Happy New Year! 2015 has officially begun and shows are back. Chicago Fire wasted no time diving back into the drama, so I won’t either…
Chicago PD’s Detective Halstead is on the scene with Casey and crew as Mills and Sylvie are missing. Anthony Lullo is clearly prime suspect number 1, as his previous threats to Mills have definitely not gone unnoticed.Cruz refuses to leave Halstead’s side as he carries on the investigation. Sylvie and Cruz – I’m SO not buying it. There is absolutely no chemistry here, the writers better not push this for very long.
Side note: I always forget that Halstead and Dawson dated…it feels like a lifetime ago.
Because of some alcohol prep pads lying in the street, Dawson is able to pick up on the Mills and Sylvie trail. The team gets there just in time and Mills and Sylvie walk out mostly unscathed. Through a series of flashbacks, we see what transpired with Mills and Sylvie’s abduction. Two men take the paramedics at gunpoint. Mills attempts to gain the upper hand in the car by pulling out some sweet moves (that would have come in handy if he had switched over to PD, no?) that ultimately causes the car to crash. How everyone managed to escape with heads in tact is still beyond me.
One of the kidnappers isn’t so lucky, he’s got a serious neck wound that needs attention. Sylvie and Mills are forced to operate in a warehouse with tools that are definitely not surgical. As they open the wound, 2 arteries (I think?) are shown; clamp one and he survives, clamp the other and he strokes out and dies. In a pool of blood next to the body, Sylvie spells out, “Let him die”. It’s morbid and graphic and perfectly filmed and I’m so impressed with Sylvie’s character development. Months ago, she would have crumbled in this situation. Now, she’s calling for some pretty gutsy decisions and wielding guns. You go, girl!
Maybe this is me desperately searching for a way out of the Cruz/Sylvie nightmare, but I could have sworn I saw some sparks between Sylvie and Mills. And that dashboard shark doll? So cute.
The investigation is going nowhere as Anthony Lullo’s two lackeys refuse to talk. Sylvie decides to call in her favor with the man from the helicopter crash, much to Cruz’s overprotective, annoying chagrin. Seriously man, chill.
Sylvie’s mystery man comes through and one of the lackeys agrees to talk to Mills. Peter is able to convince him to turn on Lullo, and what do you know, the case is solved! Wrapped up in a nice, neat bow. Sometimes, I wish things were a little messier on this show.
Elsewhere, Baby Boden is still fighting for his life. I’ll say it again, if that baby is not okay, I don’t think my heart can take it! Herrmann and Cindy may just be the best couple on this show. I have loved the bonding moments between Herrmann and Boden this season, and I love the spotlight Herrmann has received.Baby Boden can’t breathe on his own, and things aren’t looking good. Herrmann and Cindy are with them the entire time, and it’s nice to see both Herrmann and Boden in an out-of-work setting.
Well they made us wait for most of the episode, but Baby Boden will be okay! Thank goodness. Now bring on the proud papa Boden scenes, those are heartwarming!
Casey and Dawson are not on good terms, to say the least. Guys, I’m flat out mad at Dawson. All season long in her relationship and position as candidate she’s been selfish, distant, and entitled. When she and Casey finally have their heart to heart, things don’t go well. Dawson tells Casey that things are too difficult, their relationship and jobs have blended too much. She walks out, and he doesn’t stop her.
We did have a nice Severide and Casey moment this week, perhaps now that it’s just the two of them in the house we’ll get more.
On the only fire call of the evening, the team responds to a storage unit fire. Once inside the burning unit, suspicion sets in as it seems the team might have been meant to find that fire. Newspaper clippings of Shay’s death are found. Perfect. Let’s relive that again. Get ready, tear ducts. Next week may be rough.
I haven’t read any spoilers for the second half of the season, so this is pure speculation. But, I feel like a major shift is coming. Herrmann has been sneaking into the spotlight quite a bit, does this mean a lieutenant position is on the horizon? Boden now has a family, could he be thinking about stepping down as chief? Will Dawson stay a candidate? Will Mills stay a paramedic? And when for the love of God will we have some more prominently featured Squad men?
What did you think of the episode? How long will Cruz and Sylvie last? What are you hoping to see during the second half of the season?
Great review!
ReplyDeleteFirstly,i want to say i lov dawsey as a couple,they have beautiful chemistry together but their relationship melodrama is feeling a little too soapy for me too.Now i'm not taking sides but i feel more for dawson than for casey on this one & i'm a guy.Sylvie's character is growing on me by each passing episode although i do agree she & cruz have zero chemistry.I hope mills get his independent storyline & not another romantic entanglement!I have no interest to see him with sylvie/dawson romantically ever.As for the kidnapping track this week,i really hoped it would turn out to be someone other than lullo coz it was too obvious.I also hope they don't wrap up evry little problem by the end of the episode in the future,i like messy storylines like u.After his wife left,kelly has no purpose on the show,i hope he finds some.I loved hermann-boden frienship track this week very much,this relationship is so pure & they're awesom actors so it's a treat to watch them on-screen.I'm happy the baby was okay.I cried a little when papa boden showed at the hospital,it was such an emotional scene!Overall,great episode!
I agree with most of what you said. I like Cruz and I wanted to give him and Brett a chance, but they just don't have chemistry. I did see some sparks fly with Brett and Mills, but I don't know if the show would go there.
ReplyDeleteI'm really tired of Dawson and Casey, and honestly, I'm glad they broke up. I think they need time apart and the viewers need a break from them. I'm looking forward to Casey/Severide bonding time at the apartment.
I'm read an interview with Derek Haas, and he said that the show will be featuring more of Mills and Newhouse's friendship so hopefully Newhouse will get more screentime. The show definitely needs more squad guys!
I'm still not enjoying the dynamics of this new season of Chicago Fire. It feels like someone else is writing the show or that they're running out of ideas. Dawson and Casey are such a great couple and this new drama is neither entertaining nor necessary. I think the only part of this episode that had me emotionally invested was the Baby Boden subplot. This episode was also very Sylvie-centric which didn't help. I think the problem with the writing for her character is that they are trying way too hard to ship her with one of the other guys instead of letting something happen more naturally. It seems like they're just testing the waters with everyone: First Jay Halstead, then Severide, then Cruz and now Mills, who does seem to have the most potential of those four. However, I'm not entirely sold on it; if they move onto Casey, I'm done.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad for the Casey/Severide moment.They've had a really hard time writing for Severide's character lately and I'm not entirely sure why. I know that his relationship with Shay played a big role in the writing for his character, but his interactions with the other firefighters was featured more in the past.
I'm also tired of Dawson and Casey, and of the amount of time that's taking up with the soap opera antics and fighting. I want more fire action. This is Chicago Fire, not the Young and the Restless.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of this. I think brett and Mills would be cute together, but I don't want a triangle with Cruz. I am really irritated with what they have done with Casey and Dawson this year. I feel like if they were going to create this kind of drama, they should have done it before they got engaged and moved in together. Why wouldn't Dawson just switch trucks? Is it that important to her that she stays at 51, so she loses her fiancé. I don't believe these characters would have made these decisions. I really hope they fix these two soon. I agree that Hermann has been awesome. Maybe he can be lt of engine 51 and Dawson can go there? I really wish they'd do that. Thanks for your great reviews!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review! I'm so glad Baby Boden is ok. I didn't know where they were going with that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wonder if the arc that started at the end of the episode is going to last for the rest of the season. Shay is gone but this entire season is about her, so far.
Dawson and Cruz?
ReplyDeleteIndividually, I don't like either character. I didn't mean as a couple.
ReplyDeleteYou must mean Dawson and Casey?
ReplyDeleteNo I am talking about Dawson as an individual. I do not like her. Cruz as an individual, I do not like him. I am not talking about a couple. I am talking about two characters whom I do not like.
ReplyDeleteSO glad to hear that about Newhouse, I love him! I am tired of Dawson and Casey too, but mostly because I don't feel that she deserves him anymore.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
ReplyDeleteThis season has had some great moments, but it's also had a lot of moments that could have turned into some great potential story lines. I've been disappointed with the lack of Casey/Severide.
ReplyDeleteThis is something that I've been thinking for a while, so I'll throw it out there now. Fire may be the "mother" show, but PD will have a longer run.
Well thank you for reading!
ReplyDeleteWe definitely don't need a triangle. Cruz is WAY too attached and they aren't even "official".
I agree completely with you on the Dawson and Casey issue. Why would she compromise the relationship she's wanted for so long? Why all of a sudden is firefighting so important to her? Last season, she wanted to go to med school. It would be different if firefighting was what she always dreamed of.
Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteBaby Boden - there was no way they could have hurt him...right? I hope so. That would have been just awful.
I would really like this arc to continue at least for a few weeks! For a death that should have been so poignant, it really hasn't been.
Agreed. I've never liked Cruz (with the exception of course being Zumba Cruz). And Dawson has gotten on my last nerve this season.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised. I also think it's easier for the police procedural type shows to create episodes centered around the crime of the week, without having to rely too much on external drama. Must be hard to come up with a weekly fire story that is interesting enough to sustain a plot by itself, so Chicago Fire has to rely more on interpersonal stories and currently, they seem to be flailing in that regard. So instead of coming up with new ideas, they keep trying to milk the Dawson and Casey relationship to the point of ruin and now they keep trying to ship Sylvie with everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think they could have solved their problems by giving their gay character (Shay) a better story instead of giving up on her and they could have also hired more regular female characters instead of these passing guest characters. I know it's not common to see a lot of females at a fire station, but this is a fictional show, so they could try to use their imagination!. Last season, they dropped the ball with two very interesting females that they could have hired as regulars: The temporary paramedic who initially didn't get along with Shay and the other female fire fighter who committed suicide would have been good additions to the cast. I still think that getting rid of Shay was a huge mistake.
Chicago PD has been better from the start, imo! Characters are much more interesting, PD's structure has also more potential for good storylines because of the pairings they can use to solve the case of the week. In PD they combine old and new characters as a team, whereas in Fire the older ones are just weird. That is a bit mean, but I gave up on Fire a long time ago and was very surprised how good PD is, when I finally watched it.
ReplyDeleteShould I comment if I didn't like the episode? I have to admit I only watched it because Halstead might be in it. Mills and Brett are becoming my favorite characters (who would have thought that at the beginning of the season?), but everyone else was not really exciting to put it mildly. Maybe because Brett is new, she can have the most development in her character, the ''let him die'' plot was good. I loath Herman, so the interaction with Boden did nothing for me and I don't want to mention the Casey-Dawson mess. Hope the writers have something up their sleeves for the rest of the season, a Shay mystery might be nice....
ReplyDeleteI think that was the point though of having Shay die. Her story wasn't finished, and it's sad to think of all the stories we could have seen. It feels so much more real. Life ends unexpectedly, and while I really miss Shay, I'm very impressed with the move by the writers.
ReplyDeleteI agree for the most part! I never expected PD to be this good - it's easily one of my favorite (if not my favorite) show currently on TV.
ReplyDeleteWith Fire though, I do love Herrmann and Mouch. Cruz can go - his story was done so long ago!
Definitely! I don't always the episodes either. I LOVE Mills and Brett, which I didn't expect. Unfortunately, Casey and Dawson have gotten boring and Severide is almost nonexistent.
ReplyDeleteI love Herrmann, so I have to disagree with you there. But the Shay mystery could be the boost the show needs.
It really worked between Dawson and Shay. I loved to see their scenes. But since then, Dawson is getting unbearable. Makes me think if they killed the right one.
ReplyDelete