Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season and the 72nd overall episode of Station 19.
Short Summary[]
Through a series of flashbacks, Sullivan and Natasha's past is revealed. Meanwhile, Ben and Bailey have a discussion with Pru's grandparents, and the crew responds to a fire at a candy factory.
Full Summary[]
At station 23, Andy works out.
Ross runs around outside.
Sullivan works out at home.
Maya runs on the treadmill while holding a ten pound medicine ball. Carina tells her to save some energy for the meeting.
Ross stops running and calls Sullivan for reassurance.
He answers and tells her she's great and inspiring and no one can do the job better than she can.
It works and she continues running, telling him to keep going.
2005
As he lies on his stomach, with his rifle in hand, waiting for his target, Sullivan tells Ross, who is beside him in the same position, that she's better than most of the guys. They shouldn't care that she's a woman. People have speculated that she was chosen to be his spotter because she's a woman and they have a relationship. She earned her promotion because she's better. They're sexist if they think there's anything more to it than that and won't last long in the Marines. They've been waiting for six hours. Ross sees movement, but it's just a delivery bike.
Deja asks if it's true that Ross is coming in and Andy says yes. Deja's a fan of Ross, because female leadership is important. Theo announces that Ross is there. Andy greets her and tries to talk to her, but she says the decision has been made. Ross then goes to the team and tells them station 23 will be closing. They object, but Andy calls for them to be quiet. Ross says they'll finish the week and then station 19 and 57 will be absorbing their call district. Some of them will be reassigned. The department is there for them. Theo asks why. She says they've done great work, but it's about numbers. She compares them to station 19, with Crisis One and their new clinic. They're reducing the number of low acuity calls significantly. They don't need two stations so close together. They'll all get notice of reassignment or severance by the end of the week. In the meantime, they should keep serving Seattle as they always have. Once she's gone, Barnes blames 19, but Theo says that's not what Ross said.
Vic says that Ben and Bailey are meeting with the Millers. She says she's going to sue if they don't get Pru. Travis leans over to pour coffee for Vic, ignoring her saying she was drinking tea. He's not handling his breakup well. Travis hasn't spoken to Emmett since Emmett told him never to call again. Vic gets a text and announced that they're shutting 23 down. Travis wonders what that means for Andy and Theo. Vic hopes Theo doesn't transfer to 19 because she doesn't want to work with her boyfriend because that never works out. Travis says he and Michael worked together, but Vic reminds him of all the other couples that didn't, including him and Emmett. A Crisis One call comes in, calling Travis and Vic away. This means Travis will have to see Emmett. Once they're gone, Jack tells Maya, who is pacing, that she's going to do great. Maya says she is great and just needs the chief to see it.
Sullivan enters Beckett's office and asks him why he didn't come to the meeting. Beckett says he was going to, but then he got drunk instead. Sullivan says he needs another meeting. Beckett doesn't like Sullivan keeping tabs on him. Sullivan tells him about 23 getting shut down.The department is sniffing out problems. If he doesn't get his act together, he'll get 19 shut down. Beckett doesn't think Ross would do that to Sullivan. Sullivan reminds him that with 23 closing, there are two captains that need new assignments and Beckett isn't well. He needs to get well before he can't come back. Beckett gives him a look and he leaves the office.
As they arrive at their call, Vic says maybe she and Theo should report their relationship to the department so they have to keep them apart. Travis wonders if Theo even wants to transfer to 19. Virginia tells them she called the police to evict her tenant, but they explain Crisis One to her as she leads them to Alan's place. He hasn't paid rent for the month or the prior month. She's not allowed to enter the property. She hasn't seen him in about a month, but thinks he's hiding from her. Emmett arrives and Virginia tells them to get Alan out. Things are awkward as Vic tries to get Alan to enter the door. When he doesn't answer, Vic goes back to the rig to get a Halligan tool.
Andy reminds the team that they're still station 23 firefighters until it's closed and they have a job to do. Maddox reminds her that she never wanted to be there in the first place. Deja asks Andy to take her to 19 with her. Andy says like everyone else, she doesn't know where she'll end up. A call comes in and the team leaves. Maddox speculates that Andy did this so she could go back to 19.
Maya scrubs the back of the engine and repeats to herself that she's an excellent firefighter and captain and to stay calm. Ross comes in, startling her. Maya says the conference room is empty, but Ross says Maya can keep working while they talk. Ross says her record is impressive. She's accomplished a lot as such a young age. She asks what Maya's end goal with the department is and Maya says fire chief. Ross hopes she won't lose that ambition because she's not reinstating Maya as captain. Maya defends her actions from that day, saying it was a matter of life or death. Ross tells Maya a story of her second tour in Iraq, when a solider disobeyed command to save one person, who lived, but at the cost of other lives when he blew their cover. Maya openly defied the chief. Maya says that McCallister demoted her for insubordination and replaced her with a captain who got their engine stolen and destroyed and who faced no consequences for that. McCallister had it out for her because she supported her team's involvement with Black Lives Matter. Ross warns her that Maya doesn't want an accusation like that on her record. Ross says McCallister was problematic, but Maya's inability to do her job in spite of that is a problem, as is her inability to see what she did wrong. Ross isn't confident that she'll ever change. Just then, a call comes in and Maya says that's her. Ross tells her to go.
Ben finds a picture of Dean and Pru and puts it out as they prepare for the Millers' arrival. When Bailey bends over to straighten some toys, Ben tells her not to let Wright see her like that. He jokes with her about Wright's crush on her, but says he needs to keep his hands and lips to himself. There's a knock at the door and Bailey opens it to find Anna there with Pru. Anna says the Millers got held up at a doctor's appointment and asked her to bring Pru over. Ifeya and Bill arrive and Ben and Bailey welcome them in. Ifeya declines a drink and says she just wants to get into it. Tabitha won't be joining them because they've decided that Ben and Bailey should get Pru, pending agreement of visitation. Ben and Bailey are stunned.
Virginia is upset to see Vic using force to open the door. Once it's open, the stench overwhelms them as they enter. On the table is rotting food and multiple syringes next to a glucose monitor. They go around a corner and find Alan dead and rotting on his bed.
Sullivan asks Maya how it went, but Maya lies and says they didn't get to finish because of the call. Sullivan's pulling for her. They arrive at the call, which is at a candy factory. Beckett reminds them there will be many combustibles and to be alert. He gives orders to his team. When Ricky informs him there are still people inside, including his pregnant girlfriend, Stella, Beckett asks Ricky for the layout of the factory. As 23 arrives as well, Ricky draws out a map of the factory, showing the location of the generator. Then he sends Maya to take Ricky and start triage. He gives orders to 23 and says he's sorry about their house.
As they prepare to enter, Andy says they have to cut the generator and Beckett says it's on the northeast wall. Andy prepares Deja for the conditions they'll see, including melted sugar, which is extremely sticky. They have to keep moving or they'll get stuck. The door is opened and they all rush in with their lines.
Ifeya says nurturing Pru's Nigerian heritage is of utmost importance. Ben and Bailey say the Laus are equally passionate about nurturing her Chinese culture. Plus they're on that already and so are their boys, especially Joey, who found a Nigerian grocery store and has been cooking Nigerian food. Ifeya also wants to settle on visitation. She lists off all the holidays they want Pru for, which is most holidays, plus her birthday every other year and two weeks out of her summers with the Lau. Bailey questions them getting all the holidays. Ifeya is upset that they're fighting her on this. Bailey won't accept the conditions.
As Travis, Vic, and Emmett exit, Virginia asks if Alan is dead. They tell her he is and she's worried about him having stained the floor. They suspect he ran out of insulin because he couldn't afford it and Virginia didn't even know he needed it. Emmett asks if no one even noticed he was gone. The aid car gets called away, but Emmett volunteers to stay and wait for the police and complete the report.
Andy and Deja call out for Stella as they walk through the factory. They struggle to walk through the sticky sugar.
Jack and Sullivan make a plan to cut the power as they watch the fans above them spray sugar, causing the fire to spread. They find what looks like a power box, but it's not what they need. Jack radios out and tells Beckett that.
As Maya treats Ricky, he asks her to go help find Stella. She says that all the firefighters have their jobs and hers is to treat Ricky. He just wants them to find Stella. He didn't want her to work, but they couldn't afford for her not to. Nearby, Maddox calls for some supplies Maya has, if 19 is hoarding that as well. She tells him that 23 closing isn't her fault. Ricky is concerned that a station is closing and asks if there are enough firefighters inside. Maya assures him they have enough firefighters on the scene. Over Maya's radio, Ricky hears Beckett say that the generator is on the northeast wall. Ricky says that's not right. He must have the map upside down. Maya tries to radio him back, but he doesn't reply, so Maya leaves to tell him in person.
Andy radios out when she and Deja find what looks like a distillery. Beckett says they need to close it as it's the hopper. They move equipment around so they can do that, but have trouble getting leverage. While they're working, they hear a woman calling out for help. Deja goes and finds Stella. Andy radios to Barnes and Theo to tell them her location.
Maya gets to Beckett and shows him he has the map upside down. He radios inside to give the correction. When Vic and Travis arrive, he sends them to triage. Vic thinks Theo's inside, but Travis assures her he'll be out soon.
After handing Stella off to Barnes and Theo, Deja helps Andy find a bar to get enough leverage to close the hopper. Once that's done, they radio out and Beckett says to abort the generator mission and knock down the fire.
Ross continues to make notes and asks Sullivan what he's going to do when he gets out. He says he'll get a 9-to-5 job, get married, and have kids. Ross wants to stay in the military forever. It's what she's built for. Sullivan says no one is. Ross says she's not the marrying kind. There's movement in the house and lights. Sullivan prepares to fire and Ross clears him to, but then he sees the target greet his children. He refuses to shoot in front of the target's kids. A helicopter flies over and they duck down. By the time they get back up, the target is inside. Ross is angry with him for not taking the shot.
Away from the Millers, Bailey says she won't be talked to like that. It's not a deal and she won't pretend that it is. Bailey tells the Millers that their son put it in writing and they're in no condition to raise Pru on their own. She's Chief of Surgery and despite everyone's best efforts, sometimes medical information comes across her desk. She knows about Bill's condition. If the courts knew, it wouldn't even be a conversation. Even if they were fine with it, it would still be too much. That's why they came there, to act like they were doing them a favor by making them glorified nannies. She asks if she's wrong. Bill says yes. It's Ifeya's heart, not Bill's.
Ifeya explains that she had a heart attack recently. She has a pacemaker, but they're still adjusting it. It's had to keep up with a toddler with that. Bailey and Ben are understanding. They want her to be there for all of Pru's celebrations, but they want to be there, too. Bailey offers to get Ifeya in with Maggie Pierce, her best cardiothoracic surgeon. They thank her. Ifeya says it would be best for Pru to be with Ben and Bailey, but they have a final request. They don't want Pru to lose another father to a fire. She can't bring her son back, but she can save Pru the same fate again.
Theo and Barnes get Stella outside and onto a gurney. Travis rinses her eyes. As they move her to the aid car, Ricky finds her. Theo explains that the sugar burned her eyes. She couldn't see where she was going, so she ended up trapped. Ricky says he loves her and their baby and drops down to propose to her. She laughs and says yes. Travis says they need to get her to the hospital, but Ricky can ride with them. They pass Maya, who is drinking water. Andy comes up next to Maya. Maya says she's sorry about 23. Andy asks how it went with Ross. Maya just says they have a lot to drink about. Sullivan comes up to them and thanks Andy for closing the hopper, as it saved them. Andy asks what happened with the generator and Maya tells her that Beckett had the map upside down. Maya walks away as Sullivan and Andy react. Sullivan asks if Andy's okay. She says no. It's not not her fault that 23 got shut down. They're boneheads, but most of them are good fighters. She failed as their leader because she wanted to go back to 19. Sullivan knows the feeling of thinking you're doing the right thing, but costing someone a job. He tells her to learn from it like he did.
Ross tells Sullivan he has a clear shot. The target is saying goodbye to his children. Sullivan hesitates. Ross tells him she lied. She wants to paint and travel and cook French food, but she can't do any of that until they get out of there, so she needs him to take the shot. When he still doesn't, she calls for a drone strike, but then he fires and hits his target, causing chaos as the target drops. Ross calls for extraction instead.
As the firefighters of 23 prepare to leave at the end of shift, Maddox warns B-shift to start clearing out their lockers because Andy got them shut down. Deja speaks up to defend Andy, saying she's had Deja's back and taught her a lot. Andy calls attention to her and says they're amazing firefighters and budget cuts can't take that away. Station 23 has a long history of legendary firefighters and they're part of it. They're the last of the legends. She wants them to take what they've accomplished out into the world to make it less awful. They'll land on their feet, mostly. Theo calls for a round of applause for Andy, the last captain of station 23.
Travis puts vapor rub under his nostrils so he can stop smelling Alan's rotting corpse. They see people dead and dying every day, but that was worse. Vic says humans weren't meant to see or smell that. Travis is say that Alan died alone without anyone to notice he was gone. Vic asks if it made him grateful for her. Travis says it made him realize he doesn't think he ever really loved Emmett. He liked his company, but mostly, he didn't want to be alone, so he told Emmett what he wanted to hear. In a way, that made him the one acting like his dad. Theo comes home and Vic rungs to be with him. They make out and then Vic pulls back to say it's okay with her if he wants to work at 19. He says it's not up to him. They move toward the bedroom with a wave to Travis. There's a knock at the door and Travis opens it to find Emmett. Emmett couldn't sleep. He tells Travis they're great together. He thinks Travis loves him and life is too short to be so complicated. He wants to pretend that nothing every happened and says he forgives Travis. He hugs a bewildered Travis.
Bailey and Ben watch Pru play with Joey and talk about their feelings. Bailey asks what Ben's going to do and Ben doesn't know. But Bailey broke HIPAA with the Millers. Bailey says she didn't. She took what Anna said about the doctor's appointment and made them think she knew more than she did. She knows exactly what Ifeya's going through and still went after her.
Maya comes home to find an elaborate breakfast spread. Carina comes out of their bedroom. Maya says she told Carina last night that Ross said no, but Carina already had the champagne chilled, so she wants to celebrate anyway. Maya says she can't. She needs to throw things and scream. She can't do that when Carina is being kind and supportive. She asks Carina to let her be pissed for a while.Carina says okay and goes back to the bedroom. Maya assures her she still loves her and they're still making a baby. She just needs to get all this out first. Carina nods. Maya throws her bag onto the couch, then takes off her jacket and screams into it.
Back at base camp, Ross finds Sullivan in a tent and sits with him. Sullivan didn't think war would change him this much. Ross says he hasn't changed that much. He still sees the human in his scope, which matters. Sullivan leans in to kiss her, but she pulls back. She's afraid to cross that line. They agree that if either of them dies, the other will grieve. They're close. They already care too much. They're already over the line, so they should enjoy it. Sullivan pulls her into a kiss.
Sullivan finds Ross and acts like they don't know each other well. He tells her that Beckett has a drinking problem. He's not sure if Beckett is drinking on the job, but he has kept booze hidden in his office, so he suspected Beckett it. And he won't get help, so he'll end up getting someone killed. He's done everything he can. It's complicated because he suspects they have history, but he's putting the team at risk. Ross reminds him there's no half-measure for something like this. She thanks him for letting her know.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Jaina Lee Ortiz as Lieutenant Andy Herrera
- Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren
- Boris Kodjoe as Lieutenant Robert Sullivan
- Grey Damon as Lieutenant Jack Gibson
- Barrett Doss as Victoria Hughes
- Jay Hayden as Travis Montgomery
- Danielle Savre as Lieutenant Maya Bishop
- Stefania Spampinato as Dr. Carina DeLuca
- Carlos Miranda as Lieutenant Theo Ruiz
Special Guest Star[]
Guest Stars[]
- Lachlan Buchanan as Emmett Dixon
- Josh Randall as Captain Sean Beckett
- Merle Dandridge as Fire Chief Natasha Ross
- Barbara Eve Harris as Ifeya Miller
- Jeffrey D. Sams as Bill Miller
- Natasha Ward as Deja Duval
- Alyson Reed as Virginia
- Cynthy Wu as Anna
- Rene Moran as Ricky
Co-Starring[]
- Shane Hartline as Maddox
- Shaun Heard as Dan Barnes
- Danny Brown as Stella
- Noah Alexander Gerry as Joey
- Janai Kaylani as Pru
- Jag Singh as Target
Rescues[]
Alan[]
Crisis One was called to 328 Birch Pond Street. They arrived to find Virginia, who called the police to evict her tenant, Alan, who hadn't paid that month's rent or the rent for the previous month. She said she hadn't seen him exit or enter the property in over a month. Vic used the Halligan tool to pry open the door and they were greeted by a strong odor. They found Alan long dead inside, likely because he couldn't afford the insulin he needed. When Vic and Travis had to leave, Emmett volunteered to stay behind to wait for police and write up the report.
Sweet Ana's Candy Factory[]
Stations 23 and 19 were called to 460 Ryder Avenue. They arrived to find a Sweet Ana's Candy factory on fire. He put Jack and Sullivan on fire attack. Ricky, an employee, said that his girlfriend, Stella, was still inside. He drew a map of the inside of the factory and gave it to Sullivan, including the location of the generator. Ricky then went with Maya to triage to get treated. When 23 arrived, Beckett sent Andy and Deja inside as backup fire attack and Theo and Barnes to search and rescue. Beckett told them the generator was on the northeast wall and they needed to cut it to cut power to the building. They cut the door open and went inside. The floor was very sticky because of the candy, making navigation difficult. Jack and Sullivan followed Beckett's directions, but found no generator controls. At triage, Maya treated Ricky, who heard Beckett say over the radio that the generator was on the northeast side. He corrected that it was on the southwest side. Beckett was reading the map upside down. When Beckett didn't answer his radio, Maya ran to him to tell him. Inside, Deja and Andy had to close the hopper to stop the flow of sugar, which was worsening the fire. While doing so, they found Stella, who couldn't see. Deja helped her get to Theo, who got her out, then she and Andy closed the hopper. Beckett said to abandon the generator mission and fight the fire. The fire was then put out. Once Stella was outside, they got her on a gurney and Travis rinsed her eyes. They believed her eyes had gotten burned by sugar. They then loaded her into an aid car to take her to the hospital.
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Survivor" | Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats |
|
| "Stand Up" | Public Noice feat. Judith Hill |
|
| "Paradise" | Charlotte OC |
|
| "Sandstorm" | Passenger |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire, originally sung by Joni Mitchell.
- This episode scored 4.60 million viewers.[1]
- Merle Dandridge had a broken toe while filming the scene of Natasha Ross running.[2]
- All of the flashback scenes were shot in one day in the desert.[2]
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Quotes[]
See Also[]
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A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
| Station 19 Season 5 | ||||||
| #01 | "Phoenix from the Flame" | #07 | "A House Is Not a Home" | #13 | "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire" | |
| #02 | "Can't Feel My Face" | #08 | "All I Want for Christmas is You" | #14 | "Alone in the Dark" | |
| #03 | "Too Darn Hot" | #09 | "Started from the Bottom" | #15 | "When the Party's Over" | |
| #04 | "100% or Nothing" | #10 | "Searching for the Ghost" | #16 | "Death and the Maiden" | |
| #05 | "Things We Lost in the Fire" | #11 | "The Little Things You Do Together" | #17 | "The Road You Didn't Take" | |
| #06 | "Little Girl Blue" | #12 | "In My Tree" | #18 | "Crawl Out Through the Fallout" | |
| << Season 4 | Season 6 >> | |||||