Just Drive the Truck is the third episode of the third season and the 49th overall episode of Chicago Fire.
Summary[]
Tensions run high when trucks from two firehouses collide and fingers are pointed towards Cruz for his driving.
Plot[]
A routine call sends Truck 81 out to a structure fire at 16th & Walbash. En-route, they notice another firetruck driving parallel, on the way to the same fire - Truck 66 from Welch's antagonistic Firehouse 105. Cruz hits the gas to ensure Truck 81 makes it to the scene first, but Casey refuses to race and they appear to leave 66 in the dust...until Welch's truck T-bones 81 at 24th & Wabash, resulting in a catastrophic collision.
Source: NBC.com
Dust, glass and bent steel lay everywhere in the seconds after the crash. As Squad 3 approaches, Tony sees the accident scene in front of him and Severide calls it in. Severide then leads Mills, Harold Capp and Newhouse to help pry out the injured. Mouch sustains a major laceration to his eye, but everyone else emerges from Truck 81 with only minor cuts and bruises. Welch's Truck 66, however, is in worse shape - one firefighter has a broken leg, another has a broken arm and the driver, Jason Molina, is covered in blood and unconscious. Dawson and Brett later arrive on scene and help rush them to Chicago Med while Boden and Chief Tiberg grill Cruz on whether he had the light at the intersection. Still dazed from the wreck, Cruz submits to a breathalyzer as he assures Boden that he had the light. Casey supports Cruz, but also can't confirm whether the intersection light was green, yellow or red.
Source: NBC.com
While helping with the rescue, Mills suddenly gets dizzy and drops to the pavement from the top of Truck 66, now the second time he's passed out on the job. Severide snaps and demands that he sees a doctor before his next shift. When Mills complies, he learns that he suffers from BPPV: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, which means no ladders, no ropes...and no clearance for Truck or Squad duty. Is this the end of his firefighting career?
Source: NBC.com
At Chicago Med, Mouch receives good news - his eye will heal and his sight will return in due time. His luck doubles when Newhouse shows off a surprise acquisition - a food truck for Molly's II. Newhouse offers it to the Molly's II team under one condition: he wants in on the project as a partner.
Molina, on the other hand, remains in critical condition. Worse yet, Tiberg discovers video evidence that Cruz blew through a red light a few blocks south of the crash. If Molina dies, Cruz could face manslaughter charges. Cruz reaches out to Welch, but Welch blames him for the crash and tempers flare - until Herrmann makes the peace by offering up Molly's as a locale to raise funds for Molina and his family.
More change is afoot when Casey informs Dawson that she can join Truck as the station's candidate, as long as she and Casey remain unmarried. Although excited to finally start fighting fires, she hesitates - this will mean postponing their marriage at least a full year. Plus, how will their relationship at work change as Lieutenant and candidate? Dawson decides it's a risk worth taking, and Casey agrees. Boden makes the move official, which leaves an opening slot for a paramedic - a position Mills mentions he could fill.
But first, Mills rekindles an interest in his father's family following some encouragement from Boden. He finds his grandfather Leonard at a nursing home, wheelchair-bound due to cancer. The meeting starts off awkward, but Leonard's sudden smile quells Mills' fears of lingering racism. They hug - family at last.
Source: NBC.com
Another family receives a stroke of good fortune at Chicago Med when Molina wakes up. He admits to following a silent order from Welch to beat Truck 81 at any cost, and his statement exonerates Cruz. The two Truck drivers share a moment together, with Molina's brush with death clearing his mind of any animosity, ready and willing for him and Welch to accept the consequences of their dangerous actions.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Jesse Spencer as Lieutenant Matthew Casey
- Taylor Kinney as Lieutenant Kelly Severide
- Monica Raymund as Paramedic Gabriela Dawson
- Kara Killmer as Paramedic Sylvie Brett
- Charlie Barnett as Firefighter Candidate Peter Mills
- David Eigenberg as Firefighter Christopher Herrmann
- Joe Minoso as Firefighter Joe Cruz
- Yuri Sardarov as Firefighter Brian "Otis" Zvonecek
- Christian Stolte as Firefighter Randy "Mouch" McHolland
- Edwin Hodge as Firefighter Rick Newhouse
- Eamonn Walker as Battalion Chief Wallace Boden
Recurring Cast[]
- Randy Flagler as Firefighter Harold Capp
- Anthony Ferraris as Firefighter Tony Ferraris
- Kenny Johnson as Lieutenant Tommy Welch
- Glenn Stanton as Firefighter Jason Molina
- Kurt Ehrmann as Deputy District Chief Joel Tiberg
- LaRoyce Hawkins as Officer Kevin Atwater
- Amy Morton as Sergeant Trudy Platt
- DuShon Monique Brown as Connie
Guest Cast[]
- Jack McCabe as Leonard Mills
- Vanessa Flores as Daniela Molina
- Scott Kurz as McFarland
- Kevin Gudahl as Doctor Bachman
- Jin You as Ophthalmologist
- Marcus Hendricks as Uniformed Cop #1
- Andy Cameron as Nurse
Notes and Trivia[]
- Casey is the one who says the title name in the episode. It occurs early in the episode, when Truck 66 is first sighted by Truck 81, and Casey tells Cruz to concentrate on driving the truck.