After a thrilling season premiere episode, Chicago Fire season 12 is back with another all-new episode, "Call Me McHolland." Here’s your recap of everything that happened.
Mouch (Christian Stolte) is busy setting up a piece of gym equipment when Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) comes in, reminding him that he’s an hour early. Brett (Kara Killmer) and Mikami (Hanako Greensmith) are discussing wedding locations, with Brett insisting that she doesn’t want anything big and fancy. Kidd arrives and asks if Mikami told her about her idea, but Brett says it’s over her budget. All that matters is that she gets to marry Matt.
Ritter (Daniel Kyri) finds Herrmann (David Eigenberg) looking in the fridge. Herrmann doesn’t hear him approach, and instead gets angry about someone drinking all the milk and leaving the carton in the fridge. That’s when they get a call for a trapped person.
Kidd takes over at the scene, telling Mouch to get into position and telling Carver (Jake Lockett) to get ready to go up to rescue the guy hanging from a building’s sign. The team springs into action, raising the ladder as Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Cruz (Joe Minoso) work from the inside. Severide gets on a rope and manages to grab the guy (who was trying to rescue his drone) before he falls. Carver goes up and grabs him, and the kid asks about his drone. Cruz decides to go out to get the drone. He slips, but he grabs it. On the ground, Cruz tells the kid to be smart next time.
Kidd praises Mouch for his work. Mikami gets up from his spot on the couch but Mouch says he doesn’t need his spot anymore. He needs to stay mobile, citing the risk of early mortality from sitting too much. He doesn’t want to be known as Mouch anymore (half-man, half-couch), he wants to be known as McHolland.
Mikami overhears Carver on a call and ends up hurting her hand while she’s distracted. They exchange some flirtatious banter, but she looks unsure. Severide asks Cruz how he’s doing after slipping to get the toy. Severide points out that he didn’t order him to get the drone and that he needs to stop "freelancing", to which Cruz points out that Severide left him alone for three months and put him in charge. Severide doesn’t want to hear it. No more freelancing.
No more Mouch
Ritter finds Herrmann in his office, but when he knocks he realizes that Herrmann can’t hear him. After tapping his shoulder, Ritter asks what’s going on and Herrmann admits his ears are ringing "some." Ritter knows he took a big blow to the head after the explosion and he thinks Herrmann should get checked out, but Herrmann dismisses him.
Mouch peels his name from his locker. Cruz can’t believe it’s real. "No more Mouch." He can’t believe Mouch tossed the pillow he gave him, but Mouch jokes about there being some unidentified stains on it. Mouch is worried that his legacy would be a spot on the couch and he wants to be known for leaving it all on the line.
Kidd, Mikami and Brett go over Kidd’s plans for a group of high school girls for a training exercise. Cruz passes up a chance to play poker with the guys. He’s on his way to talk with Boden (Eamonn Walker) about taking the Lieutenant Test to see if he can pass the test and get his own unit. "It’s time for me to leave the 51."
After their shifts, Carver, Mouch and Ritter are leaving the station when they see Herrmann almost get hit by a car. Ritter is concerned.
Brett and Tony go to the bar and she asks him about all of his restaurant connections. Mikami arrives and Tony says he has a connection to the aquarium, too. Mikami feels like a third wheel so she leaves to get drinks. Ritter goes to the bar and tells Herrmann that he needs to see a doctor. Herrmann is worried that he could be declared unfit for duty. Ritter asks what happens during a call, or if he doesn’t hear the truck’s horn.
Mikami joins Carver, who expresses gratitude for her help with the Emma situation last year. "It meant a lot to me. I won’t forget it," he says. She bounces up from her seat and says she has to meet a friend.
Kidd tells Severide to take a beer to Cruz, but he declines. She knows something happened. She takes the beer and delivers it to Cruz, saying it’s from Severide, but Cruz sees through it. She wants them to talk it out, and she presses him for information. Cruz says he knows where he stands on the chain of command but Cruz covered for Severide while he was gone, and now he’s "barking orders" like nothing changed. He guesses that Severide at least apologized to Kidd.
Change is inevitable
Boden gives Cruz some information about the upcoming tests and says there are some open positions available. He asks if Cruz talked to Severide about his plans yet, and Cruz says he hasn’t. Cruz vows to talk to him, noting that "change is inevitable."
Carver is trying to talk with Mikami when Brett pulls her aside and asks about the bachelorette party. Then Brett remembers she hasn’t asked Mikami about being her maid of honor. She accepts but realizes it’s going to be tough planning the "perfect" party.
Ritter finds Herrmann in his office. Ritter realizes Herrmann didn’t go to the doctor. He gives Ritter a list of excuses and when a call comes in, he uses the fact that he can hear it as proof that he’s getting better.
The 51 arrives on the scene of a building fire. The 46 is already inside. The building starts to explode so Kidd starts calling out orders so they can get in and rescue the 46. Batteries inside the store start exploding and Herrmann starts to carry the hose in, but Mouch stops him. He plays it off as if he’s on the wrong channel. Ritter catches his eye and Herrmann knows he messed up.
They find the missing firefighters and store owners, and Severide tells Herrmann he can use water. Severide and Cruz start shoveling dirt onto the burning bikes, working together. Kidd thanks the other team for protecting her friend.
Boden asks why Mouch wants to change the name on his jacket. After he explains, Boden says he wants to tell him about the Mouch he knows. "Mouch is a warrior," he says. His point is that Mouch is a hero no matter what name he uses. Boden signs off on the form, leaving Mouch to think. He crumples it up and walks away.
That night, Kidd drinks with Kelly and says she’s so glad he’s okay. Kelly reveals that Gibson was a floater, which piques Kidd’s interest. Mikami arrives and sees Carver, but she passes him up to go to Tony and find a location for the bachelorette party. Severide has a heart-to-heart with Cruz and tells him he did a good job. He says if he didn’t seem thankful, it’s on him, but now that he’s back he won’t stand in Cruz’s way if he needs to move on.
Herrmann finds out he failed the auditory test but it’s correctable with hearing aids. He’s willing to do whatever it takes. The doctor warns him that his hearing loss could get worse and he’s already on the cusp of allowable limits. She needs him to agree to let her know if anything changes. He doesn’t respond.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9 pm ET/PT on NBC, and streams the next day on Peacock.
