NJRadioGuy

It's four (Chimney's still recovering and we had Firefighter NoLines replacing him this week), Hen, Buck and Bobby, and that's actually typical for an engine company. Officer, driver/engineer, two operating FFs. It's possible she did lock the door, but her mom just unlocked it. At least where I live, there are building code prohibitions against having double-key deadbolts on apartments, meaning the only door locks on an apartment entry door have to have thumb locks. The personal stuff with Buck and Abby actually didn't bother me. They're grownups and she can decide if a certain topic is out of bounds on their "date." Yeah, the phone stuff was creepy, too, but again, I give 'em a pass since they're both consenting adults. Nothing wrong with a 48 YO woman being turned on at the thought of a fit and willing 23 YO partner, and if he's equally into her, good on 'em both. Now, are they a good match? I don't think so, but stranger things have happened.

The floor collapse was indeed based on several real-life incidents, and the apartment building was most definitely modeled on Grenfell (no sprinklers, flammable cladding, etc). Liked the pool rescue, but it was a bit unrealistic as shown. Pool decks are wet. Although I'd wager it, too, was based on a real rescue. That one got me right in the fear-center. High voltage frightens the everlivingcrap outta me since you can't see it coming to kill you, and kill you it will, usually quite painfully. The downed line had a pole pig on it—a step-down transformer that takes in nominally 14,000-18,000 Volts (not 5,000), and drops it down to 240 Volts for residential distribution. I got bit by 750V once and that was enough; I was lucky to just be thrown 30 feet across the room by it, and the scar on by right hand is a constant reminder never to f*ck with anything juicier than 12 Volts. Yeah, even in full bunker gear I don't want to get within 500 feet of a downed primary line that "may or may not" be energized. The heater makes no sense whatsoever. First off, it's an apartment. What apartment building in a climate like MPLS dosn't have central radiator heat in every single unit? I'm assuming since he had a key to it, he was paying rent, so why would he not have bitched about no heat? Second, a propane-fired space heater inside? Hello carbon monoxide suffocation within minutes. At first I thought that's how the family was going to die—somehow the CO leaks up to their flat and poisons them in their sleep. This way made less sense, but was a far more dramatic reveal. A better way to play it would have been instead of an apartment, put the family in a house. He's confronting his demons in an unheated attached garage, falls asleep near the space heater (but with just enough fresh air from a cracked garage door or something to survive, but the family perishes. But here's the thing. The way they played it, that makes him an actual killer of 150-odd people. 150 counts of criminal negligence causing death would land him in prison for most of his life. You don't "just walk away" from that. There's no anonymity for starting a fire that kills that many people, even if it's accidental. So. Even if he was found and not charged, no way he ever gets hired on a fire department again. And even let's say that happens, you tell that secret to anyone you'll never have a single firefighter follow you into an incident again. Yeah, sorry guys, shoulda stuck with CO poisoning of just his family. Same guilt, no bullshit. Buck, go lick that primary transformer wire for me and see if the power's off. Get off my screen. Now. Abby, you can do so much better, but for all that's good and holy, toss those coveralls in the nearest dumpster. You look like a plumberess. Or is that a toilet sweep? Or a clog wench? I give the mother until the end of February network sweeps to cack it, incidentally. Don't give a rat's ass about Hen's ex. We know how crap like this always plays out in TV Land. Hint: it never ends well. Despite these flaws, I did like it episode on the whole. Certainly an improvement—a slight one—over the first couple.

Yup, I really liked this one a lot. Even the little things, like Voight and Antonio in the box with the kid. I constantly rag on TV detectives for their shitty interrogation techniques but this was right on. That's exactly the way to do it. What you didn't see, and what would really happen afterwards, was the kid goes down for first degree and, with the ringleaders now dead, he's likely going to do the full ride for his part in the shopkeeper's murder. This story line would have had a greater impact if we'd been introduced to Marcella 2 or 3 episodes ago, and the chemistry had been allowed to develop between them before the big betrayal. One-and-done was pretty obvious once they boffed. If they'd done the slow burn over a month's worth of shows, then ::bam:: it would have been devastating to the viewers. Had they done that, I would have edited the episode differently, though. The bar convo comes a bit earlier, setting up what's obviously going to happen before the Olympics break, then back to the squad room. Antonio throws her picture in the trash exactly as he did, with the camera lingering on the bin as it did, in silence, then credits over black, no music.

By the by, for anybody who's curious about the real way to use a Halligan check out Mike Perrone's videos on Youtube. FDNY, Ladder 175

Problem is that CF is an old show now, with a dwindling audience (thanks, Gabby), so to keep it on the air they've got to slash and burn the budget to give more to shows that garner better ratings. they're probably saving up for one big VFX-heavy fire incident or collapse in the midseason finale that will set the stage for the third half of the season's main stories. Just wait 'til the actors' contracts are up; either the cast turns over or the show goes away, unless they can start pulling 1.5+ in target demos again, which they haven't done for a long time. The show's lost over a quarter of its audience from last year: https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/chicago-fire-season-six-ratings/

The little heart ("like") icon is now on the bottom-right of a post. I had to look for it myself after the update. We hope those days are over, but someone will always fall through the cracks. That's the nature of the beast, even today in the age of GPS. It's even worse since there's a trend to centralize dispatch in major call centers, so it's police personnel dispatching fire and EMS over the radio. Years ago, the only people working the radio in fire department dispatch offices were sworn firefighters who knew the entire city or region inside out and backwards. They knew that 420-b Elm Street wasn't actually on Elm St. at all, but a basement unit off Oak St. instead. Nowadays there's computer aided dispatching that's supposed to know all this stuff. Supposed to. But when it's $10/hr PD dispatchers with 2 months on the job instead of FD lifers then stuff happens. Not a slag on all PD dispatchers (some most definitely), but the powers that be have dumbed down the position. I came across a car fire on the old Koszkiusko Bridge in Queens about 15 years ago. Called 911 and got a civilian PD call taker. Stated a car fire just occurred on the Koszkiusko bridge, I-278, southbound, unknown entrapment. Send FD and PD for traffic. Script reader refuses to get the trucks rolling unless I gave her a cross street. It was on the damned expresway on a bridge over the Gowanus Canal. There was no cross street. I gave up after 5 minutes of her idiocy. Figured some else must have called and got a normal person. Heard it go over Queens about a minute or so later as northbound. One engine. Needless to say they call for the cavalry as soon as they see the smoke. Nobody died, thankfully, but it was a mess for hours. Yes, I made a formal complaint in writing that night (and thankfully I knew someone).

Hey, could be worse. Could be the dumpster fire (department) that is 9-1-1. I'm just waiting for Station 19 (aka Blaze Anatomy) to start up in March. One more FD show to snark on.

Oh, I'm betting money on that big time. She and her shelter buddies clean out Casa Casey. Casey then pulls the plug on her shit and tosses her to the curb (literally) while running lights-and-sirens. A man can hope, eh?

Yeah, I think by now everywhere in the U.S. and Canada is part of E911 (enhanced 911). The "enhanced" part is ANI-ALI. Automatic number identification, automatic-location-information. If you dial 911 by accident and immediately hang up without saying a word, at least here in northeast NJ, you will see a patrol car roll up to ensure everything's OK. Phase 1 cell system for ANI-ALI gives the dispatcher a mobile callback number. A phase-2 system gives precise lat/long coordinates that pop up on a map showing exactly where you are calling from. I've seen this is use and it's frighteningly accurate. I'm betting you're never see that plot device used in the movies or TV, though. Takes all the drama out of the call! VOIP systems like Magic Jack and other similar services do pose a problem, however, in that the number is completely portable. I don't know how that's handled. Landlines and cell phones do work properly, though. Supposedly NG911 (next gen) will address these, as well as texting to 911. I'm not sure where that is now in terms of national rollout.

Yeah. Cruz and his tool. Because what every department needs is a 20 pound plus breaching tool with limited functionality, while you're kitted up in 50 pounds or more of bunker gear. Ain't much better than a Halligan and axe combo with two skilled FFs wielding them. Put it another way, if it was something truly useful it would have been invented 50 years ago and been on every truck in the country. But I suppose as a plot device it's fine, and it is related to firefighting, so I'm good with suspending my disbelief over that one. But I do have to wonder who's tool is going to cause the most lasting damage: Cruz's or Severide's. Gabby, go climb in some industrial machinery and forget to lock out the breaker, 'mkay? Kidd really cleans up nice. Of course, now there's going to be fireground drama because she ditched her date with HazmatHottie, who'll probably end up in a position to rescue Cruz (or vice versa). And hot as he may be, he's the redshirt on the show. Also wonder what the retiring chief has planned for Severide? Line something juicy up for him, he agrees, Big Call goes down and HazmatHottie comes out boots-up under a sheet, promotion goes away, and Drama ensues?

Well that's that. USA has pulled the plug due to poor ratings; I can't say I'm surprised. I wish they'd gone the route of Netflix's "Godless" and made this as a one-season story, with a full resolution at the end.

So it would seem. Although to be fair, Hank Voight's TortureCage™ on Chicago PD says "hold my beer and watch this."

The actor's name is Morgan Weed and there's not much about her in the usual online places. I'm hoping there was a ton of VFX involved since the actor herself doesn't appear to be that bad, and her face does not appear to be emaciated, which I think would also be the case in real life. It was disturbing as hell, though, I'll give the VFX team that much.

Hehehe. Yep. I know very little about LA geography, but, having visited Station 127 in Carson, where the Exteriors of "station 51" were filmed, I knew there were no dirt roads or canyons or farms anywhere nearby, and yet the boys always found themselves up in the hills somehow. Every show does it, of course. I was also thinking "field amputation" but that's not something you can do underwater in the ocean with 4 minutes left before the plane goes under. What got me is how there were lights on inside the cabin. Again, dramatic license, but SO annoying.

I wanted to snark on tonight's episode so bad. I've held a pilots license, I know a few things about accident investigations as well as first response so I was ready to tear this one apart. But then a funny thing happened. I liked it. Yes, yes, we can savage the crash and rescue but a rookie TV show's budget just wouldn't allow for the necessary VFX, the 200+ emergency vehicles and extras, etc. I handwaved much of that part. The reactions by the crew of L118 were the focus and for the most part, they resonated with me. I also loved the "last message" plot. What if she's out or doesn't answer, or voice mail has been having problems, etc? Not a bad call, in fact. Assuming cell service works from about 5000 feet to the ground—it didn't when I was last acting as pilot in command about 10 years ago. And the expression of the wife listening to the call on the headset was heartbreaking. I think it would have been better dramatically for the mom to die in the crash—Nash would have a far better reason to hit the bottle, trying and having failed to save her. But the ol' softie in me is glad she didn't. Don't give a crap about the Abby's mother plot. Sorry. And yeah, moron-Probie, put the @#$%ing phone down and turn it off when you're on duty. Maybe make that call when you're in the R&R tent on a short break. I liked Athena's actions. Too bad she's on the rubber gun squad for a spell, but it's worth it. Brat goes into the system, goes to court, etc. Wonder if the brat's parents could be held liable in civil court?

Homicide: Life on the Street, especially the first two seasons. "Best Damned Show on Television" at the time. It went off the rails a bit in later seasons, but on balance they got it right. It was based on David Simon's book "Homicide: A year on the killing streets," in which Simon rode with a handful of detectives on the Baltimore homicide unit, and from whom the show got 100% cooperation. The real detectives even had a cameo as "fake TV detectives" in one episode. Simon's work also turned into The Wire on HBO. Again, excellent police work there. For anybody who wants to get a good flavor of real investigations, catch a show called "The First 48" on A&E. Real cops, real homicide investigations, real interrogations of real suspects (or at least the best bits are shown). No actors or reenactments. Sometimes they get the guy, sometimes they don't, sometimes he gets acquitted at trial or pleads out. I think two or three are currently under a death sentence as well. The show has a zillion re-runs during the day and new ones are on A&E on Thursday nights. An awful lot is left out, but watch enough episodes and you'll really understand the overall pattern that any investigation takes. These shows can be very compelling. So if a writer of a TV Cop Drama just understood what really happens, and is talented enough, he or she should be able to write a story that would hold an audience without insulting their intelligence, and still let the good guys win and the bad guys get their comeuppances. Artistic license here and there is fine, and it can occasionally solve an insolvable plot, but if you constantly get your characters to do shit that's so out of the boundaries of reality it takes the audience right out of the story. And what's worse, it creates an expectation from J. Random Viewer that, heavens forbid, should a loved one get robbed or murdered, that every investigator is going to be Danny Reagan, Hank Voight, or [insert TV cop here]. Here's one of the best WTF moments from a genuine interrogation on First 48. An accidental confession by a perp that got his ass locked up for 99 years. On "The Wire," they had a guy in the box for murder. They pretended a photocopier was a lie detector, and they got a confession out of it that stood up in court. That was based on real life from Detroit. https://newrepublic.com/article/38982/the-wire-ripped-real-life

The other thing that gets me is for a show that's supposed to be a police procedural, they get the procedures themselves horribly wrong, and in the most egregious ways possible. I get that it's TV and shortcuts have to be taken. I don't like it, but I get it. But they're writing crap that's aimed at the room temperature IQ set. CBS' procedural audience skews older, and older viewers have life experiences that tell them "what I just watched was a steaming pile of horse poop." Great detectives are also excellent actors, and master salesmen. Only instead of selling used cars or Florida swampland, they're selling a long stretch in the penitentiary to a customer who has no genuine use for the product. And a gold star to whoever gets that reference without Googling. Bull-in-a-china-shop cops burn out and don't make anywhere near the collars since they tip their hands too soon, and anyone other than a drug-addled skel looking for 3 hots and a cot would just lawyer up and tell the detective to piss up a rope. They don't have to talk to the investigator, and in fact most perps don't. They get convicted on the evidence that the skilled detective collects. But that makes for crappy TV, I guess.

The only thing I can think of is that these episodes are made with syndication in mind, where they can be shown out of order and nobody will notice. For the most part, every episode is a stand-alone with no "universe continuity" in between. 70s episodic TV formula, essentially. The clock gets reset every week. Will they move on with Nikki going into the family business? Who knows. Maybe that'll be for next season--if there's a next season.

Note that the episode that completely disregarded what happened just one week ago (Nicky taking the exam) was titled "Forgetting history." Fitting. My ghods, they write these things for viewers with room temperature IQs. Every damned week not only does Reagan think he's the brightest bulb in the array, but he nonsensically brings in the suspect for questioning without any evidence whatsoever. Whaddya expect a perp to say "OK, that's a fair cop. I done it?" Gaah.

Yup. Every department or county, etc, has its own protocols. Our local call centers ask "where's the emergency" on initial contact. They prefer to route the calls themselves based on your response. I like that way better, frankly, since when things have truly gone to shit, and it's the single worst moment of someone's life, they mightn't be thinking rationally. But if they're at home, most people will have their address memorized, or failing that, they'll just scream "someone shot my son. Hurry," or "my husband's having a heart attack," etc, and the call taker will know to respond PD and EMS for the first, or ALS (paramedics) and BLS (ambulance transport), plus PD for the arrest (and probably FD thrown in since they're usually second closest, after PD) to the automated location identification that's part of every phone line.

Dramatic video from 2015 Happened again two years later, with 5 kids in April 2017. https://www.today.com/video/5-children-hurt-after-bounce-houses-are-blown-away-by-strong-wind-917302851973

That one was based on a real-life rescue, albeit amped up for Fox! TV! Drama! In strong winds, a bouncy castle with a large surface area could easily become a sail, so I don't chalk that one up to too much dramatic license. The rescue was actually nicely done. Roy and Johnny approve, I'm sure, although I'm still not entirely sure what the rescuers tied off onto. Stakes in the ground? Might have made more sense to tie off onto the truck. Trucks carrying steel and the like have a shit-ton of momentum and don't stop easily. And when they do stop suddenly, the load will shift. Rods will fly forward. There's been many an impalement of sleepy truck drivers who drive off the road carrying steel rods. The truck stops, the driver stops, the rods don't. Personal recollection follows. 100% true story here, of a somewhat-similar accident. Toronto, back in the mid-80s. I was an overnight police-beat reporter for a newspaper named after a celestial body. Scanners in my car, cameras in the trunk, press pass, the works. I'm sitting downtown and a call tones out for a PI accident (personal injury), man impaled through the head, on the 401 way out east. Easily a half-hour drive. I start out slowly, figuring it will take them a while to remove the body, get the coroner out to pronounce, etc. A minute later, the BLS crew calls and says the patient is alive and talking, and to rush everything they have to the scene. My foot finds the accelerator, which finds the firewall in short order, wherein I discovered that the top speed of a 1981 Toyota Celica on the Don Valley Parkway is about 110 MPH. If you are a person of delicate sensibilities, please stop reading here. If you're a twisted SOB with a truly warped sense of humour, read on, McDuff. I get out to the scene before any other media and sure enough, Mr. Polehead is sitting in the driver's seat with a chunk of the top rail of a chain-link fence through his noggin, at about the same angle and position as it was portrayed on the show, only in his case, it entered through the front and was protruding about 5 feet behind him. He'd fallen asleep behind the wheel, veered off onto the shoulder, and kaplowie. OPP were managing traffic and I grabbed my pics of Mr. Polehead before being shooed off. Then it got "interesting." The discussion began between Scarborough Fire and EMS on how to get him out and how to safely transport. You can imagine how tense this was for all concerned. They decided to cut the pole off with a sawzall a few feet in front and behind his head, and get him to a level-one trauma center to do the pole-ectomy. But how to transport safely was the question. Big, big FD veteran, about 400 pounds of solid muscle with no neck, who I'm sure bench-presses linebackers in his spare time, comes up in full kit. His deadpanned suggestion: cut the pole to a specific length, and hang it up in the back of the Rescue Squad box truck, like a hangar bar in a closet, and just let him dangle all the way to Sunnybrook (making the appropriate visual raggedy-dance moves). "It'll just loosen up for the docs, aye?" Everybody, and I mean everybody in earshot breaks out laughing like mad. He clapped the EMS supervisor on the back so hard he had trouble catching his breath, and he goes back to his men to keep working on the vic. Well, they get the guy on a stretcher, get him to the ER in the ambulance, the pole-ectomy goes smoothly, and he walks out of hospital a week or two later with only a slight speech impairment and a funny walk. Miracle, really. I got my pics, but they only ran a general scene picture in the paper. I did manage to sell the image of the guy still in the car, fully impaled, to a U.S. Tabloid and made a shit-ton of money off it. Still got a tearsheet of it in my files somewhere, too, but sadly the negatives are long gone.

I completely agree with it not being amusing, however death is part of the story of first responders, and his passing advanced the overall plot of the show. The only redemption in that whole story was Hermann demanding the men pay up, with a big donation to the Humane Society. I'm thinking maybe there was a passageway behind that false wall for wiring or something similar, and there could have been a space somewhere underneath it that the animal might have crawled through.

If they'd dared taken some screen time away from Gabby (gasp!), what would have been a fitting ending for that scene would be to re-create the meme that was going around the Internet for a while. Douchecanoe is angry because he's late for an Important Meeting—a job interview—and it turns out to be with the victim, who's the HR manager. Yep. Him, Cruz, and Mouch are nothing more than comic relief now, and it's all usually groan-worthy. Well, if they hadn't shown Mr. Sprinkles in the "previously" intro it could have worked. Decomp is a smell every firefighter and medic is well aware of, so I'm surprised they didn't tweak to the cause instantly. Agree about "PD" the last couple of weeks. We even got Voight's TortureCage™ back this week. How I missed that little element!

Yeah, pleasepleaseplease let that be Bria at room temperature in the morgue. Of course it won't be; it'll be Expendable Jane Doe #37, someone Saint Gabby has no personal interest in, and someone else's daughter, having bought the farm to advance this insipid plot along. To paraphrase one poster from last week, welcome to Chicago Social Workers, season 1, episode 4.