TV Review: Chicago Fire Season 2 Episode 5 "A Power Move"

Empty Lighthouse is a reader-supported site. This article may contain affiliate links to Amazon and other sites. We earn a commission on purchases made through these links.

This week in "A Power Move" we pick up right where the last episode left off. Dawson discussed with Jay their on again relationship after the secret that he is working undercover against the mobster Arthur came out.

McLeod finds a way to stick around still. She tries to throw more at Boden - cost of Hadley's arson, no wellness program in 51 yet, and an offer for early retirement - which results in a "kiss my ass" from Boden.

Fortunately, this story takes a good narrative turn later.

Spellman, the newly identified real snitch, has a great intimidation scene with Casey. Casey tries force him into transferring. Instead of backing down, he points out that he and Casey are the same rank, and that he was not going to be pushed out of the house like Hadley. It was a cool scene to watch - especially at the end when Casey realizes that Spellman is a much different antagonist than Hadley was.

It's going to take a different tactic to get rid of him. Which the whole firehouse figures out by each signing their own copy of his transfer papers.

It was another good bonding moment to see between the whole house. Something this show is great at.

Dawson's new relationship is thrown the first big test when Arthur shows up to the bar with Jay undercover demanding their cut. When Molly's is short (and Herrmann cites the GameDay bar as the reason), Arthur throws a chair through their shelves of alcohol which shatters everything.

This leaves Dawson questioning things with Jay, Herrmann wanting to hide a shotgun in the bar and Otis wanting to sell the place.

Of course they're not allowed to decide together, as the GameDay bar erupts in flames, and they all have to run over to it. Safe bet who was behind it, no? I guess we will find out.

The McLeod story, like I mentioned before, gets a needed adjustment. In addition to everything she's trying to pile on Boden, he's informed by Mills (who did his wellness exam) that a protein that's an indicator for asbestos poisoning is too high and he's at risk. This helps legitimize the risk of losing the Boden character - asbestos is a very worthy opponent. Which is why we saw Boden, who had previously told McLeod to kiss his ass, hand in his resignation later in the episode.

In terms of going all out to sell the idea of losing Boden, Chicago Fire did a fine job. However, given the greatness of Eamonn Walker and the nature of his character, I still don't buy it.

They're heading into a brief hiatus for a few weeks, so it makes since (especially for a network show) to have a huge cliffhanger like Boden resigning and Benny telling Severide he's going to take Boden's place.

However because of the anchor the Boden character provides for everyone else, he won't be gone for long.

Shay's story this episode was the most interesting to me. After witnessing the suicide, there has been a split happening between Dawson and Shay. Like I stated in the previous review - it felt natural to the relationship, and it was needed to further their progression as individuals and as partners in the field. After the suicide, Dawson seemed to shake it off - at least for now. Shay on the other hand, started to spiral.

It started in the beginning of the episode with the one night stand and not replying to Severide's text messages. Then while on two calls, Shay became all business and started to give orders to Dawson like she's been the boss this whole time.

Which is fine, but given the circumstances, you felt like she was trying to prove something: the suicide wasn't her fault. They never came out and said it, but that's the sense you got.

After noticing Shay seemed preoccupied, Clark gets her alone for a second. He tells a quick story of a man he was in Iraq with, who eventually committed suicide because he couldn't take it anymore. After telling her that he has an idea of what she's going through, he ended the talk with the lesson he learned: that suicide was "not for us to figure out or carry". This worked well for a few reasons.

From experience I know when trying to write a quick lesson bit of dialog that involves a story and a metaphor, you gotta stick the landing. Otherwise it's clunky.

The sand metaphor used here was quick and effective. The fact that the word suicide wasn't mentioned once, yet you knew what they were talking about, speaks to a level of writing that is enviable.

It was also a nice way to fold Clark, who was previously mislabeled as a traitor and snitch, back into the group. Instead of wedging him back in, the show found a great way to utilize the background of the character to make it a smooth transition not just for the other characters, but for the audience as well. Shay's move at the end - tracking down and making out with her one night stand in the alleyway - I took two different ways.

On one hand I saw it as her ignoring Clark's advice and going out to party.

On the other hand I saw it as maybe she's trying to move on from this tragedy and establish new relationships.

We don't really know this photographer she hooked up with, so I guess we will find out if it was good or bad soon enough.

All in all, Chicago Fire nails it again. They continue to do what they do best, and in this episode they helped strengthen their weakest story.

I'm holding my breath they resolve it accurately when they get back from their mini hiatus. We will see.

Photo Credit: http://chicagofire.sosugary.com/