’s order - to take care of this reporter. It turned out good, but the simple fact is he didn’t listen to his lieutenant.

He attacked a civilian on a call.

He finally revealed the truth.

And we’ve arrived to season 13 - and here we had

Focusing on building a relationship with his brother and almost entirely loosing interest in his sister in law.

Using his family connections in firehouse

Disobeying direct order, lying to his lieutenant, blackmailing his brother to help him cover up his mistake and then throwing Stella under the bus to safe his own career

And then he had the audacity to emotionally manipulate Kelly

So he left, everyone cheered but AN decided it was not the end of this ridiculous arc. So what she gave us?

Damon acting like a firefighter should act, meaning following the orders.

Damon calling for 911 -> the very basic thing you do when someone need help, but suddenly it made him a hero

Breaking some records? Guy who couldn’t keep up only few episodes earlier?

Using his family connections to get some help at the academy

Damon going solo on a call - he didn’t tell Herrmann about his whereabouts, after he lost his partner in the smoke he didn’t let anyone know about this. Come on, use your radio, you idiot!

Being a valuable part of the team - have you also noticed that lately he is in the center of every thing they all do? He was the one who told the 51 gang about article about Violet. He was the one who asked Ritter about his date. He was the one who was the link between Stellaride and 51 when they were at the hospital waiting for their baby. IMPORTANT NOTE: the only good thing he did this season was to hide those baby stuff so Stella and Kelly wouldn’t see them.

And now everyone loves him. Stella forgave him - although we actually didn’t see him apologise to her -> again, if someone say that it happened offscreen 😡 it’s a show, it should either be shown on screen or mentioned that something happened offscreen.

Kelly changed his beliefs about nepotism to helped him, repeatedly.

This isn’t quality writing. It isn’t writing at all.

And she dares to say it was good?!