'Chicago Fire' season 8: Will Blake Gallo have a better fate than Jimmy Borelli?
On the second episode of season 8 of 'Chicago Fire', we were introduced to firefighter candidate, Blake Gallo, played by Alberto Rosende ('Shadowhunters'). We see him when Truck 81 responds to an emergency situation where a man is dangling from a building while being tangled up in ropes. As Casey and Severide get the ladder to him, Gallo sees that the man might not hold on long enough and therefore scales the building to hold on to the man while Casey and Severide reach him.
Casey is immediately impressed and thinks he could be the right person to fill the void left by Otis's death. But Boden does not want a brash, young firefighter like Gallo on his team, still reeling from Otis's death in the line of duty. But more than Otis, what must be going through Boden's mind, is another young firefighter that was on his team, Jimmy Borelli. Played by Steven R. McQueen ('The Vampire Diaries'), Borelli clashed with Boden, believing the latter's orders were responsible for his brother's death in the line of duty. Having lost respect for Boden, in the season 5 episode, 'A Real Wake-Up Call', Borelli disobeys his orders during a motor vehicle accident and gets caught up in the explosion. Having suffered severe burns, Borelli also lost his left eye, ending his career as a firefighter.
But 'Chicago Fire' would need Gallo to stick around -- besides Ritter, they don't have firefighters of the younger generation and if the show plans on going on for a few more seasons, Firehouse 51 needs people that ensures that the stories will go on. Besides, when accepting the opportunity to join Firehouse 51 from Casey, Severide, and Boden, Gallo informs them that he does not take it lightly and knows how much this opportunity costs. He also reassures Boden that everything he does in 51 will be to honor Otis' memory.
And Gallo could be what the firehouse (and the viewers) desperately needs. Everyone would still be grieving Otis's death, even though we fast-forwarded to three months after the events of his death. With his energy and demeanor, Gallo could help the older firefighters take on a challenge -- especially to make sure that Gallo learns to be a responsible firefighter. In the promo for the coming episode, we see a kid stuck at the top of a roller coaster and Gallo climbing his way to the rescue, but the promo ends with an ominous scream. Let's just hope that the new recruit's first mission as part of Truck 81 officially does not go the wrong way. Derek Haas has teased on Twitter that the next episode could show Boden learning some unexpected history involving Gallo.
'Chicago Fire' airs on NBC on Wednesday nights.