Severide feels sidelined as he lets the Intelligence Unit do their job and locate Katie; Shay gets an unusual tip from Chicago Blackhawk players Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith; Casey learns more about his head injuries after another close call; and Dawson pushes hard to pass the physical test at the Academy.
"Virgin Skin" felt like the wheels churning to resolve as much story from the past few episodes as possible. Katie went missing in the last episode. Severide and the Intelligence Unit find her quickly in this episode. Dawson wants to be a firefighter. Tonight, she takes the test and comes in just short of the cut-off time. Back to the firehouse as a paramedic she goes. But wait, Allison's still working as the paramedic in charge there. Well, she and Shay get a call where she makes an ethically questionable call. Now, she's suspended for three months. Meaning Dawson is welcome to come back in the same role as she had before! Elsewhere, Katie's decided to move away for some time to better collect herself again - meaning the end (for now) of big brother Kelly and romantic Otis.The hour also felt like it was trying to give resolutions to Boden's new romance as well as the other female firefighter at the academy. Unsurprisingly however, those two stories will still be kicking around in the upcoming episodes - with the new female firefighter being assigned to Firehouse 51. That feels like a nice extension from the dynamic the show already built between her and Dawson. Plus, now she can interact with more of the cast.
This was a heavily plot-driven episode. But it at least got to end on some uplifting note with the grand unveiling that the project everyone has been working on was a new (outdoor) library for Nathan's (that kid Severide helped in that construction site accident back in November sweeps) school. Plus, some hockey players (at least, I trust they were hockey players since I don't follow that sport) got to pitch in with raffling off some major tickets.
Some more thoughts:
- "Virgin Skin" was written by Michael Brandt & Ryan Rege Harris and directed by Karen Gaviola.
- Number of Calls - 1.) Guy stuck in the conveyor belt, 2.) guy who wanted to decline treatment for religious reasons, and 3.) car accident with Otis and the girl in the car.
- Are people still hoping for a Severide and Det. Lindsey romance? Because I still am not.
- Those two hockey players literally just stopped by so the show could namedrop that they got two Chicago Blackhawk players to guest on their show.
- Also, Hermann passed the Lieutenant's test with a score of 70. Congrats!
- I'm super glad that Casey finally told Gaby about his condition. It was about time. Unforunately, another accident could make things so much worse. Hmmm, I'm guessing he'll be put in that danger later this season.
