Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 12.
Chicago Fire’s most recent episode, “Relief Cut,” sees the crew at Firehouse 51 back to routine after the events of the wildly successful One Chicago crossover event “In the Trenches,” with the only reference coming courtesy of Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg), who updates the team (and concerned viewers) that Mouch (Christian Stolte) and Trudy (Amy Morton) are doing alright after the heightened emotions of Trudy’s near death. As is usually the case, the brief moment of calm that opens the episode is quickly upended by an emergency call. That call puts Herrmann on the path to an epic mic-drop moment that stands as one of his best.
Herrmann and Estevez Investigate Missing Fire Hydrants in ‘Chicago Fire’ Episode “Relief Cut”
That call is in response to a car accident, where an elderly woman is trapped in her car, which is now on fire. No problem, just douse the fire, get her out, Bob’s your uncle. Only it’s a hybrid car, which, as you may not know, can be dangerous if it’s on fire due to the risk of its combination of a gas engine and a high-powered electric battery producing toxic gases, high-voltage shock, and thermal runaway (Collider — we’re fun and educational). The longer the fire burns, the more dangerous the situation becomes, so while the rest of the team works on freeing the woman, Herrmann and Kylie Estevez (Katelynn Shennett), at the station to help out, go to connect the hose to the nearest fire hydrant. They’re shocked to find that the nearest hydrant is missing, forcing them to carry the heavy hoses to the next available hydrant 300 feet away.
With the fire finally extinguished, the team returns to 51, but Herrmann is agitated about the missing fire hydrant and becomes outright mortified when it’s discovered that people are stealing hydrants all over the city and selling them to scrapyards for cash. He reasons that the best bet is to cut off access to the scrapyard that’s buying them, so he brings Estevez along to scope out scrapyards in the area. Eddie (Brian Keane), a manager at one scrapyard they visit, insists he would never engage in such unscrupulous activity and suggests they check out scrapyards that the city has fined recently. That’s not going to work, nor is going undercover as scrap thieves (“I drive a minivan with a bumper sticker that says, “soccer dad,” and you… you scream Girl Scout”), but Herrmann’s got a plan.
Herrmann Drops the Mic in the ‘Chicago Fire’ Episode “Relief Cut”
The plan is ingenious: install a tracking device in a new fire hydrant, and wait for someone to take the bait. Herrmann and Estevez put their plan into place, and, sure enough, their fire hydrant is stolen and brought to a scrapyard for cash. Not just any scrapyard, mind you, but “outstanding citizen” Eddie’s scrapyard. At first, Eddie insists it’s a mistake, but the tracker leads them right into the shop, where their hydrant, freshly repainted, sits with a number of others. Both Herrmann and Chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) tear a strip out of Eddie, with Herrmann adding he should spread the word that the city is putting trackers in every hydrant (they’re not, “but the hydrant thieves, they don’t need to know about that”).
With the guilty party now in custody, the bleeding has stopped, but it doesn’t put the missing fire hydrants back on the streets where they belong. But that’s a battle for another time, as Pascal has invited Herrmann to a fundraiser the next evening with a “bunch of white shirts,” which includes the new Chicago city treasurer (Ryan Hall). That’s when the light turns on. At the fundraiser the next night, Herrmann, after Pascal points out the treasurer, excuses himself to grab a fire hose out of his car and brings it inside. He makes a beeline for the city treasurer, introduces himself, and what happens next can only be described as Herrmann at his all-time best.
Herrmann tersely explains the situation, how hundreds of fire hydrants are missing and need to be replaced. The treasurer tries to avoid the conversation, but Herrmann is having none of it, and continues by making the point personal. It may be a few hundred hydrants missing, but out of 47,000 city-wide, is it a big deal? It is if that hydrant used to be outside your home or your kid’s school, like the two hydrants missing around the school the treasurer’s daughter attends. “If there’s a fire, we gotta pull these heavy hoses and five more just like it an additional 300 feet. And that is like trying to pull a Buick down a football field,” Herrmann explains before throwing the hose into the treasurer’s hand to reinforce the point. It’s effective, with the treasurer asking how much it will cost to replace the hydrants, to which Herrmann replies: “Well, I’m not a numbers guy like you. But every hydrant we replace could save a life. So you tell me. What’s the price of that?”
Herrmann, out.
Herrmann Finally Accepts the Captain Mantle in ‘Chicago Fire’s “Relief Cut”
Christopher Herrmann is the heart of Chicago Fire, full stop. He is the one that motivates the team to do more, to be present, and always looking for ways to improve things for those he works with, and no one can pull it off the way that David Eigenberg can. He is passionate, fiery, funny, and wears his emotions on his sleeve, and it’s Eigenberg’s firm grasp of the character that sells it time and time again. So, out of the many times Herrmann has grabbed the spotlight, what makes this moment in “Relief Cut” so special?
Ever since being promoted to captain earlier in the season, Herrmann has struggled to commit to the role outside of active duty. Pascal, to his credit, has tried to get Herrmann to embrace his role, to learn first-hand what is involved through mentoring, including in that crossover event. But Herrmann can’t, or more precisely won’t, stand by as his crew put their lives on the line, and repeatedly puts himself back into it. But without a valid reason to ditch the fundraiser, he’s stuck. That’s the moment Herrmann gets it. He now has a voice among the decision makers. All those things he’s wanted to do to improve life for the CFD, he now has an active part in making it happen. Herrmann finally accepts the mantle of captain, realizing that the role isn’t taking him away from the battle, but allowing him to fight for the means of his crew to win it.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesday on NBC and streams on Hulu the next day.
