It was pretty apparent just how often they spend holidays together when we learned about their Thanksgiving rituals; the chief carves the turkey, but only after they name it. The clincher was naming it after someone they want to carve up. That was a pretty good idea, and if I wasn’t so thankful for the turkey for giving its life for my dinner, I’d think about giving mine a name, too. Peter’s sister Elise was helping with the turkey and they had one hell of an impressive dinner. Of course, every time they got ready to eat, there was another call. Did you notice by the end of the episode the turkey was different? They had cooked it so many times it should have been near burnt, but it was less cooked than the second time they took it out of the oven. Oops!

We learned a bit about Boden through a potential teenage arsonist he took under his wing. He had a son, who doesn’t live with him and who he apparently can’t talk to any time he wants. Maybe a bad marriage and he lost his parental rights? We never did learn if the kid, Ernie, was a firebug, but I’m guessing it’s not the last we’ll see of him. Watching Hermann use his fatherly skills to try to draw information out of him was endearing, and made his scene of heading home to his own family holding Thanksgiving dinner down right tear inducing.

Thanks to a meth fire, the entire team needed to take a drug test and Kelly came ever closer to losing his battle to keep his addiction silent. Shay was feeling generous, because although she’s made it clear she was done helping him, she couldn’t let him tank right in front of her. But when he said he had no idea what his plan was if he would have had to give his sample, she’d had enough. Now that Clarice is back in her life, it will be interesting to see how close she keeps Kelly, because she’s going to need a someone to listen to her own fears as she reinvests. I don’t think Dawson will be there this time around.

Casey and Hallie seemed to be getting on really well until his jubilation at assisting a woman in an accident give birth melted over into his marriage and Hallie finally admitted she’s only ever said she wanted kids because he did. There’s no way he can continue a life with a woman whose life goals are so different than his own. He ended the episode doing shots with Dawson. It’s not like we didn’t see that coming mile away.

There isn’t another show that started this season where I feel as invested in the characters and their happiness as I do with Chicago Fire. That I do is a testament to the hard work the writers have done in proving what can be done with a show with low expectations. Sometimes the best surprises come in the smallest packages.

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Considering the number of time it’s necessary for either Dawson or Shay to do a trach to save someone’s life while in the field, wouldn’t it behoove the Chicago Fire Department to teach them how to do it rather than consistently write them up for doing it? Especially when, to date, they haven’t killed anyone, but have saved people by using the procedure? As a civilian, if I were in the street and someone wasn’t breathing and they were nearing death, I’d go all MAcGyver, beg for a pocket knife and a Bic pen (do people still carry them??) and perform one myself if I thought it would keep someone from dying right in front of me.

I’ve really enjoyed how the CFD has been portrayed in Chicago Fire so far, so I’m hoping they go the message loud and clear that what they are doing out there isn’t just lifting people onto a bed and rushing them to a hospital, but saving them in the process. The next story I expect to see if a class where every one of them learns how to perform that procedure should the need arise. Heed me NBC!

Hallelujah!  Casey saved the life of one of Voight’s future minions and his mom. Sure, Voight could keep him out of jail some day, but the kid can do that himself by steering clear of crime. Can he rescue himself and his mother from a burning building without dying? Not so sure about that. Who’s the hero now Voight? Sadly, now he and his son can share adjoining cells. Although, realistically, the judge may just go easy on his son for having such a crap father. If his son plays his cards right, cries and says he wanted to turn himself in for what he did, but his bully of a father wouldn’t allow him, Voight could take the entire wrap himself. It’s such a shame to think of the lengths people will go to to get themselves out of trouble when they could have avoided it in the first place.

We received a bit of  a break from this week from Kelly’s addiction. Thank you! Seeing him go off the rails can only be experienced for so long before you want to reach in and take him into your arms and smack the hell out of him. When you see what everyone was willing to do for Dawson to make sure she didn’t lose too much pay, imagine what they would do for him if he got his much-needed surgery.

A few other thoughts:

**I don’t think Hallie and Casey are long for this world. They have so little in common.
**Did anyone else notice a hint of something in Shay’s eyes as she asked on behalf of Cruz if Peter’s sister was in the restaurant? New love interest?
**Mouch really came through for Dawson. He had me worried for a while, but it was a proud moment when the family showed up as support.
**Chief Boden has to be the best Chief ever to grace a firehouse on television. Eamonn Walker just nails it.

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