After-Take: CHICAGO FIRE “On the Warpath”
Name of the Episode: “On the Warpath”
Beware – spoilers!!
Now that Matt is the newly elected Alderman of the 52nd ward, everyone in the firehouse gives their faux complaints. Mouch is struggling to write his vows to Trudy in their upcoming nuptials. Otis tries again to ask out Sylvie, but Jimmy interrupts the conversation. If that wasn’t enough, an ambulance call comes through. A neighbor says a man badly wounded crawled by her house. He made it through her backyard, and managed to crawl down the block. Sylvie sees a single gunshot wound; she sends Jimmy to get the stretcher and report a crime scene. Suddenly a hooded man walks up and fires three gunshots into the already wounded man. He demands Sylvie’s identification and to not say one word to anyone.
As Jimmy comes back, Sylvie is visibly shaken by the attack she just witnessed. The man is miraculously still alive. They transfer their victim to Chicago Med. He did not survive the other gunshots and passed away from massive blood loss. Stella is invited to Mouch’s wedding and will be seated with Severide’s table. The two have history, but neither has really delved into the details. Sylvie and Jimmy wait for PD to show up at the hospital so they can make their move. She is not familiar with the officer who shows up. She instead goes to the station and leaves a message for Antonio. She cannot wait for a response because they are called to another scene. Fire and smoke loom in a city bank; seems to be an electrical fire. Truck goes in for a primary search, Mouch is hit in the head by one civilian. The man was resisting being helped because his friends were still in the building.
Matt and Stella find another man crawling by the safe. To their surprise there are people trapped inside the large walk in vault. It’s squad’s turn to try to prop the door open. There isn’t much time, the flames have grown bigger and surround the vault door. A second saw is brought in to help speed the process along. The flames rise quickly and Severide’s jacket is slightly burned. The door was opened and saved the two bank workers inside. Outside, Severide doesn’t want to be checked by the hospital, he insists it’s just a mild burn; nothing to worry about. Matt sees the walls were constructed with a cheap material that caused the hallway to catch on fire quickly.
Sylvie and Jimmy make another trip to Chicago Med. Sylvie went back to the ambulance to load up the supplies. As she walks back to the hospital entrance, she catches a glimpse of her attacker. Scared, she runs straight to the entrance and runs into Jimmy. She is terrified the man has seen her attempts to speak to the police.
Sylvie goes to Gabby to ask if she could get in contact with Antonio. The matter has already gotten too out of control; Sylvie finally goes to Chief Boden and asks for help.
Antonio identifies the gunshot victim as a part of street crew from Detroit. Their group came to pull a job, it went sideways. Now the leader is on the warpath to tie up loose ends. Antonio asks Sylvie to look at a few photos to see if she recognizes any of the men. She identifies the man who attacked, his name is Dale Corbin.
After Matt’s research, he finds out John Gallow was the head of the construction company responsible for the bank walls. He insists there was a sub contractor that cut corners. Gallow insists his work is good and invites Matt for a game of golf. Gallow gives donations and gifts to a majority of the city alderman’s. Matt thinks he can sway the vote and stand up to Gallow. Even with around the clock police detail, Jimmy still offers to give Sylvie a ride home.
Mouch continues to have his doubts about the wedding. Everyday Trudy has events lined up for them. He doesn’t think he can keep up the charade of being sophisticated. Severide keeps saying to bail on the wedding. Herrmann insists that after the wedding is over things will calm down and they will be happy staying at home.
Stella and Gabby stay with Sylvie to have a girl’s night in. There is an all night patrol car outside the apartment. Sylvie gets an unknown number calling her phone; a chilling voice says the police can’t watch her forever. Everyone once again ends up in Boden’s office. No one can track the call, so Sylvie cannot go out for calls. Gabby will take her shifts with Jimmy until the threat is neutralized. Sylvie is posted at the alarm desk while everyone else goes out for their calls. Jimmy and Gabby respond to a call to a gunshot victim. The police fired shots at the man because of their suspect alert. The suspect took a gunshot to the abdomen. Jimmy noticed Brett’s identification in his jacket pocket; and they positively identify him as Sylvie’s stalker. Gabby could not figure out why the victim could not breathe on his own; until they noticed, another gunshot wound hiding under his beanie. Once they removed the beanie, they see the bullet entered the front of his head, and had a clear exit point; shattering the back of his skull. There was nothing more they could do to save him and asked for a field termination request.
Sylvie was called to the scene to positively identify the body; once she did, Jimmy went to console her. After the Alderman vote, Matt loses his stance, but made his voice heard to all the council members. At the end of the episode, everyone gathers at Molly’s for Trudy and Mouch’s wedding. Mouch thanks Herrmann for getting his head on straight. In the back room, Trudy begins to have a meltdown of her own. She discusses how overwhelmed she felt with the constant need for classes. Burgess and Gabby tell her Mouch has never been happier; and they’ll be a wonderful match. Suddenly, Trudy realizes she’s getting advice from two single women. The wedding goes off without a problems and everyone gathers for the reception. Otis meets a wedding guest with a taste for Russian vodka and it’s history. He finally finds a love connection to move on past Sylvie.
Stella finally tells everyone how she and Severide know each other. They went to the fire academy together; and he tried to impress Stella by repelling down the side of her house, with a rose in his mouth and serenading her. He was blindly unaware that Stella was already married. Everyone is able to get a good laugh and over at the bar, Matt discusses the option of marriage with Gabby. He’s surprised when she doesn’t want more. She is satisfied with how things are; they can be together at home and at work. That confession makes Matt really sad and he walks away to congratulate the bride and groom.
Next week: A gang war threatens the streets of Chicago. In order to keep the city safe, Matt may strike a deal with the gang members. Stay tuned for more after takes!