S10.E03: Counting Your Breaths

[jewel21]

Griffin learns the truth about his father's death and reveals why he really came to visit Casey. Gallo, Ritter and Violet take steps to expand their microbrewery business.

Airdate: 10/06/2021

[dovegrey]

Griffin was 11-years-old in the first half of season 2; Gabby said something about Matt being dumb for trying to win a fight against an 11-year-old, when Griffin was having trouble at school. So, I'm not sure how Griffin would have been 6 when Andy died in the first half of season 1, like he said tonight. It really seems like the writers are retconning his age in 2021 from 20-21 years old to 15-16 years old to make way for the foster care situation. I really dislike when writers bring back super old storylines, only to retcon the hell out of them.

But, I do kind of hope Matt fosters them, as advertised in the promo for next week. That was one of their better storylines, back in the old days. If that happens, I wonder if he’ll try to become batt chief to have more stability and less risk on the job. (Or, heh, Jesse Spencer actually didn’t renew his contract, Casey has to move out-of-state in order to foster them, and that’s how Kidd becomes a real lieutenant. Kidding! Maybe…?)

The house from the pilot looks like that fire happened a few months ago, not 9 years ago.

Gallo, do yourself a favor, and don’t go to Squad 3. Cruz is the only one in series history whose career has survived that move for more than 1.5 seasons, but he lost all his screen time and status as a real character to do it. And I can’t remember the last time Severide spent more than two minutes worrying about someone in his unit. Stick with Casey.

That being said, I can’t stand Cruz. And, with that being said, it really sucks for Joe Minoso that his character is going through a complete life upheaval months before his first kid arrives, but Cruz doesn’t even get a scene at home with his wife. And I think it's a huge missed opportunity to not have the Griffin storyline intersect with the Cruz storyline. But, great, Cruz did some runs through the smokebox and is all better now. Cool.

I don’t get how Jesse Spencer goes from a well-acted scene like the one with Griffin at the pilot house, to that wooden, stiff, awful scene with Severide and Kidd. Is it the bad, expository dialogue he’s forced to say? Does he secretly hate working with Taylor Kinney? Does he secretly hate his job?

Edited October 7, 2021 by dovegrey

[AnnA]

I never liked Heather and now I really, really dislike her.  

I guess the writers/showrunners think we're too stupid to figure out how old Griffin should be.   

If Casey is going to take those boys in, he'll have to get a new place to live.  I think he's still living with Severide.   If I'm rememberig it correctly, Brett's apartment is too small for all of them.   Having the boys is bound to become an issue Casey and Brett.

I hope the drill exercise Severide made Cruz perform at the Academy cures his latest crisis.  I'm not in the mood to go through more Joe Cruz drama.

Edited October 7, 2021 by AnnA

[dovegrey]

10 minutes ago, AnnA said:

I never liked Heather and now I really, really dislike her.  

I guess the writers/showrunners think we're too stupid to figure out how old Griffin should be.  

I agree about Heather. I stopped liking her when she decided to move the boys across the country, all because some random friend got her a job in Florida. Annihilating your and your kids' entire support system is a perfect way to crash and burn. Matt was so incredibly willing to be there for her and the boys; he had a similar life experience (his dad dying, albeit via spousal murder); and the boys clearly attached to him in season 2, that it seemed very...foolhardy for her to leave. I remember thinking that the only good thing that came from her taking them away was that they weren't around when a roof collapsed on Matt's head a few episodes later.

I think the writers are too stupid to figure out how old Griffin should be. No spoilers here, but I don't see why Matt couldn't foster parent a 14-year-old Ben, while 20-year-old Griffin lived with them, reconnected with a safe father figure, and went to college or to the Fire Academy. I wouldn't question that one bit. I do question wonky age shenanigans that probably devalues the original storyline. As it is, Griffin doesn't seem like a 15-year-old; he seems like he's at least 18, especially since no one apparently questioned him flying to and navigating Chicago by himself. It's very confusing.

[WinJet0819]

1 hour ago, dovegrey said:

Griffin was 11-years-old in the first half of season 2; Gabby said something about Matt being dumb for trying to win a fight against an 11-year-old, when Griffin was having trouble at school. So, I'm not sure how Griffin would have been 6 when Andy died in the first half of season 1, like he said tonight. It really seems like the writers are retconning his age in 2021 from 20-21 years old to 15-16 years old to make way for the foster care situation. I really dislike when writers bring back super old storylines, only to retcon the hell out of them.

 

1 hour ago, AnnA said:

I never liked Heather and now I really, really dislike her.  

I guess the writers/showrunners think we're too stupid to figure out how old Griffin should be.

There's a lot on this show that just plain annoys me. But the fact the writers and show runner can't even be bothered to fact check the history of their own damn show is just inexplicable. There is no excuse. Like I said last year, they must think viewers from the early seasons aren't going to pay attention to these little details, but we do, and it gets more and more frustrating that these inaccuracies even make the final cut. This is just further proof that the writers and the show runner don't care about being accurate. They want to make this show a cheesy feel-good story, and damn Griffin's age discrepancy. Ugh. 

[iMonrey]

I have only the vaguest memory of Andy's kids living with Casey, to be honest, so I didn't know how old they were supposed to be. But if Griffin is only supposed to be around 15 then yeah, the actor looks way older than that. I assumed he was at least 21.

Quote

And, with that being said, it really sucks for Joe Minoso that his character is going through a complete life upheaval months before his first kid arrives, but Cruz doesn’t even get a scene at home with his wife.

 Isn't that weird? The show goes through the motions of giving Cruz an actual storyline, but we never see his wife and he never has any interactions with her. It's a story on only the most superficial level. Actual stories are reserved for Casey, Severide, and their love interests.

Quote

 But, great, Cruz did some runs through the smokebox and is all better now. Cool.

This show has never met a problem they couldn't wrap up in three episodes, tops.

When Hermann and Stella were having a push-up (?) competition, I knew Stella would win. Doesn't she always?

[dovegrey]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Isn't that weird? The show goes through the motions of giving Cruz an actual storyline, but we never see his wife and he never has any interactions with her. It's a story on only the most superficial level. Actual stories are reserved for Casey, Severide, and their love interests.

This show has never met a problem they couldn't wrap up in three episodes, tops.

This is why I wish they would reduce the cast and get rid of characters who only get superficial ideas of storylines. They haven’t been able to handle an ensemble since Derek Haas took control, which is also when the characters siloed off with separate storylines. Kara Kilmer/Brett just gave an interview about being lucky that her character gets to interact with more than two characters.  How sad is that. (Makes me wonder how happy the cast actually is to be on this never ending show that’s been nosediving since season 5.)

The only storylines they’ve given more than a brief nod to are Stellaride and Brettsey coupling up. Those both got two full seasons of angsty development. Yay. But that’s what the social media tweens want and cry about. 

[WinJet0819]

56 minutes ago, dovegrey said:

This is why I wish they would reduce the cast and get rid of characters who only get superficial ideas of storylines. They haven’t been able to handle an ensemble since Derek Haas took control, which is also when the characters siloed off with separate storylines. Kara Kilmer/Brett just gave an interview about being lucky that her character gets to interact with more than two characters.  How sad is that. (Makes me wonder how happy the cast actually is to be on this never ending show that’s been nosediving since season 5.)

The only storylines they’ve given more than a brief nod to are Stellaride and Brettsey coupling up. Those both got two full seasons of angsty development. Yay. But that’s what the social media tweens want and cry about. 

Which is why I wonder why Taylor Kinney decided to renew his contract? He could have been free, just like Monica Raymund, and possibly be the lead in his own show.

[iMonrey]

I don't see why Taylor Kinney or Jesse Spencer have anything to complain about, they get plenty of story. It's the others I'd think would want to abandon ship. Cruz's storyline was really just a dressed-up storyline for Severide. It was up to Severide to identify the problem, address the problem, and fix the problem. It wasn't really about Cruz at all, which is why we never really got any insight into what was going on with him or how he was dealing with it at home, or if it was affecting his relationship with his wife.

[dovegrey]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I don't see why Taylor Kinney or Jesse Spencer have anything to complain about, they get plenty of story. It's the others I'd think would want to abandon ship. Cruz's storyline was really just a dressed-up storyline for Severide. It was up to Severide to identify the problem, address the problem, and fix the problem. It wasn't really about Cruz at all, which is why we never really got any insight into what was going on with him or how he was dealing with it at home, or if it was affecting his relationship with his wife.

I’m pretty sure Cruz’s actor was Chicago-based prior to Fire and hasn’t done much outside of theater and Fire. I want to say Christian Stolte (Mouch) is in a similar position. I understand why those two stick around; they’re part of the main cast of a #1/#2 network show that’s part of a juggernaut flagship franchise, and it would be risky to walk away and hope for similar TV success again in Chicago, let alone LA. Even if they don’t have a lot to do, they probably still get paid the same per episode, and they're not having to scramble for work. I'd keep my wagon hitched up to Dick Wolf as long as I could, if I were them.

As one example, Yuri Sardarov/Otis has apparently done only one project since getting written off two years ago. I don’t know if he’s doing theater, but he’s not landing shows or movies. Not everyone lands like Monica Raymund/Gabby and YaYa DaCosta (April from Med), especially with the pandemic. Of all the actors on Fire, Jesse Spencer and Eamonn Walker are the only two who were firmly established before Fire, and they’re the only ones I would expect to find quick success after Fire. All the other ones would be taking a giant leap into unemployment, including Kinney.

With Cruz and Severide - yeah, good point. Cruz's entire post-premiere arc has been about Severide so far. It's absolute crap that the writers made Severide into some daring, selfless hero for rescuing one of his guys, especially when it was his bad incident management that nearly got them all killed. But Cruz had to feel bad for being alive. Even Cruz's wedding was kinda about Severide and Severide being best man....the best man who had to be lectured into helping/talking to Cruz in this episode, because he couldn't wrap his empty head around the idea of helping Cruz. It's just like when Kidd's lieutenant arc and "showcase" episode last season...was all about Severide. I wish he would leave. (Sorry to his fans here.)

It's also pretty crappy that Donna wasn't at all featured in Boden's decision to promote to DDC or celebration about him getting the promotion. That's freaking huge for their family.

Edited October 8, 2021 by dovegrey

[MssdDrms]

12 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I have only the vaguest memory of Andy's kids living with Casey, to be honest, so I didn't know how old they were supposed to be. But if Griffin is only supposed to be around 15 then yeah, the actor looks way older than that. I assumed he was at least 21.

 Isn't that weird? The show goes through the motions of giving Cruz an actual storyline, but we never see his wife and he never has any interactions with her. It's a story on only the most superficial level. Actual stories are reserved for Casey, Severide, and their love interests.

This show has never met a problem they couldn't wrap up in three episodes, tops.

When Hermann and Stella were having a push-up (?) competition, I knew Stella would win. Doesn't she always?

Why in the world would Severide think the smoke box would help Cruz??  He’s having issues with water.   I expected some diving or something with water. 

[WinJet0819]

1 hour ago, MssdDrms said:

Why in the world would Severide think the smoke box would help Cruz??  He’s having issues with water.   I expected some diving or something with water. 

Writers failing again.

[NJRadioGuy]

10 hours ago, MssdDrms said:

Why in the world would Severide think the smoke box would help Cruz??  He’s having issues with water.   I expected some diving or something with water. 

 

9 hours ago, WinJet0819 said:

Writers failing again.

Maybe water tank filming costs more to shoot than a smoke box? The show's pulling a 0.8 share this year...gotta save those pennies where you can!

[Crs97]

They are setting Casey up to be a great battalion chief; he practically had to order Severide to care about Cruz.

I had assumed Griffen was a young adult, which is why he tries to help with Ben but it isn’t going well.  If he is underage, how did he travel on his own and why is Casey so nonchalant about putting him in an Uber at night?

 

[dovegrey]

48 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

They are setting Casey up to be a great battalion chief; he practically had to order Severide to care about Cruz.

I had assumed Griffen was a young adult, which is why he tries to help with Ben but it isn’t going well.  If he is underage, how did he travel on his own and why is Casey so nonchalant about putting him in an Uber at night?

 

The commercial for next episode made it sound like both boys are going into foster care. And Griffin said he was 6 when Andy died, which was September 2012…that makes him 15 or 16. Originally, he was 11 in 2013 and should be at least 19. It is a mess. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

Why in the world would Severide think the smoke box would help Cruz??  He’s having issues with water.   I expected some diving or something with water. 

He was having panic attacks whenever he put on the shield mask, so maybe it's more of a claustrophobic thing than water-specific. 

[MssdDrms]

20 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

He was having panic attacks whenever he put on the shield mask, so maybe it's more of a claustrophobic thing than water-specific. 

Good point.  I’m sure next episode will be like nothing ever happened. 😩

[dovegrey]

5 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Isn't it usually the case on this series where those that are considered the most attractive and relatively young get the best story lines? 

We don't see Mouch and Trudy together much. 

As you said we don't see Cruz with his wife very often.

We don't see Hermann with his wife much either.

I can't remember the last time I saw Boden and his wife together.

What's funny is that the actors who play Cruz, Casey, and Severide are between ages 40-43 and are all at least 10 years older than their respective romantic partners on the show. (I had to Google that LOL.) I can see a show like Fire ignoring the guys in their 50s (Boden, Mouch, Herrmann) but Cruz is right there with Casey and Severide, and none of them are exactly smokeshows. I've never understood why the writers have ignored Cruz and Chloe so much, except I guess Cruz got pushed off into the sitcom storylines and never really got past being considered shallow comic relief.

[MssdDrms]

On 10/8/2021 at 3:11 PM, dovegrey said:

The commercial for next episode made it sound like both boys are going into foster care. And Griffin said he was 6 when Andy died, which was September 2012…that makes him 15 or 16. Originally, he was 11 in 2013 and should be at least 19. It is a mess. 

I wonder if these writer got the boys mixed up.  His younger brother was around 6.  

[MssdDrms]

On 10/8/2021 at 2:19 PM, Crs97 said:

They are setting Casey up to be a great battalion chief; he practically had to order Severide to care about Cruz.

I had assumed Griffen was a young adult, which is why he tries to help with Ben but it isn’t going well.  If he is underage, how did he travel on his own and why is Casey so nonchalant about putting him in an Uber at night?

 

I wonder if them setting Casey up to be BC is also why they re-introduced the paramedics chief too.  Brett wouldn’t report directly to Casey, right?

[FnkyChkn34]

On 10/8/2021 at 12:55 AM, MssdDrms said:

Why in the world would Severide think the smoke box would help Cruz??  He’s having issues with water.   I expected some diving or something with water. 

 

On 10/8/2021 at 2:07 AM, WinJet0819 said:

Writers failing again.

I think he's having issues with claustrophobia in general, and having something covering his face. The smoke box would help at least a little bit, since he'd have to keep his mask on and get used to it again. Remember his two panic attacks didn't have to do with water either, just tight spaces. 

[MssdDrms]

13 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

 

I think he's having issues with claustrophobia in general, and having something covering his face. The smoke box would help at least a little bit, since he'd have to keep his mask on and get used to it again. Remember his two panic attacks didn't have to do with water either, just tight spaces. 

Could be…water was at both scenes too, though,  so maybe both are part of it.  The car had the water from the hose they were using to put the engine fire out.  The second was a well of water below the victim.   We may never know though, cause apparently this smoke box is going to cure it. 😂

[dovegrey]

24 minutes ago, MssdDrms said:

Could be…water was at both scenes too, though,  so maybe both are part of it.  The car had the water from the hose they were using to put the engine fire out.  The second was a well of water below the victim.   We may never know though, cause apparently this smoke box is going to cure it. 😂

Yeah, I thought water was involved in the calls, too. I think Joe Minoso gave an interview that also mentioned it's more about water. In any event, how Severide barged up to Cruz's apartment door, told him to drop everything going on in his life to meet at the Academy, and then repeatedly forced Cruz into the smokebox in order to get his job back while Tony and Capp awkwardly watched, seemed a lot more like a hazing incident than an evidence-based supportive technique. If Cruz had suffered a heart attack in the box, what the hell would Severide have been able to say for himself and his piss poor leadership?

I'm still not over this, so I'll add: I'm really disappointed we probably won't see Cruz go to the CFD counselor that Severide mentioned. This easily could have been a 2-3 episode arc for underutilized Cruz, with one of the now-required silly storylines cut to make time for him. I'd much rather see a firefighter struggle with a near-death accident and possibly losing his job than the three newest characters eating up screentime with a story about beer. The showrunner keeps saying he likes to "shine a light" on real issues, but the light he shines is usually about a rando we never see again (like the random guy getting divorced in season 8, one-off Jerry from ER being suicidal in season 7, and the random firefighter with cancer from season 8 that triggered a change in protocol that we've never seen or heard anything about again). How about a real character gets a real spotlight. I don't even like Cruz, but what a swing and a miss.