NBC's Chicago Fire - Episode 2.20 A Dark Day
Casey and Dawson volunteer to help at a charity run at Chicago Medical when a massive explosion sends Chicago into chaos. With one of their own missing in the blast, the firehouse is tested like never before.
There are some truly evil people in the world. And then, there are those who heroically put their lives on the line in order to help people once the evil strike. Chicago Fire is a show about heroism and knowing that when tragedies like this happen there are people willing to save those injured. Who those people are is a fascinating facet that comes from centering a show around these brave firefighters. They are inherently good but can also be just as flawed as everyone else in the world. And at the end of the day, it is good that will triumph over the evil and the corrupt. That is how Chicago Fire sees this world. It's uplifting and it's episodes like "A Dark Day" that highlight the best of the show.I just love when Chicago Fire does these big event episodes. It centers the entire plot around one singular event. It's large and widespread. It forces all the characters to interact together because they are working to the same goal. Sure, all the personal soap is entertaining. But here, those issues largely get shelved in order for those people to be the heroic firefighters and paramedics that they are called to be. They stop a second bomb from going and thus saving another hundred lives. Not every life can be saved and that turmoil sticks with them for a time. But when they make a difference, it's life changing. I never feared that the show would be killing off Dawson in this episode simply because she's such a central character and if she did die there wouldn't have been any justification for her wanting to become a firefighter story. But the mood and the tension in this episode was so well utilized and executed that it was entertaining and engaging to watch nevertheless.
Every week feels like a crossover with Chicago P.D. on Chicago Fire - the reverse however cannot be said which is very intriguing. "A Dark Day" is specifically billed as an official crossover event between the two drama series. And yet, there's only one story of significant importance concerning a Chicago P.D. character here. The rest of them show up for what literally amounts to cameo appearances. They show up as a call-of-action to watch Chicago P.D. tomorrow night. However, I still think the P.D. people have been integrated well when they pop on Fire. This instance was just more clunky than usual. But then, we also get some a powerful story involving Burgess and her niece. That was great while also devastating. It's not nicely resolved by hour's end which makes it one of the things I'm most looking forward to in tomorrow's episode.
The other thing that is not neatly resolved is Shay. She collapses at hour's end due to the injury she sustained. She kept working despite her body slowly shutting her down. She looked rough by the time she collapsed. I'm expecting that plot thread to also be picked up on P.D. tomorrow - which may be the first time a Fire character had a large purpose on the spinoff.
Some more thoughts:
- "A Dark Day" was directed by Joe Chappelle with a story by Dick Wolf & Matt Olmstead and teleplay by Michael Brandt & Derek Haas.
- In the end, you just can't beat well executed tension. That's largely what this episode was and the show did it so well. It kept producing moments that would keep you engaged - the initial bomb blast, Mills, Otis and Boden de-arming the second bomb, the debris falling down on Shay, etc.
- And yes, I'm truly surprised that NBC hasn't announced Chicago Medical starring Dylan Baker and Amanda Righetti yet.
- "A Dark Day" really is my favorite episode of the series so far. The A- grade comes from the episode having to spend a small amount of time to set up the mystery that needs to be "investigated" on Chicago P.D. Those moments were clunky and expository. Otherwise, a phenomenal episode.
