The promo warned that someone wouldn’t make it out alive of the latest Chicago Fire, and it wasn’t lying. It had also teased a few possibilities: Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), Severide’s (Taylor Kinney) half-brother Damon (Michael Bradway), and Pascal’s (Dermot Mulroney) wife Monica (KaDee Strickland). So who was it?
Well, there are possible anvils dropping before the title card for all three. Pascal’s talking about possibly retiring soon, which Monica doesn’t buy, and the couple discusses their upcoming anniversary and plans (her sister is throwing them a dinner party). Her kiss gets him to agree, and she remarks it’ll be a dark day when it doesn’t. Severide and Kidd undergo a home inspection for adoption. And Damon’s firehouse responds to a structure fire, he insists on continuing to search for possible victims when fellow firefighter Jenner thinks it’s a lost cause, and he ends up trapped after finding one. Ominous line about a time they’re not there? Check. Planning for the future? Check. Getting put in dangerous situation? Check.
Thanks to an assist from Severide, Damon and the victim both survive, then Jenner makes an excuse why he wasn’t with him; Damon doesn’t correct him. Later, Jenner warns him not to try to use that against him because he’s been in the CFD long enough he can make sure his career is over. When Damon talks to Severide, his half-brother recommends to just keep his head down and keep working; Jenner’s likely to mess up elsewhere. (Uh-oh?) Then, Damon’s lieutenant calls him in about discrepancies in the reports from the scene and insists he tell her if there’s anything she needs to know. After he tells her, Severide and Kidd assure him he did the right thing … but then Jenner shows up at Molly’s, having been suspended, and insists he take it back. And with the rest of the house on Jenner’s side, Severide and Kidd contemplate bringing Damon back to 51.
Pascal, meanwhile, tries to find the perfect anniversary gift for Monica. Mouch (Christian Stolte) can’t offer much advice since Trudy (Chicago P.D.‘s Amy Morton) has specific taste. And he’s not sure how he feels about the chief suggesting he take a permanent lieutenant spot at another firehouse — but that doesn’t stop Pascal from setting up a meeting for him for it, despite knowing the plan once Herrmann (David Eigenberg) becomes chief. Mouch goes to the meeting, thinking it’s just a gesture, but admits to Herrmann after it didn’t feel like that (but it’s not his house, his people, and he’s not going anywhere). Pascal later explains that he doesn’t think Herrmann’s going to take the chief’s test and that he doesn’t want the job, but Mouch backs his friend.
Tony (Anthony Ferraris) and Capp (Randy Flagler) break the slamigan, and when Cruz (Joe Minoso) rants about their incompetence and how they can’t be trusted with anything important, Herrmann worries that Terry, who had been talking to Severide and Kidd right before for a video interview about the adoption, heard and misinterpreted who they were talking about. They even go to see Terry in his office, only to find he’s completely lost and didn’t hear anything.
Making Monica a prime candidate for the death is her stopping by 51 to see her husband. (She remarks to Mouch she likes the classic nature of watches and borrows her sister’s. He later clues Pascal in for the right gift.) “You worry too much,” she says when Pascal wonders about her being there. They’ll have dinner with her sister another night, she explains. Their anniversary is going to be just for the two of them. He promises her the best dinner of her life. (Is there any way she’s not dying?)
Then it comes time for the call that reveals it all. Just before, Terry stops by the firehouse to give Severide and Kidd good news: They’ve been approved to be adoptive parents. At the scene of a car accident, Kidd tackles one driver who, dazed with a head injury, nearly walks into the path of a vehicle. She’s fine, though it was “way too close.” But the other driver is Monica, and they rush to get her out and into an ambulance. Mouch rides with them. Pascal, meanwhile, sits and waits at their table at the restaurant, checking his phone. Then Mouch calls and tells him he needs to come to Med. “Monica’s here.”
When Pascal gets there, he demands, “Where is she?” All of 51 is in the waiting room. Mouch follows him into the ED, where Violet (Hananko Greensmith) is crying and shakes her head. “You’re wrong,” Pascal says, then walks over and sees for himself. Archer (Chicago Med‘s Steven Weber) tells him he’s so sorry. Pascal collapses at her bedside, taking her hand in his and crying.
What did you think of how Fire killed off Monica Pascal? Let us know in the comments section below.
