Past Seasons Talk: The Men and Women of Firehouse 51 and Beyond

[maraleia]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from Chicago Fire's first season and a half. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for current episode topics, character topics and other places for show-related talk.

Edited May 3, 2014 by stacey

[hacerry]

Just watched S1E1 because a lot of the seasons are available for free from my cable provider right now.

...

Wow! That was an emotional ride for a first episode. And hey, it's the guy from House! It has the format of a medical show, and apparently deep relationships, so I'm hooked!! (Or at least as long as I can get it free...)

 

I do hope it gets easier to keep track of who is who when their suited up and "on the job" with their face masks though. If not for closed captions, I wouldn't have known who was speaking. LOL

[squidprincess]

Well, if one of the firemen end up dangling off of something, or otherwise ridiculously endangered, he's probably Casey.

 

If he rubs his arm/neck afterwards and looks kind of sour, he's probably Severide.

 

If he's cute and earnest, he's probably Peter Mills.

 

You'll get the hang of the others soon enough.  :-)

Edited April 25, 2016 by squidprincess

[WendyCR72]

Just a quick reminder that the board will be undergoing an important upgrade tomorrow, beginning at approximately 9:00 a.m., give or take. This may take most of the day.

[hacerry]

Thanks Squidprincess. Yea, all of the characters are really growing on me. But I have another problem with season 1, now...

It feels like the episodes are out of order because there are what looks like huge chuncks of information shown in the first little "Previously on Chicago Fire..." bits that I totally haven't seen! And I feel fairly confident that I haven't slept through them, since I've been streaming them for the past 3 days. LOL

 

I say "episodes out of order" because that's exactly what happened to another show that I streamed from a different streaming provider.

 

However, the Wikipedia page has them in the same order I watched them.... Strange.

 

Did anybody else feel the same way, watching season 1 live?

 

So far, all the characters are really likeable. Well, except Mouch, but I think he's meant to be somewhat unlikable, haha! Oh, and Casey's original girlfriend, but that may be just me. I guess I'm shipping Casey and Dawson at this point, but they're cute as just buddies, too, so I won't be upset if they don't hook up.

 

Happy watching, all!

[roamyn]

I'm a recent convert, too hacerry.

And you're not the only one who didn't care for Hallie. There was just something bland abt her.

Mouch is a riot. I don't think he's that unlikable in S1 at all. Severide was unlikable to me.

[hacerry]

Oooohhh, Mills just stood up to the Chief on a subject. I would have never seen that coming. And I'm not sure if it's character growth, or out of character, yet. More episodes will tell!!

And for as bummed as Kelly was about the idea of being resigned to desk duty due to surgery, I'm very surprised at this negative reaction to the experimental surgery. Yes, a person is correct IMO to be wary of an experimental surgery that could cause paralysis, but c'mon - the Kelly character is all about big risks and ignoring consequences! ... Unless his character is growing too in the middle of this first season.

[xin]

Does anyone care to explain what does this scene means please? Like why did Timothy said that to Voight? 
 

Dialogue

Timothy : Wait , You’re Voight? Thank god , tell them. 
Voight then shoots him in the head 

[dovegrey]

On 10/13/2020 at 1:19 PM, xin said:

Does anyone care to explain what does this scene means please? Like why did Timothy said that to Voight? 
 

Dialogue

Timothy : Wait , You’re Voight? Thank god , tell them. 
Voight then shoots him in the head 

This goes back to Fire season 1, right? When Voight killed the guy who killed Hallie and who had a gun to Casey's head? It's been a while, haha! 

I never really understood that scene. As someone who only watches Fire, it played as Voight shutting that guy up and stopping him from saying something that would incriminate Voight. But I think it was supposed to underscore how "undercover dirty" Voight was at the beginning of PD, since this goon thought Voight could help him, and that Voight blew his cover to save Casey's life. 

But I didn't/don't watch PD and hate Voight like people hate Gabby, so who knows.

[AnnA]

 

6 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

 

Enjoy! You missed the good years. 😉

Thanks!  I'm looking forward to it.

9 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I haven't either.  I have only started watching the series in the last couple of years.

Me too!  I've never seen the Gabby episodes I read about here.   I did see her briefly on Chicago PD reruns and only once when she came back to visit and mess with Matt's head on CFD.  

Edited June 10, 2021 by AnnA

[FnkyChkn34]

19 minutes ago, AnnA said:

 

Thanks!  I'm looking forward to it.

Me too!  I've never seen the Gabby episodes I read about here.   I did see her briefly on Chicago PD reruns and only once when she came back to visit and mess with Matt's head on CFD.  

Well... there is that.  The good years except for the second half of Gabby's run.  😉  But Peter Mills, Leslie Shay, and some others I'm sure I'm forgetting were awesome.

[Guildford]

3 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Well... there is that.  The good years except for the second half of Gabby's run.  😉  But Peter Mills, Leslie Shay, and some others I'm sure I'm forgetting were awesome.

Clarke....I loved Jeff Clarke.

[Avabelle]

I loved Clarke... til they sent him over to Med and completely rewrote the character. 

[Guildford]

1 hour ago, Avabelle said:

I loved Clarke... til they sent him over to Med and completely rewrote the character. 

That was a crime against humanity.

[dovegrey]

On 6/10/2021 at 3:39 PM, FnkyChkn34 said:

Well... there is that.  The good years except for the second half of Gabby's run.  😉  But Peter Mills, Leslie Shay, and some others I'm sure I'm forgetting were awesome.

I never liked Shay when she was attached to Severide; I found them to be super creepy and weird together, but Shay was pretty cool when she was with Gabby, Rafferty, and even sudden friends with Casey near the end of season 2. And I still don't understand what happened with Mills/Charlie Barnett; what a waste of a good character (I'd rather have seen Cruz leave than Mills, hindsight being what it is). Other than that, I liked Newhouse, too.

But almost all the characters were awesome back in the earlier seasons. The characterizations and writing shifted so much by season 5-6 that it's pretty much like watching an entirely different cast of characters for seasons 1-3, with season 4 starting to show the results of Fire's writing/showrunning talent being gutted to support PD and Med.

Edited June 11, 2021 by dovegrey
wrong season!

[Avabelle]

I didn’t mind the PS crossovers because at least Haas was involved in both so the characters were reasonably true to themselves. Anything crossover with Ames though was always awful because the showrunners of Med clearly didn’t watch Fire or PD so characters popping to Med would always be so out of character. Also, Med had always been the shittiest of the three. 

[WinJet0819]

22 hours ago, dovegrey said:

I never liked Shay when she was attached to Severide; I found them to be super creepy and weird together, but Shay was pretty cool when she was with Gabby, Rafferty, and even sudden friends with Casey near the end of season 2. And I still don't understand what happened with Mills/Charlie Barnett; what a waste of a good character (I'd rather have seen Cruz leave than Mills, hindsight being what it is). Other than that, I liked Newhouse, too.

But almost all the characters were awesome back in the earlier seasons. The characterizations and writing shifted so much by season 5-6 that it's pretty much like watching an entirely different cast of characters for seasons 1-3, with season 4 starting to show the results of Fire's writing/showrunning talent being gutted to support PD and Med.

But funny enough, and most likely due to Shay being gay, they were a prime example of a well-done platonic relationship. They worked together and cared for each other like you'd expect from good friends. And that is a foreign concept on One Chicago these days. Now, if male and female characters care about one another, they have to be in a romantic relationship.

[Avabelle]

2 hours ago, WinJet0819 said:

Now, if male and female characters care about one another, they have to be in a romantic relationship.

Or even if that’s not the intention annoying shippers start stanning and it almost always takes over the direction of the show or story.

[dovegrey]

  From the Chicago Fire in the Media thread:

On 6/12/2021 at 3:28 PM, WinJet0819 said:

But funny enough, and most likely due to Shay being gay, they were a prime example of a well-done platonic relationship. They worked together and cared for each other like you'd expect from good friends. And that is a foreign concept on One Chicago these days. Now, if male and female characters care about one another, they have to be in a romantic relationship.

That's a really good point. It was refreshing that they had a tight friendship without a clear romantic element. On the flipside, I'd argue that they were as emotionally hitched as Casey and Gabby, if not more so. There was no overt romantic passion, but they definitely met or exceeded each other's commitment and psychological intimacy needs, and they were all up in each other's sexual business and traded a few partners, IIRC. And they agreed to have a kid together, which is just about as far as Dawsey ever got and is further than Stellaride has gotten in five years. "Platonic" fits by definition, but they seemed so much more involved in each other than that; I'd even argue that Shay was the love of Severide's life, looking back across the full 9 seasons.

In any case, I've always thought that Shay and Severide had the friendship that so much of fandom is convinced that Casey and Severide have, which is odd because Shay and Severide only knew each other for 3 years at most by the end of season 2..and that's being really generous with the established timeline. I buy the friendship, but I also think the writers unintentionally wrote an underlying unhealthy dynamic there, especially given Severide's original characterization and a lot of what he got up to in season 1 that he pressured Shay to be involved in. I think this is why I think of them as creepy together.

As I write this, I think Gabby and Severide and Casey and Kidd are the closest heterosexual platonic friendships the show has ever had, but those are both friend-of-my-significant-other situations. I forget if Brett and Mills got up to anything.

[AnnA]

8 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I watched the first couple of episodes of this series last night (DVR), and man they look so much younger, and wow are they bitchy.  Fast forward to this past season and now they are older, have a few extra pounds, and are whiny.  I suppose I am going to have to watch all of the episodes in between (I was going to anyway) just to see what the hell happened.

I recorded it too and was planning to watch this weekend.   I hope it's worth the time and effort.

[AnnA]

I started watching S1 and so far I'm loving it.  I'm up to E6 now.    I just love being able to FF through the commercials.

[AnnA]

I'm watching S2 now and so far I love it. The early years were so much better than what I've seen the past three years.

I read a lot of negative comments about Gabby but so far, she's OK. I guess she doesn't become a pain in the a$$ for another few seasons and until she hooks up with Casey.

I really enjoyed the backstory of Molly's.

Edited June 23, 2021 by AnnA

[dovegrey]

1 hour ago, AnnA said:

I'm watching S2 now and so far I love it. The early years were so much better than what I've seen the past three years.

I've read a lot of negative comments about Gabby but so far, she's OK. I guess she doesn't become a pain in the a$$ for another few seasons and until she hooks up with Casey.

I really enjoyed the backstory of Molly's.

They definitely were! :) Seriously, enjoy these seasons. They were good.

I really enjoyed and liked Gabby - and Matt and Gabby together - until sometime in season 5. I'm sure you've picked up on details in the talk of later season episodes, but without saying anything too specific, I don't think that what happened to Gabby was limited to Gabby, per se. I tend to think all of the characters ultimately became reduced to the most extreme of their primary traits, but Gabby's primary traits happen to be ones that are annoying when not tempered by anything else and she was the female lead hooked up with the #1 lead, so lots of screentime.

And, heh, the backstory of Molly's is something that probably should have been a thing after Matt and Gabby broke up in season 7. This shut down, divorced 40-something guy who rooms with a coworker spends most of his nights drinking at his ex-wife's beloved bar, but no one ever mentioned it or questioned his mental health. Every time I see the door at Molly's, I think about the backstory there. (Honestly, based on interviews, I don't think the showrunner remembers or cares to remember.)

[Tomford]

In Season 2 Episode 6 Dardens Badge hanging on the memorial wall clearly says: 17139.

But in Season 2 Episode 7, The next episode when Casey hands Griffin the copy they made of the badge the number says: 17137

How can they miss that?

[AnnA]

I'm well into S2 now and I'm still loving it.   Every now and then there's an episode I could do without - like the one with the fire at the prison.  It reminded me of a more recent episode where the men are trapped in an elevator shaft.  I really didn't like that one - not just because they were trapped for most of it but because it was so damn dark.   The prison episode had them trapped and most of the scenes were in smoke filled areas - it was another trapped and I can hardly see scenario.

I was fascinated by the way Chicago Fire introduced us to Sgt. Voight.   I especially appreciated learning how Casey was involved.

Edited June 23, 2021 by AnnA

[WinJet0819]

On 6/22/2021 at 9:12 PM, AnnA said:

I'm watching S2 now and so far I love it. The early years were so much better than what I've seen the past three years.

I read a lot of negative comments about Gabby but so far, she's OK. I guess she doesn't become a pain in the a$$ for another few seasons and until she hooks up with Casey.

I really enjoyed the backstory of Molly's.

It really wasn't until Gabby decided she wanted to be a firefighter out of nowhere that the negativity with Gabby started. And once the one person who could keep her in check left, that's when the show graduated to Gabby Fire.

[AnnA]

2 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Still finishing up the end of season one, one episode of that season left to watch.

Mills is an emotional wreck/hot head.  I don't know if he truly dumped Dawson, because he was that upset with her, or if he dumped Dawson, because he thought he would lose her to Casey.  Maybe a little of both.

What did Mills expect Dawson to do?  Did he expect her to tell him up front that she knew that Boden had slept with his mom?  Given Mills' history that more than likely would have set him off.  Dawson did the right thing.

Mills has a really short fuse, and I don't think that is a good thing to have, given the line of work he is in.  Given his volatile behavior, I don't think he is the type of person to get romantically involved with either.

I liked Casey's girlfriend, or whatever she was to him before she was murdered. 

I'm two weeks into the ION marathon which brings me into S2. 

I agree with you about Mills.  Sometimes he acts childish.  It surprised me that he was so upset by the news about Boden and his mother from years ago.  It's none of his business.  If anything he should have been upset with his mother.   I just couldn't see Dawson and Mills as a couple anyway.

I'll follow your lead because I'm trying to be careful about not saying too much since I'm a half season ahead of you.  

[WinJet0819]

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Still finishing up the end of season one, one episode of that season left to watch.

Mills is an emotional wreck/hot head.  I don't know if he truly dumped Dawson, because he was that upset with her, or if he dumped Dawson, because he thought he would lose her to Casey.  Maybe a little of both.

What did Mills expect Dawson to do?  Did he expect her to tell him up front that she knew that Boden had slept with his mom?  Given Mills' history that more than likely would have set him off.  Dawson did the right thing.

Mills has a really short fuse, and I don't think that is a good thing to have, given the line of work he is in.  Given his volatile behavior, I don't think he is the type of person to get romantically involved with either.

I liked Casey's girlfriend, or whatever she was to him before she was murdered. 

Matt's relationship was Hallie was always something I wish they had kept. A main character starting a show already in a relationship and having it grow. But they just had push Dawsey. 

[dovegrey]

2 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

In the real world I don't think that works in most cases the way it appears Dawson wants it to.  That to me comes as almost a rebound type of relationship.  Casey is grieving, and will most likely cling to Dawson in an effort to fill that emotional void over the loss of Hallie.

Without getting into specifics, I've long thought that their entire romantic relationship was carried on the momentum of sporadic high-emotion events, starting with Hallie. Even as recently as season 8, Casey mentioned to Gallo that it took him a long while to come to grips with Hallie's death. The season 9 writers really could have used that to help unravel Dawsey at the end.

11 hours ago, WinJet0819 said:

Matt's relationship was Hallie was always something I wish they had kept. A main character starting a show already in a relationship and having it grow. But they just had push Dawsey. 

Hindsight being what it is, I've wished that they'd kept Hallie long enough to have her hop over to Chicago Med. The lead of Fire being married to the lead of Med would have lended a lot more to "One Chicago" feeling genuinely connected and intersected. Anyway, I liked Matt and Hallie together and have joked that I absolutely wouldn't have minded if she had miraculously risen from the dead out of a witness protection program in season 8 or season 9. (Sorry, Brett.)

18 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

That would have been the perfect response to that egotistical asshole, Severide.  His penis ought to come with a counter, counting how many people he has "served".

At the most basic level, which is what I am talking about, trust,  Severide expects everyone to trust him, and believe in him, and give him the benefit of a doubt, but he is unwilling to extend the same courtesy to Casey.

Your entire post here basically describes why I've never liked Severide, will never like Severide, and will never "buy" the turnaround in his character (which is apparent in the more recent seasons). His popularity astounds me.

[AnnA]

47 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Season 2 Episode 2:

 

So the fireman's widow copped a plea and will be in jail for up to a year and six months.  She asks Casey to be Mr. Mom.  Wouldn't she or her dead husband have relatives who could watch the kids?  Casey isn't in a position where he can take on that responsibility.  Yes, I know the rest of the folks in the firehouse are willing to help, but those kids need stability, not to be passed around like a couple of hot potatoes.  

 

In the episode that Mrs. Widow fell asleep on Casey's couch and Severide came by.........what's her name?  Heather?  asked Casey the time and he said 7am.  She told him she had to go pick up the boys at grandma's.   We never heard about grandma after that.  I would think that when she went to jail, the boys would be staying with their grandparents.  Having her ask Casey to care for them for a year and a half was overkill.  She was really looking to hook up with him.  I'm glad he didn't take the bait.  I didn't like her,

FYI.........I'm still not hating Gabby.

[Avabelle]

I remember the suicide Dawson and Shay witnessed solidified my Gabby hate. She’s just such a harsh asshole. It’s always her way and it’s the wrong way. With everyone in her life. 
 

 

[AnnA]

On 7/1/2021 at 9:08 PM, icemiser69 said:

 

If Zoya had gone out with Otis instead of Severide, she probably could have convinced Otis to marry her.  That is if her primary goal was to stay in the country.

Otis and Zoya were cousins.  He got her the job at Molly's because his mother made him do it.

Edited July 3, 2021 by AnnA

[AnnA]

I've been watching the early seasons on ION and will finish up S3 this coming Tuesday.   Until I started watching from the beginning, I thought Chicago Fire (S7-9) was nothing special.  By the time they started S9, I was barely paying attention while it was on.  When I checked this forum and saw so many S9 episodes under discussion, I decided I should give S9 a second chance and watched the first 3 episodes on demand.   Sadly, I hated them.  I don't care about Girls on Fire and I sure as hell don't care about Stella and her rapid rise in the ranks.   

Edited July 11, 2021 by AnnA

[dovegrey]

23 hours ago, AnnA said:

I've been watching the early seasons on ION and will finish up S3 this coming Tuesday.   Until I started watching from the beginning, I thought Chicago Fire (S7-9) was nothing special.  By the time they started S9, I was barely paying attention while it was on.  When I checked this forum and saw so many S9 episodes under discussion, I decided I should give S9 a second chance and watched the first 3 episodes on demand.   Sadly, I hated them.  I don't care about Girls on Fire and I sure as hell don't care about Stella and her rapid rise in the ranks.   

Yep. I only stick around because of seasons 1-4ish and wanting to see resolution for many of the remaining original characters, like Casey and Boden. Once they're gone, I'm gone. I also think the show still does fire and rescue better than the bits of what I've seen of 911 and Station 19 (I can't stand their brand new, clean turn-out gear), and that part of Fire is still fun to watch...although, unfortunately, this part has been waning.

I'm hoping the current showrunner, Derek Haas, puts his full-time energy into the new FBI International show and hands off Fire to someone who takes it seriously and can competently run an ensemble drama. A lot of the story problems and shifts in tone and characterization stem back to him becoming the only showrunner (which is interesting, because the individual episodes he writes tend to be really good ones).

[WinJet0819]

On 7/12/2021 at 1:14 PM, dovegrey said:

I also think the show still does fire and rescue better than the bits of what I've seen of 911 and Station 19 (I can't stand their brand new, clean turn-out gear), and that part of Fire is still fun to watch...although, unfortunately, this part has been waning.

Fire lost all credibility in regards to doing fire and rescue better after the proposal crap. That will never go away, especially considering this is a Dick Wolf show.

[dovegrey]

51 minutes ago, WinJet0819 said:

Fire lost all credibility in regards to doing fire and rescue better after the proposal crap. That will never go away, especially considering this is a Dick Wolf show.

Yeah, that scene was atrocious. It's hard to walk back what the show has become. It would take a brand new showrunner, but I just don't think they have time. This show is going to die like ER died. 

I signed up for Peacock (free) for the Olympics and found all of Chicago Fire on there. I rewatched "Just Drive the Truck" from season 3 for the heck of it and was reminded of how technical, thorough, long, and absolutely enjoyable the rescue scenes used to be. Since season 8 or so, it seems like they rush through the rescues - whether it's a fire or a vehicle accident or anything else - and go right back to 51, Molly's, or some poorly done soft core porn scene, almost as if they're saying "look, we did a rescue, now back to the REAL show." It was also shocking to see medical protocol followed with the 81 crew going to the hospital and Boden forcing them to go home. You don't say...

(Also, wow, Peacock is a terrible platform.)

[MsJamieDornan]

On 7/26/2021 at 8:14 PM, dovegrey said:

I signed up for Peacock (free) for the Olympics and found all of Chicago Fire on there

I'm up to season 8, there is so much I forgot about the old episodes.

[FnkyChkn34]

I'm doing a re-watch, and while I was skipping around seasons, I decided to just start at the beginning and watch the whole way through.  In doing so, I find that Gabby is much more annoying than I remember, and Stella is more tolerable.  

There are also many major plot holes.  One big one is that Gabby and Stella met at the academy?  But in season 2, it's clear that Gabby and Rebecca are the only 2 women in that academy class.  And Stella has more experience than Gabby.  So it must be that Stella was Gabby's teacher?  None of that is clear.  It's fine that Severide's story doesn't match up - he is always over there teaching something, so he could have met her at any time.  

[Jaded]

I gave up the show a few years ago after they offed Otis. His and Cruz's relationship added some much needed levity which I missed too much to keep watching. I remember being sooooooo happy when Gabby was written off though. They really made her unlikeable for a lot of people and I was one of them.

[Rapunzel]

On 3/15/2024 at 12:28 AM, Jaded said:

I remember being sooooooo happy when Gabby was written off though. They really made her unlikeable for a lot of people and I was one of them.

I couldn’t stand Gabby and was so glad she left. However, in the show she is on now, Hightown, she is just as annoying. The characters she plays in each show are all about themselves and don’t care what happens to others, even those who go out of their way to help them or are at their beck and call. This is the last season of Hightown, so I wonder if she will get another project and if the character will have the same abhorrent personality. She may be type cast at this point as she really does not seem to have much acting range or ability at all and it is horribly noticeable as on both shows she is with other actors who are far more talented and they act circles around her.