Chicago Fire Review: Always a Catch (Season 7 Episode 9)
A cliffhanger that comes out of nowhere feels a little like a metaphor on Chicago Fire Season 7 Episode 9, “Always a Catch.”
The episode serves as the season’s fall finale, so a cliffhanger is expected, but this one is really something. Let me back up a bit, though.
Casey and Naomi are working together again, and we’ve already been able to tell their relationship was going somewhere. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the timing — no, not even the timing — just the characterizations that we’ve been shown make it feel far too soon for Casey to move on.
The dynamic between these two is actually great. I like Naomi and what she brings out in his character, but it remains frustrating that she’s come into the picture without us seeing enough of Casey grieving the end of his marriage. It just feels like we’ve missed a beat somewhere along the line.
That said, happy Casey is a joy to watch, even if it does feel strange for him to give out hopeful romantic advice not long after his marriage ended.
And the conflict has given Casey some interesting things to do. It’s incredibly satisfying to see him the world’s most unlikable business owners in their place.
What neither of them have realized is the danger they are really in, unfortunately, which brings us back to the cliffhanger. Casey and Naomi have found themselves in bed together (process that later), and Casey wakes up with the sense that something is wrong.
He opens the bedroom door to find that his entire place is on fire. It actually feels a bit dreamlike at first. But knowing that they’ve been followed and the kind of people he and Naomi have been fighting against, it certainly seems like someone set his place on fire intentionally.
That’s the shocking note we end on, and regardless of how you feel when it comes to Casey and Naomi — or other events of the episode, for that matter — that moment alone is proof that Chicago Fire is still able to keep us on our toes.
It does feel a bit metaphorical that his home would catch on fire, the home he shared with Gabby, just after getting together with another woman. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but it’s hard not to.
As for those other events, another frustrating storyline comes from Stella and Severide. With Tyler back in town, the tensions those two were already experiencing are now that much worse. Severide is showing his worst side, which he ultimately admits to Casey, saying he has the feeling he wants to wreck everything and he doesn’t quite know why.
It’s a bit unbearable to watch, and here also, it feels a little like we’ve missed a beat somewhere.
The best part of the episode is, without a doubt, what happens with Cruz and Chloe. Chloe — who is already beloved by the rest of the firehouse and who we can’t help but adore for Cruz — calls the firehouse offering to pick up pastries. Her call is cut off, though, and only moments later the firehouse is called to the scene of a major accident.
As the firefighters and paramedics work quickly to help the victims, Cruz is panicked searching for Chloe in the pile-up.
She is severely injured and taken to the hospital, and Joe has several things to confront. We’re given several emotional scenes as we see how much he cares for Chloe, but also that where their relationship stands being so new is a bit unclear.
He’s not sure how to respond at the hospital when he’s asked how he knows her, and he’s forced to meet his new girlfriend’s parents for the first time under the worst of circumstances.
It gives Cruz some interesting character work that’s well-deserved, and it’s all done incredibly well.
I’m certainly curious to know what lies in Chloe’s past, though. Thankfully, we don’t have too long of a wait before the show returns, so hopefully, we’ll get more of those two together soon — and we’ll see what comes of that shocking cliffhanger for Casey.
Other thoughts:
- Foster sums up the show so nicely when she tells Boden why she wants to stay where she is rather than going back to med school. It really is a family at Firehouse 51.
- Brett commandeering that SUV to get a patient to the hospital is a really wonderful, standout moment.
- Boden’s immediate acceptance of the adorable Tuesday is so pure and sweet.
- I’m still waiting for follow through on Otis and his post-traumatic stress. I’m hoping that idea doesn’t get dropped.
What did you think of this episode of Chicago Fire? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC and returns on January 9th.
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Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.