The 5 best Chicago Fire season 6 episodes

1. The Chance To Forgive

The best Chicago Fire season 6 episode might be one of the most surprising Chicago Fire episodes ever. Every season we have watched characters put themselves in harm’s way, and generally they come out unscathed—including two previous cliffhangers earlier in season 6! But “The Chance to Forgive” seemed like it might permanently injure Otis (Yuri Sardarov).

In the second half of the season’s first two-hour event, Firehouse 51 responded to what seemed like a normal residential fire. But it took a surprising turn for the worse when live ammunition began to explode in the house, with Otis and Stella inside.

Otis was clipped by a bullet, and because no one else could go into the house with the bullets still flying and Stella couldn’t get him out until it’s safe, it was a terrifying few moments until he was finally extricated and rushed to the hospital.

Otis survived, but the bullet was lodged near his spinal cord, so he wasn’t out of the woods yet. The prospect of Chicago Fire delivering a long-term injury to one of its own, and how that would mean the end of his firefighting career (just like Jimmy Borelli), was something that defined not just this episode but the next few episodes. It was scarier and more moving than all of the other cliffhangers.

Plus, there was an outstanding subplot for Cruz as he desperately wanted someone to pay for Otis’s injury but found out that the gun owner and his family were suffering enough. While Cruz struggled with his emotions, “The Chance to Forgive” also gave Chicago Fire fans the long-awaited moment where Stellaride finally became a couple again. There was hope, there was pain, there was action—this episode was everything we wanted out of Chicago Fire season 6.

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Which Chicago Fire episodes were your favorites from this season? Let us know which ones stood out to you in the comments.