Chicago Fire Review: I’ll Cover You (Season 8 Episode 18)

What is mostly a lighthearted episode of Chicago Fire ends in tragedy, and I have a feeling that tragedy is going to be a game-changer. 

On Chicago Fire Season 8 Episode 18, “I’ll Cover You,” Brett and Julie, her biological mother, and continue to develop their relationship while getting along incredibly well. It all seems pretty perfect aside from Brett’s concern that she’ll be left out once Julie’s baby is born. 

It all feels too perfect, but somehow, it starts seeming like this really is going to be a positive new part of Brett’s life — new family included. 

Now that might mean something else entirely. 

There are complications when Julie goes into labor, and she dies in childbirth. Brett receiving that news is so heartbreaking, and Kara Killmer’s performance is stellar. It’s subtle, but it shows how shaken she is. 

She also has little time to process, because the baby is alive and that’s her family too. She has the chance to hold her and it’s the kind of scene that knocks the wind right out of you. 

Somehow, this is going to get complicated moving forward. Either Brett won’t be able to see the baby because Julie’s husband doesn’t want her to, or Brett’s going to wind up caring for the baby — at least these are my guesses. 

At least she will have Casey by her side?

I continue to enjoy their slow burn, which has honestly turned into something unique. They’ve essentially become a couple without realizing it or acknowledging it. It’s not so much a will they / won’t they as it is a “hey you two, open your eyes.” 

I’m also reminded of this quote from my interview with Jesse Spencer and Eamonn Walker back in October: “But in times of tragedy […] romantic attachments do occur.”

For context, that was regarding the possibility of a romance between Brett and Casey, but the timing of that interview was shortly after we’d seen Otis’s death. Still, that quote is ringing in my ears a bit now. 

Speaking of Casey, his past comes back to haunt him in a way we haven’t seen before. A photo on Reddit shows him with long hair, just at the beginning of his career as a firefighter. Someone now is looking for him. Well, that’s what Cruz and everyone else thinks. 

It turns out, though, that the person is looking for another firefighter to thank him for what he did that day. Casey was just the guy who pulled someone’s arm out of their socket. 

It’s nice because it’s not common that Casey isn’t the shining hero. This kick to his ego isn’t a bad thing, and as Mouch points out, it’s nice for other folks to get that attention sometimes. 

Meanwhile, Stella and Wendy Seager are trying to get recruits for the new “Girls on Fire” program that Stella dreamt up. It’s not easy, and it’s made even more difficult by the tension between the two women. Luckily, they do manage to get a small group of recruits just in time, thanks to the one teen Stella was able to convince with some blunt honesty. 

My expectation, or my hope at least, is that this is going to become a friendship for Stella and Seager, and not something that causes a rift for Stella and Severide. 

Because of course, Severide finds himself working with Wendy on this episode thanks to a murder investigation. The investigation itself winds up being pretty interesting — and brutal. It also makes for a couple of close calls that include both Severide and Seager.

And we get an appearance from Chicago P.D.’s Ruzek, which we’ll call an added bonus for the episode.

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.

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