Chicago Fire season 9, episode 15 recap: A White-Knuckle Panic

This week’s Chicago Fire gave One Chicago fans a few big moments the show has been waiting for…and one creepy subplot.

Wednesday’s episode “A White-Knuckle Panic” featured major developments in the relationships between Stella Kidd and Kelly Severide (Miranda Rae Mayo and Taylor Kinney), and Matthew Casey and Sylvie Brett (Jesse Spencer and Kara Killmer). Meanwhile, Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) got a stalker.

Here’s what happened in the latest Chicago Fire episode for each of your favorite characters.

Chicago Fire season 9, episode 15 recap

Chicago Fire begins with what seems like an average morning at the loft. Stella is still celebrating her promotion, but when she leaves, Casey and Severide have a different conversation. “I’ve been rethinking things,” Severide admits; he’s not sure proposing is a good idea anymore, because he’s remembered that Stella once said she didn’t want to get married again. Casey points out that was a long time ago.

Meanwhile, Cruz and Chloe (returning guest star Kristen Gutoskie) are looking for a new place to live since now they have a baby on the way. Cruz still looks tense. He’s less so when he gets to the firehouse and Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker) announces Mouch’s (Christian Stolte) award ceremony, albeit one a lot less smaller than usual because of the pandemic. Darren Ritter and Blake Gallo (Daniel Kyri and Alberto Rosende) are put in charge of coordinating the celebration; are they the new firehouse event planners now?

Brett and Casey are surprised when they find out Gabriela Dawson has called the firehouse. Unfortunately, Brett’s going to have to wait to find out why, because the bells go off for a plane that’s dangling off the side of a building by power lines. Cruz gets serious face again as he literally walks the pilot down the side of the building. “I got a baby on the way,” he tells the man. “Nothing scares me more than that.”

“Joe Cruz is a rock star,” the guy tells Brett.

Boden calls Casey and Severide into his office to inform them that Stella will have to transfer out of Firehouse 51 because there are no spots for lieutenants available. He wants them to make sure Stella lands in a good place, and Casey agrees to lobby on her behalf, since Severide would have an obvious conflict of interest.

That’s when Brett arrives, and Casey explains to her that Dawson called to congratulate Mouch and that she sends her love. So why does Brett not look thrilled to have heard from her ex-partner and one-time BFF? Sylvie tells Violet Mikami (recurring guest star Hanako Greensmith) about her breakup with Grainger, and Violet encourages her to pursue the “undeniable” thing she has with Casey.

While Brett ruminates on that, Violet decides to help Gallo and Ritter with their party planning. Brett asks her if she’s ever met Trudy Platt, and Chicago Fire fans don’t need any explanation.

Cruz is surprised to see the man he rescued earlier, whose name is Mark, show up at 51 with a thank-you gift. He says he’s Googled and found out about the Slamigan; Mark is a venture capitalist and wants to invest in the company. Cruz enthusiastically agrees and runs to tell Brett, as Violet pitches Trudy (Amy Morton) a venue for Mouch’s event. Trudy is not thrilled and tells her, Ritter and Gallo that the right answer is Soldier Field.

Chicago Fire cuts to Severide and Casey debating Stella’s situation and Dawson’s phone call. Casey reveals that he and Dawson plan to talk again after Mouch’s ceremony and “catch up” just before Severide gets a call about a potential opening at Firehouse 66. Cruz meets with Mark about his plans for their new company. It’s not hard to see that Cruz is in way over his head, especially when Mark tells him that he’d have to leave the fire department.

That last part makes Cruz gunshy, and Mark does not take that rejection kindly.

The next day Cruz explains himself to Brett, worrying that he’s made a huge mistake. Brett reassures him that he did the right thing and that Chloe won’t hold it against him, while Casey speaks to the chief at Firehouse 66 about Stella. He gives a whole sales pitch that Chicago Fire underscores with a grand music swell, and the guy agrees to “put her at the top of my list.”

Cut to Violet, Gallo and Ritter meeting with an executive at Soldier Field about hosting Mouch’s medal ceremony. Their pitch is much less detailed and it goes nowhere because the stadium already has another event booked for the same day. Desperate, Gallo and Violet fudge the facts, saying that Mouch is both dying and blind. That clearly does not help, but they’re saved from the wrath of Trudy by Boden saying the event has been moved up and as such has to take place at Firehouse 51.

Mark will not let go of Cruz, trying to buy him off with a huge pile of baby-related gifts delivered to the firehouse, while Casey admits that he doesn’t want to see Stella go either.

Ambulance 61 deals with a school fight turned violent, but only after the show gives us Casey seeing Brett walk out of the firehouse. Further making the parallel obvious, when the paramedics find out the fight is over a boy, Brett comments that just because you’re broken up doesn’t mean there aren’t still feelings between you. And speaking of exes, Gallo tells Violet how much he’s enjoyed just being friends with her.

Awkward.

Chicago Fire moves to Boden giving a speech before the Deputy Commissioner gives Mouch his new medal. An emotional Mouch calls Firehouse 51 “the best place in the world,” which particularly hits Stella in the feels. Afterward, the Deputy Commissioner wants a word with Boden, and Casey has another unseen phone call with Dawson. Plus, Mark shows up to menacingly tell Cruz that they have an oral contract for the Slamigan.

Mercifully before that can get even creepier, everyone heads to a fire at a restaurant. After rescuing the one employee stuck inside, Severide is motivated to propose to Stella when she refuses to leave without him. As the building burns around them, she accepts his proposal with an emphatic “Hell, yeah” and they share a passionate kiss. Clearly her attitude toward the subject has changed.

Outside, Cruz is taking out his frustrations on a security gate, until it pops off the window and bounces back at him. There’s a super-awkward cut to a cuddly Stellaride leaving 51, which Casey watches until Boden comes out and tells him “some changes” might be on the way. Of course in true TV fashion, he doesn’t say what.

But this Chicago Fire episode takes a dark turn afterward. Cruz confronts Mark and puts a literal hurt on him, warning him that if he goes anywhere near the firehouse or his family again, he’ll find out what Joe is truly capable of. Mark’s hubris prevents him from being actually intimidated but Cruz feels his point has been made.

Everyone else is hanging out at Molly’s. Mouch, still wearing his medal, says Trudy let him know there’s also a party coming his way. It is now apparently! Gallo runs away from the conversation by saying he has to go to the bathroom, but that only means he walks into Violet and she kisses him before leaving. Speaking of leaving, Casey sees Brett on her way out and chases her.

He explains that in his second conversation, he and Dawson sorted themselves out. “It made clear what I already knew,” he says. “Gabby and I will always care about each other, there’s too much history not to, but I’m not in love with her. Haven’t been in a long time. Gabby is my past, and you… I’m in love with you, Sylvie.” He walks away before a stunned Brett can think of a reply.

Things are much clearer back at the loft, where Stella and Severide are enjoying their night together. Stella tells Severide that all she needs is him but then wryly comments that she’ll take the engagement ring anyway.

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