On tonight’s latest episode of Chicago Fire, Severide juggles with a CFD recruit, Herrmann tries to play matchmaker, Casey continues to struggle with his head injury, and Violet and Sylvie investigate a mysterious letter tied to a call.

After a call to a local deli where the owner seemed to have fallen down a set of basement stairs, Violet receives an anonymous note that says “that fall wasn’t an accident.” While Ronnie, the deli owner, doesn’t recall if anyone pushed him, the suspicion falls on a cafe owner, Mike, who wants to buy out the deli so that he can expand it. Detective Adam Ruzek makes a cameo to let them know that the business wasn’t anything serious if they don’t know who did it.

Once Sylvie and Violet are called back to the deli because Ronnie collapsed, Violet makes the discovery that the cafe owner is poisoning him by giving Ronnie muffins every day.

In a shocking plot twist, the cafe owner actually wrote the note, and it was Ronnie’s WIFE that was poisoning him because she wanted to sell the deli! Not only was that revelation incredibly messed up, but it wasn’t covered enough! I would’ve loved to see the folks over at Chicago PD do a full episode about this because it was wrapped up immediately after being revealed.

Over the course of the episode, we see Severide teaching a class of Fire Academy recruits through some drills. One of the students is the son of another fire chief. While Severide doesn’t believe one student, Jacob Mercer, the son of another fire chief, has the instincts to be a firefighter, he struggles with not wanting to dismiss him fearing backlash from his father.

After burning his hand during a drill, Mercer is tasked with filling up air tanks. He accidentally fills up with carbon monoxide, which almost causes a couple of recruits their lives. Severide, per usual, saves the day.

The outcome? Consequences from Mercer’s father, who got Severide’s teaching privileges revoked.

After breaking up with his boyfriend, Ritter is enjoying the single life, but Herrmann sets him up with someone in his wife’s book club. Their date goes off the deep end as it turns out the setup dated Ritter’s ex before him, and he was incredibly controlling, and he ended it before it could even start. Thankfully, Ritter and his ex get back together.

After a mini-reunion with Chicago Med, Dr. Will Halstead informs Casey that anyone who has a head injury of his should see a neurologist. Casey lied to him saying it was for a friend but is now claiming that the symptoms of the injury are gone. Casey also decides to meet up with a neurologist to get a diagnosis, and Sylvie agrees to go with him, possibly giving the Sylvie/Casey story a breath of fresh air.

I’ve complained about it a lot throughout this season, but I will say, the show has done a better job in the later episodes of the season with managing all the storylines. Rather than giving some storylines more screen time than others, there was a fair amount for all so that no details were lost. There were even some instances that scenes blended together with the storylines instead of a scene break. It’s been my biggest criticism of the season, and it seems that after a COVID season, the writers needed to take the time to recuperate, and I think that they have recovered nicely. They have done a great job of letting the audience know which story is more important compared to other weeks.

That said, I still have a small hunch that unless there is a medical miracle, Matt Casey will be departing the show or be forced on the sidelines for a while. He says his headaches are gone, but those come and go depending on the day.

And I don’t know about you, but “Severide the teacher” was VERY entertaining and I hope this can be expanded in the future. I think it would be great for his character for him to teach some classes and the future of the Chicago Fire Department.

We’re nearing the end of the season!

What did you think of tonight’s episode? Would you trust Severide to teach you the ways of the Chicago Fire Department? Would you let Herrmann set you up with someone in his wife’s book club? Leave a comment below!