Chicago Fire on NBC season 14, episode 3 review

SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Chicago Fire Season 14, Episode 3.

Chicago Fire Season 14, Episode 3 is a great example of what it takes to make a successful TV show. Choices often get made off-screen that affect what happens on-screen, and fans don’t always realize that. “In the Blood” is an episode that turns that challenge into a positive — while also highlighting the resiliency of its characters, too.

The main plot continues to deal with the budget cuts that have been addressed both on Chicago Fire and Chicago PD. In an early scene, Chief Dom Pascal tells Firehouse 51 that Engine has been taken out of service for the week (read: this episode). Pascal later has another meeting with the mayor’s chief of staff about the issue. And the major dilemma involves an ambulance overturning because an exhausted paramedic fell asleep at the wheel. Financial struggles — both on a citywide and a personal level — are a topic that this show has explored before, and unfortunately it’s still relevant. But it’s also a way to explain developments in production.

Viewers who keep up with entertainment news know that the One Chicago renewals in May came with cost cuts of their own. These included a reduction in the number of episodes actors might appear in — a…