S13.E09: A Favor

[DanaK]

Quote

01/08/2025 (09:00PM - 10:00PM) (Wednesday) : Cruz's past comes back to haunt him. Severide prepares to teach an arson class at the academy. Mouch searches for a victim's next of kin.

 

[FnkyChkn34]

What does Cruz think he's going to do to get out of this one?  He's an idiot.

Also, why is Damon back?  I understand that they left that storyline pretty unresolved, but I was going to look past it because I don't care about him anymore.  I guess they should revisit how Severide really feels about having a brother - and who his mom is.  Maybe I do actually want to know how Severide didn't know about him.  

Congrats to Herrmann and Mouch.  I suppose we knew it would happen, but I don't see yet where they are going to go.  Herrmann can be a Captain and Lt. at the same time like Casey was, but Mouch doesn't have a place.  Severide can go to OFI, but that doesn't leave an opening for Mouch.  Kidd or Herrmann can't run Squad either.  I guess we'll see!

No preview for next week?

[CoyoteBlue]

56 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

What does Cruz think he's going to do to get out of this one?  He's an idiot.

Jesus, he's a dumbass and the bad guy is playing him like a fiddle. Just call Voight and have the bad guy taken for a walk. Or learn not to telegraph every goddamn feeling and thought you have on your face and in your body language 24/7. If anyone in the firehouse was observant, they'd be groaning and wondering what shit Cruz got himself into this time.

So he has a GSW that he can't get treated anywhere without a police investigation and there's a dead body (connected to an ongoing internal investigation against Cruz regarding a fire where Cruz's mortal enemy died) with CFD gear on found at a robbery attempt. Yeah, this'll go well.

[iMonrey]

How did this skeevy looking gang member get into the fire station and plant that bullet thing inside Cruz's locker? What kind of lame security does this station have? And why wasn't Cruz's locker, you know, locked?

14 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

What does Cruz think he's going to do to get out of this one?  He's an idiot.

I won't dispute the idiot part but it seemed to me his Junior problem was taken care of. If he can get the spare uniform off the body and get out of there he's home free. 

[FnkyChkn34]

8 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

How did this skeevy looking gang member get into the fire station and plant that bullet thing inside Cruz's locker? What kind of lame security does this station have? And why wasn't Cruz's locker, you know, locked?

I won't dispute the idiot part but it seemed to me his Junior problem was taken care of. If he can get the spare uniform off the body and get out of there he's home free. 

How did he get in?  He walked straight through the huge plot hole.  Happens all the time. 😉

He also needs to heal his bullet wound.  But other than all of those things, yep - easy peasy.  

[Dowel Jones]

I'll give props to Mouch for that obit (or at least someone on the writing staff).  Short but evocative.  

Hermann could be a Captain with a Lieutenant driving and two firefighters in the back.  In fact, that's known as traditional staffing.  The Lt. is the pump/ladder operator and that's all he does.

I'm not sure where they're going with the BC getting up about Severide being borrowed for the fire academy, but he does have a legit issue with it (I mean the notification at least).  Or maybe they just wanted to introduce another character.

I was yelling at Cruz to grab the CFD gear before he ran out, but no, he didn't.  And my bet is that there's someone back at the house with Chloe and the kids.  This is going to get worse before it gets better.  The BC better put out the Boden light (something akin to the Batsignal) and get the boss man in there to handle it.

[KeithJ]

This whole Junior storyline was pointless.  Do the writers really expect people to remember a story from 10+ years ago?  I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night.

[NJRadioGuy]

12 hours ago, KeithJ said:

This whole Junior storyline was pointless.  Do the writers really expect people to remember a story from 10+ years ago?  I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night.

Oh, I remember it very well, and I usually don't remember much about past episodes. A fireman deliberately letting a guy get burned up in a fire is one of the most horrifying things I can think of, and I never forgave Cruz for that. Of course he'll probably come out OK from this since he's a star in the show, but honestly he will always have what amounts to a murder on his hands, and "just" getting shot in the shoulder isn't anywhere near a fair price to pay. Personally I think they should have killed his character off instead of Otis a few years ago, for exactly this reason.

How they're going to resolve this will be interesting, but in the end we know it'll be whitewashed. Frankly Cruz should have just let the investigation play out. The brass wouldn't take the word of a skel ex-con looking for a payday over a decorated member of an elite unit unless he had video of it happening. A simple "he's lying, I didn't see anybody in there" is all he would have needed to say, especially with it being 10 years ago.

I didn't have a problem with Pascal tearing Van Meter a new one for not checking with him first, but a quick mea culpa and a handshake is all that's needed to put that in the rearview mirror since it's obvious Kelly will always be part of OFI one way or the other, and is a hell of an asset in that regard.

[FnkyChkn34]

12 hours ago, KeithJ said:

This whole Junior storyline was pointless.  Do the writers really expect people to remember a story from 10+ years ago?  I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night.

I remember it too, but I also catch re-runs on cable when I work from home.

Casey is partially to blame as well, since he told Cruz to think on it and either they go to the cops together or Cruz never mention it again.  Cruz chose the "never mention it again" path 10 years ago, obviously, but it was like he had his Lieutenant's blessing.  It was all very odd then, and still is now.

I agree that he should have gone to the cops now.  "This guy is trying to blackmail me for something that didn't happen."  Who does Voight believe/protect?  Easy.  

[anna0852]

10 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I agree that he should have gone to the cops now.  "This guy is trying to blackmail me for something that didn't happen."  Who does Voight believe/protect?  Easy.  

Absolutely! Plus, if we’re gonna go down the road of following up on old plot lines, then the writers ought to remember that Voight owes Joe a favor for some undercover work a couple of seasons ago.

26 minutes ago, NJRadioGuy said:

I didn't have a problem with Pascal tearing Van Meter a new one for not checking with him first, but a quick mea culpa and a handshake is all that's needed to put that in the rearview mirror since it's obvious Kelly will always be part of OFI one way or the other, and is a hell of an asset in that regard.

Did none of the CFD brass brief Pascal about the house that he was taking over? Like no one sat him down and said “The squad Lieutenant moonlights for OFI and teaches at the Academy. This has our blessing and we are very satisfied with the job he is doing. We do not consider the extra duties to be an element that requires correction.”

[Dowel Jones]

The issue to me was that Van Meter told Severide to report to the Academy the next day for classes.  An arranged detail would be fine, but you don't snag an officer on short notice like that without clearing it with the company officer first.  Pascal might have had plans too.  And it should have been on Severide to say, "Sure, I'd love to go.  Let me check with the BC first."

[NJRadioGuy]

37 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

The issue to me was that Van Meter told Severide to report to the Academy the next day for classes.  An arranged detail would be fine, but you don't snag an officer on short notice like that without clearing it with the company officer first.  Pascal might have had plans too.  And it should have been on Severide to say, "Sure, I'd love to go.  Let me check with the BC first."

Well except that Severide is the company officer for R3, is he not? Whether or not he'd have to clear it with the BC, or if the rig had a higher-ranking officer on another shift is a different matter. Would it not be on him to schedule a replacement tout suite once he learned of the teaching assignment? But in TV Land, yeah, he should have gone to Pascal first. Plus the fact that Van Meter is a Captain, but Pascal is a Battalion Chief, so yeah, VM dropped the ball.

[FnkyChkn34]

Severide didn't have to leave shift to teach the class.  All throughout the show, they've emphasized that their shift is 8am-8am.  If Van Meter was coming by during the day while Sev was on shift, that means that he'd be off shift by the time Van Meter wanted him to teach the class the next day.  Considering all of the CFD works on this schedule (First, Second, and Third Shifts, all 8am-8am) then I think it's fair to assume that the class would be scheduled around someone who works a Second Shift.  Looks like it's taught on a Third Shift day, so I would also assume that First and Second Shifters are the ones taking the class.

Is this a dumb assumption?  Seems easy enough.

[anna0852]

39 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Severide didn't have to leave shift to teach the class.  All throughout the show, they've emphasized that their shift is 8am-8am.  If Van Meter was coming by during the day while Sev was on shift, that means that he'd be off shift by the time Van Meter wanted him to teach the class the next day.  Considering all of the CFD works on this schedule (First, Second, and Third Shifts, all 8am-8am) then I think it's fair to assume that the class would be scheduled around someone who works a Second Shift.  Looks like it's taught on a Third Shift day, so I would also assume that First and Second Shifters are the ones taking the class.

Is this a dumb assumption?  Seems easy enough.

No, you’re right. Which makes Pascal’s power trip even dumber. Unless Severide is somehow breaking an overtime rule (at which point Pascal can say ‘knock it off, you’re messing with the budget’) what he does on his time off is his business. Is Pascal going to start getting upset with Stella for working shifts at Molly‘s? Can Carver still run his construction gigs?

[Dowel Jones]

8 hours ago, NJRadioGuy said:

Well except that Severide is the company officer for R3, is he not?

Correct; I should have said chief officer to reference Pascal.  

[iMonrey]

On 1/10/2025 at 11:13 AM, NJRadioGuy said:

Of course he'll probably come out OK from this since he's a star in the show,

I'm not so sure. They seem to be writing off main characters lately to trim the budget. It wouldn't shock me to see Cruz go next.

[NJRadioGuy]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm not so sure. They seem to be writing off main characters lately to trim the budget. It wouldn't shock me to see Cruz go next.

I certainly wouldn't object, although I do like his family. Unless they're going into another hiatus, Cruz will be out anyways pending investigation and letting his arm heal up, so perhaps they'll find another (less expensive) actor to temporarily join Squad that fits well in the ensemble and could become a regular if they make a change.

Joe Miñoso plays the part brilliantly and I really like his work, but his character has got to pay a sufficiently high price for his actions.