Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 5 Review: Ghosts
Chicago Fire Season 14 Episode 5, “Ghosts,” proves once again that the beauty of Chicago Fire lies within the found family that keeps Firehouse 51 going. Even though Herrmann claims they don’t need any help, Mouch reads between the lines.
He knows his friend is too proud and stubborn to accept the help they are offering him. As he says, they’re not doing it out of pity but because they care.
While Herrmann eventually agrees to pass the boot event, he isn’t entirely sold on the idea. But as he mentions, it should be just family, we are reminded how big that family is. Firefighters and paramedics continue to show up for one another time and time again.
It is all sealed in Mouch’s speech and the look he and Herrmann share through the glass.
But Herrmann’s behavior is to be expected. He and Cindy are dealing with the aftermath of the fire in different ways.
His unshaven look tells us everything we need to know. Herrmann refuses to accept the reality of having lost everything. Instead, he wants to move on and forget about it quickly.
Cindy is being more realistic and sitting with her feelings. She knows they need to deal with what happened without shoving their emotions under a new house or a fixer-upper project.
As always, she’s the one who grounds Herrmann and reminds him of what truly matters. They still have ways to go, but we know they’ll make it out the other side because they are together.
Vasquez and his dad will only bring trouble. Or at least his dad will only bring trouble for him.
Vasquez puts it very clearly: he doesn’t want his father to ruin this for him, too. But the truth is that by letting himself be manipulated by his father, Vasquez is ruining it for himself.
After Stella answers the phone and puts two and two together, she gives him the opportunity to open up to her. However, Vasquez doesn’t seem to have found the trust that the rest of the house has. He is still very much on his own.
That loneliness is what leads him to believe in his father again. If he were able to trust his team and open up, he wouldn’t have to rely on his father’s word as much.
The Halloween spirit is brought to the show in a fun way when Cruz meets an elderly man who leads him to save a victim. As soon as Cruz turns around and the man is gone, we know a ghost storyline is there.
With everyone unable to find this man and then Violet confirming he is dead, we know that’s what it was about. The beauty is that instead of making it a supernatural story, they claim every firefighter has a call they can’t explain, and this is Cruz’s.
What did you think of this episode of Chicago Fire? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!
Critic Rating:
Audience Rating:
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Lara Rosales
By day, Lara Rosales (she/her) is a solo mom by choice and a bilingual writer with a BA in Latin-American Literature known as a Media Relations Expert. By night, she is a TV enjoyer who used to host a podcast (Cats, Milfs & Lesbian Things). You can find her work published on Eulalie Magazine, Geek Girl Authority, W Spotlight, Collider, USA Wire, Mentors Collective, Instelite, Noodle, Dear Movies, Nicki Swift, and Flip Screened.