Chicago Fire Recap: The one where Brettsey happened. And then it didn’t.

It finally happened.

I apologize in advance if this becomes a Brettsey recap, but what else can I do? That’s basically what last night’s Chicago Fire was: an ode to this budding, tentative, adorable relationship between Firehouse 51’s Sylvie Brett and Matt Casey.

Picking up exactly where last week left off, Chicago Fire Season 9 Episode 2 dove right into the tension after Ambulance 61 crashed right off that bridge.

How Mackey and Brett ever survived that accident with only one minor head laceration between the two of them is completely beyond me. One could say a higher power protected them because the ambulance was absolutely destroyed.

Amazingly, they were able to walk away from this relatively unscathed.

In an episode that focused more on the characters and had almost no calls at all, “That Kind of Heat” was an excellent character study for everyone, allowing us to get a glimpse into what and how they’re all feeling and thinking amidst the chaos that has been happening in the world in 2020.

A daring rescue

We will talk more about Casey’s heroic (insane) jump off of Truck 81 later, but what we do need to examine more closely is how well Sylvie Brett handled herself following what could have been a very tragic and very fatal accident.

I have always thought Brett was that adorable cinnamon roll type of character, but she has really proven herself to be an independent, strong, bada** woman for the past couple of seasons.

The way she kept her cool and kicked her way out of the totaled ambulance was nothing short of extraordinary. And then, as if that wasn’t enough, she didn’t think twice before rushing out to help the lunatic that had run them off the bridge in the first place.

I don’t know if I would have had the same instinct to help someone that had tried to kill me, but I guess that’s what sets Sylvie Brett apart from the rest of us.

Even though the guy wronged them — and that’s putting it very mildly — she still found it in herself to help him, holding his hand and pulling him out of harm’s way until help arrived.

I’m telling you, she is one of a kind.

But it was Mackey that found herself very shaken by the whole ordeal.

And no one can blame her, right? Within her first two shifts at Firehouse 51, she had a gun pointed to her head and a lunatic running her rig off a bridge to what should have been certain death. Of course, she is rattled by the whole thing.

Who wouldn’t be?

That allowed us to further glimpse into her relationship with Joe Cruz, and I can’t wait to find out more about their history. From what I gathered, Joe was close friends with Mackey’s brother and promised to take care of her.

That entire sequence was so touching and emotional, and while Joe may go overboard sometimes with his eagerness to protect her, his heart is in the right place.

When she wanted to quit, he reassured her that Firehouse 51 was exactly where she should be.

The Brettsey of it all

Look, I get it. These two, at first glance — especially given their history — are really messy. His ex-wife used to be her best friend. She used to date his brother in law.

Yeah, it’s complicated. But so is life.

When you take a step back and look at the big picture, Gabby Dawson left at the end of season 6. Antonio and Brett called things off way before that.

It’s been a really long time, and both Casey and Brett deserve to move on with their lives and find love somewhere else. Was I completely smitten with the idea of them being together from the get-go?

No, I wasn’t.

But they grew on me over the past couple of seasons. At first, it seemed they were still very tentative and unsure, especially romantic chemistry wise.

But through the back half of Season 8, and especially in the Season 9 premiere, they finally found their footing. The chemistry now is undeniable, and the tension was driving me crazy.

And that brings us to last night’s episode. If Casey jumping off a moving truck in his desperation to get to Brett doesn’t spell out true love, then I don’t know what does.

The man was frantic when he saw the totaled ambulance and nothing and no one could stop him from getting to her.

Later, after Brett word vomited that he’s always been the one for her, we got the most adorable scene of our paramedic in charge completely freaking out with Stella that she had just blown it by telling Casey how she felt.

It was obvious from that scene that, despite her very intense feelings for the Captain, she’s still unsure about taking that leap with him. For all the reasons listed above, but especially because of his history with Dawson.

Let’s not forget that Casey and Dawson had a very intense relationship for a really long time, so of course, Brett is feeling insecure about this.

When she asks Casey later if he would leave with Gabby if she ever came back and asked him to do so, Brett was only voicing her one concern about this tentative relationship.

So when Casey says he doesn’t know, she is obviously shaken and heartbroken.

But you know what, I’m glad this happened now instead of later. If they’d allowed their relationship to advance without addressing this first, it would’ve eventually blown up in their faces. It would always weigh on Brett’s mind.

I know it was a disappointment for the fans, but trust me, this is a good thing.

And of course, this is TV, and nothing is ever easy in TV land.

We should have known they would throw a roadblock at them to slow things down. But let’s look at the bright side: they acknowledged their feelings, they FINALLY kissed, and Brett asked the one thing that worried her right off the bat.

Now Casey is just going to have to work extra hard to reassure her that he’s in this for real. And knowing our Captain, he won’t let her go without one hell of a fight.

Other highlights of Chicago Fire

• The fact that Severide moved heaven and earth to retrieve Shay’s door from Ambulance 61 made my heart grow three sizes. Because that was exactly my first thought when they said the rig had been totaled in the accident: what about their homage to Shay? They need to save that door! So I’m really glad that they found the time to include that little nugget of a subplot.
• Ritter is an adorable unicorn, and the fact that everyone acknowledged how much he has grown as a firefighter was just incredibly heartwarming.
• Matt Casey is an awkward teenage boy when it comes to the girl he has a crush on. And it’s beyond adorable.
• Stella tracking down that girl and getting her a job at Firehouse 51 seems to be the introduction to an awesome storyline, and I can’t wait to see where that goes.
• Kudos to my girl Brett for making the first move. If it were up to Casey, they would still be dancing around each other. So good for you, girl. Going after what you want and taking it. Love that for you.
• That Brettsey makeout session was smoking!

Chicago Fire returns on January 6 at 9/8C on NBC.