When Violet and Novak have a patient to save and are stuck in a traffic jam, they need to make a drastic call in Chicago Fire season 14 episode 6. Will it all go to plan?
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from Chicago Fire season 14 episode 6.
While Kidd and Severide are supposed to be off this shift, Pascal wants Severide to shadow him for the day. Kidd thinks this is a good thing, but it’s always hard to tell what Pascal is thinking. While Pascal likely does just want to check in on Severide and 51, he will also likely want to make sure that Severide is ready to move up the leadership ladder. After all, he got Herrmann to shadow him on a major call for a similar reason.
Meanwhile, Vasquez decides that it’s time to pay a certain man a visit. Yes, he’s going to see the widower of the woman who was murdered, and he doesn’t jump around the topic. It’s not that surprising when the guy doesn’t want to talk to Vasquez, and while Vasquez tries to argue back, there has to be a line. I get that Vasquez wants to help his dad, but the man is grieving, and the guy who murdered his wife got away with it because of Ray.
Violet and Novak get a call they can’t initially work out in Chicago Fire
All the Chiefs are talking to each other. Robinson and Pascal have been talking, and there are names of firefighters coming in to help ease the burden of paramedics. Things are getting tougher for Violet and her colleagues, with more leaving due to burnout, so it’s important that this works.
Kidd and Severide do continue to be the foster parents Isaiah needs them to be, when he turns up worried about his mom after doing some research online. It’s so hard to not Google things like that, and rather than them telling him not to, they make it clear that they will call his mom’s doctor and talk about everything. They’re there to support him in any way that they can.
Vasquez finally tells someone at Firehouse 51, and it happens to be Novak, because she is curious about why he was asking about medic reports. He only shares that it was about his dad, and then there’s a call, which takes Violet and Novak to a house where a woman has fallen through a skylight while removing Halloween decorations. There’s a lot of blood, but the wounds don’t match it. It’s only when Novak moves the woman’s arm that we can see she’s caught an artery in her wrist.
Stuck in a traffic jam in an emergency
While Violet doesn’t want to take the daughter of the patient because of how worked up she is, Novak hears about how her dad was taken during COVID and then never came home. This is a woman who understands parental loss, and she can’t help but give in.
This is when they get caught up in the traffic jam, and this one isn’t going to start moving soon. Traffic is backed up for blocks, and Violet will need to think of another plan. Of course, things get much worse in the ambo, as it turns out that the neck wound is a lot deeper than initially thought, and the airway may have been nicked. While Violet and Novak need to figure out what to do while stuck in the traffic jam, the daughter starts panicking. This is why Violet didn’t want her traveling with them.
Back at the firehouse, Vasquez tries to call Cliff once more. He needs to watch himself, or he will end up with a restraining order. This isn’t going to help Ray’s case if they don’t handle this with care!
As for Kidd and Severide, it turns out that they are being given the run around. Well, Kidd is, since Severide needs to go off and shadow Pascal. It turns out that there is something fishy about the facility that Isaiah’s mom is in, and so Kidd needs to advocate for her since nobody else will.
Pascal and Severide meet with Annette on Chicago Fire season 14 episode 6
The problems of the budget cuts become much clearer, as Violet calls in for another ambo to come and meet them. There are no ambos, so now it makes sense why Violet turns to wanting firefighter support to help instead. Before doing that, Violet looks for a way to help the patient, and that means intubation.
Where is Pascal taking Severide? To see Annette, of course. This is how they have to play the game, and like Boden, Pascal is more than willing to play it when necessary. That doesn’t mean any of them like to play it. It’s a great lesson for Severide, though. There’s a moment when Annette is surprised that Pascal mentioned her, but he keeps it strictly to business, but I did see a bit of a spark, right?
Kidd realizes just how bad the whole medical system is. The place Isaiah’s mom is in has the worst Yelp reviews ever. Vasquez becomes a bit of a sounding board for Kidd, but he steps out when a woman walks into the firehouse. She’s Cliff’s sister, and she isn’t happy about Vasquez getting in touch with Cliff at all, and I don’t blame her. In the real world, most people wouldn’t really give Vasquez the time of day, but this is Chicago Fire, and there wouldn’t be a story if people acted as they usually would do.
It turns out that Pascal did want Severide to meet Annette to make a good impression for Severide, but Violet’s stressed radio calls stop him. Firehouse 51 needs to step up to help her patient, and Pascal jumps straight to it.
Everyone works together to create a solution
Pascal and Severide stay in Annette’s office to coordinate there, while Kidd gets her guys with Truck 81 as close to the emergency as possible. Even Annette gets to play a part in this, as she’s able to get the city grid to aid with moving Truck 81 around the city. This is teamwork, and it’s exactly what Annette needs to see so she can understand what the budget cuts have done. Now Violet and Novak just need to keep the patient alive.
It turns out that there’s been a water leak that is causing sinkholes, which is why there are roads closed. Traffic continues to cause a problem, but Severide is able to work out an option. It just means using the ariel, and they have no idea what the emergency actually is. This probably isn’t what Violet was planning on needing to do.
It seems to be a case of chaos theory. Everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong, and now it's all accumulating into one major event to figure out. At least they're all focused on the solution and not arguing about it. I actually like Annette jumping into action to help 51.
In fact, Violet has no idea that Truck 81 is coming underneath the overpass. While it’s sure to make an impressive save should it all work out, I do feel for Violet as she figures out how to do all this. Right now, she has no idea.
Firehouse 51 makes an impressive save
We all know Firehouse 51. They don’t just look at a problem and walk away; they always find a solution. Vasquez climbs into the board, with the knowledge that one wrong move could kill the patient, while everyone works together to get the patient down to the truck to transport the patient to Med. They even call in some civilians to help swing the board.
Violet heads with Truck 81, leaving Novak and the daughter with the ambulance. Naturally, the daughter wants to go, but Violet isn’t budging on this.
Back at City Hall, Pascal and Severide have good things to say about Annette for her help, and it’s deserved. She’s not bad for a politician, and I definitely think there’s going to be a spark.
Now the question is whether Truck 81 can get to Med in time. It certainly looks it, and Vasquez managed to do his job. When he gets back to the firehouse, he has a voicemail from Cliff, who has decided that he’ll talk about Ray. It’s not a surprising turn of events, considering what we know about the writing of Chicago Fire.
While at Med, Kidd saw Goodwin, and she gets the idea to talk with her about Isaiah’s mom. Naturally, Goodwin has bad things to say about the medical facility that Isaiah’s mom is in, and the more Kidd shares, the more Goodwin wants to help. It also helps that Isaiah is the name of her grandson, and she has a connection to a state of the art facility that is grant subsidized. Of course, there’s an issue with it. The clinic is in Cleveland, and we all know that Isaiah will want to move there if that’s where his mom is.
While at the gym, Novak sees the doctor who was on her patient at Med, who says that the patient was still in surgery when he left. It turns out that it was the daughter who was the problem, and she had to be restrained.
As for Pascal, he decides to be honest with Annette, and it’s such a huge step. He opens up about losing his wife, and she is as gracious as we’ve come to expect in this episode. There was definitely a spark, though, as Pascal says he’d like to go for coffee. Is this the new ship to root for?
Vasquez goes to see Cliff, and we’re surprised to hear that Cliff doesn’t blame Ray at all. It turns out that Ray’s presence was helpful as the first person to answer the 911 call. That’s when Vasquez realizes that the paramedics didn’t get to the house first. It was Ray and another patrol car, and now the plot thickens. Is it possible that there was a dirty cop? Is it possible that Ray was a dirty cop who tried to make amends?
Vasquez wants some answers
It turns out that the patient made it out of surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. This does lead to a conversation with Novak about her empathy and her need to say no to people at times. While it could have been fine without the traffic, it turned into a nightmare and the daughter made for a much harder situation.
That’s not all Violet has to share, though. A firefighter at 51 has put in for the paramedic program, but it’s definitely not Capp. It’s Vasquez, which isn’t surprising considering what he has just learned.
Vasquez wants some answers and wants the truth, which means he goes to Ray for it all. It turns out that the screwdriver likely wasn’t the murder weapon and Ray fabricated evidence, and now Vasquez isn’t too sure he wants to get the victim statement to help his dad, after all. While his dad tries to blame it on him, Vasquez knows deep down that Ray made a terrible call and did this to himself.
Back at Kidd and Severide’s place, they share the update of the new place with Isaiah. Kidd has found a way to make it all work so that Isaiah can still see her. She will take Isaiah to Cleveland, and he’s shocked to hear that Kidd will take so much time off work to help his mom. It’s the connection that Kidd has wanted with him for so long, and it just goes to show that she just had to be herself to get it. While I would love to see Kidd and Severide to become parents, I really want Isaiah to get a life with his mom again.
That’s it for another episode, and it’s time to prepare for the fall finale. How are we at this point already?
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.