.
- How about you tell me where you got that scar?
- My older brother shoved me into the flames.
- I'm sorry, Carver.
- I've been more honest with you
than almost anyone else in my life.
- That isn't the only reason why I'm here.
- Damon sounded like he's hiding something.
He specifically said he doesn't want anyone here to find out.
- Carver, he's visiting some old construction buddies.
- You miss him?
- We're not in that kind of relationship.
Keeping this casual is the only way I can do it.
- Casual, I get it.
- Chief Robinson wants to be deputy commissioner
and she will do whatever it takes.
- I am frightened that the CFD will become a place
filled with disunity and distrust.
- What are you gonna do?
- I gotta figure out something.
- Then what happened? - And then I said--
[sighs] I can't remember.
- Come on, Dad, say it!
- And then I said, fire up the water cannons.
- Yeah, you did. - Okay, come on.
- You get the feeling you were missed a little?
- Uh-huh. - Uh-huh.
- All right, there you go.
- We like it when you're home.
But I know James needed you in.
That was a good thing you did.
- Yeah.
- These eggs are lit.
- Well, we're very glad to hear it.
- Keep me posted on any news about Chief Robinson?
- I will.
Today's humble goal,
do everything in my power
to stop her from taking over this department.
- Go get 'em.
- Hey. I love you.
- Love you too. - Bye.
[soft music]
♪
- I think we slept through a couple alarms.
- Oh, my God.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Oh! We are no joke late. We gotta move!
- Ready in five.
- What I hear? Permanent DC will be appointed
in the next two days.
- I know a few of the guys in the group
consulting the commissioner, but I don't know
who else is in the running. - Latham and Contreras.
- Latham?
Decent enough, but he lacks passion
and doesn't even seem to like his job.
- Contreras can't stay out of trouble.
She's had more charges than a cheap cell phone.
- I can't back any of them.
I don't wanna go to the commissioner
just to bury Robinson. [elevator chimes]
- Speak of the devil.
[soft tense music]
♪
- This is a disaster.
- The only other difference is Velcro in the compartments.
- Yeah, works pretty good.
- How about we put it back the way it was?
- Really?
- Sorry, Lieutenant. Be out here in two minutes.
- You think they said to each other
"you go in a quarter second before me. They'll never know"?
- Subtle.
- From what Lennox said, it sounds like this DC appointment
is happening this week?
- Yeah, I'm going back to headquarters later today,
talk to every committee member I can get my hands on.
They need to know how dangerous Robinson would be for the CFD.
[scoffs]
How was your stint as ranking officer here?
- It was fine. Good.
To be honest, I didn't realize how much of your job
was being a counselor.
Between that and the paperwork...
- Yeah, it's a handful.
- Herrmann helped deal with most of the counseling.
He's got a knack for it.
- Yes, he does.
What about Damon, the new floater?
- Huh.
Something about the kid.
I like him.
He's a little bit hard to read.
Stella's still on the fence, but--
[alarm blares]
- All units, structure collapse.
3105 West 14th Place.
[sirens wailing]
[hydraulics hiss]
- Whoa. - Whoa.
First day with a new bike.
- This thing has no pickup. I had to slam the pedal.
- We took it on plenty of runs to test it out.
It seemed fine.
- Yeah, well, something's off, and it ain't me.
[tense music]
- Watch out!
- Help! Up here! - They're here!
- Help us!
- Quick! - Hurry!
♪
.
- Hey, guys! Back up. Get out of there.
Truck, raise the aerial.
- You got it, Chief. - Help us.
Mouch! - I'm on it.
- Help! - I'm slipping out.
- Herrmann, see if you can find a window vantage point.
- All right, copy that. Ritter, you're with me.
- Copy that. - Hey, over here.
- Help us! - Hurry!
- Hey, set the jacks. We need a ladder.
- It's all yours, Lieutenant.
- Hey, you got an air bag in there?
- Hundred footer. - Yeah?
All right, Carver, Damon--
come help these guys put a bag underneath us.
- Copy.
- Squad 3, we're going up. - Copy.
[dramatic music]
♪
- I'm slipping!
- Hold on.
Hang on.
Hang on. I got you.
I got you. Easy.
Easy. - [groans]
- Help!
- Hang on!
I'm coming for you. Don't let go.
- Can't feel my leg. Help!
[shouts]
- Hold on.
- Let's hurry this up, 51.
- Thing is massive, Chief.
- [grunts] All right.
Grab both rails.
We're gonna go down together. - Okay.
- Hey, I'm coming back for you.
- Get my crew first. Get them down.
I'm the foreman. I go last. - Just hang on.
All right, Mouch, we're coming down.
Get ready to swing the ladder. - Copy that.
- All right, let's go.
Easy.
- Hey, Damon. - Got it.
- Let me know when you're set, Mouch.
- Almost in position.
- Hey, Kidd. - Yeah?
- You got first flanks. I'm gonna go up after 'em.
Mouch? - Okay, go, go, go!
- All you, Chief.
♪
- Help. - Hey, give me your hand.
I'm right here.
- [shouts] [grunting]
I can't.
- Look at me. - I'm slipping!
- Look at me, right here.
All you gotta do is reach out. - Okay.
- Just reach out. Reach out.
- I'm slipping. - I'm right here.
Just reach out. - I'm trying.
- Reach. Give me your hand, man.
Give me your hand. Reach out. Reach.
- [shouts] - [screams]
- Kill the air! Medics, we need you!
- Make way. Make way.
Okay, I got a pulse.
Weak and thready, but it's there.
Let's roll and go.
- On my count--one, two, three.
- Okay, everyone ready?
On three. One, two, three.
♪
- The bags go slow.
You did everything you could.
- Doesn't feel like it.
- Hey, you guys?
Uh.
We'll keep thinking good thoughts
for this foreman, Bergson,
but nobody forget,
we saved five lives back there.
Okay?
♪
- It's good you said that.
- Any update on Bergson, the foreman?
- Uh, he's still in pretty bad shape--
intubated and unresponsive.
- It's a hell of a way to start a shift.
- Yeah.
[sighs]
Bergson's family got there as we were leaving.
He's got three little kids.
Real cuties.
[somber music]
♪
- Hey, Lieutenant.
Sorry about using Squad.
I just wanted to get good at setting these struts.
Mouch and Herrmann are working on Truck, so.
- Yeah, no apologies necessary.
I like the attitude.
You really wanna learn? - Yes, sir.
- Now, just find a good spot to secure the ratchet hook
underneath the frame.
[ratchet clicking]
Nice. - Thanks.
- I have seen some bravery
in my time in the fire service, Bergson, but...
that's gotta be one of the bravest things
I've ever seen a man do.
You put everything on the line for your team...
And you saved their lives.
You made me think about some things,
about what it means...
to lead.
But now, somehow,
you need to do more.
You need to pull through.
♪
.
- Cylinders are the same.
- Identical. - It's official.
Everything in this truck is
original equipment, manufacturers' parts.
- Every last piece. Nothing is modified.
- Nothing was modified.
- Why do you suddenly sound happy about that?
- Because if nothing was modified on this truck
but it feels different,
then something was modified on the old truck.
- Okay?
- Which means all we need to do to figure that out
is find the original driver of the old truck,
find out what he did to the engine.
- Then you can modify this one the same way.
- And go back to driving a rig I love, the way it used to be.
- All right, let's make some phone calls.
We'll track this old son of a bitch down.
- [chuckles]
- What's on the menu?
- Damon made pot roast.
- I'm having a hard time
getting my knife through this meat, Damon.
- Use a sharper knife, Capp. It looks good to me.
- I saw you two working over at the squad earlier.
- Yeah. I don't know.
He's a self-starter. I like it.
Maybe worth keeping.
- Okay, listen up, people.
I have decided to throw my hat in the ring
for deputy commissioner.
[soft determined music]
♪
- Hey, that is awesome, Chief.
- CFD couldn't do any better.
- You're the man for the moment, Chief.
No doubt.
[applause]
- Yeah, absolutely. Chief, go get 'em.
- Yeah. Yeah!
- Listen, everyone knows
I tried to avoid the politics of the CFD as best I can,
but it isn't about me anymore.
It's about the whole department.
And with the current state of leadership,
I have decided that I can't just sit by and watch.
So I'm headed to HQ.
Do what I can, fast.
Promote myself, do the rounds.
I hear I have a day or two at best.
- We're here for you, Chief. Anything you need.
- Robinson isn't going to be too happy
when she hears about it, that's for sure.
- Good.
- Do you think Boden has a chance
when he doesn't play the game like Chief Robinson does?
- The chief's been campaigning for that job for months.
I don't know. - If he does, though--
if he somehow gets the position,
means he'll be gone from 51 for good.
- All right, there's no point in worrying about it now.
We'll know about it soon enough.
[alarm blares]
- Truck 81, Ambulance 61,
smoke alarm, 5518 West Taylor.
[sirens wailing]
[tense music]
♪
- Doesn't look like much.
- Yeah, let's go in and see what's what.
Mouch, hang back with the medics.
I'll shout if we need anything.
And Damon, grab an extinguisher.
- Copy that, Lieutenant.
- How about you get your head out of your ass for once!
Every penny is coming out of your check, Mike.
- Fire department. Is everything all right?
- Yeah, we got it all under control.
My youngest burned a five-pound tray of pancetta
'cause he can't stop staring at his damn phone.
- Dumbass.
- Okay then.
We're just gonna give the place a once-over
just to be on the safe side while we're here.
- No need for all that. Einstein here already
emptied the fire extinguisher all over the stove
and wrecked the lunch service, so...
- Hey, it's better safe than sorry.
- Maybe you didn't notice, but the fire's completely out,
and we got a huge mess to clean up
or we're gonna lose dinner, too, so...
[scoffs] If you don't mind?
- We do mind, actually.
Maybe you didn't notice, but your son is injured.
- No. No, I'm okay.
- Hey, we got paramedics outside.
We'll have them-- - He said he's fine.
- Hey, Violet? We got a burn injury in here.
- Copy that. Coming in. - Oh, for the love of--
it's a restaurant. People get burned all the time.
- And we are just gonna make sure.
- This is my property, and I want you out of here right now.
- Hey, back up and let us do our job.
- Carver, hey.
Hey, Violet.
Mike here's got a burn on his arm.
- Ooh. Oh, yeah, how'd that happen?
- I don't know. I just, uh--
- Were you boiling water?
- Yeah, uh, I had a pot of boiling water in my hands.
Then I saw the bacon.
I mean, the pancetta was burning, and I--
I sort of panicked, and I spilled it.
- You spilled a pot of boiling water on your own arm?
- My dad already told you,
it happens all the time in the kitchen.
- It was you, wasn't it? You did that to him.
Or was it your dad? - That's enough.
I want you out of here.
- Sir, we just need to wrap your son's arm.
- We can handle it!
Now, get the hell out of my kitchen.
All of you, go!
- Listen, Mike, if you're feeling unsafe--
hey, hey, hey! - Hey!
- Whoa! Carver!
Carver! [dishes crashing]
[both grunting]
Stop. [both grunting]
Stop! Carver! Carver! Hey!
Carver, enough. Stop. - [gasps]
[glass shattering]
Oh! What the hell?
- Look at me.
Sam. - Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey!
Carver! - You okay?
- Easy. Carver, Carver. - Come on.
- Come here, come here, come here.
- Back up. Back up!
Back up, both of you.
Hey!
Back the hell up, both of you. Back up.
- The hell's the matter with you, you crazy son of a bitch?
- Hey, walk away right now.
Now.
Truck 81, Ambo 61, let's go. - Meet you at the ambo, okay?
- Mike, run some cold clean water on that burn right away.
I'm gonna give you some clean dressing
and don't put anything else on it, okay?
No ointments or salves.
- Thanks. - You got it.
- Whatever's happening here, if there's any abuse going on,
it doesn't matter who's doing it,
you are responsible.
- Go ahead, call the cops.
Then I'll tell them that we got jumped
by a bunch of firefighters.
How about that?
♪
- Hey, Novak. You good?
- Damon, let's go! Now.
What the hell was that?
Are you out of your mind, jumping a civilian like that?
You're lucky no one got seriously hurt
because that would have been on you.
- Sorry, I lost my cool, too, Lieutenant.
- That guy was a piece of--
You're right.
There's no excuse for what I did.
I was way out of line.
- That is a huge understatement.
And with Chief Boden under a microscope,
if anything worse would have happened,
you could have blown his shot at DC.
[truck door opens, shuts]
[fist bangs door]
.
- Just talking to the nurses at Med.
Bergson seems to be improving.
He's not conscious, but there's been signs of brain activity.
It's not exactly great news, but I'll take it.
- Could be a sign of better things to come, right?
- Let's hope so.
- So Ritter said you were looking for me?
- Have a seat, Herrmann.
- Oh, boy. What'd I do now?
- As far as I know, nothing.
And let's keep it that way.
I'm under no delusions about getting this DC appointment.
I know my chances are low.
But if somehow I pull it off...
I want you sitting in this chair as my replacement.
- What?
- There are some things to get in order.
You need that captain promotion
and you need to take the Battalion Chief Test.
But you do that, and you could look after our family.
- Chief. - Mm.
I'm...
Nobody.
And I am for sure no Chief Boden.
- You don't have to be me.
You just have to be you,
the Christopher Herrmann who looks out for people,
who listens,
who always leads with his heart.
- [exhales]
Whatever happens, boss...
[soft music]
♪
You'll never know how much that means to me.
♪
[soft tense music]
♪
- Hey, Stella.
Everything okay? - No.
Damon is off my rig next shift.
Carver might be too.
They were totally out of control.
- What happened? - It was a full on brawl
with the three guys who own the restaurant that we were at.
And at least with Carver, I know what sparked it.
The dynamics hit a little too close to home.
But Damon had no excuse.
I don't even know who the hell that guy is, Kelly.
♪
- I feel like hell about the whole thing.
Is Novak okay?
- Yeah, she's fine.
But you got pretty lucky, Sam.
- [sighs]
I can explain.
- You don't need to explain anything
'cause I saw it.
That guy banged right into Kidd and you lost it.
You know, I'm not blind, Sam.
I know when you first started here you had a thing for Kidd.
I could tell from the way you looked at her
and the way you acted around her.
And when that guy slammed into her today,
it totally set you off.
- Are you kidding me right now, Violet?
I'm not gonna deny that when I first got here,
there might have been some feelings left over
from academy days, but you are way too smart
to think that's still true.
You know the real truth,
which is that you have thrown every excuse at me,
done everything in your power to push me away,
keep distance between us.
But it is not because of me or anything I did.
It is because you can't let go of Hawkins.
You know I'm not in love with Kidd
because I am stupid enough
to have fallen in love with you.
♪
- Always good to see you.
- Thanks for hearing me out.
- Look whose trolling the halls now.
It's the ghost of CFDs past.
- Hmm. Didn't mean to scare you.
- You don't scare me, Chief Boden.
In fact, when I heard you suddenly decided
you were interested in the DC position,
I actually laughed.
- Good to know you do that once in a while.
I was beginning to wonder. - You don't have a shot.
You know that, right?
I have the support of the vast majority
of department heads and the interim DC.
They all feel the same way I do.
It's time for the older firefighters in the CFD
to make their way out and a new wave to take over.
- Chief Robinson, our meeting is about to start.
- All right.
We have the Women's CFD Leadership Committee.
Excuse me.
♪
.
- Hey, Lieutenant.
[soft tense music]
- What's going on, Damon?
Heard you were out of line on that last call.
- Yeah, I was acting like an idiot.
That father, he's a real piece of work.
Anyway, it just--it got to me.
- You're on thin ice with your lieutenant.
- Yeah, I know.
And I wanna make it right.
But the thing is--
♪
- Yep, he's late.
- He's retired.
- Exactly. That's why he's got no excuse.
Mouch, are you sure this is our guy?
- We spoke on the phone.
He claimed to be the OG driver of the old Truck 81.
And this one may need a new driver soon.
Now that they raised the retirement age to 65,
I'm thinking I still have a chance of making rank.
I'm gonna take the lieutenant's test.
- Ah, get out of here! - Mouch, that's great.
- Thanks. I've been studying real hard.
Trudy's been helping me.
She made flashcards. They're a little racy.
- [chuckles]
- Hey.
- Oh.
- One of you McHolland? - That would be me, sir.
Thanks for coming by.
- Lieutenant Geary, Lieutenant Herrmann.
- Hi. - Darren Ritter from Engine 51.
- So you blew up my rig, huh?
- Well, we didn't.
- Disgraceful.
Shameful. - Well, yes.
I mean, we figured--
that's actually what we would like to know,
if you made any modifications?
- You bet your ass we did.
Put in suspension from a Freightliner
for better lateral stability.
Performance fuel injectors
added 100 horsepower to that engine.
- I knew it was something.
- Couldn't do that today, though.
No, not with all the regulations and rules.
You never should have let it blow up.
It may look the same, but it'll never drive like it.
That rig was one of a kind.
- Yep.
- Well, you look like you're in as bad mood as I am.
- Yeah, it's kind of been the shift from hell.
- [scoffs] It really has.
- I'm torn.
I wanted to put Damon back in the floater pool.
But not only does Severide like the kid,
now that Carver's taken another furlough,
I do not wanna bring two newbies in next shift.
- Carver is taking another furlough?
- Yeah.
I think that call really messed him up.
Just the whole brother thing.
[apprehensive music]
Damn, I figured you knew.
You two have gotten so close.
- No.
No, we haven't, really.
And that's my fault.
But please tell me.
'Cause I-- I think I really messed up,
and I need to know.
♪
- I'd have heard by now
if I was gonna get that appointment.
I'm more disappointed than I thought I'd be.
- I'm sorry, babe. - It's okay.
This means I'm gonna have to fight Robinson
from the inside somehow.
[dishes clatter]
- Hey, hey.
I am here for whatever happens next.
And if that Robinson needs a little talking to,
you know I'm your girl.
- Yeah. - Hmm.
[cell phone buzzing]
- Boden here.
Yes, I understand.
Thank you.
It was Burns. He's at headquarters.
They want me down there immediately.
- Okay.
I love you.
- Love you too.
♪
[chuckles]
- You didn't know Stella Kidd came to see me
in Oakland, did you? - No, I did not.
- The kind of loyalty you inspire in your firefighters
is something you should be very proud of.
That's why I put aside my duties
and made the trip here today.
You bring people together at a time where all of us,
including the CFD, need it most.
You should be running this place.
- Thank you for your kind words.
- They're not just words.
Congratulations, Deputy Commissioner Boden.
[soft music]
♪
.
- You know, the way you held on to that harness,
I knew you'd keep fighting.
[pensive music]
♪
I think you must have some steel in you, my friend.
I wanted to let you know
I just got a pretty big promotion.
And that you helped inspire it.
I'm feeling a lot of... hope about it.
And that kind of surprised me.
♪
- Sam?
Sam?
[knocking]
[phone ringing]
[apprehensive music]
♪
- Hi.
- I was hoping you'd say that.
See, this is new.
And I want you to remember
as I go sashaying past you at work
that I have it on under my station gear.
- I will not be able to forget it.
- Good.
[phone dings]
Oh, my God.
Look at this picture Sylvie just sent of baby Julia.
That's a cute baby.
- You know, I was thinking that--
[soft music]
I was thinking that maybe we start a family.
I know, at least at first, it's a bigger decision for you.
- It is, yeah.
I just--
I--I wasn't expecting that.
- I know it kind of flew out of my mouth,
but I've been thinking about it a lot.
[phone dings]
♪
- Something's up.
- Wallace Boden is the new deputy commissioner
of the Chicago Fire Department.
Damn.
- That is crazy about Chief Boden.
Ah, so cool!
- Yeah, very cool.
I haven't been here long, but you can tell
he's a real stand-up guy.
- Yeah, he exudes, like, importance and kindness, too,
which is a rare combo, right?
- You're a positive person.
- Sometimes.
- If I don't get to stick around here at 51,
maybe me and you can get together sometime?
- Damon, if there's one thing I've learned about this place,
it's that you can't really hide stuff.
So if you wanna stay at 51, you might as well just
put whatever's been weighing on you out there...
And just see what happens.
♪
- Wanna go for a ride around the block?
- Yeah.
Ah!
[hydraulics hiss]
- This stupid thing.
No matter what I do,
it's never gonna be the truck I loved.
That one is gone now, for good.
He's packing up his office now.
♪
I'm really, really gonna miss him.
- [sighs]
[sniffles]
- We can still go down to HQ and visit him once in a while.
- Yeah. [chuckles]
He's gonna be the best damn DC this city has ever seen.
♪
But what are we gonna do without him here every day
holding us together?
[sighs heavily]
- Well, congrats, Deputy Commissioner.
- [laughs]
- Nice ring to it.
- Uh, we have some things to say as we send you off
to the tippy-top of the CFD. - Where you should be.
- Uh, thank you,
but we are all gonna see each other again.
There is no need for a big goodbye.
- That's the thing, there are people you say goodbye to
and people you can never say goodbye to
because they've become too much a part of who you are.
They've shaped you, trained you,
taught you everything you know, even.
- Hmm.
- You know, Mouch pulled me off a banister
and brought me here.
And now I look around sometimes
and it kind of feels like I was born here.
I didn't really know what being a firefighter was before--
or a brother.
- Amen.
- Now you get to do that for the whole CFD.
And they'll see how lucky we were.
- You made 51 a family, Chief,
and this fire house a home.
- I don't know that I can take much more of this.
- That's okay, 'cause there aren't any words for it.
- Except, I guess,
thank you, Chief...
For being the best friend and leader
anyone could ask for.
♪
- Come on now.
♪
- Hey, Lieutenant. You got a sec?
- What is it?
- I wanted to answer the question
that you asked me last shift
about why I lost my cool on that call
and why I really came to 51.
[soft tense music]
♪
That guy at the restaurant, the father?
He was being mean
and he was treating that younger kid like dirt.
And I had a father like that too.
His name was Benny Severide.
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
[wolf howls]