S12.E13: Never Say Goodbye

[DanaK]

Quote

05/22/2024 (09:00PM - 10:00PM) (Wednesday) : Boden makes a decision that impacts the race for Deputy Commissioner. A tense call brings up painful memories for Carver and Damon. Mouch struggles to adjust to the new Truck.

Season finale

[anna0852]

Ok, I was wrong. Not an unknown kid.

[Kleav]

Severide’s face!

[FnkyChkn34]

I knew that's how Boden would "leave" and DC Hill returning... 😉

This episode was good, but none of the twists were very shocking. It was obvious that Damon was related to Severide somehow, but did we know that Benny was abusive? I guess Kelly has alluded to it but never truly said it?

Where was Carver at the end, in his car? I didn't catch that. I'll probably watch it again anyway, see if there is anything else that I missed. 

So next year, we get Chief Herrmann and Lieutenant... Mouch? Will he really still go by Mouch as an officer?  And I know Severide hates paperwork and whatnot, but to be skipped over for a promotion seems harsh. He should at least make Captain by now. 

Stella looked thrilled to have a baby...

[mommalib]

I'm gonna miss Boden he was the heart and soul the show. He was the reason 51 is what it is. His shoes can't be filled so they shouldn't even try. His presence loomed too large, but I guess Herman is a respectable replacement. 

I knew that guy was related to Severide somehow so i'm not surprised. 

[anna0852]

7 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

.. 😉

Stella looked thrilled to have a baby...

I was actually expecting that Stella was going to be revealed as pregnant. The kid conversation did seem to catch her very offguard, which means drama in the fall. At least this year we don’t have an actors strike, keeping it off air until next February. I do appreciate Kelly immediately acknowledging that the family decision will have a much more immediate impact on her than it will on him. She who gets pregnant will be off the job for at least a year. 

[FnkyChkn34]

9 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

I was actually expecting that Stella was going to be revealed as pregnant. The kid conversation did seem to catch her very offguard, which means drama in the fall. At least this year we don’t have an actors strike, keeping it off air until next February. I do appreciate Kelly immediately acknowledging that the family decision will have a much more immediate impact on her than it will on him. She who gets pregnant will be off the job for at least a year. 

Dawson went to OFI, and some people have said that they'd probably let her be a paramedic too. So she has options... but neither are what she really wants. 

[Dowel Jones]

I wish I hadn't spent all that time in my agency, when I could have joined CFD and made Battalion Chief without being a Captain, or being a Paramedic Battalion Chief and bypassing District Chief completely to become Deputy Commissioner.

Then again, the supervision on this show is in its own world.  Stella, there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't have met with DDC Boden immediately on return to detail out what happened.  Get that monkey off your back and let someone else make the decision, because you don't have the moxie to go up in front of a public hearing and tell them "I run my crew the way I want, and I handle the problems."  And don't think that management wouldn't yank Boden's promotion if they found out his personnel were hiding a serious incident like that.

 

[CoyoteBlue]

Huh, Hermann. I really thought Casey would come back to replace Boden when that happened. As long as they keep Hermann's Big Boy pants on, I can live with it. When he's on his game that way, he's great, but when he was comic relief in the early days, this move would be a cringe idea.

See, Casey I could have seen as the house captain, but Severide is kind of a hard-nosed asshat when it comes to people skills and Stella is too moody? dramatic? in her head? when it comes to personnel issues. I'm at least willing to see where they go with Hermann.

[Artsda]

Unknown brother I thought it was going to be an unknown kid.  Especially when he brought up wanting one. 

 

[Ohiopirate02]

When Boden and "evil" paramedic chief were eyeing each other in the hallway at HQ, I was getting some Brooklyn 99 flashbacks to Holt and Wunch.  I wish Boden would have busted out some of Holt's insults to make this predictable plot more entertaining.  Or actually see how said evil paramedic chief was going to run CFD into the ground besides her not taking Violet's entitlement and disrespect.  Unless I missed a scene in the last few episodes that proved our heroes right, that's always a possibility.  

[anna0852]

If Damon really is Severide’s half brother does that mean we might see his sister Katie again?

[preeya]

"His name was Benny Severide"

I called it.

[FnkyChkn34]

35 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

If Damon really is Severide’s half brother does that mean we might see his sister Katie again?

I think if he were Katie's brother, he wouldn't be a secret. I could see her coming back just to meet him and help Kelly with the fall-out though. 

7 minutes ago, preeya said:

"His name was Benny Severide"

I called it.

I also want to know if he's Benny's biological son or a step-son. I figured he is an unknown Severide kid, either Benny's or Kelly's, but it sounds like he definitely knew Benny so that can't be true. And I'd think that Kelly was in touch with Benny enough that he'd know of a kid that Benny knew, especially after Katie being a surprise.

Rewriting the history of the show, it seems....

[anna0852]

I don’t think they’re rewriting show history. Benny was always a highly competent firefighter while being a wildly flaky parent and a serial cheater of a spouse. He’s walked out on a least one wife/set of stepkids and rarely saw Katie. He was presented as a more present parent to Kelly but there’s also been vague references to what I wouldn’t call outright physical abuse but definite emotional neglect and some hitting. Overall, Benny was a good firefighter and a crap person. Kelly has very mixed feelings about his father although he does seem to think more fondly of him since his death.
 

I would absolutely think it’s plausible that Damon is a previously unknown half sibling that neither Kelly nor Katie was aware of. Or he might be one of the step kids that Benny walked out on years ago. I did note he does not have the last name of ‘Severide’.

Edited May 23 by anna0852

[DonnaMae]

On 5/22/2024 at 11:28 PM, CoyoteBlue said:

Huh, Hermann. I really thought Casey would come back to replace Boden when that happened.

Wasn't it the actor's decision to leave the show?  He probably wanted to work in Australia, his home country.

[Jesserules2]

4 minutes ago, DonnaMae said:

Wasn't it the actor's decision to leave the show?  He probably wanted to work in Australia, his home country.

Yes, Jesse decided to leave the show. As of right now, Jesse lives in Boston with his wife and new child.

[DonnaMae]

58 minutes ago, Jesserules2 said:

Yes, Jesse decided to leave the show. As of right now, Jesse lives in Boston with his wife and new child.

Oh, so he didn't go back to Australia.  I wonder if he's working in theater.

[FnkyChkn34]

23 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I would absolutely think it’s plausible that Damon is a previously unknown half sibling that neither Kelly nor Katie was aware of. Or he might be one of the step kids that Benny walked out on years ago. I did note he does not have the last name of ‘Severide’.

From what we know just by the two or three sentences Damon said, being completely unknown to Benny (or Kelly) doesn't make sense to me.  My reason is because Damon said Benny was in his life enough to be abusive to him, and Kelly was in Benny's life enough to know if he had a kid that Benny knew about.  IIRC, Katie's story was that her mom left Benny and Benny didn't know about her until she was an adult, so therefore Kelly didn't know.  (She had those teenage stepsisters who were not Benny's kids.)  Damon being one of the stepsons does make more sense, but Kelly knew about the stepsons even if he never met them.  Wouldn't Kelly know their names?  Maybe Damon changed it... 

I'm curious how the writers have thought this one out.  So, we shall see!

[iMonrey]

The entire saga of Evil Chief Robinson ("She's coming for you!!!!") was just an overly contrived and silly plot device to service Eamonn Walker's exit from the show. Did the actor want to leave or is this a cost cutting measure? Anyone know?

To this day, I don't know why the real Chicago Fire Department doesn't sue this show for slander. Every higher up, every mucky-muck, every bigwig at HQ always turns out to be some giant asshole or corrupt crook. When Robinson was bragging that she had the support and backing of every department head, all I could do is wonder why when she is so cartoonishly evil. And we never did find out what, exactly, she had against Boden's station. The whole thing was just so dumb. 

I'm glad we found out who Damon is but the fistfight at the restaurant was dumb too. When the dad threatened to call the cops, Stella should have just laughed in his face and said "who do you think they're going to believe, you or us?"

Speaking of St. Stella, she once again comes to the rescue by convincing the district chief to give Boden the job. Honestly, Stella is long overdue to be knocked down a peg or two, I'm so tired of the way this show seems determined to deify her. 

[anna0852]

4 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

From what we know just by the two or three sentences Damon said, being completely unknown to Benny (or Kelly) doesn't make sense to me.  My reason is because Damon said Benny was in his life enough to be abusive to him, and Kelly was in Benny's life enough to know if he had a kid that Benny knew about.  IIRC, Katie's story was that her mom left Benny and Benny didn't know about her until she was an adult, so therefore Kelly didn't know.  (She had those teenage stepsisters who were not Benny's kids.)  Damon being one of the stepsons does make more sense, but Kelly knew about the stepsons even if he never met them.  Wouldn't Kelly know their names?  Maybe Damon changed it... 

I'm curious how the writers have thought this one out.  So, we shall see!

I gotta go back and watch season two again. I could have sworn Katie referred to Benny coming around a few times when was a kid.

My impression was that Benny was present when Kelly was young but the marriage broke up during his teen years and Benny got a lot flakier during that time. Given the age difference between Damon and Severide (roughly 15 years by my estimate) I can believe that Benny was somewhat present for a kid/stepkid that Kelly was unaware of.

[Jesserules2]

6 hours ago, DonnaMae said:

Oh, so he didn't go back to Australia.  I wonder if he's working in theater.

When he left he did a Disney Plus mini-series. Australia's Disney Plus but don't know anything else he their. One of the Celebies magazines did a article about his wife that's how I found he lives in Boston where she works.  

[FnkyChkn34]

20 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I gotta go back and watch season two again. I could have sworn Katie referred to Benny coming around a few times when was a kid.

My impression was that Benny was present when Kelly was young but the marriage broke up during his teen years and Benny got a lot flakier during that time. Given the age difference between Damon and Severide (roughly 15 years by my estimate) I can believe that Benny was somewhat present for a kid/stepkid that Kelly was unaware of.

I'm probably overthinking it, but it is a pet peeve of mine.  Even if it's not "rewriting" the show's history, it's tweaking it in ways that may not always make the most sense...  Hopefully the writers have thought about that and it's addressed next season. 😉

Edit to add:  FWIW, here's Katie's description from the Chicago Fire Wiki:  

"She only met her father Benny Severide when she was ten. Benny would send presents to her every year, something she appreciated. He promised that he was going to be in her life from then on but she didn't see him again until she was 21."

Maybe Benny equally neglected Damon, and that's the behavior he was talking about.  That would make some sense, I think.  

Edited May 25 by FnkyChkn34

[iMonrey]

24 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Maybe Benny equally neglected Damon, and that's the behavior he was talking about.  That would make some sense, I think.  

But Damon didn't say Benny neglected him. He said his father was like the restaurant owner, who was physically abusive. That's very different. And I don't remember Severide ever saying his father was physically abusive either. Benny was a deadbeat dad but nobody ever claimed he was abusive. This really does smack of history retcon. Unless Damon is lying. Which he might be.

[FnkyChkn34]

On 5/25/2024 at 12:41 PM, iMonrey said:

But Damon didn't say Benny neglected him. He said his father was like the restaurant owner, who was physically abusive. That's very different. And I don't remember Severide ever saying his father was physically abusive either. Benny was a deadbeat dad but nobody ever claimed he was abusive. This really does smack of history retcon. Unless Damon is lying. Which he might be.

Right.  This is exactly my point too - and why I say that they are rewriting the show's history if we're correct and this is the way that they go.  My other comment was an alternative scenario, but I don't think it's what Damon meant either.  We agree 100%.

[threebluestars]

Am I the only person that has been waiting since she was introduced for Kylie to be killed in a fire? I constantly feel like that is the endgame.

[FnkyChkn34]

On 5/24/2024 at 11:53 AM, iMonrey said:

Speaking of St. Stella, she once again comes to the rescue by convincing the district chief to give Boden the job. Honestly, Stella is long overdue to be knocked down a peg or two, I'm so tired of the way this show seems determined to deify her. 

Former-DC Hill no longer works at the CFD. She moved to Oakland, and they made a point to put her in a uniform that reminded us. DC Hill took it upon herself to come back to Chicago to campaign for Boden. 

I don't really understand all the Stella hate all the time. She's by no means perfect, but I just remember Gabby and then realize that Stella isn't so bad. She took over Casey's Truck and Casey's role as "second hero" and no one ever said that St. Casey needed to be knocked down... 

[anna0852]

18 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I don't really understand all the Stella hate all the time. She's by no means perfect, but I just remember Gabby and then realize that Stella isn't so bad. She took over Casey's Truck and Casey's role as "second hero" and no one ever said that St. Casey needed to be knocked down... 

Thank you! I don’t get it either.

[Archangel]

On 5/24/2024 at 8:53 AM, iMonrey said:

On 5/24/2024 at 8:53 AM, iMonrey said:

To this day, I don't know why the real Chicago Fire Department doesn't sue this show for slander. Every higher up, every mucky-muck, every bigwig at HQ always turns out to be some giant asshole or corrupt crook. When Robinson was bragging that she had the support and backing of every department head, all I could do is wonder why when she is so cartoonishly evil. And we never did find out what, exactly, she had against Boden's station. The whole thing was just so dumb. 

 

Thats because that is how EMS is with the higher ups…I have been on both sides having been a field EMT and have spent the last 3 decades as an ER/trauma RN and I have a son who is a fire fighter and a husband who is a retired EMT/fire fighter….some higher ups are really good but there are a number that aren’t and have gotten there because they have literally kissed the ass of other higher ups to get where they are…..some of the females in higher up positions in EMS I wouldn’t trust as far as I could throw plus their “I’m better and know it all attitude” just plain sucks….I’ve had to toss a couple out of our ER when they tried to tell us how to do our jobs…