Chicago Fire - A Taste of Panama City - Review

After a stellar season four premiere, Chicago Fire keeps it coming with A Taste of Panama City. In case you missed last week, Firehouse 51 responded to a crack house fire that was completely blocked off by the neighborhood. Because no one is willing to come forward and admit it, Boden is in hot water. I sincerely hope I’m wrong, but perhaps Casey moving to the Chief position will come sooner than I thought…


Casey and Dawson decide to keep the pregnancy under wraps, so naturally, the entire house knows. My favorite scene by far was Casey and Dawson telling Boden. They go to his office and Dawson requests to be transferred to Arson (good move, I think). Boden gets upset, so Dawson cuts in with, “I’m pregnant!” and Boden responds like a proud grandpa to be would. Adorable. Yet another reminder that 51 is a family.

Dawson immediately switches over to Arson, and I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s definitely a good move for her, as she’s shown she’s a natural. But it isolates her from the rest of the cast, which I don’t enjoy. She takes on the crack house fire, as it’s suspected the fire was arson. How is this going to work? Is every fire 51 responds to now coincidentally going to be arson so Dawson can investigate and remain semi-connected to the house?

While investigating the crack house, Dawson finds that it was arson. Unfortunately, it seemed to be done by a professional, and it’s nearly impossible to catch the culprit. There has to be some sort of direction for this; I feel like they wouldn’t take the time to investigate arson if there wasn’t going to be some sort of major outcome. The promo for next week looks like this investigation will continue…

Elsewhere...

For the time being, it seems Severide is staying at 51. But how depressing was it watching him give up his Lieutenant gear? He’s still adjusting to Patterson being in charge but all things considered, he’s handling it better than I thought he would.

Speaking of Patterson, he’s fishy and I don’t like him. I’m disappointed, I thought last week he might be someone we’d like. After Boden tells Patterson to not say anything about the crack house fire, Patterson sets out to make sure everyone on Squad is telling the same story—a story that will evidently keep him out of trouble. Dang you Squad and your revolving door of characters!

Jack Nesbitt is back and asks Casey to help him find Katya’s notebook. He’s hella shady, and it’s obvious he wants the notebook to keep himself out of prison. Casey’s fuming and takes it out on Voight. Come on, Casey. I know he doesn’t like Voight, but Voight is brilliant. He knows what he’s doing.

Casey figures out where Katya hid the notebook! You just knew that whole time something would go wrong. Sure enough, Nesbitt follows Casey and they end up off the road, gun pointed at Casey. But Voight is smarter (obviously) and apparently tailed Casey. So we get our fairy tale ending to the whole debacle; Nesbitt is going to jail and we can finally move on to other stories.

Oh, sweet Jimmy. The new candidate has potential. I haven’t seen Mad Max yet (I know, I need to), so I didn’t understand his reference. He’s working movies into everyday life, so I like him. But shoot, I miss Mills. I don’t disagree with the writers much, but writing out Mills is something I will never understand or agree with. Even Shay’s death I understand (though I’m still sad about it), but Mills leaving? Nope.

Sylvie and Chili are still concerned about the baby they saved last week. Sylvie can’t seem to let go, and I can’t say that I blame her. Their conversation about the baby is interrupted when Jaime shows up asking for Severide. Did I detect a hint of jealousy from Sylvie? There was definitely something. Just like last week’s bizarre scene with Sylvie and Severide, it’s odd to me that Sylvie is the one Jaime encounters. Unless, of course, there’s something in the works (which I am 100% on board with).

Also, can we talk about the dingbat who grabbed the guy when Sylvie was using the defibrillator? “Does she not know what CLEAR means?!” No, Sylvie. She’s clearly never watched a hospital drama in her life. How sad for her. Speaking of hospital dramas, we’re only a few weeks away from Chicago Med.

The Portland couple is back with a vengeance. Mrs. Portland is awful, and I wish Herrmann had thrown the pie in her face instead of at the door. I don’t know what their purpose is, but even if it’s only to drive Herrmann crazy, I’m all for it. Why? Because Crazy Herrmann gets his Breakfast Club on and sings “Don’t You Forget About Me”. More, please.







What did you think of the episode? How long will Dawson stay with Arson? Will Patterson stick around for long? But more importantly, who will win Chicago vs. Portland? Share your thoughts below!

About the Author - Meghan Reynolds

A Colorado native, Meghan was born a raised a Denver Broncos fan. Aside from football, she loves storytelling, whether it be movies, television, books, or music. Some of her favorite shows of the past and present include LOST, Friends, The Office, Scandal, Chicago PD, and Chicago Fire. She is excited to be reviewing two of those shows for SpoilerTV, Chicago PD and Chicago Fire.