Last night’s Chicago Fire was packed with storylines, and at the same time, it was a lighter episode.
Welcome to Crazytown started with a bang, as Firehouse 51 rushed to the scene of a hostage situation. Those first five minutes were packed with action and suspense.
Casey and Severide rappeling the side of a building to save the hostage before the kidnapper found out took years off my life! I could barely breathe through that entire sequence. However, the rest of the episode took a very introspective tone.
At its core, this week’s Chicago Fire was a very character-driven episode, laying down the groundwork for what I’m sure is going to be an explosive midseason finale a couple of weeks from now.
You reap what you sow
I knew all those Detective Severide moments would somehow come back and bite him in the ass. When a young OFI Lieutenant sets her sights on our boy Severide, she does not back down until she gets her way.
Right after that adrenaline-induced save on the hostage situation, Kelly is ambushed at 51 with a job offer. Miss “I won’t take no for an answer” is putting together a task force at OFI, and she wants Severide on her team.
He obviously says no. After all, he very much enjoys working at Squad 3, and he doesn’t want to leave Firehouse 51, but the woman is relentless.
The next thing Kelly knows, Boden is calling him into his office, asking why there’s a transfer request for him on his desk. Severide is very pissed off, but when he confronts the young Lieutenant about it, she says the order came from the Commissioner himself.
And Grissom is just the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t he?
The Commissioner obviously wants to pull Kelly from 51. When he resists, Grissom compromises: He wants Severide to help on the back ordered cases, and then he can decide whether he wants to stick around and make OFI his permanent assignment or not.
Kelly is not pleased, but if there’s no way around it, he can at least use his leverage with Grissom to help out Herrmann.
Our favorite firecracker Engine 51 Lieutenant got himself into a terrible situation when a cop accused him of assault, which quickly escalated to a conduct unbecoming charge. All because the cop was a dick and liked to pick fights with whoever crossed his path.
So when it all seemed very bleak for Herrmann, and he was sure he was going to lose his rank and be kicked out of the Chicago Fire Department, Severide traded his time with the OFI task force in exchange for Herrmann being exonerated of all charges.
He’s a good man, our Severide, isn’t he? Stella Kidd definitely thinks so.
I see you, Brettsey, and I like you.
And here I thought they had left whatever was brewing between Casey and Brett all the way back in season 7. Look, I’ll be the first to say that, at first, just the thought of Brett and Casey was pretty ugh to me.
She is best friends with his ex! It’s weird! But you know what, Gabby is gone and she decided to leave Matt. It’s been a good long while since she left, and so much has happened.
In theory, I really thought Brett and Casey would never work. But I stand corrected. They gave us all those lingering glances and doubts and the whole “should we, shouldn’t we” back in season 7, and that was pretty great.
Not going to lie. So sure, I love Gabby Dawson, but Casey deserves to be happy too. He deserves to be able to move on. And they’re just so adorkable and awkward, and I am so, so here for it.
So in last night’s Chicago Fire, we went from zero to sixty in less than a second. After weeks of not having even a meaningful glance at each other, it felt like Casey suddenly had an epiphany.
And that means he just turned on the charm and started seeking Brett out more, complimenting her and using her techniques out on the field. It was downright adorable.
And with Sylvie finally starting to open up to the possibility of being with someone again, I am willing to bet she is going to have that same epiphany Matt had last night. Sooner rather than later. Then it will all culminate with Gabby coming back to town in the midseason finale, so we know we’re in for drama.
But you know what, I truly, truly hope they work out and that the whole thing with Gabby just serves as closure for Casey. Lord knows that all of them deserve to be happy, Dawson included.
Other highlights:
- Poor Joe and his hidden Slamigan booth. Then the guy stealing his idea and promoting it in the biggest booth in the Fire Expo. That whole subplot was as frustrating as it was funny, and I loved seeing the team showing him their support in the end, and effectively destroying that thief.
- Stellaride, man. I ship them so hard, you guys. And they’re in such a good place right now. These two are going to be walking down the aisle by the end of the season — mark my words.
Chicago Fire airs on Wednesdays at 9/8C on NBC.