Celebration: Chicago Fire "Light Things Up"

When in doubt, never go to work on your wedding day. Here's a recap!

Wednesday night's episode of Chicago Fire was crazy and emotional and ended happily. But one thing is sure: if it's your Wedding day, never do what Cruz did. It's Cruz's wedding day, and to get the jitters away, he decides to work the shift. That might have been a bad idea as residents from another side of Chicago decided to take a stand by protesting at Firehouse 51 about their firehouse station being closed.

Things escalated when more protesters took over Firehouse 51; even the CFD PR guy couldn't calm the situation. Casey goes to the alderman of that community and gets him to come down to talk with the protesters. But when one of the protesters suffers from crushed syndrome, Foster saves him by making an incision in the guy's arm.

Soon, things go from bad to worse when a brawl occurs, but the CPD comes in to make arrests. But Cruz is found on the ground and knocked out with a cut on his head.  Back at Med, Cruz is cleared and gets ready for the wedding, but the rest of the 51 meet with the protester to show what Gallo and Ritter had done on social media that made both share their message of one community.

Meanwhile, during the chaos at 51, Brett is grieving the loss of her biological mother, and Casey, Kidd, and Foster are there to help her. She gets a surprising visit from Julie's husband to tell her that he can't take care of the child and tells her to either take her or give her up for adoption. Brett tells Casey about the situation, and he confronts her, telling her that when Brett decides, he'll support her. After the chaos ends, she sees Julie's husband and advises him on whether to give her sister up for adoption or not.

With only minutes to spare in the episode, we finally get to the wedding, and what a wedding it was for the Chicago Fire. As Chole walks down the aisle, she sees Cruz's cut and tells him she loves him as he tells her to.  As they said their "I dos," the celebration began, and everything ended with smiles and maybe future engagements.

"Light Things Up" was the episode that didn't disappoint. Yeah, we knew a wedding was coming into this episode, but in the Chicago Fire style, we must deal with drama before celebrating with happy tears. This episode had so much balance with humor, emotions, and thrills that it felt like a bottle episode but, in a way, didn't. I wish there were a digital clip or episode of what Cruz's bachelor party was like. I want to know what Severide pulled off.

But the message or theme in this episode was as good as it could have been, and it's still a message we need right now. It had that decisive moment like in the "A Chicago Welcome" episode.

While Cruz's wedding and protest situation was good and all, the Brett storyline was so good as well. That storyline was so influential for even Brett to deal with her baby sisters. But I think that her talk with Julie's husband had changed his mind. Plus, I just ate up that Brett and Casey scene. Whether or not they end up together, I love their friendship. And I expect new music videos on YouTube of those scenes will be up by the weekend.

Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch the final episode of the season of Chicago Fire next Wednesday at 9/8c on NBC.

"You Mean the World to Me": Chicago Fire "Best Friend Magic" Fall Finale

CROTIS FOREVER!!!!!

The fall finale of the Chicago Fire was one to remember for all the right reasons and more.

While cleaning up the firehouse, Cruz finds an old drone that belongs to Otis and is determined to fly it once more. But as Cruz tries to fix it, he tells Ritter that the reason why he's doing this is that he was the one who hid the drone. After repairing the new part, something was still wrong, and when he checked it on the computer to find a video of him and Otis about to fly the drone with "Best Friend Magic."

The story that we've been waiting for since the rumors and news broke was the return of Dawsey. Let me say that this episode wasn't a disappointment. Dawson returns to Chicago for a fundraiser but stops at Firehouse 51 to see Otis' memorial. After Casey and Truck 81's skyscraper rescue, Casey and Dawson have a moment to talk, but he gets invited to a charity event she's attending to get donors.

After thinking it over and asking advice from Brett, Casey went and had a ball dancing and learned that Dawson wanted to come to Chicago. As Casey and Dawson danced away, the two returned to her hotel and had a one-nighter. Just before she leaves, Dawson leaves a message for Casey, offering to come to help her out. It doesn't look like it's the end for Dawsey. That worries me.

Kidd shows off that she can handle the workload of driving Truck 81 and being at the academy. But it does have a toll, and it shows when Brett and Foster order her to go home to rest, and as she drives off, she hits a van with a mother and daughter inside. After learning that the mother and child are okay, Bowden sees the effects both jobs have on Kidd and tells her that he's going to help change that for her and the rest of the future trainers.

Severide opens up another arson case that proves a guilty man innocent that involves a company burning down their property for insurance.  After getting Casey's input on it, Severide and the team get the help of the SWAT and CPD detective to raid the suspect's whereabouts at an abandoned warehouse, where Severide finds the suspect in the basement. And we leave the episode with the suspect holding a firestick and Severide one-on-one in a dangerous basement.

"Best Friend Magic" delivered more than what I had expected. This episode was well written, with character growths packed with suspense and emotions. The Dawson and Casey might have been the episode's highlight, but I give Cruz's story the winner as it was powerfully well written, mainly at the end when Cruz sees that video of him and Otis. 

While the Casey-Dawson gave me chills and emotions, that moment when they danced took me to breathe away in more ways than one. And I think this won't be the last time we see Dawson. And the Kidd storyline was good and, I believe, an educated moment as well. And Severide is leaving with an intense cliffhanger. OMG!! Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch the winter premiere of Chicago Fire tonight at 9/8c on NBC.