Chicago Fire midseason finale recap: Best Friend Magic

Dawsey’s one-night stand

Cut to what every fan has likely seen coming: Casey has decided to show up to Dawson’s big event after all, where he finds out from her boss that she wasn’t pushed into attending; she insisted on coming back to Chicago because she “had someone she wanted to see here.” Dawson and Casey share a slow dance, which turns into a kiss, which turns into them sleeping together. Absolutely no one ought to be surprised by this, given how much time and effort this show spent on Dawsey for six seasons.

The next morning, Casey leaves Dawson’s hotel room while she’s still sleeping. So it’s awkward that Chicago Fire cuts directly to Brett, his new potential love interest. She asks Casey how things went; he says “great” and thanks her for making him go to the event but doesn’t volunteer any further details. Brett is just happy that Casey is happy.

And by the time Casey is back at his desk, Dawson has already left him a long message that ends with her inviting him to Puerto Rico sometime. That’s pretty open-ended for a woman who definitively broke up with him just a season and a half ago.

Elsewhere, Stella stumbles into Chief Wallace Boden’s (Eamonn Walker) office to apologize, but Boden offers her one of his own for pushing her too hard. “I had to find myself a project,” he tells her, “and that was you.” It makes her sound slightly like a barbecue pit, but it’s still a genuine apology and she replies that she likes being his project. She’s gained real confidence from the last few weeks and she appreciates what he’s done for her. “You mean the world to me,” Stella admits.

We need some levity here, so Cruz has gotten the replacement blade for Otis’s drone. And in the last five minutes of the finale, after he’s done some diagnostics, he discovers an old video he and Otis shot when they first flew it. This is where the title comes from, as Otis says he and Cruz have “best friend magic.” A visibly emotional Cruz watches his friend’s utter joy at flying the drone, as we all cry because we get to see Otis again.

In the last three minutes, Dustin finds out that his whole sentence is about to vacated and he’s going to be a free man, thanks to the work of Severide and Seager. The two walk out of the prison after a job well done…but where’s the last-second plot twist Chicago Fire is famous for? There’s Seager getting a call, bringing them back to the contractor’s office.

The cops still haven’t found him, but Severide does, because the dude is lurking in the basement and is going to blow the whole place up with Kelly in front of him!

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