This week’s episode of CHICAGO FIRE set up the winter finale well, revealing more about Patterson’s relationship with the squad and bringing Boyden’s problems with his neighbor to a head.
Let’s start with Boyden. After being taken into questioning on reports that he broke into his neighbor’s house and beat her up (all false, by the way), he is finally allowed to leave when Chicago PD regular Hank Voight steps in to help. Coming back to the precinct, he gets some help from the guys, which includes a high-powered defense attorney whom Boyden meets with to discuss the case. To make matters worse, it appears that everyone is under the impression that Chief Riddle is the one behind the set-up, so when Riddle comes to tell Boyden he can’t go to the Gala that night it doesn’t sit well. In fact, Boyden shows up at the Gala, and with the threat of thirty years in jail hanging over his head, confronts Riddle in a very public and aggressive manor. The firehouse calms him down and they all share a drink with him in a show of solidarity.
The next big piece of drama was with Patterson and Severide. While Kelley is on leave, his dad comes down for a visit and gives a little lesson on old-school firefighter politics. The elder Severide says that if Kelley wants Patterson off his back he has to find something on Patterson that will ensure his transfer. Later on, Papa Severide does just that, and finds old juvenile records that show Patterson was not such a good kid. But, after a brief moral debate with himself, Kelley decides not to act on the information and instead hands the damning evidence back to Patterson, and doesn’t even want anything in exchange for his silence. As Severide says, he just wants to remind Patterson they can interact “as human beings.”
In addition to this, Cruz also had a bit of a personal problem. Not only did Otis ask out his ex, Brett, to the Gala, but the young man Cruz has been trying to get out of the gang life has been acting up. First, the kid brings a gun into the Firehouse, and then when Crux goes to talk to him about it, the boy is belligerent and obstinate to the point of violence. Just when all seems lost, the boy comes in with an apology and they plan a way that he can get out of the gang’s clutches before he gets himself killed.
Speaking of killed, the case this week was a harrowing one. The first call found a man catapulted through a window, but luckily the crew was able to stabilize him and get him to the hospital on time. The next one was a bit more tricky. A man was found on the roof of a building with a wire wrapped around his chest, constricting air, while the other end of the wire held a man dangling over the edge, about 30 feet above the ground. Springing into action, Severide uses his two fellow firefighters as anchors and lowers himself to the quasi cirque-de-solei performer. While Brett and Chile work to save the strangled man, Severide has several close calls when his two anchors slip and he and the man he’s trying to save almost go free-falling. But luckily the ladder makes it in time and everyone comes out fine.
Let’s hope this happy ending can be applied to Patterson and Boyden as we move toward the winter finale. Don’t miss an all new CHICAGO FIRE on November 31 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.