Chicago Fire winter premiere recap: Otis takes over the Molly North opening

Brett takes over when Gabi’s father needs medical attention.

The Chicago Fire hiatus has been excruciating. There hasn’t been a new episode since November, thanks to NBC choosing to switch nights and Thursday Night Football taking over. Not only that, but there was a stressful cliffhanger. As Dawson and Brett responded to a call, they reached the victim only to find out that it’s Dawson’s father.

Can Brett save Ramon Dawson?

The winter premiere picked up right off the bat from that moment. While Dawson feared for her father’s life, Brett took over calmly and collectively. Ordering Dawson to drive, Brett administered everything necessary to make sure Ramon got to Med alive. It all turned out great, and as Casey and Antonio showed up at the hospital, they all learned that Ramon had made it out of surgery and was going to be fine.

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How did he get stabbed though? According to Antonio, someone attacked people at the train station and Ramon tried to stop him. He’s a hero and news sources around the city want to talk to him about it. Of course, while Dawson is happy her father is alive, she spends the rest of the episode upset. She nearly lost him and they’d been on bad terms at the time. It’s Ramon who does the apologizing at the end of the episode, though, as well as being thankful that Gabi has been there for him when his ex-wife and son turned their backs.

Molly’s North opens

Most of the Chicago Fire episode focused on the opening of Molly’s North. Otis has some big plans and wants to make sure the opening night is spectacular. But he has a deadline of the coming weekend. There isn’t much time to manage it and Herrmann and Stella aren’t too certain about all the plans, but Otis promises to control it all.

Cruz has an excellent idea for advertising: taxi headers. He has a friend who can do it for $250 per cab. What Cruz doesn’t tell Otis is that there’s a minimum of 100 cabs, which means a total of $25,000 is needed. Otis doesn’t have that kind of money (and Cruz did wonder to himself where Otis was going to get that money from), so in the end decides that’s not going to happen.

Instead, Stella (who is struggling with the guilt of kissing Severide) offers to talk to a guy at her gym who works at a radio station. Otis is more than happy to get on the air and talk about Molly’s North. However, he loses his confidence when he goes live, forgets the name of the bar, and is then mocked with fart noises throughout the rest of the slot. It’s not great, although Lily certainly feels sorry for him.

Herrmann gets annoyed when he learns that Otis has bought a jukebox for the bar. He’s getting fed up of Otis doing everything to impress Lily, only to learn that the jukebox was actually for Herrmann, to make Molly’s North a home for that area, just like Molly’s is a home for their area. It’s sweet and there’s no more mention about the cost of the box.

Unfortunately, not as many people turn up to the opening night as Otis wanted. However Lily is more than impressed. It’s a bigger crowd than the bar has seen in a decade. If only there was more than just the firefighters there!

Boden cherishes a memory

One of the call outs in Chicago Fire is to an apartment building. The landlord hasn’t seen a fire, but the fuse box is sparking. He’s sure it’s a particular apartment, who has a tendency to run a lot of electrics. Sure enough, the guy’s multiple humidifiers has caused a shortage and there’s a fire in the walls.

The man turns out to be Stoke Porter, a blues singer from Boden’s past. He starts to think about all the memories of the blues music, pulling Casey and Mouch along for a ride. While they have no idea what Boden is up to, Casey makes a point that they need to support him through this. Boden decides they need to go to the hospital to see Stoke, so armed with one of his records they turn up at Med.

Unfortunately, Stoke has died. His daughter hadn’t even managed to get there to say goodbye. She barely knew the man, though, after her mother had taken her far away from him. At the Molly’s North opening, Boden invites the daughter to the bar and tells her the story of the first time he saw Stoke. It’s a beautiful moment, showing yet another layer to the firehouse chief.

Dawson rushes into a burning building

In the second call out of the day, Squad 3 and the ambo are called to a fire at a family clinic. There are other fire fighters at the scene, so it’s a case of making sure the building is clear. Gabi sees a young girl run into the building, so she goes in after her despite it not being clear.

While in there, the building collapses. Severide was around at the time and Gabi isn’t hurt, so they get the girl out. Gabi realizes the girl went in for her purse, which is stocked with stolen medication. When they all get out, Gabi tells the girl that she put the medication back; it’s time to go to the hospital. It’s clear this is a storyline coming back up in the near future.

Brett and Antonio get back together

Who was sad that Antonio and Brett decided to split up? Well, the great news is the two are getting back together; sort of. After seeing Antonio at the hospital, Brett struggles with her feelings. Antonio decides to help with that by showing up at her apartment, with a sweater of hers that is definitely not hers. Of course, they kiss and agree that it’s a onetime thing.

As expected, it’s definitely not a onetime thing. When they see each other at Molly’s North, they decide to skip the opening and find somewhere quiet to be together instead. Romance is blossoming again and many just can’t wait!

Next: Chicago Fire fall finale recap

Were you excited Brett and Antonio got back together? Who was the girl stealing the drugs for? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Chicago Fire continues Thursdays at 10/9c on NBC.