Chicago Fire has officially been torn apart, but it’s not the way viewers originally thought going into this week’s episode. Firehouse 51 has had its fair share of scandal and challenges, but we’ve also seen how they’ve been railroaded. Time and again someone gets a stick stuck somewhere over the way Boden runs his house. Which is to say they don’t like that Boden refuses to bow down to bureaucracy when lives are at stake, and everyone in the house follows his lead to a fault. There’s always that one person who just can’t stand when Boden actually does his job correctly, and this time it’s the new Deputy District Chief.
Why do people get punished for doing the right thing? Herrmann gets a lot of flack for giving money to a man who comes into Molly’s looking for financial assistance. Instead of believing the guys is a junkie, Herrmann chooses to believe the needs the money for something important. Not that Herrmann is a complete pushover, or that he fully believes the guy really needs the money for a rental suit for a job interview. Herrmann just believes in giving more than receiving. He would help a stranger just as he would help his own son. Herrmann’s faith turns out to be right on the money, proving all the naysayers wrong.
I have to hand it to Stella. She’s very much like Herrmann in a lot of ways, particularly being there for others. She’s the first one Severide tells about his job offer in Springfield, though she’s sure he’ll never go through with it. She’s also the one to kick Brett out of her post-breakup funk. It’s a good thing too because I’m not sure Brett was going to accomplish anything by learning to do red carpet style makeup and rudimentary German. It’s also much better that Stella take control of the situation than Dawson, because setting Brett up on random dates is also not the answer.
Anyone who knows Severide knows he’s never cared about bureaucracy or promotions. He’s a smoke eater through and through, and he’s been fine with doing his job without worry of long-term goals. He’s never chased anything before, and never with so much calm certainty. Taking a promotion in a new city where his love interest lives certainly seems like a rash decision, yet it’s not. The house could think he’s crazy, Anna might think he’s crazy, but for the first time it seems that Severide isn’t content with letting life happen to him.
As a firefighter at heart, Boden is never okay with letting things just happen. He saves new Deputy District Chief Anderson’s butt on a call, and word quickly spreads that Anderson doesn’t know what he’s doing. Boden won’t spread gossip, but he also won’t roll over and pretend he’s the one who did something wrong. Anderson quickly realizes he can’t shame Boden into submission, nor can he control those under his command. It’s hard for one man to fight a battalion, unless you break it up piece by piece, hence immediate reassignments for everyone.
How will Firehouse 51 fight their way back together under this new threat?
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