Chicago Fire s14e03 Episode Script
In the Blood
1
Isaiah is 14.
You said his mom is in the hospital?
The hope is that she'll
continue to improve
until she can take Isaiah back home.
His whole world's
been turned upside-down.
The two of us, that's all he's got.
The city's implementing rig reductions.
Does this include the medics?
EMS doesn't lose any rigs,
but I'm not gonna sugarcoat it for you.
You'll be working harder, sleeping less,
and carrying more.
This is our new reality.
[GUNSHOTS]
I just wanted to say that
what your dad did is on him.
You don't know a goddamn thing
about what my dad did, okay?
This is a call from the
Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Hey, Dad.
Next.
Step forward, please.
[DOOR CLANGS]
Move forward.
[PA SYSTEM BEEPS]
Attention, all visitors.
This facility has been
placed on lockdown.
Prisoner visitation has
been suspended for the day.
Repeat, this facility
is now on lockdown.
- Please make your way
- Okay, it's time to leave.
Hey, uh, excuse me!
- Head to the exit.
- Excuse me.
- Excuse me, Officer.
- Move towards the exit.
Hey, how you doing?
Look, I need to get
a message to an inmate, okay?
Keep jabbering at me, you're gonna
find yourself in there with him,
won't need me for nothing.
Let's go, folks.
Let's move it. Let's go.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
[PHONE BUZZING]
Oh, you gotta be kidding me.
You were up pretty late, huh?
No, not too bad. 11:00, 11:30.
You guys talk about
anything interesting?
No, we were pretty deep into
that "NightCrawl" game.
Isaiah kicked my ass. Again.
[CHUCKLES]
Looked like fun.
I gotta admit, I'm jealous.
Like, I, uh I'm just struggling
a little, trying to connect.
Maybe when we go see his mom next week,
that'll be a bonding thing.
Yeah. Yeah, I bet it will.
Well.
He is gonna be late.
Uh, come in.
Hey. Time to go.
Oh, I'm sorry. I was just
- um, I'm ready.
- Uh-oh.
What happened?
Oh, did a pen explode?
I'm sorry. It was, um
- I can wash it.
- Hey, no, it's okay.
It's really not a big deal at all.
What were you doing, anyway? Drawing?
I was just fixing my shoe.
The rubber part was falling off
and I kept tripping on it,
so I taped it back on, but then
Right, I get it.
Color it in so that
it wouldn't be so obvious.
- It was a bad idea.
- No, not at all.
It's I mean,
it's pretty clever, actually.
I wouldn't have known
if you hadn't shown me.
But
I am gonna take you
shoe shopping for new shoes
tomorrow after shift.
No, that's okay.
These are fine now, see?
Hey, listen, I'm super impressed
with the "MacGyver" move.
But making sure that
you have the basics,
that's that's what Kelly
and I are here for.
Yes, ma'am.
Great.
Okay, well, let's get out of here.
[GENTLE MUSIC]
♪
Shortest day off in history.
Yeah. Not sure we ever even left.
It's like that movie,
what's what's it called?
- "Groundhog Day."
- No, the other one.
Pretty sure it's "Groundhog Day."
- "Exterminating Angel."
- What?
I watched it on Turner Classic.
Why are you watching
Turner Classic Movies?
Are you, like, 80?
Morning, Lieutenant.
Good morning, Vasquez.
- Good morning, 51.
- ALL: Good morning, Chief.
First things first, I just got word from
Deputy District Chief Cranston
that Engine 51 is gonna be
- pulled from service this week.
- What?
I know.
Apparently, the brains down at HQ
bumped Mouch and his team
from the schedule.
Less than two hours' notice.
Trust me, nobody's more
fired up about this than I am,
but to be fair, they did warn us
that we'd be having brownouts.
So we're just gonna have to
keep rolling with the punches,
- as we always do.
- [ALARM BLARES]
Squad 3, Truck 81, Ambo 61.
Motor vehicle accident.
East Randolph at North Field Boulevard.
[SIRENS WAILING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Oh, my God.
99? Is that
That's my friend Murphy's rig.
- Grab the jump bag.
- Kidd, try the back door.
Squad, get the driver.
Cruz, grab the sked.
Violet!
Kelly.
Murphy? Murphy, it's Violet.
Hang in there, okay? Help is coming.
Violet! Get down. We got this.
Prep for the patients.
♪
Strike. Strike. Strike. Strike.
Sorry.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
- Hey, you all right?
- Yeah.
Capp, Tony, pop the windshield.
We'll take her through the front.
Here it comes, Herrmann!
- Nice.
- Got it.
- What's your name?
- Pierce.
- All right, secure!
- Copy that.
All right, Herrmann,
we gotta get the stretcher.
Yeah. [GRUNTS]
There we go.
- All right. Got it?
- Got it?
- All right.
- Grab it.
- All right.
- All right.
[GRUNTING]
Hey, what have we got?
64 years old. Uh, fell off a ladder.
Fractured his ribs,
but his vitals were stable
right up until the crash.
I only have a pulse on one side.
Try the pulse-ox on the other side.
Nothing.
All right, he could have
an aortic dissection.
Let's load him and go. We gotta hustle.
- Support her legs.
- Yep.
♪
[EXHALES]
[SIRENS WAILING]
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
Hey, are you sure you know
what you're doing in there?
You can do better, be my guest.
No.
- Hey, Kidd.
- Hey.
Uh, how's Isaiah settling in there?
I wish I knew.
He is he's a tough nut to crack.
Oh, so he's a teenager.
Yeah, I'm sure that's part of it.
Probably a bigger part than you think.
- Huh.
- Yeah. Check this out.
Now, Max, he quit
the soccer team two weeks ago.
Never said a word about it until Cindy,
she bumped into the coach at the bank.
And when she confronted Max about it,
this was his reply.
"Oh, yeah, LOL."
Cow emoji, salt shaker emoji.
They do that to confuse us.
Well, at least he replies to your texts.
I had to join Javi's "Fortnite" server
just to find out his girlfriend's name.
Thanks, guys. Good talk.
- Yeah.
- Yep.
[KNOCKING]
- You wanted to see me, Chief?
- Yeah, your MVA this morning.
I heard there was
an ambulance with a patient?
Ambo 99. A quarter-turn rollover.
No other vehicle on scene,
so not really sure what caused it.
Oh. And how are the medics?
PIC suffered some head trauma
and was taken to Med.
- Partner was able to walk away.
- And the patient?
Patient was touch-and-go on scene.
Haven't heard any updates.
Yeah, uh, okay.
Where are you off to?
Well, I've been trying
to get our fearless
deputy district chief
on the horn all day.
He's been dodging my calls.
All due respect, Chief, with
everything going on right now
in the CFD,
you think it's the right time
to go in there guns a-blazing?
Well, I'm not just gonna sit around
and watch my people be treated
like cogs in a machine.
They have families and bills.
They'd have picked up side work
if they had any warning
that they're gonna be
out of work all week.
Budget cuts are one thing,
but I'll be damned
if I'm gonna let this
become the new normal.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Yeah, we were pretty tight back then.
Well, nothing cements
a friendship more than
- trauma-bonding at the Academy.
- Mm-hmm.
I was there the night
she met her husband.
They have a daughter now. Lyra.
God, they must be
freaking out right now.
How old is Lyra?
[SIGHS] She must be four or five?
Six, maybe?
- I should know that.
- Hey. It's okay.
- Life gets busy.
- Mm-hmm.
It's not anyone's fault.
Here, go check on her.
I'm gonna hit the supply closet,
and I'll meet you at the ambo.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Is Murphy okay?
Uh, I don't know.
She hasn't come to yet.
They took her upstairs for a CT scan,
just trying to figure out if she
suffered any permanent brain damage.
Have you heard anything
about the patient
- you took over for us?
- Yes.
Uh, he had a tear in his aorta.
Caused some pretty severe
internal hemorrhaging.
He's on a ventilator
in a medically-induced coma.
- Is he gonna make it?
- I don't know.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
Crash was my fault.
- What do you mean?
- [SNIFFLES]
Sorry, I don't know what
the hell I'm talking about.
Just forget sorry, I gotta go.
[TENSE MUSIC]
And he just came out and said it?
- Just like that?
- Yeah.
I don't get it.
How could the guy in the back
cause an accident like that?
Maybe something didn't get
strapped down and went flying?
Happened to me once with an
O2 tank when I was brand new.
Well, whatever caused it,
a patient is in the ICU because of it
and a medic got seriously injured.
If that Pierce guy did cause it,
I just don't see how he keeps his job.
Yeah.
Because otherwise,
it doesn't make any sense.
- Do it. Make sure.
- Mm-hmm.
- Ms. Davis.
- Chief Pascal.
- It's good to see you again.
- I won't hold you up.
You look like you're a man on a mission.
Well, yes, I am actually on a mission,
trying to figure out why one of my rigs
was taken out of service
without any warning.
I'm concerned that whoever's
making these decisions
up there isn't taking into consideration
our response capabilities
or firefighter morale.
But maybe I should be
taking this up with you.
You are the mastermind of
all this cost-cutting, right?
Come by my office this week.
We'll have a chat.
My assistant will set it up.
I know what
yeah, I know what lockdown means, okay?
I'm just asking for a ballpark
estimate as to when he
no, he [SIGHS]
Yeah, great, great. Thanks for nothing.
[PHONE CLATTERS]
Is, uh, everything okay over there?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Um, one of those annoying billing
issues with the power company.
Yeah, I've been there.
They're all crooks.
[CHUCKLES]
Yeah, you know, because they
they know you can't take
your business elsewhere.
I don't know.
The way you were trying
to stitch yourself up
the other day, seem like a guy
who could live off the grid.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Hey, Novak.
Violet needs you in the briefing room.
The official diagnosis
is moderate traumatic brain injury.
She's still aphasic and disoriented,
but Dr. Archer promised
to keep us in the loop.
Is there any idea
what caused the accident?
No.
We still haven't been able
to get a statement from Murphy yet.
It's possible she won't remember
any of the details anyway.
And unfortunately,
we haven't had any eyewitnesses
- come forward either.
- What about Pierce?
He has no idea what happened.
He said he was monitoring the patient
when all of a sudden,
he was thrown across the ambo
like a ragdoll.
He didn't even
did he have, like, maybe a theory
on what might have happened?
He didn't volunteer one, no,
but my hope is we'll get more
- [PHONE BUZZING]
- Oh, excuse me.
I have to take this.
I'll be in touch if
I have any more questions.
- Thank you.
- Robinson.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
Did Pierce blatantly lie
to Robinson, do you think?
I don't know.
But if he thinks he can railroad Murphy
to save his own ass,
there is no way in hell
I'm gonna let that happen.
Well, the easiest way to remember
is that the engine brings the water,
truck brings the tools.
And truckies are way cooler, of course.
Hey, maybe you could
stop by the firehouse
after school sometime this week.
I mean, I don't mean to brag, but we got
some pretty cool stuff I could show you.
Okay.
You see anything you like?
What about oh, what about these?
They're Bulls colors.
I know you're a big fan, right?
- They're nice.
- Okay.
All right, I feel you.
What about what about these, hmm?
These are kind of more like
a skater vibe.
- You like these?
- Sure.
Maybe the young man
would like another pair
like the ones he's wearing.
We have some right here.
- What do you think?
- Yes, ma'am.
Awesome. Size seven.
- There's a bench there.
- Thank you.
[WHISPERS] Thank you.
I got three boys myself.
Once they find something they like,
that's all I can get for them.
God help me if I try
to take them shopping.
You'd think I was torturing them.
[CHUCKLES]
Does your son always
have such nice manners?
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
- Do you have any socks?
- Tons.
The wall right over there,
we have them buy one,
- get one free.
- Okay, great, thank you.
♪
[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]
♪
What's going on?
You said it was your fault.
Those were your exact words.
You said, "That accident was my fault."
But in your statement to Robinson,
suddenly you have no idea what happened?
- So which is it?
- It's not what you think.
I hope not, because from
where I'm standing,
it sure as hell looks like
you're trying to
throw all the blame onto Murphy.
Look, you're wrong.
I wasn't trying to blame her, I just
I shouldn't have let her drive.
I knew how exhausted she was.
Murphy fell asleep at the wheel.
♪
We'd been going nonstop,
literally, from one call
to the next our entire shift,
and Murphy was on less than
24 hours of rest.
That's just not enough,
not with how busy we are now.
How can you be sure she fell
asleep if you were in the back?
I felt the ambo drifting,
and when I looked up, we were
in the oncoming traffic lane.
I yelled her name at the top of
my lungs, and it woke her up.
She immediately jerked the wheel
but she overcorrected, and next
thing I know, I'm airborne.
Just so you know,
I'm not planning on telling anyone else.
No way I'm letting Murphy
take the hit for this.
She was only doing what she was told.
I agree. This isn't on Murphy.
The whole system is broken.
But we can't pretend we don't know why,
or it'll just keep happening,
and that'll be on us.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
So what are we supposed to do?
[SIGHS]
[CHUCKLES]
It is a miracle you've gotten as far
as you did and never got bounced.
Me? Wow.
Wow, okay, you're really
gonna make me bring up
your EVOC training, huh?
You're gonna make me do this?
You failed that, what, two, three times?
- Twice.
- [SCOFFS]
I don't know about that.
- You don't know about that?
- Mm-mm.
Nah, I'm being real with you, though.
Hmm?
I'm not sure I ever would
have made it through Academy
- without you, Sal.
- Get out of here, bro.
You're a born cop.
You just needed a little
confidence boost, that's all.
Still, not sure I ever said thank you.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
♪
You know, actually, there is a
there is a way that
you could repay the favor.
- Okay.
- You know, even things out.
Mm, should've known this
wasn't just a casual bro-down.
Well, let's hear it.
I need to get a look
at the Bianchi case file.
Can you get it for me?
You know how much heat I can
catch if my sergeant found out?
I do. I do.
And I wouldn't ask if it wasn't
a life-or-death thing.
- Oh.
- I know.
Listen, Sal, whatever happened
with your old man's investigation,
it doesn't matter anymore.
That scumbag Bianchi,
the jury acquitted him, bro.
He walked, and there's nothing
that can change that now.
Mm-hmm.
It's over.
Not for my dad, it's not.
I completely froze.
I I had no idea what to say.
Like, what even are we to him?
We're not his parents. We're not family.
- We're his guardians.
- But only for a little bit.
Well, that's what
fostering is, isn't it?
I don't know.
I think you're putting way
too much pressure on yourself
to make all this feel normal to him.
There's nothing about this
that is normal.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
Maybe this is just my life right now.
It's hard when you can't figure out
- how to reach someone.
- Well, it's only been a week.
We're basically strangers.
And we have to get to know him,
he has to get to know us.
- Give yourself a break.
- Hmm.
You heard back from
Dr. Archer, didn't you?
Yep, just now. Let's go for a ride.
Both needles look good. 124 and 129.
All right, check the code three package.
[SWITCHES CLICKING]
- Rear lights are hot.
- All right, copy.
Hey!
I'm so glad you decided to come.
- I wanna go see my mom.
- Okay.
I I thought we were.
I know, but I don't wanna
wait a whole another week.
- It's too long.
- That's fine.
I I just thought
that Terry had set it up
for next week because your mom
will be in the rehab unit
- by then.
- Yeah, but she's doing better.
- So can you take me?
- Absolutely, yes. Yeah.
I I will call Terry
and ask him to set it up
for tomorrow after shift.
Does that work?
Hey! So this must be Isaiah.
Isaiah, this is my friend
Christopher Herrmann.
And then that guy at the driver's seat,
- that's Sal Vasquez.
- What's up, buddy?
Hi.
So listen, bud, um,
one thing I've learned in all my years
is that firehouse tours
can be a total snoozefest.
So why don't we just skip
all the nonsense
and cut to the good stuff?
What's the good stuff?
You ever seen the jaws of life?
Come on.
[SOFT MUSIC]
All right, so somebody
gets pinned in a car, right?
What are we gonna do?
We gotta get 'em out really fast.
We throw this in.
They can't get out, and we go
- [JAWS WHIRRING]
- Oh, whoa!
Open anything.
- Hey.
- Hey.
How are you feeling, Murph?
Like I got flattened by a steamroller.
Well, you look good.
Liar.
[CHUCKLES]
What's up with you jumping
on top of my ambo like that?
You training for Squad now, or
seriously, what the hell
were you thinking?
- I wasn't.
- Clearly.
[CHUCKLES]
I'm glad you did though.
And I'm so glad it was you
that took care of our patient.
I wasn't sure if
you'd had any memory of it.
That's a good sign.
That's what Dr. Archer said too.
How about before we got there?
Do you have any memory
of how the crash happened?
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
Hey.
This is, uh, my partner, Lizzie Novak.
I didn't realize
this was an official visit.
It's not.
The lawyer from the union said
not to talk to anyone about
the accident, not even friends,
- so if you don't mind
- That's fine.
You don't have to talk. I just
[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]
Will you please listen
to what I have to say?
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
We know what happened,
and it's not your fault, Murph.
The city, the CFD, they have pushed you.
They have pushed all of us.
And we need to make them understand
that these are the consequences,
and it's only gonna get worse
if we don't speak up.
If I don't speak up, you mean.
I know it's not our jobs on the line.
- But next time, I mean
- It doesn't matter.
The city's broke, and there's
nothing we can do about that.
So why would I risk my career
when it won't make any difference?
Main to Ambo 61.
Boat incident on the river
at the 18th Street Bridge.
Possible cardiac event.
[CLEARS THROAT] Copy that, Main.
Ambo 61 en route.
♪
[SIRENS WAILING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
That's gotta be it.
Squad 3 to Main.
I need a fast boat
and a Coast Guard backup.
We have a runaway boat.
Copy that, Squad 3.
Moving in the Coast Guard now.
Is that guy passed out?
♪
CFD Rescue Boat to Squad 3.
We're on-scene.
All right, Cruz with me.
Kidd, get ready to hop
the Coast Guard cutter
if this all goes to hell.
- Copy.
- Copy that.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Hey, be careful.
What's the plan, Lieutenant?
Fall in the starboard side
of that ski boat.
[ENGINE REVS]
You sure?
It'd be safer from the outside,
don't you think?
Another two or three more circles,
that ski boat's running
into the river wall.
You wanna be on the outside for that?
No, sir.
All right, Cruz, I need you to spot me.
Until I give you the call, make sure
- you got solid footing.
- Good to go!
♪
All right, we need to get way closer.
Nice and steady, no sudden moves.
All right, a little closer.
♪
[ENGINES ROARING]
On my count.
One
Two, three!
♪
Heart rate and BP are normal.
It's not cardiac.
No, he's hypoglycemic.
Blood sugar's at 38.
Okay, let's load him up.
Give him IV dextrose en route.
- Thank you.
- Tell you what.
The amount of paperwork
you're gonna have
to get through, I don't miss it at all.
Lucky bastard.
What the hell?
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Hey.
Squad 3 to Main.
We're gonna need a second ambo
at the 18th Street Bridge.
How are we doing there, kiddo, huh?
Are you hurt? Can you get up?
- [GROANS]
- No?
All right.
I'll bet you hurt
that elbow when the boat
was bouncing around, huh? Okay.
Can I come in there
a little closer, sweetheart?
[GROANS]
Oh, that must really, really hurt.
Well, the good thing is,
I have a quick fix,
and I can make the hurting go away
[SNAPS] Just like that, all right?
Atta girl. Here you go.
- [GROANS]
- There.
It's done!
- It doesn't hurt anymore, right?
- Mm-hmm.
Come on, let's go visit your dad.
There you go.
[GRUNTS]
- Hey.
- Hey.
So, did you get your
billing issue sorted out?
I did, yeah. Yeah, I'm, uh
I'm staying on the grid.
All right. Good.
Okay.
Can you just tell me one thing?
What the hell is this?
[EXHALES] That, uh
that is lechon asado.
Lechon asado.
And what's that, like, pork?
It's a Puerto Rican delicacy.
Hey, there he is.
Paging Dr. Herrmann.
Give it a rest, will you?
What are you talking about, Capp?
Oh, they found a little kid on the boat
after you guys left,
and, uh, Herrmann figured out
she had nursemaid's elbow,
and he pulled this Mr. Miyagi trick
and fixed it right on the spot.
Not exactly brain surgery, Capp.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
That's it. That's our solution.
I put a quick-release by my side,
unhook it as soon as you
get on the other boat.
Let's rig it up and test it out.
Copy that.
I gotta say, that was one hell
of a save today, Lieutenant.
We're lucky you were out there for us.
Solid teamwork all around.
Well, well, well, look at you.
I've never seen the chief
walk more than ten feet
to compliment somebody before.
[LAUGHS]
Kelly.
Uh, hey, did you talk to Terry?
Yes, and he said no problem.
He's gonna call the hospital,
tell them to give
Isaiah's mom a heads-up.
Well, what time are we heading out?
I actually thought
I could take him on my own.
You know
after the thing
at the shoe store, I just
I need to figure out
a way to connect with him,
and I thought that
this could maybe help.
Yeah, no, I get it. Do your thing.
- Okay. Thank you.
- Yeah.
♪
[CLEARS THROAT] I know.
I know, and I'm sorry to barge in again.
Look, we know the whole
department is a mess right now,
so I totally understand why you
wouldn't wanna come forward.
But, Murph, what if there
was a way that we could
change things for the better?
I understand you spent some time
down in Miami for a few years.
What brought you back?
With all due respect, Ms. Davis,
I'm sure you're a busy woman.
Why don't we just cut to the chase?
What am I looking at?
You may not be aware of this,
but most firefighters work second jobs
when they're not on shift,
so if they unexpectedly lose
two or three shifts
and can't slot in other work,
that can mean the difference
between making the mortgage
and not making the mortgage,
and that shouldn't be taken lightly.
We don't take that lightly, Chief.
But with all the problems
we're up against,
it can't surprise you
that we've hit a few snags.
And we still have
a tough road ahead of us.
We're gonna need strong leaders
in the CFD
who can handle all the extra pressure.
What are you saying?
This won't be publicly announced
for another week or two, but City Hall
and the Fire Department
have finalized a plan
to consolidate and reduce the
number of battalions in the CFD.
When this plan goes into effect
Six battalion chiefs will have to go.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
Your passion for this job,
your commitment
to your firefighters
underneath your command,
that's exactly why
you aren't on this list.
[EXHALES]
Thank you for your time.
One other thing.
Uh, I was just wondering if
maybe sometime you and I
go grab a drink.
It's just that, in my experience,
it's a rare thing to meet
a man who isn't intimidated
by a woman in my position.
But no pressure, obviously.
No, it's just, um
I'm um, I'm married.
I was.
So I'm not in a place to, uh
Thank you again.
♪
I don't have to explain to you
what things are like right now
one medic calls off,
and that means another one
of us has to work a double
or on half the rest we normally get,
and then we're on,
and it's nonstop calls.
And with this city-wide hiring freeze,
it's only gonna get worse.
Someone will die at some point.
It's inevitable.
I don't disagree with
anything you're saying, but
I know. So what's our solution?
Firefighters.
What if we redeploy firefighters
to take some of the pressure
off of our paramedics?
Firefighters are already
on the city payroll
so the hiring freeze doesn't apply,
and every firefighter is already
a trained and certified EMT.
Plus, with their shifts
getting cut back,
every firefighter
we know will be lining up
for the extra hours. Everybody wins.
Well, I wouldn't say everybody.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
What Violet said about how sometimes
it takes a tragedy to wake people up,
make them see that something's
gotta change
she's absolutely right.
And if you're willing to come forward
about what really happened, I'd
I'd say we have a good chance of
selling this plan to the brass, but
I'll get fired.
It's very possible.
I'll fight it, but I can't
guarantee I'll win.
Are you prepared to take that risk?
I am, Chief.
♪
Damn. Six battalion chiefs?
[DISTANT SIRENS WAILING]
So they decided to go with
the chainsaw, not the scalpel?
Yes, they have.
I'm just glad you weren't
on the chopping block, Chief.
Would have been a disaster
for the entire CFD.
Why do you think Davis leaked it to you
before it was made public?
What?
She asked me out.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
- Did not see that coming.
- No, that makes two of us.
But the question is,
what is she really up to?
What do you mean?
Davis is a politico through and through.
Those people, they're
always working some angle.
Maybe she wants a source
closer to the ground.
Or maybe she just likes you.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
Doesn't matter.
We got bigger fish to fry.
I'm gonna be responsible
for five additional houses
with this whole battalion consolidation,
so I'm not gonna be here
for all the day-to-day.
I'm counting on you to step up
and take that role, Lieutenant.
What I saw on the boat call
and what I've seen in you
for a long time, in fact
I have no doubt that 51
will be in capable hands.
♪
I won't let you down, Chief.
[TRUNK POPS, CLICKS]
This is
I don't even know what to say.
You can say we're even.
Thank you.
For real.
♪
What?
Heard he's coming up for parole.
Look, I know you don't wanna hear this,
and I'm not gonna pretend like I know
what you're going through.
I mean, if it was my old man
I'm sure you've heard
what prison is like
for an ex-cop, right?
Now imagine being
an ex-cop who's in there
for planting evidence.
Like I said
I don't know what it's like
to be in your shoes,
- I'm sure as hell.
- Hmm.
But I'm telling you, Sal,
as your friend,
I've looked through it,
and there is nothing
in that file that's gonna
help you get your dad out.
I wish there was, but I'm sorry.
[TRUNK THUDS]
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
[CHUCKLES]
What?
What did the ocean say to the beach?
Nothing. It just waved.
That's bad.
What did one wall say to the other?
I'll meet you at the corner.
- [CHUCKLES]
- Stella Kidd?
I'll, uh I'll go see what's going on.
Is everything okay?
We tried reaching out
to Isaiah's caseworker
about this to save you
the trip down here.
The boy's mother
suffered a fairly big setback
- a few hours ago.
- Okay.
It's called post-traumatic hyper
What's wrong?
I'm sorry, son, but I really
need to speak with your
What? What's happening?
It's hard to explain.
Maybe we should let
the grown-ups figure this out.
Don't do that.
Don't treat him like a baby.
We're talking about his mom.
He deserves to know what's going on.
He can handle the truth, right?
[SOFT SOMBER MUSIC]
Isaiah, you mom developed
something called
post-traumatic hydrocephalus.
That means fluid has been
building up around her brain.
Once we caught it,
we did an emergency procedure
to drain the fluid
and relieve the pressure.
Now we just have to wait
and watch her closely
to see how her brain responds.
Where is she? I wanna see her.
She's intubated
and heavily sedated, so
Okay.
I really don't think
this is the best time.
Whoa, Isaiah!
[SIGHS, CLICKS TONGUE]
♪
[SOBBING QUIETLY]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]
Isaiah is 14.
You said his mom is in the hospital?
The hope is that she'll
continue to improve
until she can take Isaiah back home.
His whole world's
been turned upside-down.
The two of us, that's all he's got.
The city's implementing rig reductions.
Does this include the medics?
EMS doesn't lose any rigs,
but I'm not gonna sugarcoat it for you.
You'll be working harder, sleeping less,
and carrying more.
This is our new reality.
[GUNSHOTS]
I just wanted to say that
what your dad did is on him.
You don't know a goddamn thing
about what my dad did, okay?
This is a call from the
Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Hey, Dad.
Next.
Step forward, please.
[DOOR CLANGS]
Move forward.
[PA SYSTEM BEEPS]
Attention, all visitors.
This facility has been
placed on lockdown.
Prisoner visitation has
been suspended for the day.
Repeat, this facility
is now on lockdown.
- Please make your way
- Okay, it's time to leave.
Hey, uh, excuse me!
- Head to the exit.
- Excuse me.
- Excuse me, Officer.
- Move towards the exit.
Hey, how you doing?
Look, I need to get
a message to an inmate, okay?
Keep jabbering at me, you're gonna
find yourself in there with him,
won't need me for nothing.
Let's go, folks.
Let's move it. Let's go.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
[PHONE BUZZING]
Oh, you gotta be kidding me.
You were up pretty late, huh?
No, not too bad. 11:00, 11:30.
You guys talk about
anything interesting?
No, we were pretty deep into
that "NightCrawl" game.
Isaiah kicked my ass. Again.
[CHUCKLES]
Looked like fun.
I gotta admit, I'm jealous.
Like, I, uh I'm just struggling
a little, trying to connect.
Maybe when we go see his mom next week,
that'll be a bonding thing.
Yeah. Yeah, I bet it will.
Well.
He is gonna be late.
Uh, come in.
Hey. Time to go.
Oh, I'm sorry. I was just
- um, I'm ready.
- Uh-oh.
What happened?
Oh, did a pen explode?
I'm sorry. It was, um
- I can wash it.
- Hey, no, it's okay.
It's really not a big deal at all.
What were you doing, anyway? Drawing?
I was just fixing my shoe.
The rubber part was falling off
and I kept tripping on it,
so I taped it back on, but then
Right, I get it.
Color it in so that
it wouldn't be so obvious.
- It was a bad idea.
- No, not at all.
It's I mean,
it's pretty clever, actually.
I wouldn't have known
if you hadn't shown me.
But
I am gonna take you
shoe shopping for new shoes
tomorrow after shift.
No, that's okay.
These are fine now, see?
Hey, listen, I'm super impressed
with the "MacGyver" move.
But making sure that
you have the basics,
that's that's what Kelly
and I are here for.
Yes, ma'am.
Great.
Okay, well, let's get out of here.
[GENTLE MUSIC]
♪
Shortest day off in history.
Yeah. Not sure we ever even left.
It's like that movie,
what's what's it called?
- "Groundhog Day."
- No, the other one.
Pretty sure it's "Groundhog Day."
- "Exterminating Angel."
- What?
I watched it on Turner Classic.
Why are you watching
Turner Classic Movies?
Are you, like, 80?
Morning, Lieutenant.
Good morning, Vasquez.
- Good morning, 51.
- ALL: Good morning, Chief.
First things first, I just got word from
Deputy District Chief Cranston
that Engine 51 is gonna be
- pulled from service this week.
- What?
I know.
Apparently, the brains down at HQ
bumped Mouch and his team
from the schedule.
Less than two hours' notice.
Trust me, nobody's more
fired up about this than I am,
but to be fair, they did warn us
that we'd be having brownouts.
So we're just gonna have to
keep rolling with the punches,
- as we always do.
- [ALARM BLARES]
Squad 3, Truck 81, Ambo 61.
Motor vehicle accident.
East Randolph at North Field Boulevard.
[SIRENS WAILING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Oh, my God.
99? Is that
That's my friend Murphy's rig.
- Grab the jump bag.
- Kidd, try the back door.
Squad, get the driver.
Cruz, grab the sked.
Violet!
Kelly.
Murphy? Murphy, it's Violet.
Hang in there, okay? Help is coming.
Violet! Get down. We got this.
Prep for the patients.
♪
Strike. Strike. Strike. Strike.
Sorry.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
- Hey, you all right?
- Yeah.
Capp, Tony, pop the windshield.
We'll take her through the front.
Here it comes, Herrmann!
- Nice.
- Got it.
- What's your name?
- Pierce.
- All right, secure!
- Copy that.
All right, Herrmann,
we gotta get the stretcher.
Yeah. [GRUNTS]
There we go.
- All right. Got it?
- Got it?
- All right.
- Grab it.
- All right.
- All right.
[GRUNTING]
Hey, what have we got?
64 years old. Uh, fell off a ladder.
Fractured his ribs,
but his vitals were stable
right up until the crash.
I only have a pulse on one side.
Try the pulse-ox on the other side.
Nothing.
All right, he could have
an aortic dissection.
Let's load him and go. We gotta hustle.
- Support her legs.
- Yep.
♪
[EXHALES]
[SIRENS WAILING]
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
Hey, are you sure you know
what you're doing in there?
You can do better, be my guest.
No.
- Hey, Kidd.
- Hey.
Uh, how's Isaiah settling in there?
I wish I knew.
He is he's a tough nut to crack.
Oh, so he's a teenager.
Yeah, I'm sure that's part of it.
Probably a bigger part than you think.
- Huh.
- Yeah. Check this out.
Now, Max, he quit
the soccer team two weeks ago.
Never said a word about it until Cindy,
she bumped into the coach at the bank.
And when she confronted Max about it,
this was his reply.
"Oh, yeah, LOL."
Cow emoji, salt shaker emoji.
They do that to confuse us.
Well, at least he replies to your texts.
I had to join Javi's "Fortnite" server
just to find out his girlfriend's name.
Thanks, guys. Good talk.
- Yeah.
- Yep.
[KNOCKING]
- You wanted to see me, Chief?
- Yeah, your MVA this morning.
I heard there was
an ambulance with a patient?
Ambo 99. A quarter-turn rollover.
No other vehicle on scene,
so not really sure what caused it.
Oh. And how are the medics?
PIC suffered some head trauma
and was taken to Med.
- Partner was able to walk away.
- And the patient?
Patient was touch-and-go on scene.
Haven't heard any updates.
Yeah, uh, okay.
Where are you off to?
Well, I've been trying
to get our fearless
deputy district chief
on the horn all day.
He's been dodging my calls.
All due respect, Chief, with
everything going on right now
in the CFD,
you think it's the right time
to go in there guns a-blazing?
Well, I'm not just gonna sit around
and watch my people be treated
like cogs in a machine.
They have families and bills.
They'd have picked up side work
if they had any warning
that they're gonna be
out of work all week.
Budget cuts are one thing,
but I'll be damned
if I'm gonna let this
become the new normal.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Yeah, we were pretty tight back then.
Well, nothing cements
a friendship more than
- trauma-bonding at the Academy.
- Mm-hmm.
I was there the night
she met her husband.
They have a daughter now. Lyra.
God, they must be
freaking out right now.
How old is Lyra?
[SIGHS] She must be four or five?
Six, maybe?
- I should know that.
- Hey. It's okay.
- Life gets busy.
- Mm-hmm.
It's not anyone's fault.
Here, go check on her.
I'm gonna hit the supply closet,
and I'll meet you at the ambo.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Is Murphy okay?
Uh, I don't know.
She hasn't come to yet.
They took her upstairs for a CT scan,
just trying to figure out if she
suffered any permanent brain damage.
Have you heard anything
about the patient
- you took over for us?
- Yes.
Uh, he had a tear in his aorta.
Caused some pretty severe
internal hemorrhaging.
He's on a ventilator
in a medically-induced coma.
- Is he gonna make it?
- I don't know.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
Crash was my fault.
- What do you mean?
- [SNIFFLES]
Sorry, I don't know what
the hell I'm talking about.
Just forget sorry, I gotta go.
[TENSE MUSIC]
And he just came out and said it?
- Just like that?
- Yeah.
I don't get it.
How could the guy in the back
cause an accident like that?
Maybe something didn't get
strapped down and went flying?
Happened to me once with an
O2 tank when I was brand new.
Well, whatever caused it,
a patient is in the ICU because of it
and a medic got seriously injured.
If that Pierce guy did cause it,
I just don't see how he keeps his job.
Yeah.
Because otherwise,
it doesn't make any sense.
- Do it. Make sure.
- Mm-hmm.
- Ms. Davis.
- Chief Pascal.
- It's good to see you again.
- I won't hold you up.
You look like you're a man on a mission.
Well, yes, I am actually on a mission,
trying to figure out why one of my rigs
was taken out of service
without any warning.
I'm concerned that whoever's
making these decisions
up there isn't taking into consideration
our response capabilities
or firefighter morale.
But maybe I should be
taking this up with you.
You are the mastermind of
all this cost-cutting, right?
Come by my office this week.
We'll have a chat.
My assistant will set it up.
I know what
yeah, I know what lockdown means, okay?
I'm just asking for a ballpark
estimate as to when he
no, he [SIGHS]
Yeah, great, great. Thanks for nothing.
[PHONE CLATTERS]
Is, uh, everything okay over there?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Um, one of those annoying billing
issues with the power company.
Yeah, I've been there.
They're all crooks.
[CHUCKLES]
Yeah, you know, because they
they know you can't take
your business elsewhere.
I don't know.
The way you were trying
to stitch yourself up
the other day, seem like a guy
who could live off the grid.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Hey, Novak.
Violet needs you in the briefing room.
The official diagnosis
is moderate traumatic brain injury.
She's still aphasic and disoriented,
but Dr. Archer promised
to keep us in the loop.
Is there any idea
what caused the accident?
No.
We still haven't been able
to get a statement from Murphy yet.
It's possible she won't remember
any of the details anyway.
And unfortunately,
we haven't had any eyewitnesses
- come forward either.
- What about Pierce?
He has no idea what happened.
He said he was monitoring the patient
when all of a sudden,
he was thrown across the ambo
like a ragdoll.
He didn't even
did he have, like, maybe a theory
on what might have happened?
He didn't volunteer one, no,
but my hope is we'll get more
- [PHONE BUZZING]
- Oh, excuse me.
I have to take this.
I'll be in touch if
I have any more questions.
- Thank you.
- Robinson.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
Did Pierce blatantly lie
to Robinson, do you think?
I don't know.
But if he thinks he can railroad Murphy
to save his own ass,
there is no way in hell
I'm gonna let that happen.
Well, the easiest way to remember
is that the engine brings the water,
truck brings the tools.
And truckies are way cooler, of course.
Hey, maybe you could
stop by the firehouse
after school sometime this week.
I mean, I don't mean to brag, but we got
some pretty cool stuff I could show you.
Okay.
You see anything you like?
What about oh, what about these?
They're Bulls colors.
I know you're a big fan, right?
- They're nice.
- Okay.
All right, I feel you.
What about what about these, hmm?
These are kind of more like
a skater vibe.
- You like these?
- Sure.
Maybe the young man
would like another pair
like the ones he's wearing.
We have some right here.
- What do you think?
- Yes, ma'am.
Awesome. Size seven.
- There's a bench there.
- Thank you.
[WHISPERS] Thank you.
I got three boys myself.
Once they find something they like,
that's all I can get for them.
God help me if I try
to take them shopping.
You'd think I was torturing them.
[CHUCKLES]
Does your son always
have such nice manners?
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
- Do you have any socks?
- Tons.
The wall right over there,
we have them buy one,
- get one free.
- Okay, great, thank you.
♪
[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]
♪
What's going on?
You said it was your fault.
Those were your exact words.
You said, "That accident was my fault."
But in your statement to Robinson,
suddenly you have no idea what happened?
- So which is it?
- It's not what you think.
I hope not, because from
where I'm standing,
it sure as hell looks like
you're trying to
throw all the blame onto Murphy.
Look, you're wrong.
I wasn't trying to blame her, I just
I shouldn't have let her drive.
I knew how exhausted she was.
Murphy fell asleep at the wheel.
♪
We'd been going nonstop,
literally, from one call
to the next our entire shift,
and Murphy was on less than
24 hours of rest.
That's just not enough,
not with how busy we are now.
How can you be sure she fell
asleep if you were in the back?
I felt the ambo drifting,
and when I looked up, we were
in the oncoming traffic lane.
I yelled her name at the top of
my lungs, and it woke her up.
She immediately jerked the wheel
but she overcorrected, and next
thing I know, I'm airborne.
Just so you know,
I'm not planning on telling anyone else.
No way I'm letting Murphy
take the hit for this.
She was only doing what she was told.
I agree. This isn't on Murphy.
The whole system is broken.
But we can't pretend we don't know why,
or it'll just keep happening,
and that'll be on us.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
So what are we supposed to do?
[SIGHS]
[CHUCKLES]
It is a miracle you've gotten as far
as you did and never got bounced.
Me? Wow.
Wow, okay, you're really
gonna make me bring up
your EVOC training, huh?
You're gonna make me do this?
You failed that, what, two, three times?
- Twice.
- [SCOFFS]
I don't know about that.
- You don't know about that?
- Mm-mm.
Nah, I'm being real with you, though.
Hmm?
I'm not sure I ever would
have made it through Academy
- without you, Sal.
- Get out of here, bro.
You're a born cop.
You just needed a little
confidence boost, that's all.
Still, not sure I ever said thank you.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
♪
You know, actually, there is a
there is a way that
you could repay the favor.
- Okay.
- You know, even things out.
Mm, should've known this
wasn't just a casual bro-down.
Well, let's hear it.
I need to get a look
at the Bianchi case file.
Can you get it for me?
You know how much heat I can
catch if my sergeant found out?
I do. I do.
And I wouldn't ask if it wasn't
a life-or-death thing.
- Oh.
- I know.
Listen, Sal, whatever happened
with your old man's investigation,
it doesn't matter anymore.
That scumbag Bianchi,
the jury acquitted him, bro.
He walked, and there's nothing
that can change that now.
Mm-hmm.
It's over.
Not for my dad, it's not.
I completely froze.
I I had no idea what to say.
Like, what even are we to him?
We're not his parents. We're not family.
- We're his guardians.
- But only for a little bit.
Well, that's what
fostering is, isn't it?
I don't know.
I think you're putting way
too much pressure on yourself
to make all this feel normal to him.
There's nothing about this
that is normal.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
Maybe this is just my life right now.
It's hard when you can't figure out
- how to reach someone.
- Well, it's only been a week.
We're basically strangers.
And we have to get to know him,
he has to get to know us.
- Give yourself a break.
- Hmm.
You heard back from
Dr. Archer, didn't you?
Yep, just now. Let's go for a ride.
Both needles look good. 124 and 129.
All right, check the code three package.
[SWITCHES CLICKING]
- Rear lights are hot.
- All right, copy.
Hey!
I'm so glad you decided to come.
- I wanna go see my mom.
- Okay.
I I thought we were.
I know, but I don't wanna
wait a whole another week.
- It's too long.
- That's fine.
I I just thought
that Terry had set it up
for next week because your mom
will be in the rehab unit
- by then.
- Yeah, but she's doing better.
- So can you take me?
- Absolutely, yes. Yeah.
I I will call Terry
and ask him to set it up
for tomorrow after shift.
Does that work?
Hey! So this must be Isaiah.
Isaiah, this is my friend
Christopher Herrmann.
And then that guy at the driver's seat,
- that's Sal Vasquez.
- What's up, buddy?
Hi.
So listen, bud, um,
one thing I've learned in all my years
is that firehouse tours
can be a total snoozefest.
So why don't we just skip
all the nonsense
and cut to the good stuff?
What's the good stuff?
You ever seen the jaws of life?
Come on.
[SOFT MUSIC]
All right, so somebody
gets pinned in a car, right?
What are we gonna do?
We gotta get 'em out really fast.
We throw this in.
They can't get out, and we go
- [JAWS WHIRRING]
- Oh, whoa!
Open anything.
- Hey.
- Hey.
How are you feeling, Murph?
Like I got flattened by a steamroller.
Well, you look good.
Liar.
[CHUCKLES]
What's up with you jumping
on top of my ambo like that?
You training for Squad now, or
seriously, what the hell
were you thinking?
- I wasn't.
- Clearly.
[CHUCKLES]
I'm glad you did though.
And I'm so glad it was you
that took care of our patient.
I wasn't sure if
you'd had any memory of it.
That's a good sign.
That's what Dr. Archer said too.
How about before we got there?
Do you have any memory
of how the crash happened?
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
Hey.
This is, uh, my partner, Lizzie Novak.
I didn't realize
this was an official visit.
It's not.
The lawyer from the union said
not to talk to anyone about
the accident, not even friends,
- so if you don't mind
- That's fine.
You don't have to talk. I just
[APPREHENSIVE MUSIC]
Will you please listen
to what I have to say?
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
We know what happened,
and it's not your fault, Murph.
The city, the CFD, they have pushed you.
They have pushed all of us.
And we need to make them understand
that these are the consequences,
and it's only gonna get worse
if we don't speak up.
If I don't speak up, you mean.
I know it's not our jobs on the line.
- But next time, I mean
- It doesn't matter.
The city's broke, and there's
nothing we can do about that.
So why would I risk my career
when it won't make any difference?
Main to Ambo 61.
Boat incident on the river
at the 18th Street Bridge.
Possible cardiac event.
[CLEARS THROAT] Copy that, Main.
Ambo 61 en route.
♪
[SIRENS WAILING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
That's gotta be it.
Squad 3 to Main.
I need a fast boat
and a Coast Guard backup.
We have a runaway boat.
Copy that, Squad 3.
Moving in the Coast Guard now.
Is that guy passed out?
♪
CFD Rescue Boat to Squad 3.
We're on-scene.
All right, Cruz with me.
Kidd, get ready to hop
the Coast Guard cutter
if this all goes to hell.
- Copy.
- Copy that.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Hey, be careful.
What's the plan, Lieutenant?
Fall in the starboard side
of that ski boat.
[ENGINE REVS]
You sure?
It'd be safer from the outside,
don't you think?
Another two or three more circles,
that ski boat's running
into the river wall.
You wanna be on the outside for that?
No, sir.
All right, Cruz, I need you to spot me.
Until I give you the call, make sure
- you got solid footing.
- Good to go!
♪
All right, we need to get way closer.
Nice and steady, no sudden moves.
All right, a little closer.
♪
[ENGINES ROARING]
On my count.
One
Two, three!
♪
Heart rate and BP are normal.
It's not cardiac.
No, he's hypoglycemic.
Blood sugar's at 38.
Okay, let's load him up.
Give him IV dextrose en route.
- Thank you.
- Tell you what.
The amount of paperwork
you're gonna have
to get through, I don't miss it at all.
Lucky bastard.
What the hell?
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Hey.
Squad 3 to Main.
We're gonna need a second ambo
at the 18th Street Bridge.
How are we doing there, kiddo, huh?
Are you hurt? Can you get up?
- [GROANS]
- No?
All right.
I'll bet you hurt
that elbow when the boat
was bouncing around, huh? Okay.
Can I come in there
a little closer, sweetheart?
[GROANS]
Oh, that must really, really hurt.
Well, the good thing is,
I have a quick fix,
and I can make the hurting go away
[SNAPS] Just like that, all right?
Atta girl. Here you go.
- [GROANS]
- There.
It's done!
- It doesn't hurt anymore, right?
- Mm-hmm.
Come on, let's go visit your dad.
There you go.
[GRUNTS]
- Hey.
- Hey.
So, did you get your
billing issue sorted out?
I did, yeah. Yeah, I'm, uh
I'm staying on the grid.
All right. Good.
Okay.
Can you just tell me one thing?
What the hell is this?
[EXHALES] That, uh
that is lechon asado.
Lechon asado.
And what's that, like, pork?
It's a Puerto Rican delicacy.
Hey, there he is.
Paging Dr. Herrmann.
Give it a rest, will you?
What are you talking about, Capp?
Oh, they found a little kid on the boat
after you guys left,
and, uh, Herrmann figured out
she had nursemaid's elbow,
and he pulled this Mr. Miyagi trick
and fixed it right on the spot.
Not exactly brain surgery, Capp.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
That's it. That's our solution.
I put a quick-release by my side,
unhook it as soon as you
get on the other boat.
Let's rig it up and test it out.
Copy that.
I gotta say, that was one hell
of a save today, Lieutenant.
We're lucky you were out there for us.
Solid teamwork all around.
Well, well, well, look at you.
I've never seen the chief
walk more than ten feet
to compliment somebody before.
[LAUGHS]
Kelly.
Uh, hey, did you talk to Terry?
Yes, and he said no problem.
He's gonna call the hospital,
tell them to give
Isaiah's mom a heads-up.
Well, what time are we heading out?
I actually thought
I could take him on my own.
You know
after the thing
at the shoe store, I just
I need to figure out
a way to connect with him,
and I thought that
this could maybe help.
Yeah, no, I get it. Do your thing.
- Okay. Thank you.
- Yeah.
♪
[CLEARS THROAT] I know.
I know, and I'm sorry to barge in again.
Look, we know the whole
department is a mess right now,
so I totally understand why you
wouldn't wanna come forward.
But, Murph, what if there
was a way that we could
change things for the better?
I understand you spent some time
down in Miami for a few years.
What brought you back?
With all due respect, Ms. Davis,
I'm sure you're a busy woman.
Why don't we just cut to the chase?
What am I looking at?
You may not be aware of this,
but most firefighters work second jobs
when they're not on shift,
so if they unexpectedly lose
two or three shifts
and can't slot in other work,
that can mean the difference
between making the mortgage
and not making the mortgage,
and that shouldn't be taken lightly.
We don't take that lightly, Chief.
But with all the problems
we're up against,
it can't surprise you
that we've hit a few snags.
And we still have
a tough road ahead of us.
We're gonna need strong leaders
in the CFD
who can handle all the extra pressure.
What are you saying?
This won't be publicly announced
for another week or two, but City Hall
and the Fire Department
have finalized a plan
to consolidate and reduce the
number of battalions in the CFD.
When this plan goes into effect
Six battalion chiefs will have to go.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
Your passion for this job,
your commitment
to your firefighters
underneath your command,
that's exactly why
you aren't on this list.
[EXHALES]
Thank you for your time.
One other thing.
Uh, I was just wondering if
maybe sometime you and I
go grab a drink.
It's just that, in my experience,
it's a rare thing to meet
a man who isn't intimidated
by a woman in my position.
But no pressure, obviously.
No, it's just, um
I'm um, I'm married.
I was.
So I'm not in a place to, uh
Thank you again.
♪
I don't have to explain to you
what things are like right now
one medic calls off,
and that means another one
of us has to work a double
or on half the rest we normally get,
and then we're on,
and it's nonstop calls.
And with this city-wide hiring freeze,
it's only gonna get worse.
Someone will die at some point.
It's inevitable.
I don't disagree with
anything you're saying, but
I know. So what's our solution?
Firefighters.
What if we redeploy firefighters
to take some of the pressure
off of our paramedics?
Firefighters are already
on the city payroll
so the hiring freeze doesn't apply,
and every firefighter is already
a trained and certified EMT.
Plus, with their shifts
getting cut back,
every firefighter
we know will be lining up
for the extra hours. Everybody wins.
Well, I wouldn't say everybody.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
What Violet said about how sometimes
it takes a tragedy to wake people up,
make them see that something's
gotta change
she's absolutely right.
And if you're willing to come forward
about what really happened, I'd
I'd say we have a good chance of
selling this plan to the brass, but
I'll get fired.
It's very possible.
I'll fight it, but I can't
guarantee I'll win.
Are you prepared to take that risk?
I am, Chief.
♪
Damn. Six battalion chiefs?
[DISTANT SIRENS WAILING]
So they decided to go with
the chainsaw, not the scalpel?
Yes, they have.
I'm just glad you weren't
on the chopping block, Chief.
Would have been a disaster
for the entire CFD.
Why do you think Davis leaked it to you
before it was made public?
What?
She asked me out.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
- Did not see that coming.
- No, that makes two of us.
But the question is,
what is she really up to?
What do you mean?
Davis is a politico through and through.
Those people, they're
always working some angle.
Maybe she wants a source
closer to the ground.
Or maybe she just likes you.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
Doesn't matter.
We got bigger fish to fry.
I'm gonna be responsible
for five additional houses
with this whole battalion consolidation,
so I'm not gonna be here
for all the day-to-day.
I'm counting on you to step up
and take that role, Lieutenant.
What I saw on the boat call
and what I've seen in you
for a long time, in fact
I have no doubt that 51
will be in capable hands.
♪
I won't let you down, Chief.
[TRUNK POPS, CLICKS]
This is
I don't even know what to say.
You can say we're even.
Thank you.
For real.
♪
What?
Heard he's coming up for parole.
Look, I know you don't wanna hear this,
and I'm not gonna pretend like I know
what you're going through.
I mean, if it was my old man
I'm sure you've heard
what prison is like
for an ex-cop, right?
Now imagine being
an ex-cop who's in there
for planting evidence.
Like I said
I don't know what it's like
to be in your shoes,
- I'm sure as hell.
- Hmm.
But I'm telling you, Sal,
as your friend,
I've looked through it,
and there is nothing
in that file that's gonna
help you get your dad out.
I wish there was, but I'm sorry.
[TRUNK THUDS]
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
[CHUCKLES]
What?
What did the ocean say to the beach?
Nothing. It just waved.
That's bad.
What did one wall say to the other?
I'll meet you at the corner.
- [CHUCKLES]
- Stella Kidd?
I'll, uh I'll go see what's going on.
Is everything okay?
We tried reaching out
to Isaiah's caseworker
about this to save you
the trip down here.
The boy's mother
suffered a fairly big setback
- a few hours ago.
- Okay.
It's called post-traumatic hyper
What's wrong?
I'm sorry, son, but I really
need to speak with your
What? What's happening?
It's hard to explain.
Maybe we should let
the grown-ups figure this out.
Don't do that.
Don't treat him like a baby.
We're talking about his mom.
He deserves to know what's going on.
He can handle the truth, right?
[SOFT SOMBER MUSIC]
Isaiah, you mom developed
something called
post-traumatic hydrocephalus.
That means fluid has been
building up around her brain.
Once we caught it,
we did an emergency procedure
to drain the fluid
and relieve the pressure.
Now we just have to wait
and watch her closely
to see how her brain responds.
Where is she? I wanna see her.
She's intubated
and heavily sedated, so
Okay.
I really don't think
this is the best time.
Whoa, Isaiah!
[SIGHS, CLICKS TONGUE]
♪
[SOBBING QUIETLY]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]