We’re one episode away from the fall finale, and it seems we will have plenty of story to cover before we get there. Of course, I expect loose ends to leave us hanging until the new year.
Dawson and Casey are struggling, it’s as simple as that. They are trying to make the lieutenant/candidate thing work and it’s just not. On their first call, the team deals with a chemical spill. When Dawson breaks protocol to create a perimeter, another chief happens to pull up on the scene and sees the whole thing. Whoops. Casey’s ticked, especially when Boden tells him he’s got to get it under control.
When Casey talks to Dawson, he raises a very good point. Dawson continually breaks protocol, which might have been more acceptable as the PIC. As a candidate? Nope. He has every right to be mad and honestly, I’m frustrated watching it. If Dawson were anyone but Dawson, she would have been kicked off Truck long ago. It’s time she either learn how to follow protocol and be a firefighter or give it up.
Something tells me this is going to cause even more issues between the two…
Remember when I said a few weeks ago that Mills was totally crushing on Dawson again? Well, I stand by it. He finds Dawson sitting in the shower (fully clothed, don’t worry) crying, and it’s clear he’s just dying to help her.
Casey and Dawson’s home life certainly isn’t improving either. On their second call, a desperate husband goes crazy trying to get his wife out of a burning building. When she’s found, he jumps off the stretcher and runs to her. When Mills calls him crazy, Herrmann says, “That’s marriage.” Dawson and Casey look at each other and it’s clear they are not feeling it.
Dawson stays late at Molly’s to close, and Mills is reluctant to leave because of his new mafia situation. They clean up together and then have a beer. He asks her how she’s doing, knowing that she’s struggling. Dawson tells him that things between her and Casey aren’t great, even admitting that their home life is on the rocks. He puts his hand on hers and I’m sitting there going, “No, no, no, NO!” because of course, Casey walks in and sees everything.
Meanwhile, Severide and Crazy Brittany go on a run together, and she avoids a call from her mom. When Severide suggests they go see her family for Thanksgiving, she says no. Seriously, what is her deal?! This girl cannot stand to be apart from Severide. Crazy Brittany, his shift is 24 long. Surely you can find something better to do than hang around the firehouse.
Crazy Brittany asks to see a picture of Shay and asks Severide why he never talks about her. “You never talk about Kathleen. I kind of thought that was the deal,” he says. Now we’re getting somewhere!
When Severide takes Crazy Brittany to a museum about the Chicago Fire and the history of the department, she breaks down and tells him that she was driving the car when her sister was killed. She walked away from the accident with a few stitches, but her sister didn’t make it.
Severide finally comes to his senses and tells Brittany that drinking and partying was his escape when Shay died. He realizes that he is Brittany’s escape, and that she needs to face her family. In a weird, twisted way, this marriage did help Severide progress in dealing with Shay’s death. My biggest complaint for this season is the lack of Severide/Casey scenes. Seriously, where are they?
As always, there were a few great subplots this week:
Cruz is crushing on Sylvie! She panics just a bit when he asks her out, saying she thinks they make better friends. Ouch. Mills and Sylvie are on the scene for a high school student, Jason, who drowned in a school pool. He’s revived on scene, but taken to the hospital just in case. All seems to be fine but on the way to the hospital, Jason crashes and is pronounced dead at the hospital. Of course, Jason’s dad turns out to basically be the head of the Chicago mafia. He points out that his son was alive when he went into the ambulance and blames Mills for his son’s death. Perfect. The dad shows up at the firehouse after shift and tells Mills, “You’re dead.” I’m sure he’ll be fine, I don’t know that we could handle the death of two main characters in half of a season. That’s not a challenge, Fire writers!
Now I know the goal of the big Fire/PD/SVU crossover was to involve all three, which meant a case that spread across both Chicago and New York. This episode of Fire, however, would have been a great intro into a crossover with PD. Detective Halstead of Chicago PD shows up for all of thirty seconds, and I feel like this mafia deal could have been so much bigger and better than it was. I hope it’s something that spans a few episodes, but I don’t believe any other major crossovers are in the works for the near future.
After the call, both Sylvie and Mills are understandably down, and Cruz offers to make wings with Sylvie. It was surprisingly sweet! She accepts his date proposal at the end of the episode and I have to say, I’m not sure how I feel about it. Cruz is sweet, but I just don’t see a spark between these two. With Crazy Brittany now out of the picture (Woo hoo!), I think it’s only a matter of time before the sparks resume between Sylvie and Severide. I’m not saying they will jump into a relationship, but I think we’ll see that connection we saw earlier in the season again.
Mouch accidentally gets a date with an Ophthalmologist. “I owe you a steak dinner!” Mouch says when the doctor officially clears him for duty. Picturing Platt’s reaction is absolutely perfect. Oh Mouch, good luck. “Trudy will rip my head clean off if she finds out!” Yes she will, Mouch. Yes she will.
I love the scenes with Mouch, Herrmann, and Boden. It’s easy to forget that they are all around the same age, and have probably been working together for many years. I still think that Herrmann’s prominence this season (more than usual) is a sign of things to come, lieutenant wise.
When Mouch shows up to the restaurant to wait for his accidental date, he’s surprised to see Platt walk in. Of course she found out, called the doctor’s office, and told her it was a misunderstanding. Mouch apologizes profusely, to which Platt says, “You are buying me a very big porterhouse steak tonight.” I just love these two.
What did you think of the episode? How long will Cruz and Sylvie last? Will Casey and Dawson break up?
