Herrmann had it right: strap on your chinstrap. This season finale was one hell of a ride. Here's a recap!
As the hunt for the arsonist is still on, Severide finds another fire, but this time, he thinks it is her; instead, it is a homeless woman. Severide and Kidd work together. Even with her help, she had a feeling that the arsonist might be back with her ex-husband, which she was, and after getting cut with broken window glass, the arsonist was finally taken down.
Soon after all of that, Kidd learns that Severide hasn't been around all day and heads to his cabin, where he tells her that he'll be the man that she wants and soon spends the night in the house. Looks like things are looking good for Kidd and Severide.
Maybe not for Casey. As he gets word from Boden that he is invited to a dinner party and must bring a plus one. Who would he bring? How about Brett? Well, as he was about to ask her, they got interrupted by Herrmann and Ritter. Later at the bar, Brett sees Kyle again, and he tries to tell her that he's moving and wants her to come along, but she doesn't pick up the signs. But as Kyle leaves, Brett bumps into Casey, who tells her that he thought it was great that she and Kyle are back together. NOT!
The next day, Brett gets a surprise visit again from Kyle, who asks her to marry her. WTF! Of course, she leaps and says yes. AH!!! She tells Casey that he was the one who got her to decide after the talk at Molly's. Thanks, Casey, for ruining what could be a perfect relationship. Your plan backfired, and the #Breasey t-shirts must be removed.
But the main event from this season finale was the major cliffhanger, as Firehouse 51 deals with a mattress factory fire. The fire gets out of hand; Casey and his team try to get everyone out while Severide and Cruz try to open the door to free more workers. Everyone is in the building (including Brett, Forster, and Boden); every one has gone up to safety or the check-in zone. Casey and the team go back to help Severide, and Herrmann and Ritter try to cool the pipes, but the pressure rises high when the episode ends with the gage breaking.
"I'm Not Leaving You" was a season finale that was intense emotions; I even wanted to hit the wall at times. The Kidd and Severide story worked so well in this episode, but I hoped to see more coming from the arsonist. I had a feeling that once Severide solves and captures the arsonist, he would be able to let things go and move forward to be a better man to Kidd. As much as I would always be happy for Brett, I would like to slap Casey if he was trying to play or tease them to open things up with her.
Does anyone think that with everyone in the warehouse fire, a couple won't be back? It's almost like the cliffhanger at the end of Season Two. Could we lose Brett? Could we lose Herrmann and Ritter?
This episode was so good. From the beginning to the end, with some good performance, the writing was good with such strong character development. Overall, I give the season finale a 9/10 and the season a 9/10.
You can catch the Chicago Fire this fall on NBC.