Chicago Fire season 8, episode 18 recap: I’ll Cover You

Stella’s jealousy complex

Boden explains that the Office of Fire Investigation is on the case anyway, and the Milwaukee cop says he hopes that it’s arson because if it is, it’s likely done by the same person who killed the kid. Severide is interested and gets Boden’s permission to investigate further. Cue the arrival of Seager, who also has time to hand Stella some fliers that might help their cause.

Once she and Severide return to the motel, they start looking for signs of arson. They run into the random guy from earlier, who is apparently the motel janitor, but Severide does not seem to identify him.

Meanwhile, Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende) is getting into a fight with his older compatriots about the value of social media, including Reddit. While he and the guys pore over a massive reproduction of the Reddit photo, Ambulance 61 is called to a wedding proposal gone haywire. The would-be bride choked on the engagement ring hidden in her champagne.

Eventually they’re able to get the ring out (love that super close-up of it coming out), and the whole soon-to-be-family piles into the back of the ambulance. Foster then has to go around with Stella while Stella whines more about Seager, and Brett awkwardly tells Julie that she wants to be part of her family. “Sylvie, we’re moving to Chicago to be closer to you,” Julie reminds her.

And Casey has tracked down one of the other firefighters in that Reddit photo, who is not complimentary. “That call finally coming back to haunt you?” he says, explaining to him (and us) that an eight-year-old’s parents had threatened to sue Casey for dislocating the kid’s arm.

Chicago Fire segues back to OFI where Seager has test results that seem to prove the motel fire was arson. Especially since the accelerant is commonly found in janitorial supplies. Nice of you to catch up with the viewing audience, guys. But when she and Severide go back to the motel, their crime scene has been tampered with and the janitor is approaching menacingly with a hammer.

He claims he’s just there in self-defense, and that he didn’t set the fire. Severide finally puts two and two together, and asks him what he was doing that day; he says he was just going to get a master key, and Kelly seems to believe him.

The next day Stella is surprised when she gets her first sign-up for Girls on Fire outside of Firehouse 51 (after providing the girl, Kylie, with way too much information). And Severide tells Boden that Seager is referring the arson case to Chicago PD, after which Boden points out that the same accelerant is used to sterilize medical equipment. A quick Google search confirms that the victim worked for a medical supply company, and Severide runs back out to give that information to everyone else.

What about the Reddit story? Chicago Fire has Casey tight-lipped…for maybe 15 seconds. He explains what happened, and is not happy to hear that Cruz has already jumped the gun and told the Reddit poster where they work. You’d think that would be the kind of thing Cruz would clear with someone first, but apparently not.

Julie arrives, too, wanting Brett to check her out because she’s having contractions again. Yes, the baby is coming, a month ahead of time. So Foster and Brett load her into the ambulance and take her to the hospital.