DVD Review: Chicago Fire Season 5

 

Chicago Fire is definitely a show that found what works and sticks with it. So, as in past seasons, it is mostly a procedural drama that intertwines several story arcs throughout the season. The two big arcs were Dawson and Casey's quest to adopt Louie, which as you can imagine does not go smoothly, and about 2/3 of the way into the season, a new love interest for Severide that has ties to Chicago Med. Then, of course, there is the "One Chicago" crossover. This season, the shows involved in the crossover were Fire (which was part 1), PD (which was part 2), and the newly minted yet short-lived Chicago Justice. Its premiere episode was part 3 of the crossover. While Chicago Med did not have a full episode during the crossover, a good portion of the first two parts were set in the hospital and many of the characters appeared. The season, yet again, ends on a major cliffhanger that sees many of the characters in life-threatening danger.

For those who get the DVDs, the only bonus features are the crossover episodes with PD and Justice (there are actually a couple of crossover episodes with PD this season). Unlike prior seasons there are no behind-the-scenes shorts for the episodes. So, if you only get the DVD sets when they have extras available, then you may want to just stream this (all the seasons are now available on Peacock, and I believe the episodes of the current/most recent season stream on Hulu) unless you are just getting them because you have the prior seasons on DVD.

Overall, the series is still well-written and as it has always been, well-acted. The cinematography is very good as well, giving a lot of good views of Chicago. The writers do a good job with balancing storylines for the large ensemble cast and make sure to give something for most of the secondary characters. They also pull off a good mix of action and drama with a bit of humor mixed in. It is definitely worth the watch.