S03.E16: Red Rag The Bull

[WendyCR72]

Chief Pridgen comes under fire after making a tactical error during an apartment fire for which he throws Lt. Casey under the bus, leading Lt. Severide to take it upon himself to clear the problem. In an effort to further cover himself from any wrongdoing, Pridgen enlists the help of Lt. Welch, who is faced with the choice of whether to fit in with the firehouse or follow his superiors self-serving orders. Elsewhere, Mouch is floored upon learning that his donation to a fertility clinic has resulted in a child who, now a young adult, wants to meet him. Meanwhile, Brett and a reluctant Cruz take Dawson out on a double date and Boden focuses his efforts on his duties at home as a father.

[ChicksDigScars]

Okay, I fell asleep during the commercial break after the shooting. What happened? LOL

[Watermelon]

I'm not done watching. Just how the fuck is Mills supposed to go to squad when he moved to the ambulance specifically because his vertigo or whatever stopped him from being on the fire truck?

[betsyboo]

Okay, I fell asleep during the commercial break after the shooting. What happened? LOL

Welch and Casey had a Head Nod Moment wherein Welch silently thanks Casey for knocking him down. Then later Welch refuses to back Chief Douchebag re: what actually happened at the fire with the decision to send Casey's team to help the girl/uncle. Interim Chief gets booted; Boden is back next shift. Casey/Severide bromance, etc. etc. Mouch goes to meet kid; chickens out once he sees kid in front of diner and drives away.

 

Mouch just about broke my heart.

 

Since Truck 81 was cleared of all negligence charges, does that mean Chief Pridgen is personally liable? Since he made the "tactical decision" to send Casey to other emergency?

 

Oh, yes, and as Watermelon so eloquently describes above, Mills is trying to get medical clearance to get back on Squad.  Since this is CF and Casey is peachy fresh as a daisy with a bruised noggin, I'm sure Mills will be cleared. However, does that mean Welch gets moved? or, because he has seniority, Mills would have to go to another house?

 

(I didn't like that Brett was somewhat bitchy with Mills about trying to get back on squad. It's not like he's been hiding his feelings on that.)

[WendyCR72]

I'm not done watching. Just how the fuck is Mills supposed to go to squad when he moved to the ambulance specifically because his vertigo or whatever stopped him from being on the fire truck?

 

Easy. Poof! Gone. Just like Casey's head trauma issues. The air in Chicago must have mega-healing properties.

[Watermelon]

Easy. Poof! Gone. Just like Casey's head trauma issues. The air in Chicago must have mega-healing properties.

They want to integrate Chicago MD so bad. Film a damn crossover that says Mills passed the diagnostic test and he's cleared for work.

Just not mentioning it, like it wasn't the whole reason why he's a paramedic now is dumb.

[MaryHedwig]

(I didn't like that Brett was somewhat bitchy with Mills about trying to get back on squad. It's not like he's been hiding his feelings on that.)

I was not impressed with Brett on all counts this episode.  She was pushing Dawson way too hard for that double date and for the night on the town afterwards.  She also pushed Cruz unfairly by telling him she would take out Otis if Cruz would not go.  And what was with Otis saying yes to that double date? Bros before women, Otis.  Further, what was Brett thinking when she set up the hospital admin guy with Dawson? He was clearly not Dawson's type, dreamy blue eyes be damned.

 

I love how Welch ended up being a mensch in the end.

 

It is too bad that Mouch didn't take Trudy with him to meet his son, I believe the ending would have been quite different.  I hate now that he had a secret from Trudy that could undermine their relationship.

Edited March 4, 2015 by MaryHedwig

[Ailianna]

I was so grateful they addressed the issue of why they didn't just ask the girl what she told the firefighters. The whole time they were going through the rigmarole of Severide v. the new chief, I was thinking that all they had to do was ask the girl. I don't know that I totally buy they really dug for her and couldn't find her, but at least they somewhat plausibly covered it. I'm also glad Casey was very practical about it--why not just as the girl what she said. Restored my faith in both his and Severide's intelligence to have that conversation!

[Calamity Jane]

I was so grateful they addressed the issue of why they didn't just ask the girl what she told the firefighters. The whole time they were going through the rigmarole of Severide v. the new chief, I was thinking that all they had to do was ask the girl. I don't know that I totally buy they really dug for her and couldn't find her, but at least they somewhat plausibly covered it. I'm also glad Casey was very practical about it--why not just as the girl what she said. Restored my faith in both his and Severide's intelligence to have that conversation!

I was screaming at the TV over and over, "Ask the girl!"  I also thought more of the others had heard what the girl said, so I was a little mystified from the get-go how Pridgen (really?) got away with lying.

[MaryHedwig]

I was thinking that all they had to do was ask the girl. I don't know that I totally buy they really dug for her and couldn't find her, but at least they somewhat plausibly covered it.

Wouldn't the uncle have had to sign a refusal of treatment form?  I certainly had to when the firefighters were first on the scene of my fender bender.  Also, couldn't they have asked Chicago PD to track her down?  What, they passed over an excuse for a crossover?

Edited March 8, 2015 by MaryHedwig

[iluvobx]

I gave it up when the Capt had his "talk" with Severide about the stories being different.  I so do miss what this show used to be.  I do not like the constant crossovers, all the Gabby crap.  Most of all, I miss Shay.

If I wanted to watch a badly written "soap opera", I would watch them during the day.

So long to what used to be a good show.

[Calamity Jane]

Well, at least the Gabby show was a back-burner plot this time.  So do not care what happens to her.  She makes me think thoughts I don't like to think, such as when my daughter yells, "Die in a fire!" at drivers who cut her off.  

[iMonrey]

The storylines on Chicago Fire are like the weather in the midwest: If you don't like it, wait fifteen minutes. I knew Pridgen would probably be gone within two episodes and I was right. Not that I wanted to see this dragged out for an entire season, but wow, talk about whiplash. There's got to be something in between. And Matthew Del Negro is pretty easy on the eyes no matter what kind of asshole he's playing, so that's too bad.

 

The Mouch thing is idiotic. I appreciate them trying to come up with some kind of storyline for him, but does every freaking storyline have to be about having kids FFS? And this "sperm donor" trope is so trite and unrealistic. Why would Mouch have sold his sperm and what fertility clinic would want it anyway? In the first place, contrary to TV tropes, you don't make a whole lot of money doing that, and in the second place, fertility clinics want donors with higher education degrees. I think it's unlikely Mouch ever went to college, and if he did I want to know how he ended up as a fireman.

 

The dude Sylvie set Gabby up with was a total geek. Did she really think she'd be into that, after Casey?

 

Bright side, both the fire rescue and the skate rink scenes were well done. I yelled pretty loud when they showed that guy with the skate blade planted in his skull. Ouch. The guy jumping out the window was pretty cool too - too bad they spoiled that all week long in the promo spots.

[miracole]

Loved Mills telling Brett that as soon as he's cleared he's going to ditch her.  Thank goodness Casey saved Pensacola: Wings of gold dudes life otherwise I guess he totally would have signed  that statement  and Casey would have been finished dun dun dun... I like TK but I'm sorry, his stares of intimidation or fierceness or contemplation, whatever they are, always look to me like he's thinking "I like turtles". 

[Calamity Jane]

 

Bright side, both the fire rescue and the skate rink scenes were well done. I yelled pretty loud when they showed that guy with the skate blade planted in his skull. Ouch. The guy jumping out the window was pretty cool too - too bad they spoiled that all week long in the promo spots.

My husband was a speed skater, and in one short-track (indoor) race, there was a pile-up and he came frighteningly close to this scenario.  Instead of embedding in his head, though, the other skater's blade gouged his face to the cheekbone.  At the speeds those guys go, on a turn, with a big mass of muscular skaters smashing into the barrier and each other,  it's a wonder it wasn't worse.  He did get a punctured lung and broken ribs another time.  

 

Anyway, agreed, these are the scenes I watch the show for.  Everything else pretty much bores me, except for anything with Herrmann - Steve Brady! -  who is always welcome, and the Mouch/Trudy scenes.  She totally knows Mouch blew off the meeting with the kid, by the way.  

[ChicksDigScars]

My husband was a speed skater, and in one short-track (indoor) race, there was a pile-up and he came frighteningly close to this scenario.  Instead of embedding in his head, though, the other skater's blade gouged his face to the cheekbone.  At the speeds those guys go, on a turn, with a big mass of muscular skaters smashing into the barrier and each other,  it's a wonder it wasn't worse.  He did get a punctured lung and broken ribs another time.

 

Pairs figure skating, too. There was a Russian pair a few years back who had a "blade to the head" mishap.  

 

Now you're thinking of the Iron Lotus, aren't you? (Blade of Glory!)

 

I think what I do like about this show IS the fact that it's filmed in Chicago locations. I've been there enough to recognize locations and appreciate that it's not on a sound stage in Hollywood. The snow and temps are legit.  

[Brookside]

My husband was a speed skater, and in one short-track (indoor) race, there was a pile-up and he came frighteningly close to this scenario.  Instead of embedding in his head, though, the other skater's blade gouged his face to the cheekbone.  At the speeds those guys go, on a turn, with a big mass of muscular skaters smashing into the barrier and each other,  it's a wonder it wasn't worse.  He did get a punctured lung and broken ribs another time.  

 

Anyway, agreed, these are the scenes I watch the show for.  Everything else pretty much bores me, except for anything with Herrmann - Steve Brady! -  who is always welcome, and the Mouch/Trudy scenes.  She totally knows Mouch blew off the meeting with the kid, by the way.  

 

Absolutely Trudy knows Mouch blew off the meeting -  that look of hers at the end said it all.

[Dowel Jones]

Since Truck 81 was cleared of all negligence charges, does that mean Chief Pridgen is personally liable?

 

Even if the T81 crew bore some responsibility, the final authority rests with the Incident Commander, in this case Pridgen.  He made a bad call, splitting his forces for one thing (that should have been an ambo call), and not securing the scene.  It was ultimately his fault that the guy was able to get back into the building, but it might devolve down to the personnel assigned to keep people out, if in fact that had been done.  As for personal liablility, quite possible.  Some years ago in Colorado two federal wildland firefighters died on the fireline because of a breakdown in communications, among other things.  The IC on the fire was terminated from employment and the DOJ investigated with the idea of charging him with negligent homicide.

 

Back to the story:  Does Molly's ever make any money, what with all the rounds of free drinks that get offered up?  And, what I want to know, just offhand, is how the squad and the truck, dispatched to the same incident and leaving from the same house, always end up approaching from different directions.

Too bad the BC arc disappeared so fast.  If they wanted to do a real soapie, his ex could have slept her way through the 51 staff and caused all kinds of rumble.

 

Methinks the donor teen story is not going to go away.  That's okay, though.  Gabby will step in and act as mediator and confidant to everyone, and thereby save the day.

[Kel Varnsen]

It is too bad that Mouch didn't take Trudy with him to meet his son, I believe the ending would have been quite different.  I hate now that he had a secret from Trudy that could undermine their relationship.

 

Like was mentioned above, I am pretty sure that Trudy figured it out right away. I mean on CPD she has always been presented as an excellent cop. She should be able to figure out pretty fast that her boyfriend is lying to her.

 

The Mouch thing is idiotic. I appreciate them trying to come up with some kind of storyline for him, but does every freaking storyline have to be about having kids FFS? And this "sperm donor" trope is so trite and unrealistic. Why would Mouch have sold his sperm and what fertility clinic would want it anyway? In the first place, contrary to TV tropes, you don't make a whole lot of money doing that, and in the second place, fertility clinics want donors with higher education degrees. I think it's unlikely Mouch ever went to college, and if he did I want to know how he ended up as a fireman.

Not only that but that kid looked to be around 15-16 years old at least. I know nothing about how these types of clinics work, but would they really keep digital copies of their records for that long? You figure they would have to update their computer systems at least once in that time, so they transferred all those old records to new systems and made sure they were accessible via the internet? My kids pediatrician keeps all their files in paper folders, but a sperm donor clinic keeps donor files (for anonymous donors) on computer for over a decade?

[loriro]

Thank goodness Casey saved Pensacola: Wings of gold dudes life

 

I heart this comment SO much! I unashamedly watched that show all.the.time back when it was on TV! LOL 

 

I too am getting fatigued from all of the "blink-and-you-miss-it" storylines and the Gabby overload. But this episode overall wasn't bad. I really did like the rescue scenes, especially the skating rink one.  Skating is a dangerous sport for sure.  There has been more than one incident in the NHL of a player getting a skate to the throat.  Back in '89, Clink Malarchuk -- goalie for the Buffalo Sabres -- got a skate to the neck as players crashed into the net and nearly bled out on the ice from a lacerated carotid artery. 

[betsyboo]

Like was mentioned above, I am pretty sure that Trudy figured it out right away. I mean on CPD she has always been presented as an excellent cop. She should be able to figure out pretty fast that her boyfriend is lying to her.

 

Not only that but that kid looked to be around 15-16 years old at least. I know nothing about how these types of clinics work, but would they really keep digital copies of their records for that long? You figure they would have to update their computer systems at least once in that time, so they transferred all those old records to new systems and made sure they were accessible via the internet? My kids pediatrician keeps all their files in paper folders, but a sperm donor clinic keeps donor files (for anonymous donors) on computer for over a decade?

I have ZERO experience with this also, but my guess is that they *do have to keep them in case the child has some sort of genetic disease, etc. that wasn't known/disclosed during donation so they can contact the donor to get more info.

[Kel Varnsen]

I have ZERO experience with this also, but my guess is that they *do have to keep them in case the child has some sort of genetic disease, etc. that wasn't known/disclosed during donation so they can contact the donor to get more info.

I could maybe see them keeping them. But considering how old the records are, I wonder if they would be kept digitally.

 

Also the thing that bugs me more about the Mouch plot is that he could have played a role in the plot with the crooked chief. I mean with all the crap that guy was pulling with Casey, Severide and Welch, especially  threatening to demote or fire Severide or Welch if they didn't lie for him, I really wanted someone to say "I will be taking this up with my union rep". Mouch is the president of their union, shouldn't he have some involvement in this sort of thing? 

[iMonrey]

Yeah, the surprise parenthood thing is just too out of the blue, and too soap opera. It's like the writers just don't know what else to do, story-wise, other than "Uh . . . what if he has a kid?"

 

 

Back to the story:  Does Molly's ever make any money, what with all the rounds of free drinks that get offered up?

 

So long as they can afford their overhead, bars are pretty much pure profit. They charge per drink what they pay per bottle - more or less.

[Boilergal]

Pretty sure the writers have ADHD - they don't stick with a story for more than a couple weeks, and within the episode it's like building fire rescue..Squirrel!! double date, skate in the head, BALL!! , shooting , sperm donor meeting, oooooh quarter fade to black.

 

Thankful for the Super Gabby -Lite episode - they could have left out the whole double date part of it.  And the Mouch thing for that matter.

[Crs97]

I really wanted someone to say "I will be taking this up with my union rep". Mouch is the president of their union, shouldn't he have some involvement in this sort of thing?

One of them did mention the union representative to Casey and looked to Mouch, but he had just gotten the message from his son. I guess they decided not to bother him, but they could have called someone else.

My heart broke for Emmett. This better be one of their rapid-fire story arcs because I almost cried and did yell, "No!" when Mouch drove away.

[iMonrey]

Yeah and I thought they did a pretty good job casting a kid that looked like he could be Mouch's son. If they went to that much trouble I suspect he'll be back. Then again knowing this show maybe it will never be mentioned again. Squirrel!