'Chicago Fire' Season 8 Finale: Another Otis-like incident arises as the show prepares for big changes ahead
Spoilers for 'Chicago Fire' Season 8 Episode 20 '51's Original Bell'
In this week's episode of 'Chicago Fire', for the most part, it felt like Season 8 would end the same way it began, with the death of one of Firehouse 51's firefighters. In a rare show, firefighter Harold Capp (Randy Flagler) was the focus of this week's episode. When the episode begins, he is cleaning up 51's original bell which Lt Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) doesn't seem too happy about.
Later, the firefighters and paramedics respond to an emergency gas leak at a yard which was used for illegal dumping of hazardous materials. The chlorine gas leak led to an explosion which led to Capp being injured badly. Instead of staying in the hospital, Capp leaves.
Dr Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) of 'Chicago Med' tells Severide that he has to report Capp leaving the hospital without getting treated but Severide asks him to give him a chance to talk to Capp. Later, Severide finds Capp at his house and asks him to go back to the hospital. Thankfully, Capp is alright, although, for a bit, it seemed like he might not be able to be a firefighter anymore. After losing Brian "Otis" Zvonecek in the season premiere, the last thing we needed was to lose another firefighter.
Meanwhile, paramedic Emily Foster (Annie Ilonzeh) has applied to medical school though she hasn't told Sylvie Brett (Kara Kilmer) yet. After performing an emergency medical procedure in a previous episode, Foster got the confidence to become a med student again. Brett eventually shows her support, but this could mean that Foster leaves 'Chicago Fire' eventually and may join 'Chicago Med'.
Finally, we see that Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende) and Darren Ritter (Daniel Kyri) have properly become a part of the 'Chicago Fire' family. Blake joined to replace Otis and it is safe to say, he is doing a pretty good job of it. We also saw Stella Kidd's (Miranda Rae Mayo) Girls on Fire program in action and we love it.
This week's episode was not meant to be the season finale and we can tell because for once, there is no proper cliffhanger. However, when the show comes back, it could very well change up things a lot. Will we see a new paramedic? Will we see "Brettsey" finally happen? However, for now, the episode leaves things peaceful and perhaps in the current environment, it is the best way that 'Chicago Fire' could have bid farewell.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, production on all three 'Chicago' shows was halted prematurely, meaning this week's episodes serve as their respective season finales. It's not ideal, especially since the current seasons were meant to contain 23 episodes and chunks of the story remain untold. However, each of the 'Chicago' shows has been renewed for three seasons each already, so fans don't have to worry about the show coming back.