Chicago Fire really built up anticipation for "Post Mortem." The episode was heavily promoted by showrunner Andrea Newman and returning star Eamonn Walker, who hadn't appeared on the show since the season 12 finale. "Post Mortem" was anything but a warm reunion, however. The episode delivered on the chaos promised in the tense promo, and marked a seismic shift for Firehouse 51.
Here's what you need to know about "Post Mortem," aka the most important episode of Chicago Fire season 13 (at least, so far). SPOILERS AHEAD.
It's rare to see the level of intrigue and mystery that we get in the opening scene. Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg) is shown watching a news broadcast in a waiting room. The news explains that a firefighter was severely injured in a burning house. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) eventually show up, and Herrmann wonders aloud how a firefighter could have been left behind. "We cleared that house," he mumbles to himself.
Boden is forced to interrogate his friends
Enter Wallace Boden. He steps into frame and makes it clear that he was the one who called Herrmann, Severide and Kidd in for questioning. Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) appears behind him. Boden eventually reveals that he's been asked by the commissioner to run a critical assessment on what happened during the house fire.
Boden made it clear that not one but two things went wrong during the house fire: a firefighter was injured and a "fire scene [went] south." Herrmann rightfully asks whether the commissioner is looking to blame one of them for what transpired, and Boden promises to do what he can to protect them all. "That's not a no," a concerned Kidd remarks.
The episode proceeded to break down the way every 51 member was behaving in the lead up to the house fire. Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) had been complaining about not getting enough sleep as a result of his toddler son, but Severide didn't think much of the complaint and brought the firefighter to the scene. Then there was Jack Damon (Michael Bradway), who Severide mentioned during his interview with Boden. He told the former 51 Chief that Damon had been looking for more shifts, and was part of the house fire crew due to his desire to gain more experience.
Stella Kidd, meanwhile, gave both Boden and the us, the audience at home, an update on Sam Carver (Jake Lockett). The troubled firefighter had just returned from a stint in rehab, and the house fire was one of his first calls back. Kidd vouched for Carver, however, and assured Boden that he was back in his usual form.
Jack Damon's firefighting career is seemingly over
Curious as to who the injured firefighter is? Well, up to this point in the episode, so are we. The way the episode is structured, these interviews and pieces of information are dished out without making it clear which of the beloved 51 crew is fighting for their life. It's maddening, but it's also surprisingly thrilling. The structure keeps us guessing, and trying to float a guess based on who we have seen versus who we haven't.
The different interrogations are accompanied by flashbacks in which Severide and Kidd recap what they remembered from the incident, and the further we wade into the details, the closer we get to the truth. Severide recounts that one firefighter suffered internal bleeding from the building collapse and the accidental removal of his mask meant smoke has gotten in his lungs. There's a lot of the pronoun game going on, and because we recently got news that Carver will be leaving (no, actually), all signs seem to point to him as the victim.
It wasn't Carver, though. Instead, it was Severide's brother, Damon. The firefighter just recently rejoined 51, and his life hung in the balance for the bulk of the episode. Fortunately, the Severide sibling is stable after surgery, even if it's looking like his career as a firefighter may be over. 51 has likely lost him, but we're relieved that Severide and Kidd have not.
In the end, Boden made good on his promise, and ensured that Firehouse 51 was cleared of any wrongdoing in the house fire. It was a silver lining in an episode that was otherwise rife with tragic revelations and upsetting implications for the future of both the firehouse and the show.
