Spoilers Ahead
Trudy Platt for President 2016.
Case Summary: After one of their own is shot and attacked, the unit must come together to find the attacker. And while there are no leads when Platt’s in the hospital, after her father’s murder, it becomes easier to understand that this was a plotted attack on the family and not police officers.
Review | Analysis: “All Cylinders Firing” wasn’t the most thematically moving episode, but it was one that featured extraordinary performances and for this show, that’s always enough for me. At most, “All Cylinders Firing” was the perfect reminder of the fact that this team will always fight through hell and back for each other. And when it comes down to protecting each other, sometimes the best thing they can do is be there to remind them of who they are.
What I appreciated most about Voight being the one to talk her out of murdering her father’s killer is his admittance to being corrupt. Choosing to remind Platt of the fact that while he’s capable of doing something like that, it’s not who she is and that’s essentially what made her breakdown so incredibly realistic.
Most Exquisite Moment: Because I don’t watch Chicago Fire, I don’t get to see Trudy’s interactions with Mouch too often. (And what a shame that is because they’re absolutely adorable together.) It was lovely to see that Amy Morton and Christian Stolte are outstanding as scene partners, for they floored me from beginning to end during their final scene. Stolte delivered Mouch’s fear and anxiety with such intensity my heart was aching. And when he dropped the “I wish we met when we were younger” line, I lost it.
Some people are fortunate enough to meet their soul mates at a time when they can spend a great majority of their lives together, but others find them later in life. Mouch and Platt are examples of partners who were fortunate enough to find one another before it was too late. But it is during moments like this when life’s drastically threatened that these concerns become bigger. If something had happened to Trudy, Mouch would’ve been devastated. Mouch would’ve been broken. And I loved that this moment of vulnerability resulted in clear growth in both parts. Trudy may be an officer, but she’s also a wife — and at the end of the day, her life isn’t the only one she has to worry about. She is no longer just looking out for herself.
Most Noteworthy Performance: When presented with an opportunity to deliver a phenomenal performance, Amy Morton has never let us down. I’ve often been in awe over her work as Trudy Platt, but in “All Cylinders Firing”, Morton outdid herself.
I’ve said this often in my reviews, but grief is the hardest emotion to manifest in TV/film. It’s either overdramatized or incredibly underwhelming. But to find that perfect place can only be showcased when an actor gives wholeheartedly. Whether it was the shock she went through or her complete breakdown, Morton’s performances felt so realistic I couldn’t stop crying. No one grieves the same way and Platt’s reaction prior to leaving the hospital was precisely what I pictured from her. And it was the outstanding raw breakdown that left me in awe. At that moment, she wasn’t just an officer, but she was a little girl who lost her father — and to our fathers, no matter how old we get, we’ll always be their little girls.
Worth Mentioning:
- I loved seeing the parallel between Burgess and Platt in the hospital.
- And I loved hearing Lindsay say that it’s okay to make mistakes. No one’s perfect and no matter how long we do something, there’s always room for improvement. Burgess shouldn’t beat herself up for what she did because, in the end, everything turned out fine.