Every long-running TV show has its high and low moments, and NBC’s Chicago Fire is no exception. With over a decade on the air, the beloved first responder drama has served up unforgettable rescues, shocking deaths, and emotional character arcs. But for every adrenaline-pumping, tearjerking episode, there are a few that just don’t quite ignite the same flame — at least according to IMDb ratings.

Take season 3’s “Forgive You Anything,” which scored an 8.1 — still respectable, but noticeably lower when compared to the series’ best. While the episode attempted to blend personal revelations (Mouch’s long-lost daughter) and Severide’s loyalty to an old friend, some viewers felt it lacked emotional payoff or cohesive tension. Similarly, “Ambition” from season 1 tried to stir drama with a false accusation against Severide and some romantic complications, but the pacing and resolution didn’t land for all fans.

“Fireworks” also from season 1 had all the right ingredients — family drama, emotional flashbacks, even a sperm donor subplot — but the stakes never quite felt urgent, and Boden’s feud with Bennie failed to hit the emotional depth the show is capable of.

The same can be said for “God Has Spoken,” where multiple storylines involving addiction, family discord, and moral guilt tried to converge. While the characters were pushed to their emotional limits, the episode was perhaps too packed, resulting in a less focused impact.

Even episodes early in the series like “Two Families” and “Nazdarovya” suffered from tonal imbalance — trying to juggle gritty action with character backstories and side plots that didn’t fully connect. In “Two Families”, the gang violence storyline was compelling, but was slightly undermined by other character arcs that didn’t quite match its gravity.

Interestingly, even the Pilot episode ranks as one of the lowest-rated (7.7) — a rare thing for a show that would go on to become one of NBC’s most successful franchises. While the debut introduced viewers to the emotionally raw aftermath of a firefighter’s death and planted the seeds for major relationships, the pacing and character development hadn’t yet reached the level that fans would later come to expect.

So what do these “weaker” episodes reveal? That Chicago Fire never stopped experimenting — sometimes juggling too many threads, sometimes struggling with tonal consistency, but always reaching for more. Even when an episode didn’t soar, it still added depth to the characters and foundations for future arcs.

After more than a decade, the series continues to evolve, and that includes learning from past misfires. Because at Firehouse 51, even the smallest spark has the potential to ignite a blaze — and sometimes, it takes a weaker flame to appreciate how brightly the others burn.

Which episode of Chicago Fire do you think didn’t live up to its full potential?