We're three episodes into Chicago Fire season 12 and things are already heating up. Here’s your Chicago Fire season 12 episode 3 recap for “Trapped.”
On the edge
Herrmann (David Eigenberg) puts in his hearing aids and realizes how much better he can hear. However, he's worried the crew will feel sorry for him and treat him like a "frail old timer."
Boden (Eamonn Walker) and Kidd welcome Derrick Gibson (Rome Flynn), who will be riding with Engine 81. Gibson is very excited to be riding with "one of the best" firehouses in the city, which irks Mouch (Christian Stolte), who tells Carver (Jake Lockett) that they need to keep an eye on him. Boden pulls Cruz (Joe Minoso) aside and tells him he's been confirmed for the lieutenant test at the end of the month.
The team hears Herrmann coming and turn off the volume on the TV and start mouthing their words when he comes in, leading him to think that there's something wrong with his hearing aids. He yells at them as they laugh, then he grabs Ritter (Daniel Kyri) and thanks him for pushing him to get his ears checked.
Brett (Kara Kilmer) and Mikami (Hanako Greensmith) walk into a diner and order food while talking about the bachelorette party. There's a woman sitting with a man at a booth and she keeps looking at them, hoping to catch their eye. Brett looks up and sees the woman mouth "help me." They get up to leave and Brett sees the man yelling at the woman in the car, so she decides to follow them.
Giving chase
Mikami wonders if they should call the situation in, but Brett doesn't want the car to think they're following. They spot the car and call it into the PD, requesting backup.
Severide (Taylor Kinney) gets a package, while Gibson overhears Brett and Mikami on the radio. Boden intervenes and calls for backup, but the car is a mile out. The whole station is listening in as the women try to follow the car but the man driving sees them and takes off.
Back at the station, Brett and Mikami explain what happened at the diner to McDaniel. He wonders if this was just a "spat" but Boden says if his team says something was wrong, then something was wrong. After he leaves, the two women know nothing is going to happen so they ask permission to check things out at the diner.
Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) asks Cruz how his conversation went with Severide. He tells her Severide won't stand in the way of him taking the test. She tries to put a positive spin on it, but the damage is done. She finds Severide at a desk working on an ATF case and she turns and walks away.
Carver finds Mikami and asks about the "adventure" they had. He asks for details, but Mouch interrupts and says a bar of soap disappeared while he was on duty at his previous station. He tries to recruit Ritter, but he declines.
Severide gets a visit from the captain, who says he's the one who sent the ATF file to him. He wants to know why he's turned down a chance to freelance with the best ATF arson squad around. He says he shouldn't let any of his talent go to waste.
Boden tells Herrmann to ignore the playful teasing about his hearing. Herrmann admits he feels bad about the hearing aids, but Boden reminds him he has them because he threw himself on a bomb. Boden says Herrmann needs to be honest with him if his hearing gets worse.
Brett and Mikami return to the diner, where the worker tells them the police just left. They ask to see the security camera footage. They can’t see their faces but they do see a waitress taking their menus and sure enough there's a message there: "Call 911. I think he's going to kill me."
McDaniel thanks them for picking up such an important clue. He's going to try to get more resources on the case.
"Something I want"
Kidd confronts Severide about the ATF case report. He says he's not trying to hide anything from her, because working on these arson cases is "something [he] wants." He wants to prove to her he can balance ATF and their life together, and asks for her to think it over.
Gibson is working on some training when Carver comes along. They start talking about their history, with Gibson sharing he's a local guy. Mouch tries to listen in but Brett and Mikami get back. Carver asks about the case and when he looks at some of the surveillance footage he realizes the guy is a roofer.
A call comes in from a local warehouse store. A customer has been impaled in one of the aisles. Brett asks Severide to cut the forklift piece so they can transport her with it. Cruz comes in with the saw but the forklift is putting weight on the shelf behind her. The crowd starts to accuse them of not working fast enough, but Gibson steps in and gets them to step back. One of the men recognizes him and Mouch wants to know what he's talking about but he brushes it off.
Once the metal has been cut, they load her onto the stretcher and get her out of there. Later, Brett and Mikami get the stretcher back into the rig, noting the woman has been stabilized. They decide to start asking around at local roofers to see if anyone knows who the man is.
Never give up
Mouch praises Gibson back at the station. He fills Carver in and tells him they need to find Ritter for help looking up information online about the new guy. Cruz tells Kidd he doesn't think Severide cares about what he does. She goes to Severide and tells him to go to Tucson with her blessing, but if he goes MIA again it will be over. She tells him he also needs to get permission from someone else at the station.
Mikami and Brett have one more roofing company to search and they spot the guy's car inside. They call McKinley, who tells them he's five minutes out. They park outside the fence and see the man leading the woman to the car, a knife in his hand. When he starts to drive away, she pulls the ambulance in front of him but he rams right into her. The police arrive in time to keep him from hurting the woman inside. Brett and Mikami help the woman from the car and get her to safety.
Severide sits down with Cruz and tells him he's got an offer to help with another arson case but he won't do it unless Cruz says it's ok and that he'll watch the team while he's gone.
Mouch meets with Ritter, who says the Cicero Semifinals is a boxing tournament. Gibson was a champion but he walked away from the sport.
Brett and Mikami tell Boden the suspect was holding his girlfriend hostage for three days. Cruz tells Boden he's withdrawing his name from the lieutenant test and Ritter tells Mouch and Carver that Gibson is coming to Molly's later that night.
At Molly's, Mouch tells Gibson he's a co-owner and they start opening up to each other. Carver wants to talk with Mikami and they end up kissing. Speaking of kissing, Severide and Kidd are outside their house kissing. His cab pulls up and they say "I'll see you soon" instead of goodbye.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9 pm ET/PT on NBC, and streams the next day on Peacock.
