Chicago Fire season 8 premiere recap: Sacred Ground
Chicago Fire dealt the firehouse a heartbreaking blow in Sacred Ground. Find out what happened in our Chicago Fire season 8, episode 1 recap.
This week’s Chicago Fire was another one that changed the show permanently, as Firehouse 51 experienced another heartbreaking change.
Wednesday’s episode “Sacred Ground” was the last for Otis (Yuri Sardarov), who was revealed to be the unlucky character killed off in the fire that started during the previous season’s finale. Much of the episode dealt with the team, particularly Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso), struggling with his loss.
Meanwhile, Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) dealt with unexpected consequences from the fire that threatened his career, and a new paramedic arrived at Firehouse 51 but not in a good way.
Click through this slideshow to find out what happened in the latest Chicago Fire episode for each of your favorite characters, starting with:
The fatal fire
The Chicago Fire premiere jumped right back into the, well, fire that ended the previous season. With literally everyone in danger, there was no choice but to run for it. Otis was one of the last people to bail before the boiler exploded, causing the floor above to collapse and general insanity to break out—again.
Once the dust settled, it was time to start taking a head count. One by one, characters were shown moving and coming back to their senses. Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) had been pinned down by falling rubble in the floor collapse. While she was quickly freed, Matthew Casey was already apologizing for her injury, which was a big sign that the Brett and Casey idea is not dead.
But the bigger story was Otis. Cruz found his BFF massively burned and unresponsive. While the whole team looked on, Otis was hauled into another ambulance and rushed to Chicago Med, with Cruz breaking down into tears beside him.
Eventually, all of Firehouse 51 made their way there as well. Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg) took the waiting time to chew out Darren Ritter (returning guest star Daniel Kyri) for not following orders. “I am responsible for your life,” he said, “whether you care about it or not.”
The bad news Chicago Fire fans had been dreading but also expecting finally came: Otis was dying. Boden didn’t even need to say it; the rest of the team knew from the expression on his face. In Otis’s hospital room, an emotional Cruz said goodbye to his friend, who replied in Russian before he died.