Top 5 Moments of Goodness from Chicago Fire “A Coffin That Small” 

As the season has progressed, I have come to realize that Chicago Fire is really in a class by itself.  This series rarely has a main plot in any particular episode, and instead, the episode strings together maybe a dozen subplots, changing course every couple of minutes.  You would think that viewers couldn’t keep up with that kind of scripting, but the fans do and they absolutely love it, myself included.  Last night’s episode was chock full of all kinds of goodies, but here’s our top 5 Moments:

5. Big Blowout Between Casey and Severide

We all know that Casey (Jesse Spencer) and Severide (Taylor Kinney) love each other like brothers, but man, there are some topics that these men can’t talk about without going at each other’s throats.  One of those is Heather Darden.  For reasons that aren’t clear yet, Heather wants nothing to do with Severide and in contrast, is practically glued to Casey, like a lost puppy.  Heather is obviously lonely since her husband’s death and has picked Casey to fill in some of those voids.

Casey is a gentleman and doesn’t act on Heather’s advances, but Severide doesn’t buy it and is convinced the two are sleeping together.  While Heather doesn’t seem to be the type of either of these men, they have a huge fight at the firehouse anyways and will probably have more until they are able to see that they are fighting over nothing.

4. Casey’s Showdown With The Boys From The Hood

One of the things I love about Lt. Casey is that he doesn’t take any crap.  Someone had shot at the firehouse, scared the crap out of all of his men, and he wasn’t going to stand for it.

Once Casey figures out who fired the shots, I think most people would have reported it to the police and just stepped back into the shadows.  Not Casey.  He goes over and tells these men how it is.  These men are pissed that they lost their drugs because the firehouse flushed the fire hydrant.  And, the firehouse is not going to stop using that hydrant just to appease them.

          You want to use that hydrant to hide your drugs, they’re going to get flushed – Casey

You go, Casey!  I have a feeling the thugs will find another hiding place for their drugs.

3. Herrmann’s Daddy Moment

Except for his baby-making machine at home, we don’t know much about Herrmann’s (David Eigenberg) family before last night.  After Boden (Eamonn Walker), Mouch (Christian Stolte) and Herrmann attend a funeral of a supposed “family man” who had maybe 6 people in attendance, Herrmann is very much impacted and becomes fixated on making sure he doesn’t end up like this man.

Herrmann has a brother, Larry, who decided to join their father in the family’s department store business.  Ever since that happened, Herrmann has had very little contact with his family, which he now regrets.  We all know that Firehouse 51 is a lot more than just a group of firefighters working together – they are a family.  They see that Herrmann is hurting and decide to take Herrmann to see his father and brother.

Herrmann is obviously distraught to learn that his father is out of town on business, but that all changes after he sees his father’s office.  Herrmann had always thought that his father didn’t give a damn that he became a firefighter, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Every newspaper clipping, every award, every photo – you name it, and Herrmann’s father had on the wall.  Herrmann is brought to tears when he sees his father’s “Wall of Fame” dedicated to him, and actor David Eigenberg does a fantastic job in this scene.

2. “Mount” Conversation Between Shay and Severide

Severide had already agreed to be a sperm donor for Shay’s (Lauren German) baby, but after Shay realizes she may not have the money to do the In-Vitro, she has to ask Severide for an even bigger favor.

If you were a lesbian, how in the world would you ask a straight guy (and your best friend!) to sleep with you?  Honestly, I don’t think I could do it.  But, Shay finally gets all of the words out, even if they are super-awkward ones like “mount” and “intercourse”.  Uhhhh, how many of you wanted to crawl into a hole during that scene!

This scene is probably the most hilarious one thus far in the series, but it was also terribly uncomfortable, and honestly, I looked away from the screen because I was so embarrassed for Shay!

1. Firehouse 51 Salute To Their “Fallen Angel”

This was a tough episode, and that’s putting it lightly.  As I said at the beginning of this article, Firehouse 51 isn’t just a group of guys – they’re a family.   And, when someone close to the family is lost, you do what every other family does – you respect and mourn the loss.

In this episode, we didn’t lose a firefighter, but we did lose a little boy who had a connection to the firehouse, and that means he was a member of the family.  After the events with his father that very same day, Herrmann comes up with the perfect plan to show respect and honor to the fallen boy’s friends and family.

The entire firehouse put on their formal blues, and as the boy’s family passes the firehouse on the way to the cemetery, the squad stood in full salute just like they would have done if a firefighter had died.

Given what I said about the series at the beginning, I thought this was the perfect ending for the episode. It demonstrated, loud and clear, that this show isn’t about the cases, about a particular fire, etc.  This show is about family and sticking together at all cost.

Chicago Fire airs on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. EST on NBC.