Archive

“Chicago Fire” (2.1) recap: “He needs something”

Last season on Chicago Fire, Gabriella Dawson couldn’t decide whether she should date Peter Mills or Matthew Casey while her heart so clearly belongs to Leslie Shay. Casey broke up with his fiancee, choked on his chance with Dawson, got back together with his fiancee, only to lose her when she got to introduce the new series Chicago PD killed. Kelly Severide made out with a lot of ladies, one nearly cost him his job, one was engaged, one was only sorta gay, and one showed up at the end of the season with a bun in the oven. The writers went all Good Will Hunting on our Leslie Shay and said you can get hit by a a wrench, a belt, or a stick truck, stuck with a needle, or hatch a plan to have sex with Severide in a ridiculous baby plot, you choose. All the lesbians screamed, “Take the truck, take the truck!” Because the joke is on us, she got all three.

We start this episode with Shay and Severide having brunch outdoors on a beautiful day in Chicago. They are splitting up their Indigo Girls CDs and figuring out who gets the boxed set of The L Word and who gets Imagine Me & You. Shay’s wearing her BluBlockers for this very important conversation because she’s as serious as a cataract. Severide is pretty, super pretty, but sadly pretty can’t do math so Shay spells it out for him, Maury Povich style. The kid ain’t yours, bucko. The math doesn’t work. Severide gets on his huffy bike and tells Shay that she’s just pissed because she wanted his sperm and a baby and is just jealous. Possibly true, dude, but the math doesn’t lie.

From brunch it’s time to put out a fire. Shay and Dawson are in their rig looking amazing and Dawson ask if Shay has found a new place to live because worse than having to give on her dream of a little Shayveride she has to give up that amazing apartment. Well the hunt is going as well as telling Severide the the kid isn’t his. Dawson, this is where you ask Shay to move in with you. Dawson asks if this has anything to do with Shay’s biological clock ticking LIKE THIS! Shay sighs, tells Dawson she’s over the baby thing, and says, “Hermione Jean Granger! Does no one care about math anymore?”

They get to the fire, and before they can get inside the place explodes. The Chief sees a shopping basket at the base of the front stairs and assumes there’s a little old lady inside. He sends in the troops. There’s no old lady but Severide gets stuck in the basement inferno. Once he’s safely out Mills walks over and tells the Chief there was no one in the house. Mills, you are taking being a douche to new heights. The Chief goes all McCullers on the shopping cart, kicking it across the sidewalk like a couple trash cans. Severide notices his badge number, “1751,” painted on the side of the building. It’s not exactly “kisses-A” but we get the hint.

Back at the firehouse, Mari is waiting. She’s as unsure about Mouch’s nickname as Herrmann is about Mari and Mouch making lunch for everyone. Severide is stewing in his Lazy Boy about someone trying to blow his ass up. Casey offers that maybe it was just a coincidence.

The Chief has been called from the fire to headquarters to meet with the lady who means business. We know this because she’s standing up and wearing a suit and a scowl. She talks about a new program called “The Wizard” who will magically save everyone money. Boden gives her a nice speech about what it’s like to actually be in a burning building and she seems a bit chastened before she tells him she’s already closed one house and now 51 is on the chopping block too. So, Boden, that speech felt pretty good, didn’t it?I bet it felt good right up until you pissed off the lady who wants to fire you.

Back at the firehouse, Dawson drops by to tell Casey it’s good to have him back and to see if maybe he’d like to stop by Molly’s for a drink with her. Yes is the correct answer, always. Mari is letting Mills taste her cooking (not like that, get out of the gutter). Boden walks in and breaks up the party by telling them all that their jobs are on the line because some people like to ride on the shiny fire trucks to get ice cream. Herrmann jumps in to say that all the cuts are probably “douchebag” Greg Sullivan’s idea. Sullivan is running for union president on a platform of douchebaggery and screwing over his fellow union members. Boden tells them to shape up so they don’t get closed and to be on the lookout for new people who are joining them from the closed houses.

We’re back at the hospital for a little Shawson chat about Casey and just how friendly Dawson would like to be with him. In the middle of “Across the Gurney with Shawson,” a car rolls up and dumps a dude out onto the ground. Shay and Dawson are off in a second. Shay heads back for the gurney and has to dive out of the way of the speeding car. How many times are they going to nearly kill the lesbian? She pops back up like one of the Liars and this isn’t her first run under and sends the gurney behind the car to stop it from driving away. They try to save the gunshot victim but they can’t, no thanks to the team of doctors and nurses who totally don’t show up to help. Where the hell is Kerry Weaver when you need her?

Back at the house, Boden tells Mills that one of the new guys will be taking a spot on Squad and they stare at each other and pretend everything is OK. Cruz asks Shay what happened and, as she’s explaining it, Severide ignores her and the fact that she has gravel in her forehead from getting run under by a car. He calls Renee and leaves a message. Maybe he did a google for “human gestation period” and realized that math is a thing and he should listen to Shay.

Casey pops over to check on Andy Darden’s widow. It’s the day before the anniversary of his death and she tells him she’s going out to get blasted in celebration of being widowed. He can’t come because he’s working. The kids pop in and the older one freaks at the sight of Casey’s firehouse T-shirt.

At Molly’s, Herrmann, Otis, and Dawson are watching as the giant bar down the street gets ready to destroy their hopes and dreams. They decide to send Cruz in as a spy to see what’s up. Meanwhile, Mills is getting his Million Dollar Baby on at the gym with Dawson’s brother. Antonio asks if Mills is thinking of becoming a cop and Mills says he was in a bad place after he got passed over for Squad and passed over for Casey by Gabriella Dawson. Classic story. Really, who hasn’t done that at one point or another? Antonio says he’ll forget he saw the application but that Mills would make a good cop.

Back at Molly’s, Dawson is looking amazing and Casey is holding up his end of things for once. They talk about his fishing trip and how she’ll always be there for him. She doesn’t have any expectations and is happy to be his friend. Well those are the words coming from her mouth but then she does a thing with her eyes that is completely devastating. If Casey doesn’t make a move this season, he’s a damn fool.

Mari is leaving, which sucks because she’s awesome and adorable. But she tells Mouch that he’s destined for great things because his eyes are so close together he’s basically a cyclops and therefore has special powers.

Back at the battle of the bars, the chain bar is totally kicking Molly’s ass. Inside Molly’s, there’s a young guy trying to order Long Island iced teas for a couple of girls. Dawson tells him not to be a twat and to order them single malt because ladies prefer a dude who knows how to order. He points out that the ladies are drinking something girly and Dawson relents. Before she can make the drinks the ladies leave and she pours herself and the new guy the scotch. Cruz comes back full of stories about how much the other bar sucks and will be yesterday’s news in a matter of days.

Severide’s sitting in his barcalounger at the station when Renee calls. He ignores the call and, in a case of instant karma, gets called out to see his Camaro up in flames. Dear people of the world, when Carmen calls, you answer it, mmkay?

Two new guys show up as Severide is weeping over his totalled car. Casey and Severide tell the Chief that they smelled the same thing at the house fire and the car. New guy, and top candidate to be the arsonist, Clarke walks in holding a wire sculpture he made in fourth grade and tell them that he Hercule Poirot’d the mystery. The wire holds a styrofoam cup with something flammable. The Chief asks him how he knows and Clarke says he’s seen it before (like that morning when he poured himself a cup o’ flammable and brought it to work).

Everyone heads to the locker room to talk about more cutbacks. No overtime and now everyone gets to share a locker. Dawson grabs Shay instantly and screams “MINE!” Boden tells them that Severide has gotten the attention of an arsonist and reminds them all that it’s been a year since they lost Darden. Basically, this is the least peppy pep talk ever. Mills is sweeping the floor and glaring at new guy Clarke who is not only sitting in what was supposed to be Mills’ seat on Squad but also smells like arson.

It’s no ice cream shop, but Casey makes an unscheduled stop to wish Heather Darden well at her binge drinking fest. Casey tells the guys to say he saw a cat in a tree and that’s why they stopped. Casey, I think you better leave this cat in the tree to find her own way down. He buys a round, wishes the ladies well, and tells Heather to be safe before heading off to another fire.

One building is on fire and Shawson heads into the one next door to help a lady who is having trouble breathing. They find the lady faster than you can say “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” The guys head to the other building but then the wind kicks up and now both buildings are on fire and Shay and Dawson have to retreat into an apartment with the lady to protect themselves from the fire.

They need to use a straight ladder from one building to the other to get the ladies out. I am terrified of both fire and heights so everything that happens in this scene gives me heart palpitations. Severide and Casey go across with a hose and then back come the ladies followed by the gents, very courteous. On the way back, the ladder slips and Casey tumbles and has to get pulled into the window by his bromantic partner, Severide. Dawson nearly passes out she’s so happy Casey is OK. Monica Raymund‘s face is an absolute wonder of the world.

The helpful arsonist tells the Chief they found two of his wire sculptures in the basement. Severide looks a bit shaken. Back at the house, Shay comes to apologize for all the math she dropped on Severide. He tells her that Renee is at her parents’ house and phones don’t work in Out of Town so he’s waiting to ask her about whether it’s his bun or not. When Cruz heads out to pick up after the dog, Otis finds video of all the fun Cruz had at the other bar. Otis and Herrmann are pissed, but Cruz tells them it’s the greatest place on earth. Good knowing you, Molly’s.

Clarke the arsonist is meeting with Gail McLeod. She wants him to report to her all the shit going down at 51. He balks because he doesn’t have time for that with all the fire starting he’s doing in his spare time but she blackmails him with his job and they agree to join evil forces. Mouch decides he will cyclops-up and run against Tracy Flick. Everyone celebrates the democratic beauty of a contested election before being called out to a single car accident. The lady in the passenger seat sure looks bad and the driver is getting put into a cruiser. That lady is Heather Darden. She asks Casey to look after her boys who are with a babysitter while she heads off to the pokey.

So that was a pretty slow episode, wasn’t it?

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button