After-Take: CHICAGO FIRE “I Held Her Hand”

CHICAGO FIRE -- "I Held Her Hand" Episode 505 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jesse Spencer as Matthew Casey, David Eigenberg as Christopher Hermann -- (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)

CHICAGO FIRE — “I Held Her Hand” Episode 505 — Pictured: (l-r) Jesse Spencer as Matthew Casey, David Eigenberg as Christopher Hermann — (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)

Name of the Episode: “I Held Her Hand”

A graffiti tag is found on the side of the firehouse, but before they can clean it up, they’re called away. An apartment has caught fire; the husband is dragged out by Severide. His wife is caught in the flames upstairs, the team works quickly to get her out safely. The window is made of very thick glass and bars, which delays her rescue. By the time she is pulled to the ambulance, she is severely burned and has no pulse. Casey immediately feels guilt and goes to the second floor to asses the fire damage. He sees a substance that looks suspicious, but reports to the firehouse. Good news comes for Mouch and Brett as the publishing company gives them a call.

Mr. Anton offers a large deal and will discuss more once they set up a meeting. In all the excitement, Brett leaves a copy of the book in the copier machine. Colleen Marks comes by the firehouse; her sister Kara was the one who lost her life earlier in the day. Colleen is suspicious of the cause of the fire. Kara and her husband had been fighting a lot lately. Kara even moved out so they could take a break. Colleen told Kara not to go back for her stuff, but when she did, that’s when the fire happened. With the new information, Matt calls in the char line he saw upstairs suspecting arson by the husband. Boden is trying to connect with his stepson James; but James is a teenager and doesn’t have much interest in speaking with Boden.

The fire investigator comes by the firehouse to go over the details of the incident earlier in the day. The husband says he was at breakfast when the fire started. Although he has, no receipts and nobody can remember him being there. Brett and Dawson are called to a residential scene where someone has fallen. Allen, a high school kid falls out of a tree trying to ask out a girl for homecoming. He complained of belly pain, but had feeling in his extremities. All of a sudden, he throws up a massive amount of blood; he’s suspected of having a GI bleed and is immediately put into the ambulance. Boden’s wife and son come by the firehouse to say hello.

Viewers get a chance to see how much his son has grown into a little man. Darren Whitley, the distraught husband calls for Severide hoping to meet up. At the hospital, Brett runs into Heather, the girl Allen was trying to ask out. Seemed like a romantic ending for such a bad event. Until Heather says, she already accepted an invite from another boy at school. Ouch, at least Allen has achieved internet stardom from his prom fail. Severide meets with Darren for coffee to discuss his wife’s death. Darren insists he had nothing to do with the fire, he would never hurt Kara. Casey was invited to the funeral for Kara, but instead he observes Darren’s behavior from afar.

On Herrmann’s next shift, he discovers the tagger has redone his work. Boden tries to use texting as a method to talk with James. Severide wonders if the arson investigators would be able to check city street cameras to validate Darren’s alibi. Meanwhile Brett and Mouch are called into see Boden and the chief of publicity. Connie turned them in for finding their manuscript on the copy machine. If they publish the book, they will no longer work for the fire department; per the codes of conduct, they signed to uphold once taking the job. Before they can make any decisions, a call comes in leading them to a restaurant building top. A busboy was speared with a umbrella pole in the leg.

The ambulance was caught behind a train so the team is without any medical supplies while Tim’s leg begins to bleed profusely. They improvise with other materials until the ambulance arrives; Casey’s quick thinking saved Tim’s life. On their way back to the firehouse, Herrmann sees the tagger in the act and runs to tackle him before he can run away. The tagger is a kid, his name is Carlos and he was just trying to show off to his friends. He doesn’t have any respect or fear of authority; so, Herrmann gives him a t-shirt as a peace offering. Hopefully in doing a small favor, he can change Carlos’ perception on the firehouse. Brett sees her chance to do some good, and takes Allen to the homecoming dance. Looks like Heather chose the wrong date for the dance!

At the end of the episode, Mouch is depressed the book will not be published and goes home to see Trudy. Little did he expect, Trudy set up a book club for him to have his moment in the sun. James surprises Boden by showing up for a visit, looks like his text did the trick to connect. At Molly’s, Dawson tells Casey Darren’s case will not be referred to CPD, no arson or murder charges will be brought up. Casey is still convinced Darren started the fire and wants to prove it. Next week, Dawson has one mistake that could unravel her career. A lawsuit comes against the firehouse and her personally. Will she be able to come out unscathed? Or will she have to resign from her position? Find out next week for another after take!