CHICAGO FIRE — “Kind of a Crazy Idea” Episode 421 — Pictured: David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

Name of the Episode: “Kind of a Crazy Idea”

Beware – spoilers!

Talk about starting the show with a bang! Casey and Gabby are back in the saddle; they are back on the same page. Their schedules won’t allow for more time together, but it’s a nice start to the day. At the firehouse, Stella has the idea to make artisanal ice cubes the new featured item for Molly’s. Before the can thoroughly convince Herrmann they’re off to a call to an apartment building. The top floor looks to have the worst of the flames. Truck 81 goes into sweep the rooms. In one room, a woman has a heroin needle sticking out of her arm. Herrmann takes the mother out, but Dawson sees the baby hiding under the table. The roof is unstable and Boden wants everyone out quickly. Dawson is having a hard time getting the little boy to trust her; he goes to her and she grabs him to walk out of the building. The building flashes over while Severide, Cruz and Stella are on the ladder. Everyone is okay, but the little boy has a serious grip onto Gabby. Severide and Cruz wasted time on a false alarm and put their lives at a greater risk. He asks Boden for a upgrade in their equipment.

Cruz is upset with Otis because he bailed on the blood test. Otis insists he’s fine, the bruising went away and everything is normal. At the hospital, the mother is still coming down from the drugs. Louie is a foster baby, and the woman in the apartment is not his mother. The agency is overwhelmed, and he would go into a group home until he can find another foster family to take him. Louie looks so sad leaving Gabby’s arms; and the feeling is mutual to Gabby. Louie said he wanted his blanket and that thought stuck with Gabby. Casey takes Gabby to go pick up the blanket so Louie would feel more comfortable going into the group home.

Chief Barr is in charge of budgeting for the fire and police departments. He got his rank by working behind the desk and not actually working on the front lines. The chief says the money is split between multiple departments and the money may not be used for the firehouses. He insists Severide go to Casey to find money for the thermal imaging masks.

Gabby goes to drop off the blanket for Louie and only feels more worried about him being placed in a home. Cruz brings in the big guns for Otis. He brings in Baba; she yells at him for not taking care of himself. Otis hangs his head and says he’s going in to see Halstead after shift. Ambulance 61 gets a call to a fraternity house. The young man is suffering from a seizure. Everyone claims they just found him in that state. Jimmy demands to know what happened; a fraternity brother says they dared the boy to drink a bottle of soy sauce. Sylvie looked at the bottle and it was 20 ounces! The amount of sodium has sent him into an overdose and could be fatal.

They waited to call 911 because the boy insisted he was okay. Now he’s in a coma and he may never come out of it. Sylvie finds reassurance that she did the right thing by insisting Otis to seek help. Stella orders the ice machine and shows Herrmann the profits they could make. He begins to see the potential and is on board. After shift, Otis goes to Med to see Halstead as promised. Otis has Sylvie and Cruz present to hear his diagnosis. He doesn’t have leukemia, which was his greatest fear. He instead has a platelet disorder; his blood isn’t clotting properly and untreated it could lead to bleeding in the brain. He has options for treatments, but can’t report to work in the meantime.

When Casey comes home from his alderman meeting, Gabby is distracted. She is nervous and suggests becoming foster parents to Louie. Casey’s a little worried about the situation because she wasn’t ready for marriage. Their work schedules are intense and it wouldn’t be fair to Louie, or to them. Gabby is disappointed and leaves insisting she has to clean up her apartment and doesn’t want Casey to come with her. Gabby goes to the riverfront and watches families interact, longing for a child. Otis goes to Boden to explain the prognosis and is granted the time off. However, Otis seems worried he will never be able to come back to work. His dad died of leukemia; it was slow and scary. He doesn’t want to be sick and helpless to anyone. Gabby is waiting in Casey’s office and offers an apology.

Casey also apologizes for how everything happened. Gabby still insists it’s the right decision for her. She wants to foster Louie alone; she doesn’t want to strain Casey with the extra responsibility. She knows it’s the right decision, Louie needs help, and he needs a family. However, their next call is the address for Molly’s! A fire broke out in the stock room; looks to be an electrical fire, faulty wiring inside the back wall. The new icemaker is pointed out by Casey as the source of the spark. Stella insists she can fix everything, but Herrmann is furious over the lost business. Casey’s pull as alderman got the firehouse some new masks; Severide is overjoyed and can’t wait to try them out.

Gabby looks to Herrmann for encouragement about her mothering skills; he insists she will make a great mother. Otis is making the best of his situation by throwing out all junk food and starting a healthy lifestyle. The group home manager says Gabby wouldn’t be able to foster Louie. The process would take 4-6 months to be approved. He cannot stay in the home for that long. She takes the time to read him a story and sit with him. She cannot take no for an answer.

At the end of the episode, Stella tries to fix the wall herself at Molly’s. Unsuccessful at first, but Severide comes by to lend a helping hand. Stella asks Severide why he’s being so stand off towards her. After calling him out, Severide takes her into his arms. Severide finally made his move, years in the making. Looks like it’s the second spark the Molly’s stockroom has seen that day.

On next week’s episode, Firehouse 51 gets a call to a warehouse fire. Boden orders his team to exit the building. Except, not everyone makes it out! Who will survive the call? Stay tuned for another after take!