Owen waits for a life-changing result after Robert tells him the reason behind his visit, while Tommy and Judd experience a messy conflict of interest on a call.
Tropes:
- An Arm and a Leg: Tommy, against Judd’s orders to evacuate the paper mill, stays behind to try and free an unconscious worker whose arm got wedged between two rollers. Judd goes back in, and ends up having to amputate his arm with the axe before the three of them can leave. Unfortunately, the worker doesn’t survive.
- As the Good Book Says...: Trevor and Grace appeal to their respective partners to follow through on their dinner reservations, with Trevor then chiming in unsuccessfully when he’s forced to be a referee for Tommy and Judd’s continuing argument.
- Bearer of Bad News: Owen stops by the loft to inform TK about Robert’s terminal diagnosis and his genetic test for Huntington’s Disease. Later, TK also does this with Carlos.
- After Owen does get his test results back, he’s able to bear good news about him and TK testing negative for the Huntington’s Disease predisposition, much to his son’s utter relief.
- Berserk Button:
- The loss of Charles is still fresh for Tommy, so Judd bringing it up as a point against her duty to save the worker’s life feels like a major breach of trust, even if it was out of gruff concern.
- Paul angrily jumps to Asha’s defense when TK insults her HR position in the paper mill call.
- Break His Heart to Save Him: Not wanting to force Carlos to become his caregiver or watch his health decline in case he did develop Huntington’s later down the line, TK shakily offers an easy out, noticing how shocked he is. Of course, Carlos easily but gently defies this.
- Continuity Nod:
- Two years after “Friends with Benefits” (2.04), Judd and Grace host another charades game night at their place, this time with Wyatt and Trevor in attendance.
- Judd half-jokingly worries that the 126 firehouse will burn down with Owen’s brief trip to California, which already really happened in “The Big Heat” (2.12).
- Owen sadly tells Robert that his keeping his lung cancer secret from TK didn’t help either of them handle the situation properly, hearkening back to “Act of God” (1.04).
- Get Out!: When Tommy and Judd’s disagreement ends up getting even more heated at Ferracia’s, with several customers looking on and Grace and Trevor unsuccessfully trying to resolve things (while getting into their own argument about how poorly it’s going), a waiter tightly requests for them to take their appetizers to go.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Tommy says this outright to Judd when he asks her why she disregarded his order to get out of the mill. Later, Judd fires this back at her after he calls in Asha to get the statement.
- Oh, Crap!: Happens one by one with the 126 paramedics when they respond to a call about a truck accidentally hitting a biker— who turns out to be Wyatt.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Charles’ loss remains a sore spot for Tommy, so she takes Judd’s concern extremely poorly when he, while trying to get her statement for the incident report, tries to remind her that she has to worry about being there for her daughters without her husband around.
- This almost happens between the 126 paramedics and firefighters as well after Judd calls Asha to interview Tommy for her statement— the former doesn’t think that Tommy should have been forced to talk about the deceased worker while she was still mourning, the latter believes that Judd was only doing his job as the de facto captain and IC and that he resorted to desperate measures when Tommy shut him down.
- Shout-Out:
- During the Ryder-Vegas’ game of charades, one of the guesses for Wyatt’s mime was “Bye Bye Bye”, an N Sync song. The answer was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Hasta la vista, baby” catchphrase.
- Title Drop: Grace quotes Matthew 12:25 as part of coaxing Judd into meeting Tommy and Trevor for their dinner reservation.
