Chicago Fire returned to NBC on Wednesday night, marking Taylor Kinney's return to the show following a leave of absence last year. While fans were over the moon to see the actor, who plays Kelly Severide, back on their screens, some were left a little irritated by a storyline involving his on-screen wife, Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo).
While Severide and Stella's steamy shower scene confirms their chemistry is fully intact despite his recent absence, Kelly clearly has some work to do when it comes to rebuilding his wife's trust.
Upon his return to Firehouse 51, Stella shared her reservations about Severide becoming involved in another arson investigation in fear of him potentially leaving her again. When Severide pushes back, she tells him: "I basically had to fly to Alabama, put you in handcuffs, and drag you home. You get so caught up in these arson cases, it's like a drug. I didn't even know where you were in that last case, and it's taken six months for us to even try to build back any real trust."
Taking to social media, fans criticized Stella's reaction and called for the character to be less "controlling" over her husband. One person penned: "Stella should let Severide be and not be so controlling towards him. Period," while another agreed, adding: "Yeah, Stella's acting more like a mother than a wife, it's just terrible. She needs to be more sensitive."
A third person commented: "I'm actually looking forward to the #Stellaride tension. But I'm not liking that Stella seems to be controlling him when it comes to OFI. I actually like him doing OFI he seems more happy and content. He loves solving cases let him be happy."
One fan defended Stella, writing: "I don't think she's being controlling. I think it's about Stella trying to prevent Kelly from being like Benny in that doing an arson investigation was one of the factors alongside his infidelity that led to his family falling apart. She's scared of history repeating itself."
Chatting with HELLO! about the tension between Severide and Stella in season 12, showrunner Andrea Newman teased: "There's been some simmering tension underneath and the audience very much gets to be a part of that journey instead of us being like, 'Oh, it's resolved and they got through it!' What we find out is they've been burying some things.
"They're very much in love, obviously - it's obvious within two seconds of the premiere that they can't keep their hands to themselves! – but there's definitely a new element to this relationship and we get to see that play out and see the journey of getting through that and how that affects them."