S10.E21: Last Chance

[jewel21]

Mouch and Ritter work together to solve a murder mystery. Severide and Cruz tackle a food truck fire. Gallo goes to see Hawkins about Violet.

Airdate: 05/18/2022

[iMonrey]

Not that I'm taking Emma's side or anything, but there's a good reason employers don't want their staff hooking up, especially with their superiors. It's never going to look good and can possibly be taken advantage of. Violet kind of put herself into this position. Maybe don't screw your boss next time, Violet! Maybe don't screw your subordinate next time, Hawkins!

Mouch's CSI subplot was stupid but I sort of got a kick out of it. I don't know why the show doesn't do more with Capp. I know that Tony is there more or less as a seat filler but Capp has had some decent material in the past and has shown he can handle it.

Once again, Severide puts himself in harms way by going above and beyond his job description. It's amazing his Nancy Drew routine hasn't gotten him killed by now. Plot armor is the only thing that prevents it. I expected him to be way more beat up at the end.

Edited May 19, 2022 by iMonrey

[Dowel Jones]

Gallo wants so much to be on Squad that he is taking after Severide and doing investigations on his own, and well outside his job description.  In real life, that rural chief would have escorted him off the station straight away, and phone calls would be made.  CFD Commissioner would get involved, and Deputy Division Chief Boden would be on the carpet explaining what the hell his employees are doing.  Extreme discipline would be in order, especially considering Gallo's past behavior.

Severide is so stupid, and I mean stoopid.  You find a bunch of drugs in the car (illegal search, by the way; evidence not considered), and hangs around the van, waiting for the PD.  Go out to the gate, and separate yourself from the scene.  But no, he gets confronted by bad guy who apparently has recovered from 2nd degree burns in one day.

Mouch is the perfect example of "If you have time to goof off, you have time to clean."  Just buy some new chair legs.

Stella walking through the hospital in turnout pants and, presumably, boots.  Uhh, no.

They made a deal out of showing a photo of Emma and a guy on her locker.  Plot complication coming up?

[FnkyChkn34]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Once again, Severide puts himself in harms way by going above and beyond his job description. It's amazing his Nancy Drew routine hasn't gotten him killed by now. Plot armor is the only thing that prevents it. I expected him to be way more beat up at the end.

Based on comments in the thread for last week's episode, is he really going above and beyond? He's a Lieutenant of a Squad unit. I think he's supposed to be "elite" plus we've seen him have arson skills and training. I missed a bit of last night's show, but I don't think it was out of line for him to inspect the truck again at the junkyard and calling the cops for the drugs was the right thing to do.

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Stella walking through the hospital in turnout pants and, presumably, boots.  Uhh, no.

Why not? They do it all the time. Plus, they were just coming off shift - looked like Mouch just drove the truck straight there with the whole crew before they would have had time to change. They would all want to make sure Severide is okay as soon as they could, not just Stella. 

[Dowel Jones]

1 hour ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Why not? They do it all the time.

On the show, maybe, but in real life turnout pants and boots may be contaminated with who knows what from the a call.  Tracking that through the hospital corridors would be frowned on, to say the least.

 

1 hour ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

but I don't think it was out of line for him to inspect the truck again at the junkyard and calling the cops for the drugs was the right thing to do.

He has the skills, but that's still not his job.  Since he's wearing his uniform, I presume he's on duty, or, if he's off duty, he's presenting himself as on duty.  Both are problematic.  He should have called the arson investigation unit and met them at the impound yard.  I think my comment about illegal search is appropriate here.  Courts have held that, once the search at scene of an incident is completed, LEOs must have a warrant before searching the premises further, which admittedly is frequently ignored on the show.  

[FnkyChkn34]

But Severide is an extension of the arson investigation unit. I think that's my point - he could have called them, but they would have said "hey, we're backed up and you know how to do it, so you do it."  Plus, I thought Boden told him to?  Right or wrong in the real world, this show is fictional, and we've seen time and time again that this is how they operate in their fictional world.  "Fire Cop" is one of Severide's titles now. 

[LittleIggy]

Not enough Boden for me!

Tuesday knew who the culprits were all along. 😆

[MsJamieDornan]

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I don't know why the show doesn't do more with Capp.

Because he is a bad actor.

[mkindyfan]

Am I right in thinking 'Tony' is/was an actual firefighter in Chicago FD? 

[TM101]

Oh look, Firehouse 51 playing PD again!!

And yeah, Stella, you going MIA while in Boston of all places, and not communicating to your fiancé was maybe a problem as if you were overseas in the Peace Corps.. 

[scteel24]

I agree with you iMonrey - and also, the makeup is usually very realistic, but it looked like someone smeared a red marker on Severide. And who tapes ribs with gauze? Usually an ace bandage is used to keep everything tight so it doesn't hurt when you breathe. And why the random pieces of gauze? Was he stabbed? Why would you put that over a bruise? I assume the beating went longer but was cut to commercial for suspense. I understand that his face has to look nice for next week's wedding, but he should have been way more banged up.

Edited May 20, 2022 by scteel24

[AnnA]

I really enjoyed this episode.   While some of the criticism here is on target, it doesn't matter to me.  Chicago Fire is not a documentary.  It's a prime time fictional show for our entertainment and they succeeded.  I was entertained.

[izabella]

5 hours ago, TM101 said:

And yeah, Stella, you going MIA while in Boston of all places, and not communicating to your fiancé was maybe a problem as if you were overseas in the Peace Corps.. 

I can't believe they're getting married next week.  They're so distant and cold and detached from each other.  They should be busy breaking up right now, not getting married.  Kelly wasn't even remotely interested in planning the wedding, not even cake tasting.  If they're trying to sell that Stella is the love of Kelly's life, and vice versa, the writers are way off.  Kelly had more emotional intimacy and chemistry with Shay, and she was a lesbian.

[LittleIggy]

6 hours ago, izabella said:

Kelly had more emotional intimacy and chemistry with Shay, and she was a lesbian.

Kelly had more emotional intimacy and chemistry with Casey!

[FnkyChkn34]

On 5/20/2022 at 9:46 AM, mkindyfan said:

Am I right in thinking 'Tony' is/was an actual firefighter in Chicago FD? 

Yes, he is.  He's not a professional actor.  

[iMonrey]

Quote

But Severide is an extension of the arson investigation unit. 

No. Severide has worked with them in the past, and taken a leave of absence from his regular job to do so. But just being a lieutenant of a squad does not make him a member of the arson investigation unit, unofficially or otherwise.

This particular instance is somewhat hand-waveable, in as much as Severide was just being a nice guy and looking for that dude's truck. But all too often these characters are playing detective, and as it's been often pointed out, the writers seem to be wanting to do a cop show rather than a firefighter show.

[FnkyChkn34]

21 hours ago, iMonrey said:

No. Severide has worked with them in the past, and taken a leave of absence from his regular job to do so. But just being a lieutenant of a squad does not make him a member of the arson investigation unit, unofficially or otherwise.

This particular instance is somewhat hand-waveable, in as much as Severide was just being a nice guy and looking for that dude's truck. But all too often these characters are playing detective, and as it's been often pointed out, the writers seem to be wanting to do a cop show rather than a firefighter show.

We'll have to respectfully agree to disagree.  It all made sense to me perfectly fine.  I don't overthink things on fictional shows; it's not a documentary.  I agree that nothing about being a Lieutenant of Squad makes him a member of arson investigation... except the fact that he's had additional arson investigation training (pretty sure that was mentioned years ago) and has been a member of the arson investigation unit before when they were short-staffed.  It's clear that they trust him to investigate, whether officially authorized to or not.  

[dovegrey]

5 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

We'll have to respectfully agree to disagree.  It all made sense to me perfectly fine.  I don't overthink things on fictional shows; it's not a documentary.  I agree that nothing about being a Lieutenant of Squad makes him a member of arson investigation... except the fact that he's had additional arson investigation training (pretty sure that was mentioned years ago) and has been a member of the arson investigation unit before when they were short-staffed.  It's clear that they trust him to investigate, whether officially authorized to or not.  

When I play pick up basketball games, I know I’m not playing for the NBA, and so we adjust the rules and gameplay to make do. That’s cool and expected. We don’t throw out all of the rules and consistency of the game, because then it’s not the same game, no one knows what’s going on, and it’s simply no longer fun. Chicago Fire is playing different barnyard rules every other week and is rarely consistent with its own in-universe rules and canon. It takes away the fun. Everyone’s expectations and mileage are different and that’s cool. (For me, I miss the old seasons where writers were playing a good game with rules and consistency and I know that’s not coming back.)

Severide’s arson training was being born to Benny. Seriously. I think someone even said that to him once. The only other training he ever went to (that I recall) was remedial officer training after he was demoted. 

[Leeds]

On 5/19/2022 at 8:45 AM, Dowel Jones said:

Stella walking through the hospital in turnout pants and, presumably, boots.  Uhh, no.

I almost posted about Stella last week because I was struck in one scene by how she's become the epitome of arrogance as she struts around with her self-satisfied smarmy smirk and that weird head wobble over-confident TV characters get.

Edited May 24, 2022 by Leeds

[scteel24]

On 5/19/2022 at 8:20 AM, iMonrey said:

Not that I'm taking Emma's side or anything, but there's a good reason employers don't want their staff hooking up, especially with their superiors. It's never going to look good and can possibly be taken advantage of. Violet kind of put herself into this position. Maybe don't screw your boss next time, Violet! Maybe don't screw your subordinate next time, Hawkins!

Mouch's CSI subplot was stupid but I sort of got a kick out of it. I don't know why the show doesn't do more with Capp. I know that Tony is there more or less as a seat filler but Capp has had some decent material in the past and has shown he can handle it.

Once again, Severide puts himself in harms way by going above and beyond his job description. It's amazing his Nancy Drew routine hasn't gotten him killed by now. Plot armor is the only thing that prevents it. I expected him to be way more beat up at the end.

I agree with you iMonrey - and also, the makeup is usually very realistic, but it looked like someone smeared a red marker on Severide. And who tapes ribs with gauze? Usually an ace bandage is used to keep everything tight so it doesn't hurt when you breathe. And why the random pieces of gauze? Was he stabbed? Why would you put that over a bruise? I assume the beating went longer but was cut to commercial for suspense. I understand that his face has to look nice for next week's wedding, but he should have been way more banged up.

(sorry - new to the forum and didn't post the quote I was replying to before)

[NJRadioGuy]

So I'm actually surprised that nobody's yet commented about Mouch's CSI (Couch Scene Investigation). Mouch and Ritter's mostly silent detective work was a perfect send up of one of the most famous scenes from HBO's "The Wire," in which Detectives Jimmy McNulty and Bunk Moreland figure out how a murder occurred in precisely the same fashion, almost beat-for-beat, with basically only one spoken word, used repeatedly, which also happens to rhyme with 'truck.' Even down to Ritter's red licorice vs. Bunk's cigar in the original.

This is the original scene. Very NSFW but to this day, one of the best scenes ever written in any movie or TV show. WELL PLAYED, Chicago Fire!

[WinJet0819]

On 5/19/2022 at 3:46 PM, FnkyChkn34 said:

Based on comments in the thread for last week's episode, is he really going above and beyond? He's a Lieutenant of a Squad unit. I think he's supposed to be "elite" plus we've seen him have arson skills and training. I missed a bit of last night's show, but I don't think it was out of line for him to inspect the truck again at the junkyard and calling the cops for the drugs was the right thing to do.

Why not? They do it all the time. Plus, they were just coming off shift - looked like Mouch just drove the truck straight there with the whole crew before they would have had time to change. They would all want to make sure Severide is okay as soon as they could, not just Stella. 

Yes, he's really going above and beyond the aspects of his job. All he was asked to do was be a nice guy, and find the truck. Not investigate it because he got a weird vibe off of the guy. That's not his job. If he thinks something is off, as it obviously was not arson, then he should call the CPD. Or in his case, call the personal number of Upton.

And as for Stella, she was not off shift. They needed to bring the rig back to the house as second shift was starting. Yes, her fiancée may had been attacked, but he wasn't dead. Boden should have waited until Stella got back and then told her and driven her in his chief buggy. Because now, since Stella's crew drove the Truck to Med, second shift still has no truck to use. And now they have to be out-of-service until the truck gets back because Kelly getting hurt requires everybody high-tail it to the hospital. If somebody else is in trouble, too bad for them, as Kelly Severide getting hurt takes priority.

On 5/20/2022 at 5:08 PM, AnnA said:

I really enjoyed this episode.   While some of the criticism here is on target, it doesn't matter to me.  Chicago Fire is not a documentary.  It's a prime time fictional show for our entertainment and they succeeded.  I was entertained.

It's not a documentary, but it's making a mockery of the CFD. It's not entertaining to see stupid forced relationship drama and stupid storylines. And it's not entertaining that the show gives a bad look to female first responders by constantly needing them to sleep with people they work with and become a Mary Sue where everyone needs to sing their praises.

Edited November 20, 2022 by WinJet0819

[WinJet0819]

This is the third straight episode where Kidd and Severide have had a heavy scene, and the lack of chemistry between the two actors is just glaringly apparent. Miranda Rae Mayo is carrying all the emotion and Taylor Kinney just gives off the vibe that he wants to be anywhere else. I use Nick and Conrad from the Resident as the benchmark for chemistry between two characters. And it's like night and day.

In the case of Severide, while it's a shame he got beat up, I have to say that something like this was bound to happen. Once again, he's going out of his way to do something that is not his job or responsibility. All he needed to do was locate the truck. He had no cause to keep searching simply because he got a weird vibe off the guy. And once he found the drugs, leave and call the cops, or Upton since he somehow has her personal number. He is a firefighter. Not a cop. One Chicago already has a cop show. He should have separated himself from the scene. Instead, now he's made himself a target of some drug traffickers. Nice going.

I kind of feel the same for Violet. Emma is a snake, but Violet put herself in this position. This is why you don't hook up with people you work with, especially a superior. Just look at what has happened with the Boston Celtics' coach. It's a bad look, and it can ruin your credibility. And the superior loses the ability to be objective when dealing with their subordinate and they're now worried about doing stuff to help their subordinate because it might be special treatment.

Mouch's investigation storyline was weird, but oddly enough, I found it to be the most interesting part of the episode.

[Dowel Jones]

7 hours ago, WinJet0819 said:

Because now, since Stella's crew drove the Truck to Med, second shift still has no truck to use.

It's been a hallmark of the show that the other shift is never mentioned.  For instance, 12 people per shift means 12 lockers in the house, but they're never shown.  And where do all these people park?  And so on and so forth.