Chicago Fire season 6, episode 9 recap: Foul Is Fair

Did Chicago Fire give Bria’s story a happy ending? Did somebody get a new romance? Here’s what happened in Chicago Fire season 6, episode 9.

Thursday’s new Chicago Fire episode put the members of Firehouse 51 to the test, but not in the usual way.

Season 6, Episode 9 is called “Foul Is Fair” and starts with Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) having a sleepless night. Possibly because his wife isn’t there. Where’s Dawson? She’s on the Interwebs looking for clues as to where Bria (Quinn Cooke) might be.

Dawson asks Casey if he’ll approve having Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) fill in on Ambulance 61 so that she can keep searching. Casey sounds skeptical, but he agrees to the switch.

Meanwhile, everyone is convinced that there’s a bad smell spreading through the firehouse. And given that the “previously on” for this episode opened with a reminder that there was an adorable small animal on the loose in here, we’re fearing the worst already.

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Before we can find out, though, it’s time to go to work! Truck and Squad report to a building where a woman has gotten her foot nearly severed in a revolving door. Hopefully, they’ll free the lady and then slap the guy who’s behind her complaining about how this is making him late. His shaking the door actually makes the woman’s injury worse.

So we can’t help but gloat when Casey decides to take his sweet time cleaning up the accident scene, and purposefully leaves the dude stuck in the other half of the door.

Outside the building Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) is surprised to be approached by a kid who has recognized him from the end of the previous episode and says he might know where Bria is. Severide is more surprised when he finds out that Dawson didn’t tell Casey where they were searching last night.

"Severide: She knows how you feel about…Casey: About what?Severide: Getting too close to victims."

When they get back to the firehouse, Severide tells Dawson about the lead he got from the kid, but asks if she’s talked to Casey. Dawson tells Severide that she’s found the woman who could be Bria’s aunt, and promises she’ll catch her husband up later.

Now it’s Severide’s turn to be skeptical and his skepticism is soon justified when Casey confirms he hasn’t heard from Dawson. He does, however, green-light Severide taking Squad 3 out on a bit of an intelligence-gathering mission.

Severide takes the squad to the address he was given by the kid, but when he gets there, all of the teenagers there take off running. The only thing Severide gets is a dropped cell phone, which he is able to use as leverage to find out from one girl that Bria said she was off to see her father, who’s now been sent to rehab.

Back at Firehouse 51, Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker) suggests to Casey that he move into a new room. It piques Casey’s interest, especially since he’s just seen half the team moving all the bunk room furniture into the hall. And Brett (Kara Killmer) is enjoying riding with Stella:

"Brett: Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Gabby, but we click. Like ruby slippers."

The two respond to a woman who’s collapsed in her basement due to the common but very bad mistake of mixing cleaning chemicals. They pull her out of the basement and seal it shut, before calling for Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) to deal with the chemical spill. And that’s how Chicago Fire introduces us to Zach, the new recurring character played by Daniel Di Tomasso.

Stella is checking him out within five seconds. And it’s not subtle, either. And then we see a blank stare out of Brett. Followed by another out of Stella. This is really about as heavy-handed as this show has ever been.

What is funny is Otis (Yuri Sardarov) making a Fixer Upper reference when he’s convinced that the firehouse has black mold.

Severide has tracked down the rehab facility that Bria’s father is in, and the receptionist happens to be an old friend of Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso). So thanks to some Cruz charm, Severide is able to get in. Dad says he hasn’t seen Bria, but Severide finds a message from Bria on his room’s window. As someone who’s struggled with addiction himself, he’s able to comfort the other man a little.

Meanwhile, Chicago Fire takes us back to Dawson on the doorstep of Bria’s purported aunt. This woman doesn’t appear to be much better off than her father. In fact, she thinks Bria is “better off” living on the streets, as she claims Bria’s father drove her mother to suicide. That’s a gut punch to Dawson, who’s out of leads.

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While we learn that Mouch should never be a plumber, Brett and Stella butter up Boden so that he agrees to have Zach come over and track down Firehouse 51’s problem. Then they argue over who he likes more, and who needs a date more. Mercifully, this is broken up by Casey listening to a new voicemail from Dawson. Twice.

He decides not to take the new room, because he doesn’t want to put distance between himself and his team. Boden understands where he’s coming from, and we get another great Casey and Boden moment before we’re back to the rest of the awkwardness.

It takes Zach all of maybe three minutes to deduce what Chicago Fire fans probably figured out 40 minutes ago: the odor belongs to the dead corpse of that poor firehouse mascot. The little dude’s story didn’t end well. Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg) speaks for all of us in that moment when he vents his ire.

Brett has her chance to ask Zach out, but winds up encouraging him toward Stella instead, and he takes Stella’s number from her. While Stella and the rest of the team start putting the bunk room back together, Casey enjoys listening to them banter and bicker. And at least that night at Molly’s, Mr. Sprinkles gets a memorial plaque.

But Otis thinks he “sacrificed” himself so that headquarters could sign off on new mattresses. That’s the last straw for Herrmann, who orders his colleagues to make a donation to the Humane Society or never drink in Molly’s again.

Chicago Fire ends with Severide, Dawson and Casey having a conversation about Bria. Dawson has confirmed the aunt’s story about Bria’s mother’s suicide. What she’s not expecting is to get a call. And certainly not a call from the morgue about an unidentified body that could be Bria. So let’s end our Thursday on not one but two depressing notes, shall we?

“Foul Is Fair” is a good Chicago Fire episode on some levels, and not so great on other levels. The main plot is the search for Bria, and not just where she is, but the toll that searching for her takes on Dawson. Monica Raymund and Taylor Kinney take this episode on their shoulders, particularly the former. Dawson can be emotionally driven, but that’s one of the reasons we love her and there are episodes like this where that works immensely for her. And Jesse Spencer, once again, is so reliable as he’s in a supporting capacity.

What doesn’t work is the Hazmat storyline. There are probably quite a few fans who’d say that we don’t need Chicago Fire season 5 to further complicate either Stellaride or Brettonio, after all that both ships have been through already. But even if you’re not a shipper, the writing for the subplot is very obvious. It feels like Stella and Brett are a pair of high school girls eyeing up the same guy for a prom date, and they’re both better than that.

Then there’s the ‘C’ story of the mystery smell at Firehouse 51, and revealing it to be a dead animal (even if we don’t have to see it) isn’t funny either. It’s just sad. All in all, everything outside of the main storyline in “Fair Is Foul” is a misfire.

This won’t go down as one of the best episodes of the season, but with Monica Raymund and Taylor Kinney carrying it, and some good supporting work from Jesse Spencer, it’s a good outing if you’re a fan of Dawson, Severide or Casey. It’s just not all there when it comes to the rest.

Next: Meet the actor who plays Chicago Fire's Zach

What did you think of this week’s Chicago Fire episode? Let us know your reaction to “Foul Is Fair” in the comments.

Chicago Fire airs Thursdays at 10/9c on NBC.

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