Forgiving, Relentless, Unconditional pictures.

Herrmann trying to calm Slater down.

Herrmann saving Alec.

Dawson talking to Brett.

"Forgiving, Relentless, Unconditional"

Herrmann was one of the first responders to a fire that was actually two blocks away from where he grew up. A man had escaped the burning building and unfortunately for him he had run safety at the risk of leaving his son behind. And when Herrmann saw how much that sole decision was eating up the father, he made the man a promise. He told him that he was going to get the boy out alive. Herrmann saved Alec but he did so by going against direct command.

The Chief had seen how out of control the fire was and he didn’t want to risk his men. So he ordered them to pull back. And while Dawson followed his orders, Herrmann put himself in danger just to fulfill that promise.

However, after the fire, Chicago PD came by the station and they told him the very same father he had spoken with could have also been responsible for that fire. Apparently, Slater was being accused of negligence. He’s a habitual drug user, a fact that was proven when someone sent a video clip to the police where Slater is drunk and high, lighting up meth and blowing the smoke directly into his son's face. Odds are he didn’t cool down his crack pipe long enough before he placed it down somewhere.

Now, Slater is in the wind. He soon disappeared after his son was admitted to the hospital.

Hence, Herrmann felt like the biggest fool in the world for ever even sympathizing with Slater.

The cops can't locate Slater. So Herrmann decided to go back to the old neighborhood and start asking some of his own questions.

He knew the busybody and so he knew what questions to ask. An elderly gentleman relays some information about Slater's whereabouts, but when Truck 81 asks if he found anything useful, Herrmann says no. Casey though is suspicious.

As it turns out, parents that abuse their kids is kind of hot button for Herrmann. So Casey decided to follow him when he left work that day.

Post shift, Herrmann uses his neighborhood information and pays a visit to Slater at a bar. Luckily Slater is in for his afternoon beer. This time instead of Herrmann using his words, he uses his fists to get through to Slater. Casey had to pry his friend off and once he was done with that he then called in Chicago PD.

Later, Casey covered for Herrmann with the Chief but the other man still wasn’t ok. Slater’s son it seems had taken a turn for the worse and Herrmann didn’t know how to handle the news. So Casey called Chaplain Orlovsky to help when he saw that his friend needed someone with a higher authority. And no one was going to help Herrmann with his guilt like the Chaplain.

You see there was a part of Herrmann that regretted saving the toddler when he realized the fire was actually better in comparison to his life with his father. Or for that matter any possible life he could have after so many surgeries. Yet, none of that ultimately mattered in the end because Alec passed away anyways.

Brett takes Dawson’s advice to “rip the Band-Aid off” and decides it’s time to break up with Cruz. But before she can get the words out, Cruz dumps her. Turns out Cruz was taking some advice from his best buddy Otis, too, there were lots of meat metaphors involved. In the end, Otis realizes he may be in love with Brett.

We finally learn that April’s parents, at her request, took Severide in when his home life imploded back in high school. He apologizes for blowing her off after that and swears it was due to embarrassment over the rumors about his family. Seems like he and April are on the road to forgiveness.

Mills’ sister Elise shows up, and they discover their onetime possibly racist grandfather bequeathed them a restaurant in North Carolina. Before Mills really has to make a decision as to whether or not he wants to join his sister in reentering the restaurant biz, he gets the good news that he’s officially cleared for squad duty.

Forgive You Anything pictures

Boden.

Mills going to help Severide.

Severide braking the van window.

The firefighters helping the man out of the van.

Boden helping Severide out of the van right before the debris crushed it.

Brett and Mills showing up on the scene of the catwalk at the Chicago Theater.

Mills getting ready to climb the ladder. 

Brett worrying about Mills.

Mills helping the boy that got hit by the light.

Dawson saying cheers to Brett. 

Brett smiling at Dawson.

"Forgive You Anything"

Last week, Mills made it clear that he had grand plans to gain medical clearance and reclaim his spot on Squad 3; he would not be stopped. Unfortunately for Mills, medical clearance or not, there may not be a spot on Squad left to reclaim.

Mills proves his drive to rejoin the firefighters during a call to a collapsed parking garage. When Severide hops inside a van trapped by debris to save the driver before he’s crushed, Mills is right behind him, that is, until Severide stops Mills from putting himself in danger and requests that Capp help instead.

Back at the house, Mills overhears talk about Scott Rice, Severide’s firefighter friend from high school who, will be taking a trial run at that coveted spot on Squad 3. Rice has been on the sidelines for some time and finally worked up the nerve to ask Severide for help getting back to work.

Mills takes the snuff hard, that’s his spot, but is not discouraged from his pursuit to rejoin Squad, and he lets Boden know as much. Mills wants that spot left open until his doctor appointment later that week.

Meanwhile, rumors are flying around the house about Scott Rice. Capp recalls a guy who loves to hog the spotlight, and Otis has heard stories of his less-than-stellar conduct apparently he threw a guy out of a third-story window. When Rice finally shows up, he immediately busts out into an outrageous story, proving Capp right.

Turns out Otis’ sources are not the most credible, and Casey quickly shuts the intel down as gossip. He eventually asks Severide for the real story behind Rice’s incident, and Severide explains that Rice was defending himself against a crazy meth-head.

You know who’s still weary of Rice lurking around 51? Peter Mills. But before long, Ambo 61 and Squad 3 have to join forces to make a rescue at the Chicago Theatre. Mills and Brett arrive first to find a man with a head injury dangling from the catwalk. Mills decides to do possibly the worst thing a paramedic with vertigo can do, and climbs the insanely tall ladder up to rescue the victim on his own.

Mills makes the climb with no problem and begins to work on the victim, just as Severide arrives. In the end, Mills is just pumped that he felt absolutely no dizziness, he’s convinced he’s cured.

This small victory prompts Mills to confront Severide. Mills wants that spot on Squad; he’s earned it. Severide warns Mills to take the recklessness down a notch and informs him that Rice needs that job. But we all know Mills needs that job, too.

Mills heads to the doctor. Unfortunately, he does not get the quick go-ahead he was hoping for. Instead, the doctor explains that he’ll have to undergo a series of tests and wait at least a week. If there is even the slightest trace of something wrong, he won’t be cleared.

This is promising for Rice, who, as it turns out, is every bit the good guy Severide claims he is. Through Boden, we learn Rice’s wife had died the week before the “incident” and left him with a young son. Severide wasn’t lying, Rice really does need this job.

Rice isn’t the only blast from Severide’s past. Severide’s old friend, April Sexton, is working at Chicago Med now. Severide really perks up at the mention of her name and swings by the hospital in hopes of reconnecting. April wants no part of it, letting Severide know that he was a terrible friend.

Later, Severide dives into his little box of high school memories and finds an envelope with two ticket stubs to Eminem’s Slim Shady tour. Severide brings the tickets to the hospital as proof that he was a great friend to April, he only went to that concert for her. Somehow reminiscing about Marshall Mathers softens April.

The two have an enigmatic exchange about her parents, and how Kelly never got to thank them, or April for that matter.

Red Rag the Bull pictures

Severide saving the little girl.

The building manager jumping out of the window.

Casey saving Welch.

Brett and Dawson.

"Red Rag the Bull"

The episode kicks off with Mouch at a fertility clinic, he was called in because they had a security breach. The woman in charge reveals to Mouch that his sperm donations fathered more than one child and now they may know that he is their biological father. Mouch is in shock.

At the fire house Bridgen corners Casey and tells him that he knows he was sleeping with his soon to be ex-wife Beth. Casey tracks down Welch and snaps at him for ratting him out to the Chief.

Meanwhile, Brett tells Dawson that she ran in to the “hot guy from Chicago med” named Phil, and she asked him out on a date with Dawson.

A call comes in for a structure fire, the building manager runs out screaming and tells Casey that there is a kid trapped on the third floor. A woman arrives at the scene crying that her uncle fell and can’t get up a few houses down the street. Bridgen tells Casey to go help the man with a broken leg, Casey protests that there is a kid trapped in a burning building but Bridgen orders him to leave and sends Severide in with his team.

Severide manages to extract the child from the fire safely meanwhile Dawson and Casey go hiking down the street looking for the old man. He refuses their help and just has a sprained ankle. They head back to the fire and Bridgen tells him that they have everything under control and tells them to go back to the fire house. As they are walking away there is an explosion and a man flies out of the third floor window Dawson and Casey rush to his side to help him, the man is in bad shape and going in to shock.

Back at the fire house Brett is trying to convince Cruz to go out on a double date with her and Dawson, and the new guy Phil. Cruz whines that he doesn’t want to get involved in Dawson and Casey’s relationship. Brett tells him that Dawson is going out with Phil regardless of Casey, she tells him that he needs to get on board.

Casey visits Bridgen in his office and tries to bury the hatchet, he swears that he had no idea that Beth was his wife, or soon-to-be ex. Bridgen doesn’t want to hear it. Casey tells him that Welch has been harassing him, and he tells Casey to “take it out behind the back stop and handle it like a real man, or else leave the house.”

Internal investigators arrive at the fire house, they ask Severide how the building manager got back inside and why he fell out the third story window. Severide insists that he was in working on the fire and he has no idea what happened. The investigator reveals that the guy’s sister is an attorney and she is planning on suing their fire house for negligence. The investigator heads in to talk to Bridgen, and Bridgen throws Casey under the bus. He says that if Casey wasn’t down the street helping an old man with a sprained ankle, then the building manager would have never gone back in to the building. Everyone begins panicking about the fire house being under investigation.

Mouch receives a voicemail, it’s his long lost son. He tells Mouch that he wants to meet him at a restaurant on Friday, everyone thinks it is great but Mouch says it is not going to happen and he deletes the voicemail.

Severide storms in to Bridgen’s office and accuses him of lying to Chief Tyberg about the fire and throwing Casey under the bus. Bridgen scoffs that he didn’t lie, and he had no idea that the man down the street wasn’t in life-threatening danger. He says it was Csasey’s fault because it took him so long to get back to the fire.

Cruz visits Casey in his office and awkwardly tells him that he is going out on a date with Brett, and Dawson and a new guy that Dawson is dating. Casey says he is fine with it, but it is obvious that he is not thrilled about the idea of Dawson dating a new guy.

Brett and Mills receive a call and head to an ice rink, they find a man laying in a pool of blood on the ice he and his son collided and his son’s ice skate is stuck in his father’s head. They manage to get the boy’s skate off his foot they wrap the skate with tape so that it doesn’t move and do any more damage to the man’s head. They manage to get him on a stretcher and load him in to the ambulance without incident. Brett tells his son AJ that he can ride with them in the ambulance.

Severide corners Welch in the locker room and demands to know why he told Bridgen about Beth and Casey. Welch sneers that Casey slept with Beth and now he is going to sit back and watch the Chief “bury him in shit.” Casey overhears the entire conversation.

Casey heads to Boden’s house and fills him in on the drama with Welch and Bridgen. Boden already knows everything and tells Casey that he should have thought about the consequences before sleeping with Beth. Casey rants that he is going to end up “cracking Welch” and losing his pension – so he is going to transfer to a different fire house. Boden tells him to calm down and promises to make a few phone calls for him.

Brett and Cruz head out on their double date with Phil and Dawson. The conversation is awkward – Dawson rambles that nothing beats the “rush of scaling a burning building.” Phil is obviously out of place, he says that he works in admin and the most exciting thing that he has ever done is fix a major typo. Meanwhile, Herrmann visits Boden at home to talk about Casey and Welch. Boden’s wife takes Herrmann aside and tells him that the Chief is driving her crazy and he needs to get him back to work.

The next day at the fire house Bridgen corners Severide and demands to know why he visited Tyberg. Severide explains that he went to go see Tyberg and tell him the truth about what happened at the fire, and that it was Bridgen’s fault they didn’t have enough men on site to save the building manager. He taunts Severide that if he “comes at him he better not miss.” He reminds him that he could be stripped of his rank in the blink of an eye.

Trudy brings donuts to the fire house she drags Mouch away and tells him that they need to have a talk. She gives him a pep talk and tells him that his son Emmett is going to love him and he needs to go meet him. Mouch whines that Emmett will be better off without ever knowing him. Trudy points out that he could have had a son that loved him but he will never know. She turns to leave and Mouch calls out that he will go meet Emmett.

Welch heads in to Bridgen’s office, the Chief has written up a statement saying that Casey left the scene because there was another life-threatening emergency near by, which Welch knows isn’t the truth. Bridgen tells Welch that he needs to sign the statement before he can say “yes” or “no” a call comes in for an accident and Welch rushes out.

They arrive on the scene and there are a dozen pedestrians laying in the sidewalk they were all hit by a car that came flying down the sidewalk and then drove away. Everyone begins to work on the people that were hit by the car, and Welch tries to help up a teen kid. The kid begins panicking and trying to get away, the car returns and drives past them, someone in the car opens fire on the kid and Welch. In the nick of time Casey tackles Welch and manages to save him from getting shot in the cross-fire. The car speeds off and Casey and Welch rush to the kid’s side he has been shot to death and killed.

Back at the fire house, Casey and Severide are fretting over whether or not Tyberg will believe them or Bridgen. The only other person that can vouch for them is Welch. Welch goes in to Bridgen’s office and tells him that he is not going to lie and sign the statement because he doesn’t want any trouble, and everyone has treated him with respect. Bridgen tells him that he is fired and to go pack up his gear. Welch cleans out his locker and shakes Casey’s hand and tells him goodbye.

Mouch heads to the restaurant to meet his son Emmett. While he is sitting in his car he sees Emmett standing outside, he panics and drives away without even getting out of his car and meeting him.

At Brett and Dawson’s apartment, Brett is still pressuring her to get back in the dating scene. She wants to go hit up all the bars in Chicago that are having ladies’ night. Dawson says that her date with Phil was a bust and she just wants to say in with and hang out with her friend.

Herrmann stops by Boden’s house, Boden just got a phone call. Welch told Tyberg the truth about Bridgen and Tyberg fired Bridgen. So, Boden is going back to the fire house. Herman calls Casey and the rest of the crew at Molly’s and tells them the good news.