S08.E11: Where We End Up

[jewel21]

A pest control problem forces the 51 team to temporarily bunk with Firehouse 20. All under the same roof, Casey clashes with Capt. Delaney, while Foster, Kidd and Brett fear Capt. Leone has it out for them. Boden mulls a procedural overhaul.

Airdate: 01/15/2020

[dovegrey]

It was great to see an extended fire scene again. Felt a bit like the old days.

(...except how many times in eight years has there ever been two engine companies called to a structure fire that size? Never. On that note, if they want to go the Engine 20 route, I'd decommission Engine 51 and reduce the size of the main cast, but that's just me.)

Firehouse "jurisdiction" makes no damn sense, both in the real world and in this show. If FF jurisdiction was an issue or even a thing, then 51 wouldn't be the first-due companies responding to incidents all over Chicago. It is and has always been about which company is first on scene, until a higher ranking officer arrives. The set-up for the tension in this episode didn't make sense, but I actually quite liked the rest of it. (Except...it doesn't really take nearly burning to death for firefighters to get along...)

How does a single-company house have Captain Delaney and Captain Leone? And if Firehouse 20 can have two captains (one of whom who doesn't seem to actually be in charge of anything?), then why hasn't Severide been promoted? I was under the impression that a CFD house could have one captain only, which is why Grissom was so pissed when Casey leapfrogged Severide. Is this the writers' way of potentially retconning that and getting Severide an eventual promotion without writing Boden or Casey out?

So, it's finally official that Battalion 25 exists outside of 51 and apparently includes Engine 20. Huh. That explains why Casey and Delaney had never met before last week... 😕 This show has missed a huge opportunity by not worldbuilding, such as establishing semi-recurring guest stars from at least one or two other houses over the course of multiple seasons. It'd be nice to see Engine 20 on a long-term basis, but they'll probably go the way of Truck 66 and even House 27.

I liked it overall.

[mxc90]

Delaney has never heard the wonderful stories of Casey and Severide? He thinks they are cocky and lack experience? Huh???!!!!!!

Why did dispatch call for Truck 81, not Engine 51 and sends Engine 20 instead? There would have been less tension if 20 was told to return home.

So the brief distraction from Delaney caused the driver to die? Too bad the wife couldn't hear this discussion to boost to her lawsuit.

Was the wife already wearing a neck brace while she was trapped in the car? 

Move the trucks Casey. Don't argue!

20 has one treadmill?

The show stooped to Station 19 level and had Gallo and Violet hookup in the fire house.

If Captain Leone had that nice little room in 20, why was she and the others running to 51's lounge room?

Surprised the show didn't make Delaney look foolish when he took charge.

The fire at the cleaners was so dark I couldn't tell who was in trouble.

Boden gave Buckley strange looks when he first approached him. Was it for weight loss? Or Boden was faking that he knew him and was trying hard to remember?

Buckley's story made the whole 20/51 tension look stupid. Hopefully, this story line is over.

 

 

 

[Kleav]

4 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

Boden gave Buckley strange looks when he first approached him. Was it for weight loss? Or Boden was faking that he knew him and was trying hard to remember?

Both, is my guess. Boden probably knew he should recognize Buckley, but since he's no longer the robust guy that Boden remembered, he needed time to make the connection.

[The Ringo Kidd]

The fact that they actually fought a fire this week made this the best episode so far this year.

[NYCFree]

Being a New Yorker, the issue of cancer from toxic exposure is especially poignant to me. We regularly see the funerals of first responders from the massive exposure on 9/11. A family friend, who was a lawyer in the ground zero area, also died recently. Until he became sick, I had no idea how many civilians had also been affected.

[Laurie4H]

The young fire fighter romance is so cliche.  As soon as she said they weren’t going to hook up again.....I knew they would later have an argument that would end with another hook up.  Come on writers of these shows, get more creative 

Also the feud with the women at 51 and the woman at 20 is just stupid.  Are they in high school?   

[Waterston Fan]

I confess, I ff'd through part of the episode and didn't care for it.

How did the driver get that gash? Was he killed on impact? 

Boden was telling everyone about Mike Bradley, why not just tell them he is dying of cancer? I did like the ending though.  

[Sake614]

This was a decent episode once they got past the high school sniping. Kind of nice to have someone call out Boden on playing favorites, and for Boden to actually admonish 51 to act like the guests they are, rather than getting territorial. 

[iMonrey]

I don't care about Gallo or Violet, nor do I care for sex in the workplace. It didn't even seem like Gallo showered after he sexed up  Violet in the workout room. Ick. 

I don't know how Herrmann managed to transfer that many bed bugs from his house to the fire station. Or, do they just multiply rapidly?

The dog sure is cute though.

I don't have much to say about the rivalry antics and dick measuring contests. It all feels so juvenile and unprofessional, and nobody comes off looking good.

Edited January 16, 2020 by iMonrey

[dovegrey]

37 minutes ago, Sake614 said:

This was a decent episode once they got past the high school sniping. Kind of nice to have someone call out Boden on playing favorites, and for Boden to actually admonish 51 to act like the guests they are, rather than getting territorial. 

I thought it was a completely unreasonable request/demand to have the 51 rigs parked across the road, and I don't blame Casey and Severide for pushing back. That's advocating for their people and potential victims. For the fire tone out, 51 had to sprint across a road, in the dark, dodging traffic, and then apparently gear up on the side of the road. It was dangerous for them, dangerous for passersby, and dangerous for the fire victims to have response time hindered over a pissing match initiated by Delaney. The end of the episode confirmed that Delaney was needlessly power-playing by making them move. Guests have a duty to behave as guests, but hosts also have a duty to behave as hosts.

Casey can be a hothead (it was kinda nice to see that again, TBH) and should have kept his cool when Delaney baited him. It wasn't cool for him to charge at Delaney and yell. I would also add that Casey shouldn't have been shocked when Boden put Delaney in charge. It's Delaney's (or Leone's?) house. Imagine if Delaney bunked at 51 and figured he was in charge of Casey's house and calls. Nope. 

[Sake614]

37 minutes ago, dovegrey said:

would also add that Casey shouldn't have been shocked when Boden put Delaney in charge. It's Delaney's (or Leone's?) house. Imagine if Delaney bunked at 51 and figured he was in charge of Casey's house and calls. Nope. 

Exactly why I was glad to see Boden check him. Both sides were wrong in their feud but Casey getting on his high horse about being in charge of someone else's house was petty and childish. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

I thought it was a completely unreasonable request/demand to have the 51 rigs parked across the road, and I don't blame Casey and Severide for pushing back.

On the other hand, they were blocking the fire truck that belonged to the station, so where the heck were they going to park?

[dovegrey]

2 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

On the other hand, they were blocking the fire truck that belonged to the station, so where the heck were they going to park?

It looked like 20 could have gone out the other side? If it was a real issue, Delaney wouldn't have told them to stay parked there at the end, right?

And if there's no good place to park four rigs at a house, then either separate 51 to different houses or take 51 out of service. 

[spunky]

Watching the horror on Herman's face, after he realized he caused the infestation had me cracking up. These firefighters were acting like children and not grown adults. Mouch apologizing for flea shaming Tuesday was a cute moment and it seemed like the original Chicago Fire was back. 

[dovegrey]

6 hours ago, Sake614 said:

eExactly why I was glad to see Boden check him. Both sides were wrong in their feud but Casey getting on his high horse about being in charge of someone else's house was petty and childish. 

Yep. I agree with you on that.

My differential thoughts are about Boden, though. Until this ep, I figured that Battalion 25 was the four companies at 51 (for TV purposes), which is why Boden is so involved in the day-to-day life at 51, has never been shown to have any involvement with any other house or company, and has continually been threatened with the closure/harassment of 51 and only 51. Now that it's canon that Boden is only based out of 51 and does have other companies in his command, then 95% of what Boden does should be Casey as the firehouse Captain (e.g., briefings, personnel, management, all the dumb complaints, etc). In effect, Casey is a weird combination of a glorified lieutenant and what amounts to Boden's back-up chief/right-hand man. Before the bedbugs, when Boden told Casey he had a seminar to attend, was Boden leaving 51 in Casey's command (which is already Casey's), or was he effectively leaving 25 in Casey's command? The structure at 51 is completely topsy-turvy with Boden being a micromanaging helicopter chief, so who knows. From that foggy lens, I can see Casey interpreting it as Boden handing Boden's command to Delaney, which has gone to Casey by default for years, rather than Boden saying, "no, Delaney is in charge of Firehouse 20." (I'm trying to figure out this show's internal logic, and it ain't working.)

I don't see why Boden isn't promoted up and out, with Walker becoming recurring (which would barely be a difference vs. now), his replacement being stationed at another house, and Captain Casey taking legit command of Firehouse 51. It would open lots of new storylines and fresh dynamics. I mean, we haven't had a Casey/Severide blow-out fight in nearly two years, and that's just not Chicago Fire. 

[Dowel Jones]

Moving the 51 crews out of their station to 20 didn't make sense in the first place.  Even with the overlap, the actual station location would be far enough from Station 51 that there would be a huge coverage hole in 51's area.  Dispatch isn't going to alter their response maps (and CAD) to allow for that, so the citizens in area 51 (sorry) suffer for that. 

I have a feeling that the other guys are well aware of the sexual shenanigans between Gallo and Violet.  Besides which, firehouses are not sound proof.

I liked Capt. Leone's revenge.  How stupid of Foster, Brett, and Kidd to stay awake and not eat for an entire shift.

So, after the rescue is completed, Boden gives the order to drown the fire, essentially.  And the engine crew goes to work with a fog nozzle on the ground.  Too bad they didn't have one of those, you know, truck thingies with an aerial ladder on it. Would have been much more effective at getting water through the roof.

The cancer plot hit home for me too.  My younger brother told us some months ago that treatment for his was not working, and he chose to live without it.  He died two weeks ago.

[Guildford]

As if the Ladies Lounge storyline wasn't already dumb enough, they had to double down on it again. Who writes this drivel?

Edited January 19, 2020 by Guildford

[SG11]

I’m going to say the cancer storyline drowned out the usual mistakes and writing weaknesses. It was a strong, important point that resonated throughout the episode and the ending made me tear up.

Good for Wolf and Co on this one.