S03.E23: Spartacus

[WendyCR72]

Lt. Casey puts his life on the line and digs deeper into the shady dealings of Jack Nesbitt. Chief Boden must figure out how to create unity in a divided house, while Severide comes to question his own judgment. A dangerous warehouse blaze quickly gets out of control and threatens members of firehouse 51.

[Aliconehead]

I just read the TV Guide description that Gabby gets unexpected news, 

could it be a pregnancy from the tryst with Matt

[WendyCR72]

Regarding the above spoiler, all I can say is...UGH.

[redsox7819]

NOOOOOO. I hope to dear god that it was false. But I have a feeling that is not the case. Why else would she go to Matt's place?

Edited May 13, 2015 by redsox7819

[Aliconehead]

Looks like I was at least half right, there is at least a pregnancy test.

[Watermelon]

So, does your intercom stop working when you run out of air, because why the hell weren's Severide and Dawson telling them what happened?

Who meets about an undercover operation outside in broad daylight?

Yay for Joe being awesome.

Boo for Rice actually being a ducker.

Yay for nobody giving Otis time to be all Toldyaso about it.  Him being right doesn't mean he wen't about it correctly.

Meh for Sophie hooking up with Roman, even though it totally seemed like Chilli was flirting first.

Dawwww for Chilli missing the boat on her champagne.  But don't they tell you if your proposed patent already exists?

[Dowel Jones]

Oh, please.  Somebody shoot me.  So many things wrong with this firehouse.  Does anyone know anything about department discipline?  The whole house should have been suspended after the confrontation with the chief. 

 

I do have a suggestion, though.  Maybe start fighting fire from the doorway, first?  Put out the fire as you go along?

Nice cameo from the fireboats, though.  Speaking of cameos (besides Pippen), if you look real close, you can see an actual fire engine mixed in with the trucks and the squad at the warehouse fire.  Not that they actually did anything, but they got some camera time.

 

 Maybe Casey and Voigt should have hired one of those kids who work for the tax preparation companies, hanging out on the street swinging those giant arrows to attract attention. 

[Brookside]

Why was Severide trying to bash in the grille over the window?  He had a crow bar, he should have just pulled it off.  Don't they teach them anything at NBC Firefighter School?  Oh, hang on, I know the answer to that.

[Artsda]

Casey's undercover but he's meeting the cops in daylight, outside of Casey's known place of work? What the hell. Glad he's not the one dead though.

 

Boo at Gabby living. I'm guessing she won't stay pregnant, she will probably refuse to stop working and lose the baby as a result.

 

Otis is just annoying, yes he was right but he didn't come out looking good in my eyes. Just like a spoiled teenager or a brat who doesn't get his way and wants to act and throw a tantrum. The sitting at squad's desk and all the talking about co-workers to other co-workers. 

[Aliconehead]

 

Boo at Gabby living. I'm guessing she won't stay pregnant, she will probably refuse to stop working and lose the baby as a result.

I am betting that she is not pregnant.  My theory is after it was a possibility, she is disappointed that she is not and this makes her realize she wants Matt back.

[betsyboo]

Casey's undercover but he's meeting the cops in daylight, outside of Casey's known place of work? What the hell. Glad he's not the one dead though.

 

Boo at Gabby living. I'm guessing she won't stay pregnant, she will probably refuse to stop working and lose the baby as a result.

 

Otis is just annoying, yes he was right but he didn't come out looking good in my eyes. Just like a spoiled teenager or a brat who doesn't get his way and wants to act and throw a tantrum. The sitting at squad's desk and all the talking about co-workers to other co-workers. 

ALL OF THIS.

 

Otis was a douche. He may have been right, but he was a jerk about it. I was so angry when he sat at squad table just to ramp it up. RIDIC. He is officially my second-least favorite character.

 

I posted on TVLine last night "WHY couldn't they leave Gabby in there???!!"  Note to self: TVLiners are pro-"Dawsey"

 

Hey Gabby! Remember that time your brother was a detective? And your ex-boyfriend was helping him with a case? So do you A) walk through your ex's apartment after finding the door open, signs of a struggle and no response to calling out? or B) quickly back out and call 911.

[Crs97]

This is the same girl who stood in the hallway and yelled through the door of her last lover, "Hey, I didn't realize you are actually an undercover cop trying to take down your pretend boss so it's all good!" Gabby is not so bright.

[Artsda]

 

Otis was a douche. He may have been right, but he was a jerk about it. I was so angry when he sat at squad table just to ramp it up. RIDIC.

He was an antagonizing jerk, I wish he would have been disciplined for his behavior too because it's not how he should act. I'm glad Casey just stood there and asked what he was doing. The rest of them going to sit with Otis behaved like kids too.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Artsda

[Chas411]

The Dawson pregnancy reminds me of the season one finale where Sarah Shahi turns up pregnant with Severide's baby. I think they'd resolved that issue two episodes into two by having it not his. I can't see them following through with a Dawson pregnancy.

[Calamity Jane]

There are weeks when I really like this show.  Then there are weeks like this one.  Ugh on just about all fronts.  The whole Otis thing just made me hate everyone, the truck people for being immature brats, Casey and Severide for forgetting they're loyal friends,  Boden for being so unable to stop it all, the squad guy for staying on the job when he's unable to live up to its demands.  Nobody came out of that mess looking good.  I loathe Casey's story line right now, too.  I'm glad it's gone for the summer so I can get over my snit here.  

[Kel Varnsen]

This might be a dumb question, although it was bugging me last week too, but why would the cops need to install a separate listening device inside a cell phone? Don't all phones come from the factory with the ability to pick up and transmit sound? Isn't that what makes them phones? I would think it might be easier to reprogram a phone to look like it is off when it is actually transmitting?

Plus i am no mob boss, but when you are running an illegal operation that is trying to look legit, do you really want to try and save a few extra bucks by paying your contractor cash under the table? It seems like that would be a great way to get cops and other officals snooping around.

[NJ RadioGuy]

Oh, please.  Somebody shoot me.  So many things wrong with this firehouse.  Does anyone know anything about department discipline?  The whole house should have been suspended after the confrontation with the chief. 

 

I do have a suggestion, though.  Maybe start fighting fire from the doorway, first?  Put out the fire as you go along?

Nice cameo from the fireboats, though.  Speaking of cameos (besides Pippen), if you look real close, you can see an actual fire engine mixed in with the trucks and the squad at the warehouse fire.  Not that they actually did anything, but they got some camera time.

 

Oh, don't get me going on this. A fully-involved warehouse of that size would be easily a 5th alarm if not higher, which in most departments would be roughly 20 engines companies, 6 to 8 trucks, plus special-call units like heavy rescues, multiple chiefs and every single television camera in Chicago. A mayday call and they stand back? Not effin' likely. Here's a hint: if you ever want to hear unimaginable real-world heartbreak, listen to the 9th Alarm from Boston from last year, where a man from E33 and another from Ladder 15 were lost. It's on Youtube. I listened live as it happened and it still haunts me. You don't leave a brother (or a probie) in that without a hell of a fight.

 

And who the actual f--k enters a conflagration like that without at least an inch-and-three-quarter or better still a 2-1/2. Before they went to an exterior attack (yay fireboat and tower ladder cameos) why weren't there at least a dozen hand lines in operation, and multiple ladders thrown or sticks up? And there didn't appear to be anybody venting, either. Oh, and yeah, look where the tower ladders (snorkels) were aiming their streams -- at the damned side of the building. What, keeping the bricks cool or something? I guess they couldn't just put out the gas nozzles that were fueling the TV-fire.

 

And I'd love to hear from a professional firefighter about the gas leak call at the start. I was shaking my head. My understanding (thank you Mythbusters) is that a stochiometric ratio of about 9:1 to 20:1 is combustible. If it was "close to 100%" when they rolled up, in 3 minutes, without venting, and the door kept shut, I can't see an 80% loss happening that quickly. But by the same token, if it was that concentrated for that long, shouldn't the victim have been dead (or at least critical)? And no gas shutoff on the street? What would the gas company do if they didn't pay their bill?

[Dowel Jones]

I would think it might be easier to reprogram a phone to look like it is off when it is actually transmitting?

 

And I would think if you were a crook working an international smuggling ring, you would invest in a jamming device in your room, or maybe a scanner with cell phone frequencies so you could listen in to conversations.  But that's just us, I guess, injecting logic into the discussion.  Besides, why do you need any extra detection when you see your guy talking to the cops!!!

[Lillybee]

The actor who plays Cruz did an Emmy worthy performance of expressing his anguish at the thought of losing his fire department brothers at that warehouse fire. He is a very talented man.

[NJ RadioGuy]

And I would think if you were a crook working an international smuggling ring, you would invest in a jamming device in your room, or maybe a scanner with cell phone frequencies so you could listen in to conversations.  But that's just us, I guess, injecting logic into the discussion.  Besides, why do you need any extra detection when you see your guy talking to the cops!!!

So may different kinds of wires are available in real-life that could easily go undetected. And if the mic is inside a cellphone, under the battery it wouldn't receive anything. The mic has to be able to, you know, pick up voices without obstructions. An RF jammer would be the only way. Cellphone frequencies have been unmonitorable since the dawn of 3G, if not before. They are digitally encrypted and cannot be monitored on a commercial scanner.

 

The actor who plays Cruz did an Emmy worthy performance of expressing his anguish at the thought of losing his fire department brothers at that warehouse fire. He is a very talented man.

 

Yes, I agree. That was pretty well how I'd imagine every firefighter would react in a similar circumstance. I like the way he's been written this past season or so, but I will never be able to root for his character. A few seasons ago (toward the end of S1, IIRC), he let a gang leader burn up in a fire. Yes, I understand why he did it (to save his son), but that should have ended differently. He literally got away with murder, and for a firefighter to allow someone to burn up in a fire is something I refuse to believe he would allow, even given the extenuating circumstances.

[Watermelon]

So may different kinds of wires are available in real-life that could easily go undetected. And if the mic is inside a cellphone, under the battery it wouldn't receive anything. The mic has to be able to, you know, pick up voices without obstructions. An RF jammer would be the only way. Cellphone frequencies have been unmonitorable since the dawn of 3G, if not before. They are digitally encrypted and cannot be monitored on a commercial scanner.

 

 

Yes, I agree. That was pretty well how I'd imagine every firefighter would react in a similar circumstance. I like the way he's been written this past season or so, but I will never be able to root for his character. A few seasons ago (toward the end of S1, IIRC), he let a gang leader burn up in a fire. Yes, I understand why he did it (to save his son), but that should have ended differently. He literally got away with murder, and for a firefighter to allow someone to burn up in a fire is something I refuse to believe he would allow, even given the extenuating circumstances.

It wasn't Joe's son, it was his brother.

[Kel Varnsen]

So may different kinds of wires are available in real-life that could easily go undetected. And if the mic is inside a cellphone, under the battery it wouldn't receive anything. The mic has to be able to, you know, pick up voices without obstructions. An RF jammer would be the only way. Cellphone frequencies have been unmonitorable since the dawn of 3G, if not before. They are digitally encrypted and cannot be monitored on a commercial scanner.

I figured bugs would be better than what they showed (if they even needed on). That said I guess I am just happy they didn't try to tape a magnetic tape recorder to Casey's body.

 

For that matter, and this has always bugged me about cop shows, but why does Casey even need to wear a wire? I mean I get that it is better to record things for accuracy, but at the same time wouldn't a decorated CFD Lieutenant be a credible witness if he had to testify about what he saw?

[SonofaBiscuit]

If the guy that Sylvie was hooking up with at the end of the episode (apparently his name is Roman) has ever been on Chicago Fire before, I must have missed it.  From Googling, I discovered that he's on Chicago PD, but I've never watched that show before, not even to see the resolutions to the crossovers.  From the two seconds I saw of him, he seems fine, but I wish this show wouldn't insist on pairing up Chicago Fire characters with PD characters.  I DON'T WANT TO WATCH CHICAGO PD, OKAY DICK WOLF?!!!!

[Chas411]

Finally caught the episode and I loved it. What I hated though was the fact that Casey had to miss all the great group scenes and the end of the episode though in order to set up the lame ass cliffhanger that's already messy now that PD is coming back weeks earlier then Fire.

 

Other then that though great episode. Loved the squad/truck tension and I was totally Team Truck. Otis went about his accusations the wrong way but Severide, as a leader to them all, sucked. Still though, he did the right thing in the end and thankfully Rice is now gone.

 

Cute little Sylvie/Roman hook up. I'm sure that'll last a hot second.

 

I don't hate Chilli but her storyline has been so boring. I didn't initially think I'd like Brett but I do now so given the right material I'm sure she could grow on me.

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