S08.E16: The Tendency of a Drowning Victim

[jewel21]

Boden is on edge after starting a new fad diet. Casey and Severide disagree on a call. Brett’s birth mother shares life-altering news. A familiar face has a proposition for Herrmann.

Airdate: 03/04/2020

[mxc90]

Not a good episode. This wasn't the right episode to show after the news of 3 more seasons was given. Please do better. 

The writers could only have Boden involved in the stupid diet plot and not have him available to advise Casey with the car owner or the Casey/Severide little beef? A little disappointed Boden cracked the diet.

Poor Severide looked really hurt to be ordered by Casey in front of his men. Then for the rest of the episode all his scenes are from his office or the apartment.

Lily thinks Hermmann is the smartest business man she has ever known and a good mentor?! She must still be in shock.

Why would anyone go to the police when Casey and Severide are here?

With all the scamming talk, I was wondering if Sylvie's mom is really pregnant or Lily was trying to scam Hermmann out of money.

No Rescue squad sent to the pizzeria? What was Silvio doing to get caught in that position? I think his workers set him up.

Surprised Mouch didn't finish a box all by himself before the truck arrived at the station.

When is Casey going to move out? He can't take a hint from Severide and Kidd or the TV viewers?

Oh great! Momma is moving to Chicago!

Edited March 5, 2020 by mxc90

[preeya]

My first thoughts after 10 minutes:

Missing car victim is an insurance scam.  (Close, but it turned out even worse)

Brett's Mom is a not on the up and up. Possible fraud in the making. (Something's up here. Maybe she's not even her real mom)

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by preeya

[LittleIggy]

Those steaks were THICK! How could Kelly ever cook them? Broccoli? No. Just no!

[Dowel Jones]

2 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Those steaks were THICK!

That's what I thought.  There was 2 pounds of meat per person there.

Casey is lucky the fraudster didn't punch him in the face.  He was trespassing the second he put his foot in the doorway, even if the fraudster did something illegal. 

I was glad, however, to see him actually act like an incident commander at the lakeside.  Severide should have asked him first if he wanted a rescue attempt made, but, of course, that would have removed the drama from the firehouse.

The diet plotline was just silly.  It does have a whiff of reality, though.  Several years ago (more like decades, I guess), actress Alexandra Paul's sister worked for San Francisco FD.  The other FF's on her shift complained one time that her turn to cook brought them oat bran and rice, and other comestibles not deserving of mention.  Try as they might, they couldn't convince her to cook "the good stuff".  So said Herb Caen, anyway.

Lily should seek out a business consultant who knows something about trends and location.  Hermann is not that guy.  The only reason Molly's stayed afloat is that 51 spent half their own paychecks there.  A coffee shop, or any kind of eatery, can be a real money pit, and that location was not an ideal starting place.  I'm glad his wife set him straight for once.  I wonder if Lily is going to be an ongoing storyline now.

I don't think there's anything criminal going on with Sylvie's mother.  I'll bet the storyline is the reverse of the story between Sylvie and the chaplain.  She and hubby will move to Chicago, land on Sylvie's life with the newborn and harp on her to hook up with Casey, until, everyone realizes that Sylvie and Mom are just not a good fit.  She moves back to the hinterlands.

 

[dovegrey]

Man, there wasn't a waaaahmbulance big enough for Severide, Boden, and Kidd this week. One can't handle taking orders, and the other two can't handle seven days without some form of ground up pig or cow. JFC. Chicago Adult Daycare.

Why in the hell didn't Casey have Halstead or one of the other non-Voight cops there at the guy's house? And although he didn't go alone, he took the VICTIM. And then he gets word that his barely-past-candidate rookie is emotionally invested in a burn victim, and his response is something like "okay, sounds good"!?!? This guy isn't Casey.

And he hasn't moved out of that awkward, third-wheel Stellaride situation because the writers are waiting for either (1) Gabby to come back and drop her bomb (preggers) or (2) Cruz to get married so Casey and Brett can move in together. Like, it was cool to see that Stellaride was planning to have him there with the food, but, man oh man... He never should've lived with Severide, and now he's living with one of his non-ranking firefighters that rides on his rig. WTF.

I can't tell if something is up with Brett's bio mom, or if the "placidly, quietly perfect and boring AF" thing is genetic.

We will never see Lily again. Ever.

I felt like they're still trying to replicate the old-seasons vibe with the pacing and storytelling, but the depth and characterization isn't there. And these characters aren't likeable anymore, not one of them, and that old-season good will is wearing thin for me.

Edited March 5, 2020 by dovegrey
clarification

[Guildford]

I actually didn't mind the Boden diet subplot....it was nice to see Boden doing something other than beat the bad guys back from the door.

So this week was Det Casey's turn to play cop. Are they seriously that short for ideas that they need to turn these guys into PI's. FFS send them out to rescue a cat stuck up a tree.

Of course the mother is up to something, it says it right there in the TV Writing for Dummies handbook. If it turns out to be legit it will be the first time this show has surprised me in a long time.

While it was nice to see them still remember Otis it was a bit weird to see Lily all of a sudden, I was looking at her thinking who the hell are you? You know who would be nice to see once in a while.....Cruz's friggin' wife to be. I swear she'll turn up on the wedding day & it'll be like an episode of Married at First Sight. 

The Casey and Severide thing was a little limp...

SO really Boden being cranky was the saving grace of this episode....that and Gallo & Ritter who continue to bounce off each other really well.

[Waterston Fan]

Blech.... I did like the idea of Casey telling Severide not to go in the water and I felt bad for the driver of the car who was lied to. I would have thought the police officer would have asked for divers before 51 got there. 

I ff'd through part of the episode and maybe Brett's mom is scamming her but I would think that would be scary to not know who your mom is or what she looks like and this woman suddenly shows up. 

That's all I got. 

[iMonrey]

I was convinced the scammer guy story was going to be continued into Chicago PD and it really irritated me, so I was glad to be wrong about that. Too often this show is just a springboard for something that doesn't get resolved on its own show. 

The diet thing was dumb, even if people do make the mistake of going cold turkey and making radical changes to their diet like that. That's not the way to make healthy and successful changes in your eating habits. Clearly Boden isn't overweight, so if his issue is cholesterol he just needs to eat less of foods high in cholesterol and begin trying different foods that would help bring those numbers down. That doesn't mean suddenly subsisted on a diet of rice cakes and boiled fish. It means having one slice of pizza instead of four or five. 

[Dowel Jones]

Boden:  "The tendency of a drowning victim is to drag his rescuer down with him." 

So, who on this show is dragging down the show and everyone else with them?  Never mind.  Forget I asked.  I think they're all holding on to each other.

[The Ringo Kidd]

I think Brett’s mother is going to die in childbirth and she is going to adopt the baby. That ready made family will make Casey make a move and so as they are living together happily that succubus Gabby will show up.

[SuzieQ]

1 hour ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

I think Brett’s mother is going to die in childbirth and she is going to adopt the baby. That ready made family will make Casey make a move and so as they are living together happily that succubus Gabby will show up.

Oh good God, you could be right and that makes me puke in my mouth a little!

[preeya]

2 hours ago, The Ringo Kidd said:

I think Brett’s mother is going to die in childbirth and she is going to adopt the baby. That ready made family will make Casey make a move and so as they are living together happily that succubus Gabby will show up.

Why? Even if the mother does pass, the baby still has a father and Brett would be a half-sister.

I don't see how adoption would play into that.

[Guildford]

47 minutes ago, preeya said:

Why? Even if the mother does pass, the baby still has a father and Brett would be a half-sister.

I don't see how adoption would play into that.

When does logic ever play into a plot on this show?

A first responder who works 24hr shifts in a high risk job & also runs a bar in her time off would never be given a vulnerable child that she found under a bed to foster & potentially adopt either, but we had to sit through that gem of a storyline too....so this makes perfect sense to me

[The Ringo Kidd]

3 hours ago, preeya said:

Why? Even if the mother does pass, the baby still has a father and Brett would be a half-sister.

I don't see how adoption would play into that.

Because you have to think up the stupidest, most illogical moronic thing they can do....and they are sure to do it.

[jabRI]

Well since they just did an 'adoption organ scam' on MED, I'm waiting for that to play out here, PD, or New Amsterdam since all the writers go out for drinks at Mollys and swap the stories around with a week or so in between.

[dovegrey]

3 hours ago, preeya said:

Why? Even if the mother does pass, the baby still has a father and Brett would be a half-sister.

I don't see how adoption would play into that.

I could see a car accident or a house fire involving the parents (with 51 responding, of course), the baby surviving as an orphan, and Brett getting custody (and Casey getting dragged in, a la Louie). Unless Biomom and Halfsister go the way of Nancy and Christie Casey (and Violet), which is certainly possible, I'm not seeing the point of this storyline. These writers suck at ongoing relationships with side characters and will never keep committing time to overly polite, emotionally repressed coffee chats.

On further consideration, I did enjoy Gallo and Ritter a lot. I like them, more or less.

[iMonrey]

Quote

 Mouch and Herman etc are bad enough, now the Chief too? It's a shame he cracked and a shame they couldn't come up with a more masculine way for him to lose some weight and get fit. 

He looks plenty fit to me already. He said the issue was his cholesterol, not his weight. While that does involve changing one's eating habits, as I said above, it doesn't mean you have to completely swear off everything you like and subsist only on foods you can't stand. That's just silly. 

I think Sylvie's birth mom story is more likely headed for an abusive husband angle than anything else. He sure seemed shifty when Sylvie knocked on his door, and we haven't really seen him since. We have only mom's word that he's sorry.

[The Ringo Kidd]

We haven’t had a Lily and Herman episode this stupid since “The Munsters” went off the air.

[iMonrey]

Quote

We haven’t had a Lily and Herman episode this stupid since “The Munsters” went off the air.

And I didn't have any idea who Lily was until they clarified she was Otis's girlfriend. Which she was for what? A red hot minute? I barely remember her. Then again I probably couldn't pick out Cruz's fiance from a lineup either. They do a crap job on this show including significant others who aren't working at the station. 

Quote

Does Lily not have a family or anyone else? The local drug dealer would have better business skills than Hermann. 

True! Remember all the failed get-rich-quick schemes he got involved with early on? If Molly's manages to stay afloat, it's in spite of Herrmann, not because of him.

[Dowel Jones]

Maybe that's Lily's plan.  "Hermann says have a huge menu?  I'll keep it basic.  Hermann says take out a loan and advertise everywhere?  I'll print up flyers and post them in the neighborhood."

[tinderbox]

I don’t trust Sylvie’s birth mother.  There is a lot more to her story.

I think we will be seeing more of Lily.  However, her story has come completely out of the blue so I have no idea where the writers are going with this.

Still like the slow build of Sylvie and Casey but am positive  Gaby will ruin everything.

It’s news to me that the show has been renewed for three more years.  Interesting.  I didn’t expect it.  Were the other two “Chicago” shows renewed, as well?

Love Gallo and Ritter.

[spunky]

On 3/8/2020 at 9:44 PM, tinderbox said:

I don’t trust Sylvie’s birth mother.  There is a lot more to her story.

I think we will be seeing more of Lily.  However, her story has come completely out of the blue so I have no idea where the writers are going with this.

Still like the slow build of Sylvie and Casey but am positive  Gaby will ruin everything.

It’s news to me that the show has been renewed for three more years.  Interesting.  I didn’t expect it.  Were the other two “Chicago” shows renewed, as well?

Love Gallo and Ritter.

All 3 Chicago  shows have been renewed for 3 more years.  

[WinJet0819]

Anyone know if the Chicago shows have already finished shooting the final 6 episodes for this season? I hope the coronavirus doesn't get to the point of effecting postponing TV series because of the spread. It's already delaying movie releases.

[dovegrey]

1 hour ago, WinJet0819 said:

Anyone know if the Chicago shows have already finished shooting the final 6 episodes for this season? I hope the coronavirus doesn't get to the point of effecting postponing TV series because of the spread. It's already delaying movie releases.

They film through April. 

[WinJet0819]

Fingers crossed then. I hope we don't have something similar to what happened with 07-08 WGA strike if it's deemed a health hazard to maintain production for these shows this season.

[WinJet0819]

Ah, well. They have been halted now.

https://www.spoilertv.com/2020/03/list-of-shows-with-delayedhalted.html