Last night’s Chicago Fire finally made this whole Casey’s head injury storyline start to make sense. Of course, it had to be a way to make Sylvie and Matt get closer again. Because other than that, it made zero sense to have Casey hide such a serious injury for so long.
Did they have to wait this long? They really, really didn’t. But it’s fine — it looks like we’re finally back on track.
Meanwhile, Brett and Violet were the ones to play detective this time around when they came across a suspicious call that led to Violet receiving an anonymous letter about it.
A surprising case
The first call of the episode involved a man who had collapsed and had a fractured arm stuck on a railing. It looked painful and graphic, and it was a bit hard to watch. The Truck 81 crew helped get him out, and Sylvie and Violet took him to Chicago Med. Up until then, it was a completely normal call.
But when they returned to Firehouse 51, someone had left a note addressed to Violet, saying that the man’s fall had not been an accident. They think it’s weird, so what’s the harm in doing a little digging, maybe talking to the victim. At the hospital, Sylvie talks to Will, who tells her that the patient has already been discharged. When Sylvie mentions that she heard that Casey had talked to him about his headaches, Will sets her straight, saying that all Matt said was that a buddy of his had sustained the injury.
Sylvie kept that in mind — and we’ll revisit this in a minute. She and Violet decided then to visit their patient at the deli where the “accident” had happened. They talk to the man, and he mentions that his neighbor, who had just given him a muffin, wanted him to sell his deli so he could expand his café next door.
That was enough for the alarm bells to sound in their heads, but when they talked to Ruzek about it, he said that what they had wasn’t much to go on and just to let it go.
But when they receive a call to the same deli during their next shift, they know this is no accident. When Brett and Violet get there, the man shows symptoms of an overdose, and Violet immediately suspects that he’s being poisoned — especially after realizing that he had just eaten a muffin.
The neighbor comes through the door to help, and Sylvie asks him to drive the apparently distraught wife to Chicago Med. When they get there, Ruzek is already waiting to take him into custody.
But here’s where it gets interesting. It turns out that the neighbor was the one who left Violet a note at Firehouse 51. The real culprit is the patient’s wife, who was trying to kill him to sell the deli. Talk about a plot twist, huh?
Instructor Severide
Meanwhile, Severide is teaching a new class of recruits at the Academy. Most of them look really promising, but one kid is just not cut out to be a firefighter. Casey advises Severide to cut the kid loose before it gets any worse, but Severide decides to give him a second chance, especially when he realizes that the kid is Chief Mercer’s son, one of Boden’s old friends.
But the guy is completely helpless. Severide tries to give him the benefit of the doubt once again, even after he shows no regard for his own safety, but the kid goes and screws up big time for the third time. He accidentally filled the oxygen tanks with carbon monoxide because he did not pay attention and ended up nearly killing two of his classmates.
That is the last straw for Kelly, who promptly boots the guy from the academy. Chief Mercer comes by the Firehouse after this and screams at Severide that he can kiss his teaching career goodbye. But Kelly’s reaction after this is the best.
He stops by Chief Mercer’s house and tells him that the kid is so lucky to have a supportive father like him, who is willing to fight for his child. Unfortunately, his son is not a firefighter at all, but he’ll land on his feet wherever he goes.
I really, really enjoyed this little nugget of sensitive Kelly Severide and I hope we can see him a bit more often.
The Brettsey of it all
Casey is still ignoring his injury’s severity, but he tells Gallo that his symptoms have disappeared, so the young firefighter doesn’t need to worry about his Captain anymore. Sylvie overhears that conversation and asks what’s going on. Matt tells her that he had some bad headaches, but he’s fine now. He even talked to Will about it.
Cut to Sylvie hearing from Will that Casey only mentioned something that had happened to a friend and that he had advised that his friend see a neurologist immediately. Once she realizes that Casey had lied to her, Brett immediately seeks him out to confront him about it. But Matt, being the stubborn guy that he is, insists that he’s fine.
Later, when Sylvie confronts him again and tells him that she’s worried and he should definitely see a doctor, he tells her he would think about it.
It’s important to note that while all this is happening, Sylvie is still seeing Greg, and the guy looks halfway in love with her. She hasn’t even stayed over at his place yet, but he invites her for a romantic ski getaway. She’s reluctant at first but ends up agreeing to go.
But when Casey finally sits down with her at Molly’s and tells her everything that has been going on and his fears about this being a lot more serious, Sylvie immediately drops everything — including romantic plans — she has going on with Greg. She assures Matt that they’re in this together and she’ll go with him to see a doctor.
Now, do we understand what this entire storyline was leading to? Yes. Yes, we do. I suspected it and even mentioned that the only reason they were dragging this out for so long was that it had to be the way to bring Casey and Brett together again.
Do I like that they took a million years to get there — and made Casey look like an irresponsible idiot in the process? No. Not at all. But at least, it looks like we’re finally back on track with these two.
Other highlights of Chicago Fire
- Violet and Gallo are the most adorkable will they/won’t they couple on this show right now.
- I loved Ritter’s entire little subplot and how Herrmann was so determined to help him find a date. I just really, really love Ritter in general.
- We love to see supportive Stellaride moments. The way that Stella was there for Kelly in this episode was everything.
Chicago Fire airs on Wednesdays at 9/8C on NBC.