Chicago Fire Review: Head Count (Season 10 Episode 2)
With Cruz still reeling from his near-death experience and Casey getting some extra attention thanks to his incredible rooftop save, Chicago Fire Season 10 Episode 2, “Head Count,” does a nice job of continuing several moving pieces. It’s an enjoyable hour that feels like there’s new life being breathed into the show.
Sure, some of these themes are ones we’ve seen before, but they all work together well. What I appreciate most is that Cruz is still affected from nearly dying on the season premiere.
Because of course he would be. Too often with shows like this, and heck, sometimes with this one, those traumatic moments don’t have any lasting affect.
The plot just moves right on past them. So I like seeing Chicago Fire slow down with this and allow Joe to process. In a recent interview, Joe Minoso confirmed this would go on for a at least a few episodes, and I’m curious to see how that goes. He also has a child on the way, and Chloe’s bound to become concerned as well.
The other opportunity this offers is for Severide to keep a closer eye on him. The relationship between Cruz and Severide has been fun to watch lately, and Severide makes an excellent mentor.
What’s especially fun about this episode, though, is Casey’s fifteen minutes of fame. There’s a viral video of him from that amazing rescue, and it’s got a lot of people talking.
Boden wants to capitalize on it with the media, but his fame goes away so quickly that they wind up cutting his interview. Still, he remains popular with teen girls, and it’s cute to see how he reacts in that situation. He’s a good sport about it, but about as uncomfortable with it as you’d expect.
The most unfortunate thing about his interview not getting seen is that he made a point to talk about the program Brett wants to start — one that would be helpful to a city that needs ambulances to be more readily available.
Case in point — when Herrmann discovers a child trapped in that smashed car, dispatch tells him an ambulance would take 15 minutes too arrive. He does what he should do and calls Brett and Violet, who happen to be close by, and they’re able to help the boy.
I do have to say, I’m exhausted by how often doing the right thing comes back to bite so many people at Firehouse 51. It seems like to happens to Brett pretty regularly, in particular.
Granted, I’m sure that’s ultimately the realistic response, but for it to happen this often? I don’t know.
Herrmann helps Brett by taking the fall for it, and while that doesn’t seem like a big deal at first, Boden makes it clear later that it is.
At this point, though, Herrmann doesn’t care. He’s just glad he was able to help that child. There’s something sweet about how he was able to use his fatherly instincts to find the kid in the first place, and it’s just a nice moment for his character.
The conversation Herrmann has with Boden is heavier than all of that, though. Boden’s office is nearly empty because of his impending move, and that hits both men hard. It really is bittersweet for Boden to leave the firehouse. Firehouse 51 won’t be the same at all.
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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.