Chicago Fire - Looking for a Lifeline / The Chance to Forgive - Review

"Looking for a Lifeline" and "The Chance to Forgive" were two episodes that were very much needed for fans of Chicago Fire. Lately the show has just been missing the spark it had in early seasons, but this double episode event reminded me of why I fell in love with this show in the first place.

At the beginning of the episode Brett wakes up in her bed alone. She touches her stomach and this makes me think she doesn't feel well. Antonio let her sleep through her alarm so she rushes to get ready for work. Stella and Severide also have some issues before heading into the firehouse. Stella overhears Severide tell someone on the phone that he has to work the next day and can't make it. Stella questions this. It's clear he's hiding something, but Stella drops it.

51 gets a call pretty early in the episode, but first we learn about Capp's new chair. He ordered himself a new recliner to celebrate his "squad-adversary." It's pretty ridiculous, but it made me laugh before things became serious with the first call which was to rescue a married couple trapped inside a car. The catch is the car is stuck on top of grocery carts. I thought that was pretty strange and so did most of Truck 81. The husband, Scott, says he was on his phone and didn't see anything. His wife, Holly, says that her foot slipped. It quickly becomes obvious that Scott hurts his wife. She has bruises all over her neck. Casey tries to get her to talk on the scene, but she just says thank you. Scott refuses treatment and gets angry when Dawson and Brett try to put Holly in the ambulance. Casey and the rest of the guys distract Scott while the paramedics drive away so Holly can get treated at Chicago Med.

Casey discusses Holly with Boden. Boden says it's fine to call Antonio, but he warns Casey that after that it's a police matter. Back at the hospital Will Halstead tells them Scott and Holly are sticking to their story: her foot slipped on the pedal. Scott then comes out and throws a huge fit about the treatment there. He screams and yells at everyone and gets Holly to say that she feels fine. He grabs Holly's hand and forces her to leave with him.

Casey goes over to Holly's house to check on her. He tells her that there are places she can go for help, but she doesn't think anyone can help her. Needless to say Scott didn't appreciate Casey's home visit and shows up to the firehouse and threatens him. At this point Casey is furious and involves the police. Antonio and Burgess inform him that the police have already gone over to Holly's house twice. Holly won't admit that her husband is abusive so there isn't much they can do. Casey thinks that the car accident wasn't an accident, but a cry for help, and asks if there is anything they can do. Burgess and Antonio agree to talk to Scott and make a call to violent crimes. But before they can do that Firehouse 51 gets another call. This time it's to Scott and Holly's house which is on fire.

Before they all go in Boden warns his men that Scott may be violent and they should be careful. Severide finds Scott upstairs as Casey finds Holly. She's sitting on the couch with a baseball bat in her hands. There was no way out, she tells him. As Severide brings Scott down the stairs and hands him to the paramedics, Casey talks to Holly. He talks about his mom and how she handled things the wrong way, and he doesn't want her to end up like that. She can go to a women's shelter and her life can get better. She takes his hand and they walk out of the house together. When they get out of the house Casey lies to the police and says that Scott's head gash is from falling and hitting his head on the bed post. Antonio says that that explanation is good enough for him.

We later learn that Holly was able to get a women's shelter and Scott won't be pressing charges. I'm so glad that this story had a happy ending, and it reminded me why Casey will always be one of my favorites. He always puts in time and effort to help people and in this case Holly escaped a dangerous situation. She probably would have died if he wasn't for Casey.

There were a few other stories in this first part of the two hour event including a return of the slamigan. Boden's brother-in-law teamed up with Mouch's friend to sell Cruz's invention. They even created shirts. Cruz starts to panic because things are moving so fast, but Herrmann calms him down and hands him a shirt that says "Joe Cruz. Chairman and CEO." Cruz and the guys work out the details with how much money everyone will get, and this leads to Cruz admitting he has some money problems. He's hopeful the slamigan will sell and he'll get some money back. But at the end of the episode only two orders had been placed. Maybe the slamigan wasn't such a good idea after all.

There was also some relationship drama in this episode with both Stella/Severide and Brett/Antonio. At the beginning of the review I wrote that Stella overhead Severide on the phone talking about something he couldn't attend. It turns out the hospital that Anna worked at in Springfield is dedicating a piece of the hospital to her and they want Severide to attend the dedication. Stella forces him to go, and he ends up being happy that he went. After they leave the "Anna Turner Children's Nursery" they stop and share milkshakes. The scene of them enjoying milkshakes together was so cute, and it's completely obvious these two like each other.

I also mentioned earlier that Brett didn't look like she felt well at the beginning of the episode. She ends up throwing up after smelling Herrmann's chicken salad sandwich and describes her symptoms to Dawson. Dawson tells Brett she sounds pregnant, and then Brett panics. Brett refuses to go to Chicago Med so Dawson takes her to the pharmacy. At the end of the episode she tells Dawson that Antonio will make a great dad, but Dawson just wants her to take the test. This leads us into the second part of the two hour episode.

Brett's test is negative. She's not pregnant, and she looks somewhat disappointed. Earlier she freaked out because she thought she was pregnant, and now she's sad because she's not? I really had a hard time following the girl's emotions this week. Personally, I'm glad she's not pregnant. If the show is going to do a pregnancy story it better be for Dawson. Dawson and Casey should have a baby before anyone else. I also have to mention that I thought Dawson was a really good friend in these episodes. I know I was harsh toward her earlier this season, but she did make Brett take the test, and she listened to her thoughts and her fears. She was there when Brett really needed her.

The next shift begins, and Otis tells Cruz, Herrmann, and Mouch that his name is Brian, not Otis. He reminds them that words have power and his nickname doesn't really give him respect. I think his point would have been better if Connie hadn’t come out and asked everyone who ordered the limited edition doctor who LEGO set.

Casey overhears Stella and Severide make plans to go to Milwaukee, and it looks like he approves. But before we can get into this further, 51 gets called to a house fire. As soon as they arrive a teenage boy runs out and screams that his parents are still inside. Stella and Otis go upstairs while Severide finds the father. While Stella and Otis look around, shots are fired. Otis goes down, and Stella screams, "Shots fired!" Boden radios Casey and orders everyone to evacuate. Casey finds the mom while bullets continue to fly everywhere. Stella is able to get to Otis without being shot, and tells the chief that Otis has a bullet in his neck. He looks bad. Severide begs to go in. Boden says no, but Severide runs in anyway. Cruz tries to follow, but Boden stops him and warns Cruz not to take another step.

It turns out there is no shooter in the house. The son has weapons and boxes of ammunition, and they just started going off. Severide manages to get to Stella and Otis. They break a window and lower Otis down on the stretcher. Brett and Dawson have to pace him, andI lost it during this scene. Every time Severide or Casey get in danger I never worry because I don't think Chicago Fire would ever kill them off. But I wasn't so sure about Otis. It took Dawson and Brett so long to get his heart rate back I really did think he was going to die. Luckily they are able to get him stable enough to transport him to Med. Cruz jumps in the ambulance and goes with Otis to the hospital.

At the hospital everyone learns that Stella's radio stopped the bullet from hitting her in the chest. She has some bruises, but she's okay. We also learn that the dad didn't know there were loaded weapons in the house. The teenager is being observed for smoke inhalation, but then will be taken in to the police station. Choi then updates everyone on Otis' condition, and luckily it's good news. The bullet is stuck, which is good, but it's still close to the spinal cord. The procedure to remove it is risky, but there's a risk of infection is they don't remove it. Choi hopes Otis wakes up soon so he can make a decision.

After Stella gets cleared and returns to the waiting room with the rest of 51, Boden pulls Severide away. He chews Severide out for disobeying him and wants to know what he was thinking. It takes Severide a second, but he finally says that he can't go through this again. I know he was probably talking about Anna, but I hope he was also thinking about Shay. It's true that Severide has lost way too many people during the show, and we all know he ran back into that building to save Stella.

While they're waiting on Otis the cops inform everyone that the teenage boy gets to go home. There is no crime so they can't charge him with anything. Cruz screams at him as he walks out and tries to go after him, but Casey pulls him off.

Otis does finally wake up, and Lily and Cruz are able to have a few moments with him. Cruz tells Otis what happened and that Stella is okay. Otis says they can still call him "Otis" instead of "Brian." Cruz says that he'll call Otis whatever he wants and grabs his hand. Otis is his best friend. These were definitely tearjerker moments. I've written about how I like Severide and Casey's friendship, but Cruz and Otis are the ultimate bromance on this show. They've been best friends from day one, and I think I took that relationship for granted.

Cruz goes to the hospital chapel to pray, and the Dad is in there. He thanks Cruz for saving his life and tells him he feels awful. He didn't know the son had weapons in the house. Cruz wants to know how he didn't know. The dad tells him that you'd be surprised as the things you miss as a parent. I did feel for the dad in this scene even though I know how upset Cruz was.

Back at the firehouse Severide apologizes to Boden. He didn't mean to disrespect him and promises it will never happen again. Boden informs everyone that Otis is back in surgery, and the mom that got shot in the house has died. Before they can discuss anything else they get called back to the same house. They quickly release it's a suicide attempt. The teenager tried to kill himself by carbon monoxide poisoning. Cruz gets in the garage, pulls him out the car, and they're able to revive him. Cruz talks to him and tells him that his dad needs him. I'm glad that Cruz was able to put aside his anger in order to save this guy.

Otis gets out of surgery, and Choi checks in on him. When he checks Otis' feet it's clear something isn't right. Cruz tries to stay optimistic, but you can tell he's worried. So is Otis. So I have to wonder if Otis is paralyzed. Will it be permanent or temporary? And if it is permanent will Otis leave the show or will he stay on just to manage Molly's or something?

While most of this episode did focus on Otis, we had more drama with Brett and Antonio. Honestly? I could have done without it. I need the show to figure out if this is a serious relationship or if it's going to stay casual. And it it's going to stay casual I think I would just assume it be over. With Stella and Severide I always thought they would eventually get together, but I don't really have that feeling with Brett and Antonio.

Speaking of Stella and Severide, I'm so glad they realized how they felt. It was about time! I appreciate Casey stepping in and giving Severide advice. Just because you don't want the connection to be there doesn't mean it will go away. Have I mentioned that I love Casey? At the end of the episode Severide drops by Molly's North, and Stella begs him to be honest and tell her what he's feeling. He walks toward her and kisses her. She kisses him back, and they keep kissing. And I'm pretty sure we all know what happened after that.

Wow. This double episode was somewhat of a doozy. So many emotional things happened, and I'm still trying to process everything. I enjoyed the two episodes, and, like I wrote earlier, I thought they were much needed. I think my love for this show has returned.

What did you think of this double episode? Did you like Casey saving the day once again? What do you think will happen with Otis? Are you happy that Stella and Severide are together now? Let me know in the comments section!