Chicago Fire – One Hundred

By starrymag | December 15, 2016

By: MaryBeth McMahon

 

 

Gabby (Monica Raymund) expresses a newfound lack of faith in the strength of marriage while getting ready for the day. She’s struggling to accept her parent’s divorce and tells Matt (Jesse Spencer), “If they couldn’t make it, then why could I think anyone could make it? What does marriage even mean anymore?” Matt snaps her out of it when he brings attention to Louie standing within earshot. Louie (Aiden Cohen) calls him “Matt,” immediately triggering a look of shock and defeat on Matt’s face. While Louis eats his breakfast, Matt notices a hooded man standing outside the apartment looking into the kitchen where he and Louis are. The man slowly sneaks away and Matt is suspicious and worried.

 

At Firehouse 51, Herrmann (David Eigenberg) looks through Molly’s old books with Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Otis (Yuri Sardarov). They are interrupted from their bar research when a call comes in from a residential neighborhood. As Squad 3 approaches the scene, a man tells them that he heard an explosion from the back of a nearby house. Severide (Taylor Kinney) knocks on the back entrance of the home and is just about to break through the door when he is met by a frazzled and jumpy, young man. They make their way inside and notice a blaring fire alarm, a series of Butane fuel canisters sitting on the kitchen table and a refrigerator that had exploded. The chemicals inside the fridge, which need ventilation as Severide explains, ignite another explosion in the second fridge. Gabby inspects Severide’s neck when Squad 3 carries the young man out on a stretcher; Severide has a considerably large red burn that he shrugs off as being okay.

 

Otis continues reading the documents from Molly’s and discovers that the bar, once called “The Walcott Street Pub”, has a 100^th anniversary fast approaching. In the firehouse kitchen, Otis gets the whole team on board with planning a 100^th anniversary party for the bar; however, Herrmann appears a bit skeptical as this could easily be added to the lengthy list of Molly’s failed marketing schemes. Down the hall, Severide examines his neck burn, which now has a few quarter-sized blisters. Capp (Randy Flagler) walks in on Severide in the bathroom and hints that he should get the burn looked at, but Severide is not pleased with the supportive comment and tells Capp to worry about himself.

 

Severide grabs a seat in Casey’s office and acts very much out of character. He asks, “What am I doing? What’s the purpose?” Casey is quite confused by Severide’s questions. Severide lightheartedly mentions an incident from the morning where he had a one-night fling with a woman and couldn’t remember her name. As an attempt to find out her name, he rummaged through her purse; however, she caught him and thought he was trying to steal from her. Making the situation amusing, he didn’t even find out what her name is. Severide asks the questions again and exclaims that he felt “nothing” when he got hurt in the fire earlier. A confused Casey suggests taking a boy’s fishing trip to “recharge batteries” and get out of Chicago. Severide agrees, but when Casey leaves the room, an unsatisfied and contemplative look remains on Severide’s face.

 

Matt and Gabby receive word that after the first 90 days with Louie they may apply for permanent adoption of him. They are surprised to hear that Gabby will be viewed as a single parent, even though Casey lives with them. They receive the paperwork right before a second call comes in.

 

Ambo. 61 pulls up to a school sidewalk where a group of adults and children are quietly standing. A woman points across the street to a man lying face down in the grass. Gabby and Brett (Kara Killmer) approach the unconscious man and turn him onto his back. When the man’s face becomes visible, Brett instantly recoils and jumps to her feet. It’s her worst fear: a clown. Gabby chuckles when Brett hesitates to help the man who is well-aware of her fear of clowns and is now taunting her.

 

At the fire station, Boden (Eamonn Walker) approaches Squad 3 as they play Scrabble. He skips the small talk and tells Severide to show him his neck, which now appears to be bleeding. Severide makes light of the situation and says that the burn is fine; Boden is not impressed and tells him to go to Med “pronto.” He relieves Severide from shift and names Capp “Acting Lieutenant.” Ambo. 61 drives past Severide and pulls into the station. Herrmann and Mouch (Christian Stolte) standby as Otis asks Brett, “Why don’t sharks eat clowns? Because they taste funny.” Mouch chimes in with a pun and tells Brett to go for the “juggler” if she is ever attacked by a mob of clowns. Herrmann doesn’t miss an opportunity to “support” her and tells Brett to “ignore these Bozo’s.” So begins the long road of firehouse clown jokes all made at Brett’s expense.

 

Gabby looks through the adoption paperwork at the firehouse and Matt tells her that he doesn’t want them to be “Mom and Matt” – he wants them to be “Mom and Dad” to Louie. Matt decides to talk to a family court judge to see if they can apply for co-adoption or at least seek out other options alternative to Gabby being the sole, adoptive parent. As Matt walks away from Gabby, he sees a man standing outside of the firehouse; it’s the same man who was looking into their apartment the previous morning. Matt rushes outside to confront the man who quickly drives away without saying a word.

 

Severide makes good on his word to Boden and gets checked out at Chicago Med. He is seen by a man quite familiar in the world of “Chicago Fire” – none other than Jeff Clarke (Jeff Hephner). Clarke, once a member of Firehouse 51, is now a doctor at Chicago Med. After Clarke finishes putting bandages on Severide’s burn, he deliberately asks Severide about his opinions towards bone marrow transplants, probing to see if he is on the donor list. Clarke says that he will have a nurse come in the room to draw a blood sample and see if Severide can be a donor. Severide defers, at least for a couple of months. Later on, Clarke approaches Severide in the firehouse and informs him about a patient with Leukemia who is having trouble finding a genetic match for a bone marrow transplant. Clarke pressures Severide to get his blood test, as time is of the essence and he and the patient may possibly be a match.

 

Severide continues to act out of character while grabbing a drink at Molly’s. Two women approach the table, one of whom boldly takes a sip out from Severide’s beer (not the most gracious or sanitary thing to do with a stranger’s drink). He doesn’t seem entirely pleased or impressed. They ask Severide to leave the bar with them to find something “more fun” to do, but this new-and-improved Severide declines.

 

At the bar counter, a reporter from the Sun Times greets Herrmann and Otis. This reporter, who does not partake in drinking alcohol and who also has a thing against drinking soda, makes things very uncomfortable for the duo. Otis expects this interview to solely be about Molly’s; however, he’s thrown off when the reporter starts with a question about current gun violence in Chicago. Otis expresses his distaste towards gun violence; his response is immediately met with the reporter critically asking, “Then why is your bar celebrating such a bloody history, one that includes Al Capone?” Once the reporter leaves, Otis looks into her comment and discovers that Molly’s was once the sight of a mob-related massacre. So it seems that Mouch’s previous comment, “Any press is good press” is not entirely valid. The bad press makes Herrmann want to cut his losses and cancel the party, especially with the chance of protestors being at the bar.

 

After meeting with the family court lawyer, Matt goes home and tells Gabby that the co-adoption route is no longer an option as the court will most likely not go for it. Defeated, Matt tells Gabby that he wants to pursue their original plan and will accept the circumstances, no matter what the legal documents say and no matter what Louie calls Matt. He handles the defeat rather well and only cares about Louie being in a permanent home with he and Gabby. Applying as a single parent may not be the ideal process, but Matt looks at the positive and exclaims, “There’s always an answer.” He goes into Louie bedroom and offers to read a story. Before doing so, Matt tells Louie how much he loves him and how much he means to him. He tells Louie, “No matter what anybody ever says, or what anyone else might call me, I will always…always be your dad. And that word means everything.” No matter what those legal documents say, Matt wants Louie to know that he will always be his father.

 

A call comes in for a multi-car rash at an intersection. Gabby and Brett correct a woman’s broken leg by pushing it from a bent 90-degree angle back to a straight and normal position; the woman screams in pain. Meanwhile, Squad 3 rescues two men trapped inside of a utility van, first attending to the man whose head has become lodged in the windshield. Truck 81 uses the Jaws of Life to rip open the door of a nearby car and rescue the passengers inside. After a successful series of rescues, Herrmann pleads with Matt about driving straight from the scene to Molly’s. A crowd is huddle outside of the bar, but it’s not a group of protestor’s…It’s a group of crime tour customers who are interested in, not offended by, Molly’s rich history.

 

Outside of Molly’s, Matt and Gabby greet Louie who in turn calls Matt by “Daddy.” Matt and Gabby are ecstatic. Herrmann gives a speech to the cheerful crowd about Molly’s anniversary, saying the bar “was built on Chicago soil and the original soil was rough and bloody and full of grit… but Molly’s foundation is built on love.” As Herrmann says, “We here at Molly’s look to the future,” Matt and Gabby look at each other with hopeful and understanding eyes. Their eyes meet and they both are thinking the same exact thing. With smiles on their faces, they sneak out and go to the court to see the family lawyer; Brett sees their exit and knows what’s going on. Just before the lawyer officiates their wedding, Brett opens the door to the court and is followed by Antonio (Jon Seda) and the entire firehouse family. After five seasons of struggling to be in the same place with one another, Matt and Gabby are entirely in sync and ready to be husband and wife, mother and father. It’s been a long and hard road for the two of them, but the peace and happiness in their expressions says it all: their “answer” to the adoption process has come and all of their newfound happiness with each other and with Louis has washed away all of those past heartaches.

 

After, Severide returns to the hospital and sees the patient in need of a bone marrow transplant (Charlotte Sullivan) he is convinced to help her at all costs. Meanwhile, Gabby and Matt head home, but are confronted by the hooded man who has been following Matt. He walks forward and tells Matt that he is Louie father and wants him back.