Chief Boden found himself in a hostage situation, and Ritter discovered a secret about a new paramedic.

Before stopping by some other stations to run some drills, Boden stopped by the store to grab some spices so that he and Severide could grill up some brisket for the firehouse. Once he was in the store, a man, later revealed to be named Will Hollander crashed his car into the store, brandishing a gun and telling the police to back off. Hollander was hurt with a pretty deep gash on his side, and Boden began to negotiate with him to give himself up, or let him heal his wound.

A woman was hit by the car was severe injuries to her leg, and Boden made sure she was still alive and helped stabilize her. Will gratefully let her leave, so that he didn’t get an additional time.

Will told his story to everyone: how he was arrested for armed robbery, and aggravated assault, when he was the getaway driver, and didn’t do the actual robbery. He got 11 months, and was attacked by a gang, leading to injuries on his back. He also revealed that he escaped custody, because the sheriff left the door open as he was being transferred.

Boden saw a few hostages hiding at the back of the store, and after one made too much noise, Will threw a fit and demanded Boden go find more hostages that were hiding in the store. Upon searching the storage space, there were at least ten more hostages hiding and being quiet. Boden lied and said that the store was empty.

The man who carried the injured woman out, Bob, is a retired lawyer, and he wen ton the radio to say that he negotiated a deal to protect Will if he surrender and not hurt anyone else.

This was ruined by the discovery of another victim, this one dead. The man was accidentally killed by friendly fire, and not from Will, who knew that that would not matter, and that he would still be charged with murder.

The situation hit the news, and the rest of the firehouse concluded that Boden was inside the store with the hostages. Everyone suited up and went to the scene to help. Boden was able to sneak a message using a walkie talkie to the team, with the hostages in the back of the store trapped. To avoid noise, Severide snuck in through a roof skylight Ethan Hunt style.

Squad 3 started saving the victims, and Will found them out, discovering that Boden lied to him the whole time. Will was distraught over how many hostages there were, and how no matter the circumstance, he would never be able to see freedom ever again.

Will walked out of the store, intended to either shoot himself, or be shot by police, but Boden tackled him to the ground, allowing for his arrest. Boden assured Will that he would testify that he did not kill that man, and his new lawyer friend would be able to help.

The B plot of the episode revealed that Emma, Violet’s temporary partner, never attended Johns Hopkins like she claimed, and that Ritter is looking into who she really is.

This might have been my personal favorite episode of the season. It was heart-pounding the entire time, and it got to showcase one of the biggest moral centers of the show in Chief Boden. Eamonn Walker gave a great performance of a chief seeing the troubled soul of a young man. I think if there was any episode to showcase the good that these characters do, it’s this one.

What did you think of tonight’s fast-paced episode? Leave a comment below!