February flashback: Chicago Fire season 3, episode 13

Three years ago, we zeroed in on the man who killed Leslie Shay in Chicago Fire season 3, episode 13. Look back at the episode in our February Flashback.

With Chicago Fire taking most of February off for the Winter Olympics, we’re rolling back the clock and revisiting the Chicago Fire episodes that previously aired this month.

Three years ago Fire kicked off a two-part, two-night crossover with Chicago PD that focused on catching the serial arsonist whose work led to the death of Leslie Shay (Lauren German).

With new physical evidence uncovered by Shay’s best friend Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and her old partner Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund), the investigation into the fire that killed her was officially reopened.

But things took a sharp turn when at the firehouse, Severide received a call from Kevin Hadley—the now imprisoned firefighter turned arsonist—who insisted that they needed to talk.

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When Severide took him up on his request, a horribly disfigured and disabled Hadley presented him with a newspaper article about Shay’s death over which
was written “They shouldn’t have used the word accident.”

Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker) immediately recognized the return address on the corresponding envelope as the scene of the fire that had killed Peter Mills’ (Charlie Barnett) father two decades earlier.

So who was the serial arsonist who’d caused grief for members of Firehouse 51 not once, but twice?

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All of the evidence pointed to Elliot Gish, played by Robert Knepper (who fans will recognize as Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell from Prison Break, which One Chicago producer Matt Olmstead had previously worked on).

Severide and CFD Captain Cunningham (Annika Boras) went to Gish’s work intending to question him, but Gish was waiting for them outside and taunted them with his knowledge of both the fires and Shay specifically.

With 51 needing something to get Gish, Dawson reached out to her brother Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) and Intelligence was set to pick up the arson case the next night.

But “Three Bells” was a tear-jerker for Chicago Fire as it also laid Shay to rest. Her sister Megan (guest star Ellen Woglom) arrived to attend Shay’s memorial service. Megan’s being in town led to some of the most emotional scenes throughout the episode, as she learned more about Shay’s life as a paramedic and her importance to everyone at Firehouse 51.

Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg) offered a moving tribute to Shay in talking with Megan, when he told her how much everyone missed the “heartbeat of 51.”

A truly beautiful eulogy from Dawson preceded the traditional three bells salute to our fallen hero, which gave Chicago Fire season 3, episode 13 its title. We’re not crying, you’re crying as we’ll leave you on the scene we all remember this episode for:

Next: Chicago Fire shocks viewers with another cliffhanger

You can re-watch Chicago Fire season 3, episode 13 on DVD or iTunes. Check back all month long as we revisit the episodes that were throughout February!

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