S08.E13: A Chicago Welcome

[mxc90]

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First Aired: February 5, 2020

The surprising arrival of a new fire truck brings both joy and chaos to members of Firehouse 51. Boden and Severide are asked to make peace with an old foe for the greater good. Brett receives family news while Foster plans a party with friends.

 

[Kleav]

Man, that ending...  *sniffle*

[KLovestoShop]

Overall, a very good episode.  The end had me crying like a baby.  Very beautiful and touching scene that had everyone coming together. 

[mxc90]

The people on "Three's Company" never acted like Cruz and Foster. 

After Foster let her "date" go and went back to her room, Cruz leaped out of the couch pretty fast with a grin. Looked like he had a "personal fire" to put out in the bathroom.

Foster was so wrong for what she did to Cruz! Cruz is so stupid to behave as if he doesn't have a fiancee or go to her place to sleep. "Obersavational capacity" my ass!!!!

Did Sylvie get the message and stayed away from party? Used the cat as an excuse to kill the time.

A while ago Boden claimed he knows "everything" that goes on in his house! A new truck shows up, he and Casey have no clue where it came from.  

Is it normal for Casey to not inspect the truck before taking it out on a call?

Ritter is smart to sense avoiding some of the nonsense.

The main floor of the old couple's house looked pretty good after the fire. 

Is Hermman going to bitch about every little thing that goes on?

The only way Coach Wannstedt gets the "friends and family" discount is by delivering a championship to Chcago. 

Gorsch picked the right house to try to scam. The fool forgot they are skeptical of him and would investigate. The look on his face afer he was fired was funny!

I want to see the "Chicago shows up for each other" motto put to the test in future episodes. The least they can do  is show up on time and not interrupt the pastor.

 

 

[Rabithed]

I was tearing up at the end. Sylvie is so empathetic. 

Cruz is just an idiot. He acts like a prepubescent boy at the sight of his roommate kissing her date (gf, whatever) then turns near violent towards her because she didn’t invite him to her “cool kids” party. I was cringing. 

[dovegrey]

I liked this one too. The end got me misty... Chicago showed up for her. (But would have hit harder if Fire didn't so often do these unrealistic, magical Brady Bunch endings.)

I liked that Casey and Brett got super involved in the follow up on the house fire...but the show needs to lay off on the frequent followup (like Casey asking about the human chain kid). Again, this one would've hit harder if it wasn't such a regular trope. I can see Casey projecting onto the old guy and getting way invested, having lost Hallie in a similar way.

Casey and Brett are awkwardly boring together. I don't buy them as friends. 

...was it ever previously mentioned that Brett was adopted? Or is that something that took 5 seasons to learn about a main character?

I really really really dislike Foster. 

Is Cruz not even allowed to stay the night with Chloe? He shouldn't have been kicked out of his place by Foster, but he made it sound like he was roaming the streets without anywhere to stay all night. Not even his fiancee would take him in? Man, he gets ignored and shut down by Severide (WTF was Severide's deal?), kicked out by Foster, and ghosted by Chloe... 

Gorsch. I kind of enjoyed the game here, and I'm glad the antics from season 7 got follow up, but what was the point of turning the cancer awareness storyline into a Gorsch twirling‐mustache plot?

Overall, really liked it.

[Artsda]

1 hour ago, dovegrey said:

Man, he gets ignored and shut down by Severide (WTF was Severide's deal?)

I think his deal was Cruz is supposed to be a man about to be married, planning a wedding and instead he's running around asking about clothes to a single girls party?

That end made me cry, everyone showing up at the funeral.

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, Kleav said:

Man, that ending...  *sniffle*

Seriously. It was great seeing David Selby again. He will always be Quentin Collins to me. 💕 Tuesday and Dusty were cute together.

Glad Gorsh got the send-off he deserved. 😆
Kidd’s Kim Jong-Un joke about the track suit was funny.

Edited February 6, 2020 by LittleIggy

[MsJamieDornan]

3 hours ago, dovegrey said:

I really really really dislike Foster. 

That can't be said enough.

[NJRadioGuy]

Maybe if Truck 81 had done what truck companies are supposed to do during the initial attack and vent the damned roof, and Hermann gotten his men in with two charged lines about 2 minutes quicker she might not have died. 

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Is it normal for Casey to not inspect the truck before taking it out on a call?

Yes, they absolutely. They would all have needed to be checked out on the new rig before it went in service since it had newer features, undoubtedly the compartments would be laid out differently, maybe with newer gear, controls would be different, it would handle differently, etc. Handwaved for the sake of drama, I guess. I'm wondering if the apparatus maker donated the truck to production to showcase their latest and greatest. IIRC Ward LaFrance donated a rig to Emergency! for the 3rd season.

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The main floor of the old couple's house looked pretty good after the fire. 

Yeah, the fire was on the second floor. Heat rises, so the damage would all be upstairs and into the attic, and the roof would have been basically destroyed. If they'd managed to get water on it before the top floor was compromised then it's quite likely the ground floor would still be reasonably fine, but there'd have been significant water damage down there and sure as hell there'd be no electricity.

Because someone died in that fire there's no way they'd have been allowed in until the building was released by OFI and CPD. They could just as easily have waited around the back with a can of store-bought cat food and hoped Dusty would have come back. Glad the kitty was OK. So few cats on TV as it is.

I saw the bunker gear scam the instant Gorsch proposed it. Much too easy. But I wouldn't bet money on this being the last time we see that little troglodyte. 

Misty-eyed at the end, but I was thinking they'd have figured out a way to have some of his wife's former students and their friends from out west come in for the funeral.

[dovegrey]

8 hours ago, Artsda said:

I think his deal was Cruz is supposed to be a man about to be married, planning a wedding and instead he's running around asking about clothes to a single girls party?

How would Severide know it was a single girls party? Maybe I'm as daft as Cruz because I didn't even pick up on that until Foster flat out said it. (But I would've slamiganned the door open, gone to live in my own damn house, and started eviction paperwork.)

What I find frustrating is that Severide is close enough to Cruz to be best man (instead of Leon!) but not a close enough friend to give Cruz that heads up. Instead, he's a rude a-hole and acts like Cruz shouldn't be talking to him (which is how I read it, as some lieutenant boundary thing).

[Waterston Fan]

I didn't like this episode all that much but I would think if one truck gets an upgrade, maybe the other two vehicles should get an upgrade at the same time as well? 

Mouch was annoying as was Herrman. 

Maybe Foster should have found another place to hold a party but they both were annoying as well. It was Cruz's place too but he was acting crazy. 

Gourch needs to just go away forever as I don't get the plot for him. He was taking kickbacks for bad gear? 

Notice the mom never did thank the other people who helped her son. 

I liked the ending though, it was very nice. 

[mxc90]

5 hours ago, Waterston Fan said:

Notice the mom never did thank the other people who helped her son.

Yes. When she admitted to falling asleep, I was surprised someone like (or maybe) Hermann didn't give her a scolding on safety.

For an assistant deputy commissioner, where is "Siberia" in the CFD? Isn't he is still pretty close to the top in the organization.

Where was Grissom or another top CFD official as Gorsh is getting fired? Surprised the line wasn't deliverd by Severide.

5 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Foster was an asshole.  She just moved in and she is already acting like she is the only one that matters.  I don't blame Cruz for being pissed

At the station, she told him there will be a party and to be ready for it. How was Cruz suppose to interpret that statement. She is a jerk!

Edited February 6, 2020 by mxc90

[DanaK]

Regarding the "human chain" call with the boy, I only watched it once so I likely missed something, but wasn't the bottom of the hill a body of water? If so, why keep hanging on to the kid, as he likely would have just fallen to the shore line or just slightly into the water? If it wasn't water (I should have paid more attention or rewatched!), it seemed like it flattened out at the bottom. What did I totally miss?

[dovegrey]

1 hour ago, Waterston Fan said:

Gourch needs to just go away forever as I don't get the plot for him. He was taking kickbacks for bad gear?

Yeah. Gorsch was using the Boden-supported CFD purchase order to buy fake turnout gear from a friend's company. In return, the friend was going to give him $200,000 (?) of the profit from the sale. From the "Siberia" comment, I imagine that Gorsch's career in the CFD was effectively over anyway, and this was his way of (1) making bank before getting fired, and (2) potentially ruining Boden's career, since Boden was a key supporter of an initiative that would have probably resulted in firefighters being burned alive.

My issue is that the cancer awareness storyline was turned into a Gorsch villain plot. Honestly, I'd rather the show approach cancer awareness with Boden, Herrmann, or Mouch getting a work-related cancer diagnosis. (Boden had the cancer scare in season 1 and talked about firefighting without O2 masks and asbestos raining from the sky; it was incredibly effective.)

[jabRI]

Foster could have at least let him in to go to his room, jeez.  If  a roommate says 'I'm having a few friends over' I wouldn't interpret that as 'find someplace else to stay the night'.  But on the other hand, why couldn't he just stay at the station house?

[iMonrey]

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Cruz is just an idiot. He acts like a prepubescent boy at the sight of his roommate kissing her date (gf, whatever) then turns near violent towards her because she didn’t invite him to her “cool kids” party. I was cringing. 

Granted Cruz was sort of perving out on the thought of hot girl-on-girl action. But man, that Foster has one hell of a nerve. If you want to throw a party that your roommate is not invited to, then throw it somewhere else where your roommate doesn't live. She has no right to expect Cruz to clear out of his own home for a party she's throwing there when she just moved in yesterday. Who the hell does she think she is? I swear, the show wants us to hate her. First the thing where she was being a bitch to Sylvie for no reason and now this. 

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After Foster let her "date" go and went back to her room, Cruz leaped out of the couch pretty fast with a grin. Looked like he had a "personal fire" to put out in the bathroom.

Yeah that's kind of what I thought too. The whole thing was gross, but at the end of the day it was Foster who was in the wrong. When Cruz showed up at the door she should have apologized and invited him in, not be all "sorry not sorry, please go away now." Geez.

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Seriously. It was great seeing David Selby again. He will always be Quentin Collins to me. 

And Richard Channing!

[jewel21]

That ending made me tear up. I almost ended up ugly crying.

And I loved the kitty and puppy together.

Herman needs to stop acting like a 5 year old toddler pitching a fit every two seconds. It's really unprofessional and off-putting.

Foster annoyed me. First, how about you ask your roommates if it's okay to even throw a party. Secondly, don't throw one and then expect them to clear out and find other sleeping arrangements. So selfish.

[Waterston Fan]

4 hours ago, DanaK said:

Regarding the "human chain" call with the boy, I only watched it once so I likely missed something, but wasn't the bottom of the hill a body of water? If so, why keep hanging on to the kid, as he likely would have just fallen to the shore line or just slightly into the water? If it wasn't water (I should have paid more attention or rewatched!), it seemed like it flattened out at the bottom. What did I totally miss?

Only thing I can think of is, they probably just didn't want the kid actor to get wet and maybe he couldn't swim? 

[WinJet0819]

45 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I don't think the Cruz marriage is ever going to happen.   Something horrible will most likely happen long before the marriage ever takes place. 

We don't see Cruz with his main squeeze at all.   How am I supposed to care about that relationship when she is off screen far more than on screen?   I don't think we have seen them together since they became engaged. 

 

And this might be due to the fact that the actress is busy and can't actually show in any episodes. Remember last season when Cruz got his commendation, and Sylvie and Kelly were there, but there was no Chloe. And you would think a girlfriend would want to see her boyfriend get recognized for the good job he did, especially considering she first met him when he saved her from the apartment fire. I chalk that up to the fact that maybe Kristen Gutoskie wasn't available.

But beside the fact that the actress might not be available, this whole roommate story is still quite unbelievable. You have an engaged man, now living with two single female roommates. I have never heard of that happening. I've heard of engaged couples saving themselves for marriage, or maybe having two separate apartments before moving in together after marriage, but we are constantly seeing Joe hanging with his roommates or, as in this episode, trying to go to a party at his apartment, instead of just spending the evening with Chloe. That's why I don't understand why he's saying he had to look for a place stay since he couldn't be home for the party. Hello? You can't stay with your fiancée? Joe says he's worried about getting married, but yet he talks about the roommate situation as if he's still single.

It's like the writers are just throwing things into the show that have no context. Like with Hermann's son being at a pool party in the fall where they're wearing jackets. Or the fact that these firefighters seem to be able to chase down violent suspects or spearhead criminal investigations. What would have made more since last week is if after Sylvie expressed her worry about the rent, Cruz either expresses interest in having Chloe move in, or he says he and Chloe are looking for a place together and that Brett will need to find 2 more roommates to split the rent.

[WinJet0819]

On 2/5/2020 at 9:34 PM, dovegrey said:

I liked this one too. The end got me misty... Chicago showed up for her. (But would have hit harder if Fire didn't so often do these unrealistic, magical Brady Bunch endings.)

I liked that Casey and Brett got super involved in the follow up on the house fire...but the show needs to lay off on the frequent followup (like Casey asking about the human chain kid). Again, this one would've hit harder if it wasn't such a regular trope. I can see Casey projecting onto the old guy and getting way invested, having lost Hallie in a similar way.

Totally agree with all of this. It was a nice ending, but this house goes above and beyond with these unrealistic over the top endings 4-5 times a season, to the point where you almost expect it if it's a sad case.

And the constant follow-up is getting a little tired. It's nice to care, but do they need to take interest in all the people they save. I think they're going to the well a little bit too often at this point.

Still a good episode.

[Guildford]

1 hour ago, WinJet0819 said:

Totally agree with all of this. It was a nice ending, but this house goes above and beyond with these unrealistic over the top endings 4-5 times a season, to the point where you almost expect it if it's a sad case.

And the constant follow-up is getting a little tired. It's nice to care, but do they need to take interest in all the people they save. I think they're going to the well a little bit too often at this point.

Still a good episode.

I guess they need to fill the episodes with something as the 'fire and rescue' stuff is bothersome and expensive. So we get these repetitive inane plots to pad it out.

The roommate thing was dumb and weird but I do tend to tune out when the C-plot gets shoehorned in. I can't remember the last good one??? I'm sure Chloe would love to know her soon to be husband was desperate to party with hot single young girls so he could see what he was giving up. And man, the morning drunk dude was a better housemate than Foster. Having lived in my fair share of share houses...you have a party, the whole house has a party.

Hermann popped up to remind us how insufferable he is. I never saw him running to the defense of Engine before he was in charge. I doubt if he even knew their names, now he's all huffy over a new rig.

And writers, good job of cheapening the Cancer storyline with the return of Gorsch. Who didn't see that lame assed plot twist a mile off.

The budget for Anvils on this show must be huge, seeing as all three shows drop them by the dozen each week. They really do think the viewers are idiots don't they (although to be fair...head over to Twitter and most of them are)

[greyhorse]

Foster's "I'm having some people over" comment I'm sure would have been interpreted by most roommates as an invitation to the party and just courteous of her to let them know.  What would have happened in most situations is that all three roommates would have to agree that the party was ok, right?

When Kelly was asking Cruz what he was doing, I thought it was because Cruz was showing interest in Foster.  That he had to get dressed up all fly and was showing so much excitement about it to impress.  But maybe he was trying to impress her single girl friends. In any case, yes, how come he said he was roaming the streets that night and made it sound like he had nowhere to go?  What about Chloe?  And how come Sylvie wasn't as confused as Cruz?  Where did she go?

Fun seeing Dave Wannestedt on the show, although it would have been more iconic to have Ditka.  And did any other diehard Bears fans catch running back Matt Forte as part of the human chain?  Apparently he is real life friends with Taylor Kinney.  Good guy.

Heartwarming story at the end to show the country that "Chicago comes together", with the human chain and the complete strangers showing up to a funeral.  But come on.  Anyone that lives in Chicago knows it isn't so.  People getting shot up and stabbed on the El train every day, in good parts of town.  Violence and tragedy dominates the news headlines.

[cinsays]

On 2/6/2020 at 10:12 AM, mxc90 said:

At the station, she told him there will be a party and to be ready for it. How was Cruz suppose to interpret that statement. She is a jerk!

Yeah, that sure didn't sound to me like I'm having a party and you can't be there. Rude and inconsiderate twit.

 

On 2/6/2020 at 3:49 PM, Waterston Fan said:

Only thing I can think of is, they probably just didn't want the kid actor to get wet and maybe he couldn't swim? 

Well, then they cast for a child actor who could swim, not manufacture some dumb way to keep him out of the water.

[dovegrey]

1 hour ago, cinsays said:

Well, then they cast for a child actor who could swim, not manufacture some dumb way to keep him out of the water.

I watched it again last night with my SO, and he figured the issue would be hypothermia...even though the kid probably would have ended up on one of the concrete berms. If the first guy had stopped the kid from violently falling off the edge then gradually started to slip down with the kid, I kinda buy the situation. I guess there was also a chance the kid could've hit the water, gone into shock, and drowned. But it also seems like a situation made worse by the people meaning to do well.

I've heard that they have trouble casting for all three shows now, as they're usually using locals and can't keep recycling the same people. They're probably hard up to find a Chicago kid whose parents will agree to a more dangerous set up.

Anywho, I was kinda excited to see that Dr. Romano from ER directed this one. If only some of the old school ER magic would rub off... (And Derek Haas wrote this one. I think he's better as a writer than a showrunner, and I miss Matt Olmstead.)

[Dowel Jones]

On 2/5/2020 at 11:26 PM, NJRadioGuy said:

They would all have needed to be checked out on the new rig before it went in service since it had newer features...

Maybe that's why they didn't do the proper ventilation.  They didn't know where the tools were because it hadn't been checked out.  Did the Slammigan disappear with old T81?

On 2/6/2020 at 6:23 AM, Waterston Fan said:

but I would think if one truck gets an upgrade, maybe the other two vehicles should get an upgrade at the same time as well? 

Not necessarily.  Each of those vehicles costs in excess of $100K, sometimes a lot in excess.  It's usually a round robin for replacements, depending on several factors.

Gorsch is such an idiot.  Gear replacement would be done by competitive bidding, and then a contract is awarded, possibly for several years, because you want the same type of gear for everyone as they move on and it's passed on to another firefighter.  Besides which, why is that action left to a single chief, anyway? If he was smart, he would have rigged the bidding to favor that company and done a much better job of hiding the kickback.

I guess there's a money limit where CFD starts investigations into malfeasance.  If you're a Chief with a shady brother-in-law who sells the department $5000 worth of gloves for Station 51, it's hardly worth a mention.

And, off the subject, what was with the drug ads during the breaks?  Dovato for HIV, Rexulti for depression, Trulicity for Diabetes, Latuda for bipolar depression, Descovy for HIV.  What's that say about the audience for the show?  Are we the target demographic?

[Rasburn]

Where can I get the Adidas track too Joe was wearing in series 8 episode 13 (the top Joe buys for the house party he isn't invited to)