S12.E01: Barely Gone

[jewel21]

Quote

Firehouse 51 is forced to share space with Firehouse 17. Kidd and Herrmann fight over Ritter. An arson case tests Kidd and Severide's relationship. Firehouse 51 says goodbye to one of its own.

Airdate: 01/17/2024

[anna0852]

This was painful. The whole episode felt so awkward and stilted. It’s like the actors all forgot how to be their characters, and they got writers that are completely unfamiliar with everything. Either that or something seriously went down behind the scenes, and nobody can stand each other anymore. I’m honestly not sure which.

[Kleav]

Why does Severide look different? I can’t put my finger on it. 

[iMonrey]

I wonder if the influx of firefighters from the other station that burned down will be a permanent thing this season. I know the lieutenant from the other station is a new series regular.

They really just sort of yada-yada'd both Severide's absence last season and Mouch's life hanging by a thread. They even pulled a total fake-out with that guy taking down Mouch's name tag from his locker to make it look like he'd died.

There were some pretty gruesome visuals in this episode, between the truck driver burned to a crisp and the guy with half his scalp ripped off.

Looks like we're in for some other newbies to take Sylvie and Gallo's places. 

[Dowel Jones]

Hermann was incredibly stupid to pick up a box with likely explosives in it, especially when it was in an isolated area without any danger to people around it.  And Boden wrestles a guy out of the car (fortunately, as always, he's the real suspect and not someone who panics and runs), despite the fact that the suspect has been trying to kill firefighters and is in a car.  Good thing he stopped when Boden yelled Stop!

I can't imagine the zoo that would result by adding another 4 firefighters and 2 medics on every shift to the already crowded Station 51 (10 people).  If I had a vacant lot I would make a mint charging for parking.

[MsJamieDornan]

23 hours ago, anna0852 said:

This was painful. The whole episode felt so awkward and stilted. It’s like the actors all forgot how to be their characters, and they got writers that are completely unfamiliar with everything. Either that or something seriously went down behind the scenes, and nobody can stand each other anymore. I’m honestly not sure which.

Exactly, something was very off with the episode. 

[anna0852]

12 minutes ago, MsJamieDornan said:

Exactly, something was very off with the episode. 

I have absolutely no proof, but if I was a betting woman, I think something went down behind-the-scenes. They didn’t all just forget how to act because the hiatus was longer than usual.

[MsJamieDornan]

21 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

I think something went down behind-the-scenes. They didn’t all just forget how to act because the hiatus was longer than usual.

I couldnt figure out what it was. Different things went through my mind. New camera people, bad scrip, new show runner or just bad acting?

[FnkyChkn34]

On 1/17/2024 at 11:13 PM, anna0852 said:

This was painful. The whole episode felt so awkward and stilted. It’s like the actors all forgot how to be their characters, and they got writers that are completely unfamiliar with everything. Either that or something seriously went down behind the scenes, and nobody can stand each other anymore. I’m honestly not sure which.

I think it was VERY rushed.  The writing, the acting, the production to get it on air.  This happened the last time that there was a writers' strike, and entire seasons of shows basically just became a wash.  I think NBC wanted new content as fast as possible for viewers and this was the result.  

I'm not surprised that they are also glossing over the extra-long hiatus.  Friday Night Lights comes to mind as a show that really suffered the last time from a strike.  Wrapping up cliffhangers with even worse explanations is not what viewers want to see, but I think that they are just trying to move on and get back to "normal" as fast as possible.

That said, is anyone else besides Sylvie going to leave?  Cruz?  Herrmann?  We could still get some surprises.

On 1/17/2024 at 11:37 PM, Kleav said:

Why does Severide look different? I can’t put my finger on it. 

I think he lost a little bit of weight?  His face looks thinner.  But, all people age and change, so it could be nothing - we just haven't seen him for awhile.

[NJRadioGuy]

The way they were focusing on Hermann at the end makes me think he suffered some injuries-to-be-determined-later during that incident.

Dumb question, but when you roll up on a fully involved vehicle fire where the cargo (not the fuel) is burning that ferociously with oddly-colored smoke, why in the hell weren't the crews fully masked up, at the very least? Roll Hazmat to the scene, have PD close off the overpass and let it burn until personnel are fighting it in a fully safe manner. My first thought was it was transporting Lithium Ion batteries or it was an electric truck whose battery pack was in thermal runaway, very real and extremely hazardous fires that urban departments now face daily; usually from e-bikes stored/charged in apartments but also cars on occasion.

[iMonrey]

2 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I think it was VERY rushed.  The writing, the acting, the production to get it on air.  This happened the last time that there was a writers' strike, and entire seasons of shows basically just became a wash.  I think NBC wanted new content as fast as possible for viewers and this was the result.  

I think that's probably true, although I didn't really notice anything particularly "off" or different about this episode versus last season. The writing for the non-fire and rescue scenes has always been terrible. Also, there IS apparently a new show-runner this season, so that's something.

[NJRadioGuy]

Call me the odd-man-out here, but I always liked Stellaride. Until now. When Van Meter expressed surprise that he gave up an extremely prestigious career at a national level because SWMBO* didn't approve? Nope, nope and more nope. And you could clearly see the resentment in his face in that scene too. Is this setting the stage for Taylor's exit down the road?

I recall that pre-strike they were saying the One Chicago shows had to reduce production costs by a fairly significant amount, and cast members would have limited numbers of episodes, so expect more leaves of absence/training assignments/etc, and fewer complicated rescues, I suspect.

Not gonna lie, I'm going to miss Brett. But it was inevitable after Jesse decided to leave the show.

Glad to see Kylie is thriving as a candidate. In a way I'd have liked to see her get assigned to E51 to keep her on the show, but I guess cast budget issues put paid to that. They could have gotten a lot of mileage out of having her stick around.

Also going to miss Gallo, but he's been more comic relief/Greek Chorus with Cruz than anything else lately. So now we're going to need a new truckee to replace him, and a new paramedic to replace Brett, the downsides being a lot of character development episodes to come, which can really throw off the momentum of a show. Not a good thing when hoping for decent ratings in old/expensive shows.

Still not a fan of Carver, to be honest, and I'd rather they'd lost him than Gallo. Carver always seems to suck the oxygen out of the room in his scenes. Removing oxygen is a good thing in fire chemistry, but not in Chicago Fire chemistry.

*SWMBO: She Who Must Be Obeyed. </rumpole>

[Dowel Jones]

4 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

That said, is anyone else besides Sylvie going to leave?  Cruz?  Herrmann?

I was kind of leaning toward Hermann, just because of the way he was acting throughout the episode.  We'll see.

[FnkyChkn34]

1 hour ago, NJRadioGuy said:

Glad to see Kylie is thriving as a candidate. In a way I'd have liked to see her get assigned to E51 to keep her on the show, but I guess cast budget issues put paid to that. They could have gotten a lot of mileage out of having her stick around.

Also going to miss Gallo, but he's been more comic relief/Greek Chorus with Cruz than anything else lately. So now we're going to need a new truckee to replace him, and a new paramedic to replace Brett, the downsides being a lot of character development episodes to come, which can really throw off the momentum of a show. Not a good thing when hoping for decent ratings in old/expensive shows.

 

*SWMBO: She Who Must Be Obeyed. </rumpole>

Don't we think that SWMBO will get Kylie as the new truckee?  I don't mind if we don't, I thought that Boden's line about her making her own way away from 51 is a good thing, but it just seems to "perfect"... 

[MsJamieDornan]

On 1/17/2024 at 10:37 PM, Kleav said:

Why does Severide look different? I can’t put my finger on it

More gray hair ?

[SilverLake0315]

Already couldn't stand Stella and this ep definitely didn't help. Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll leave. Such an awful character. She's even ruined Severide for me.

[iMonrey]

4 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Don't we think that SWMBO will get Kylie as the new truckee?  I don't mind if we don't, I thought that Boden's line about her making her own way away from 51 is a good thing, but it just seems to "perfect"... 

Yeah it seems odd to have the actress just appear briefly here to remind us who she is and explain where she went if they're not bringing her back. Although they did that with Gallo too so who knows.

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

I was kind of leaning toward Hermann, just because of the way he was acting throughout the episode.  We'll see.

There definitely seemed to be some foreshadowing at the end when Ritter kept asking if he was sure he was all right after the explosion and Herrmann insisted he was fine . . . and then the camera just lingered on him as Ritter walked away. But I really don't see the show getting rid of him or Mouch at this point unless either actor wants to leave. They've all been at death's door at one time or another, so it's more likely just some drama they're cooking up for the character.

[Sake614]

That opening shower scene reminded me more of a daytime soap in its prime than a nighttime drama. I was actually quite surprised (and not at all pleased) that they were as graphic as that. 
 

as others have said,this whole thing seemed rushed. At the end of last season, Gallo’s aunt appeared to have been killed in the crash, Stella went hunting for her husband to drag him back by his collar and Mouch was bleeding out. I wondered if the actor was leaving and was surprised they’d kill him off.  I’m glad to see he’s alive and healthy but not convinced he should be back at CFD. And couldn’t they have at least paid lip service to the cliff hangers at the start of the show? I honestly had no idea what was even going on! 

[iMonrey]

21 hours ago, Sake614 said:

That opening shower scene reminded me more of a daytime soap in its prime than a nighttime drama.

It reminded me of the famous scene in Dallas where Pam finds Bobby in the shower and realizes the entire previous season had been a dream.

[Sake614]

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

It reminded me of the famous scene in Dallas where Pam finds Bobby in the shower and realizes the entire previous season had been a dream.

Yes! I was actually wondering if that’s where they would go. 🤣

[Rapunel]

I agree that the episode was off and a lot of the cliffhangers left over from last season were all just wrapped up with a quick line or two. I know the strikes probably had some effect here, but even so this was pretty bad.

What bugged me the most is how irritated Stella was at Severide for him going on the arson investigation last season and having to bring him back. She went on and on about how it’s been 6 months and they still need to rebuild trust, etc.. This is truly a pot meet kettle thing. She disappeared in Boston and all over the East Coast for Girls on Fire and ghosted Severide for months while they were engaged. He seemed to forgive her almost as soon as she returned and didn’t keep bringing it up. Now he wants to look into the new serial arson case in this episode that is in Chicago where she can still cling to and control him as much as possible and she is actually irritated he is doing it? I wish Severide would remind her of her several months of disappearing on him and on 51 as Bowden couldn’t reach her during the Girls on Fire thing either. She came back from that and expected absolutely no consequences and Severide just took her back without all the lecturing that she is giving him. I so wish they would get rid of her character or at least minimize her role greatly. At least put her in a training/recruiting position as GOF was supposedly so successful and that they have her only show up a few times a season if they have to keep her.