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A Few Thoughts On Dawson

posted 8 years ago by fivestarfrankiefandom
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Last night I ended up writing a very long rant... and I mean very long... I think I take fictional characters too seriously but I used to really enjoy this show and I can now barely watch it so it was quite satisfying to write. It's probably repetitive, I've probably forgotten major storylines and it's probably awfully written but it was nearly 4am by the time I decided I should probably go to bed! I posted it on my LJ account but the CF fandom isn't very active one there so thought I'd make an account and post it on here as I've been told that although it seems everyone loves Dawson on Twitter not everyone on here does, which is nice to know because I thought most people actually liked her!

A Few Thoughts On Dawson

Season four left Dawson, and Dawsey, fans on a high but I can’t help but wonder why? To me season four only served to emphasise how much Dawson has changed for the worst. At the start of her show life she was a badass paramedic who had hopes of saving up and getting into medical school. By the time we get to the end of season four Dawson managed to get herself involved in just about every storyline going; she has managed to make a flawless transition from badass paramedic to one of the greatest Mary Sue’s in history.

Feel free to add or object to anything I have written below, I have tried my best to go through it and provide plenty of episode references. I have not written this to purely hate on Dawson, I did like her until season three. I have written this because it is my opinion that Dawson’s evolution into a Mary Sue character has ruined the show, to the extent that I could barely watch season four and I am dreading season five, and since we are all entitled to our own opinions I welcome any civilised response.

She Wants It, She Gets It

Everything happens the way Dawson wants, maybe not to start with but in the end it now seems inevitable that she will get her way. Dawson’s dream of going to medical school soon changed and she became a firefighter, of course plenty of work and relationship complications ensued, relationship problems were going to be unavoidable when she decided instead of waiting for a spot on another truck she would work under her fiancé, a disaster waiting to happen because of her impatience. Of course if the writers had chosen to let her train at a different house, on a different truck, she would not be so involved in the show, a situation I wouldn’t have minded because by season three she was already quickly changing from badass Dawson to Gabby Sue.

From everything we know about season five, from interviews and behind the scenes photos I’ve come to understand that Dawson has moved from Truck 81 to Ambulance 61. It infuriates me that Dawson is ready to give up this dream job of firefighting to go back to ambo so she can look after her foster child Louie but previously she had refused to transfer onto engine so she could marry, the supposed love of her life, Casey. She had claimed she liked the way things were, that Casey was too busy and she didn’t want to transfer off his truck when he asked her to marry him (4.18) but only a few episode’s later (4.21) when Casey says he is too busy and did not think it was the right time to foster a child together, by this point in the show he has a third job, Alderman for the 52nd Ward, which she had wanted him to do from the start so I don’t see how she has the right to be upset at hearing this when she asks him to foster a child with her. At this point I’d also like to point out that the child in question is known to have behaviour issues and that Dawson, being very single minded, is determined to get this one child, who cares about all the other children currently in the foster system, she has fallen in love with this one child and it seems she won’t be happy with anything else. Of course Dawson always gets her way and despite the fact that Brett was reprimanded for continually getting involved with a child’s life after a call (4.01 4.02), Boden and everyone else seems to have different rules for Dawson and she is helped by everyone to make her new dream of being a foster carer come true (4.23).

Rules seem to be constantly broken when it comes to Dawson in order for her to get whatever she wants. Boden continually overlooks the fact that Casey and Dawson are in a relationship, he claims that as long as it doesn’t affect work then it is fine to have a couple who are engaged on Truck 81, when, inevitably, it does affect the working dynamics of the truck Herrmann is there to solve the issue. I’m incredibly surprised that no one at headquarters seems overly bothered about the Dawsey relationship because surely by the time Dawson became pregnant and subsequently ended up in hospital because of complications of the ectopic pregnancy it seems that most people knew of their relationship and know that Casey was the father, even Tiberg mentions it in passing (4.05), and later in the show a newspaper article prints Dawson as his wife (4.18) and I find it incredibly unrealistic that it hasn’t raised any questions at CFD headquarters.

During her training Dawson also broke several rules and here are just some examples; she spilt up from her lieutenant during a fire (3.09), she took control of a dump truck and crossing a contamination zone without the correct gear (30.9), she gave up her mask (3.08), becoming overly involved with victims (4.21 4.22) and giving Kidd an order, a senior firefighter (4.23. Dawson completed her candidacy within a year, Mills on the other hand took longer and in mu opinion was a much better firefighter, it’s even mentioned that Otis was the candidate for four years, he must have made hundreds of mistakes if Dawson made so many and completed hers in a year. It’s unrealistic and unbelievable. Whilst working as a paramedic she also went straight past Boden and made a complaint about a man who worked in dispatch and ends up getting him into trouble even though the man, Ramsey, was only trying to be friendly (2.17), she is quick to assume and judge others without thinking of the effects.

When she becomes pregnant she very luckily transfers to Arson Investigation, now bear in mind she has only recently finished her firefighter training so it makes me think Severide must have pulled an awful lot of strings to get her a spot. Since when did Dawson have the knowledge and experience for the role? As far as canon is concerned Dawson has only been taken along to a couple of arson scenes with Severide and she never showed any sort of natural skill in that department. It takes lots of experience and knowledge to get involved with arson investigation, they are positions for skilled firefighters which is why Benny Severide and Chief Boden have been seen at investigations (1.18 1.23). But of course she needed to be involved in the show and the arson investigation storyline from the start of season four was perfect for her, it meant the writers still got to give her plenty of screen time even though she couldn’t work on truck (4.01) and just proves even more how Dawson gets whatever she wants, she wants to be involved even if she is pregnant, she still wants attention so giving her a main role within the investigation was the way to do just that.

The Problem With Dawsey

Now admittedly this is a topic that gets me incredibly heated so I will try my best to keep it short and brief. Dawson was gooey eyed over Casey from episode one, understandable but a little off putting if you ever get the chance to read the original script for the pilot. By the end of season four she managed to get Casey to bend to her will despite the previous strong convictions he held in previous seasons.

Dawson puts her career above her relationship with Casey. She’d rather not push her training session back so that she and Casey can meet the landlord of an apartment and consequently lose the apartment to Cruz and Otis (2.17). She dismisses his advice (2.09), and does not hesitate when he suggest she completes her training under his command even when she later realises this will affect their relationship (3.03). It portrays her as an incredibly selfish, single minded character, I was a fan of badass paramedic Dawson in season one, I am not a fan of Gabby Sue, who’s career is far more important than her relationship with Casey and who always has to take the centre stage despite the fact that Casey is the supposedly the show protagonist.

The Dawsey relationship inevitably gets in the way of the job, she’s not happy with him telling her what she’s done wrong on shift (3.09). She blatantly disregarded Casey’s direct order to wear hazmat gear and couldn’t understand why Casey was so angry, she thought it was a pretty cowboy move to dump sand on the acid with no permission, and it was just Casey’s luck that another chief turned up at the scene. Casey had to spell it out to her that her behaviour had made them both look like fools, how did she not understand what she had done wrong? Later at home she accuses him of not wanting to talk about the incident, did she just expect he’d change his mind and agree that it was a good move despite the fact his orders were completely disregarded? She is annoyed at him for being unable to talk about it at home when it’s got to be hard for him to adjust between to the two roles and evidence shows that Casey isn’t the best person when it comes to communication, just look at his parents, not exactly the best role models for him on the relationship communication front were they? She then discusses the problems with Mills at the bar, and Casey, who presumably came to Molly’s to help her close up because he’s trying his best to separate their work and professional relationships, sees them holding hands and hears part of their conversation. What did she think Casey was going to think? There she is in the bar, Mill's hand on hers, talking about how it's not the work part that's tough, it's the home part, this is her ex-boyfriend she's talking to, did she really expect Casey to just forget about it? She then gives him a two very lame apologies and later ends up going home from shift (3.10) just proving even more so that their relationship had gotten in the way of their jobs and that Dawson couldn’t handle being disciplined by her lieutenant when she had done something incredibly stupid during a call. In my mind she was incredible selfish not to wait for another spot to complete her training.

Another major example of Dawson’s selfishness, and an example of thoughtlessness, is a storyline that Dawson fans seemed to absolutely love; the idea of Dawson fostering a child. It really begins with another proposal on Casey’s part. After a newspaper makes a mistake (4.18) Dawson made a comment on what a crazy idea being his wife would be even though she has been after him since day one and she’d said yes to a proposal in the past (3.02), presumably this little scene took place few days before Casey’s second proposal, third if we count the one that was never answered (2.22), but during the same episode. At Mouch’s wedding Casey asks Dawson to marry him, she says no because it’s not the right time, she likes things the way they are, she wants to stay on Truck 81 and she also explains that he’s busy now he’s an alderman (4.18), a role that she pushed and bribed him into.

Previously in regards to marriage Dawson has stated “You know I would the second I could,” (3.07) so now that she has the chance to move to engine, still be at the same house, she decides everything’s great the way things are and she doesn’t want to get married anymore. Having informed Casey that she doesn’t want things to change when Dawson decides she wants to foster a child I don’t understand why she’s annoyed with Casey’s objections; they are both busy, it’s not the right time. The exact same reasons she gave him in response to his proposal but despite the fact that only a few weeks ago telling Casey she liked the way things are and that he is too busy to get married because of his new position, she goes ahead with the fostering, pushing away Casey’s help as she sorts out an apartment. Dawson’s brother even yells at Casey for not marrying her (4.22) and not helping with the fostering situation. This brings me to a minute long scene that felt completely ridiculous; it was laughable at how wrong it was and it seemed to me that the scene only existed to place Gabby Sue up on a pedestal.

This ridiculous scene towards the end of season four really upset me, and I’d like to think many others were disturbed by it although a retweet or like post on the official Chicago Fire Twitter account proves that this wasn’t the case. According to Twitter fans Dawson’s brother, Antonio, was in the right when he stormed into Casey’s office to yell and berate him for not helping out with the foster situation and for not marrying her. It’s quite clear that Antonio has not been told the whole story as Casey has been asking Dawson to marry him since the end of season two; he’s not the one who put obstacles in the way of their marriage. During the scene Casey is hardly given any chance to respond to the accusations, despite his previous Irish temper and strong opinions in previous seasons, I assume this is because the writers couldn’t possibly allow him to speak against Dawson because in her eyes she can do no wrong. Antonio argues that Casey has been stringing his sister along when in fact it’s clear to anyone who watches the show that it is in fact his precious sister that has been stringing Casey along. Now I’d also like to note that have also read some views that say Antonio yelling at Casey is out of character for him but I will admit that I wouldn’t know this since I have not watch PD because of the Voight and Casey situation (1.03-1.06). Overall, it seems that Dawson has bent her brother to her will and she has not been honest to him, do the writers really think we can’t see how badly Dawson has treated Casey over the years?

Dawson states that they only got back together because she was pregnant (4.04), did she not realise that after all this time, after everything Casey has done for her that he loves her and that he went to Molly’s that night to tell her that before she told him that she was pregnant (4.01). I don’t understand how Casey loves her but he does and it’s hard to watch because a lot of the time Casey is now just portrayed as Dawson’s boyfriend, his character had balls in season one, Dawson must have them locked up in a cage somewhere so she can manipulate and bribe him so get what she wants. She never seems to think of Casey’s opinion, throughout the show she has been thoughtless towards him, she insisted that he speak to her about the situation with his mum but when he does call her she is making out with Mills and never calls him back (1.11), she goes ahead with the idea of becoming a firefighter without taking his advice (2.09), she is angry at him for hiding the extent of his head injury despite knowing him long enough to understand that he hated to show weakness and I think she should be happy that he told her in the end, he was trusting her with information that worried him, that he was scared of letting people know. She also immediately say yes to the idea of working under Casey, it is only after that she realises this will impact their relationship (3.03).

Dawson’s letter at the end of season four highlights how she feels about Casey (4.23). She didn’t write it to him! She wrote to Louie and before deciding to write it to him she had struggled with the letter. Dawson has been after Casey since episode one so I find it incredible that she did not write this letter to him, a letter that is supposed to be written to a loved one in the case of death. Is she blind to Casey’s attempts to please her? He gives her the space she needs after Shay’s death, did no one realise that Casey had lost a friend too? And that he had no one to talk to about it because Severide was missing and Dawson was wrapped up in her own grief? He could have said to no to Boden at the suggestion of having his fiancé work below him on his truck but he knew how much she wanted the chance to start her candidacy. They put their relationship on hold so she could continue her training after their relationship got in the way of their job and home life. They focused on Dawson at the start of season four when in fact Casey should have been the main focus seeing as he had be forced to kill a man to protect himself, I didn’t want to see Dawson’s reaction to the scene at Stilettos (4.01), I wanted to follow Casey, I needed his reaction but it has been left to my imagination.

How anyone can be both a fan of both Casey and of Dawson is beyond me. After everything that Dawson has done to Casey, she puts her career over her relationship with him, she’s annoyed at him over their apartment hunt despite all evidence suggesting that Casey was trying his hardest, she doesn’t listen to his side of things (2.10 3.10 4.21), she pushes and bribes him into running for Alderman (4.14), berates him when his name is dragged through the dirt when he mentions that he wants to quit his Alderman campaign (4.16), he's a private person, surely she knows this by now? She's outright refused his help and advice when offered, she is thoughtless towards him more than once and she manipulates and bribes him. Overall the writers have made it impossible to like both characters, its one or the other, although how someone can prefer Dawson over Casey is beyond me when it’s clear how badly she treats him and how unhealthy their relationship has become. I’d also like to quickly add that it’s not just Casey she has treated badly over the years; she was insensitive and rude to Shay when Darrel committed suicide (2.04).

On a whole the Dawsey relationship brings the show down. Where there used to action and interesting drama there is now little action and the show may as well be a soap show. The relationship brings Casey’s character down. In season one we see him as a fearless leader, a character with plenty of layers, on the surface he just seems like an ordinary friendly and sweet person but he has a darker side to him, he can be sly, intimidating and manipulative in order to serve his protectiveness and help others, he is a stand-up guy but he doesn’t necessarily go about things the right way, however now it’s seems as though his character is there just as Dawson’s boyfriend. Casey was willing to end his relationship and engagement with Hallie over his want for a family, their relationship was on and off for eight years, presumably for this reason so it is incredibly out of character for him to bow down Dawson’s wants and needs so readily.

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[–] fivestarfrankiefandom 8 years ago

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Characters Falling Head Over Heels

Like a typical Mary Sue all other characters in the show fall head over heels for Dawson, in their eyes she can do no wrong. By this admission I should also point out that this brings all the other characters down, it makes the show unrealistic and unbearable to watch at times, a cringe worthy line by Brett in season four really just proves the point that Dawson has become a Mary Sue, “Gabriella Dawson is the most incredible woman I know,” (4.23). Mouch also seems to share this opinion, Shay gives him some relationship advice and asks what his idea of a perfect woman is, his answer is Dawson, (2.17), previous to this admission there has been to evidence to support this and it seems like a very odd person for Mouch to have as his idea woman, as far as we are concerned they share no common interests.

Herrmann and Dawson seem to have a special relationship, now I’m not quite sure where this stemmed from; Herrmann originally expressed a negative opinion on female firefighters and didn’t look pleased when Dawson made her career change announcement (2.09). However, by the time we get to season four this opinion has never been held, perhaps because Jones proved him wrong during her unfortunately brief time at 51 (2.16 – 2.18), after all she became a good addition to Truck 81 and was on her way to becoming a great firefighter despite Dawson’s ever changing opinion of her that she frequently expressed to Casey who tried his best to deal with the situation, only made difficult because of his girlfriend’s views (2.15). I have gone away from the topic, back to Herrmann and his relationship with Dawson, to help with the difficult working environment, which stemmed from the Dawsey relationship, when Dawson joined Truck 81 Herrmann effectively takes Dawson under his well-seasoned wing and all of a sudden she is like a daughter to him, he’s been taken over by her spell and suddenly she can do no wrong in his eyes either, we’ll just try to ignore the mistakes she’s made on the job at this point. Herrmann sends Dawson a very heartfelt message after Dawson losers her baby but I couldn’t help but wonder why Casey wasn’t addressed in this message either because, and here I make the assumption that Casey was 51 before Dawson, Casey is Herrmann’s commanding officer, they have known each other longer than Herrmann has known Dawson so why was Casey not addressed in his heart felt message? Did the writers really feel the need to push Dawson further into the spotlight? Did that baby not have a father? Yes it did and his name was Casey, a man who has been about family from day one, he broke up with his fiancé because he wanted a child and she did not so why did the writers feel the need to give him, allegedly the shows protagonists, a scene less than thirty seconds long where we see him grieve (4.04). The audience is also going to have to assume that Herrmann and his family moved into a new house behind the scenes because suddenly when Dawson needs a place to live, a place to prove to child services that she is fit to foster a child, he has a loft room for her to use (4.23). We’ll just forget the fact that Herrmann has five kids and that there’s no way in the real world that that loft room would have been passed off as fit for a foster child, perhaps it was Brett’s cringe worthy comment that made sure she passed the home inspection.

I can’t help but bring up the foster child situation once again since Boden seemed to be all for it, pushing Casey into helping out by using his Alderman status (4.22), the status that caused Dawson to say no to his proposal (4.18) but then consequently leaves her to walk out on him and ignore him until their next shift because he gives her the same excuse against fostering Louie that she gave against a transfer and marriage. The conversation in Boden’s office (4.22) shows no thoughts to Casey’s feelings on the matter despite the fact they are a couple Boden seems to be talking with Dawson’s interest in mind, he never once considers Casey’s and as a chief it seems rather unprofessional, although we already know he’s willing to let their relationship slide despite some of the consequences it caused. The whole situation put Boden in a bad light in my eyes, he’s supposed to look out for his men but here he is seemingly holding Dawson above Casey, suggesting he help her, does he not realise that this decision of Dawson’s seems to breaking up their relationship? Does he not see that Dawson has jumped into the situation with little concern for Casey’s feelings? No, he doesn’t because Dawson can do no wrong in his eyes and if she wants to foster a child, even with her dangerous profession, he is going help her with even questioning her decision.

This ties in with my previous comments on the Dawsey situation but why does Casey love Dawson? After everything that’s happened between them why does he go back to her? I have no explanation for this, I have tried to come up with some compelling evidence but there is nothing so why does he love her? Their relationship started off sweetly towards the middle of season two but we miss six weeks of its development because of the time jump for Casey’s head injury (2.10), such a shame because it’s one of my favourite Casey storylines but there is so little to it and now seems to have been forgotten by the writers, so after about two months since they started seeing each other Casey asks Dawson to move in with him (2.11) and I have always put this down to his head injury, it caused impulsiveness just like it caused his paranoia in the restaurant (2.12). Now once again I am on the topic of Casey and getting away from myself but I cannot help it, in my honest opinion her rise to Mary Sue status has brought Casey’s character down, he has become out of character in order to serve her needs.

Storyline Takeover

Dawson manages to get herself involved in nearly every storyline going, of course it helps that’s she’s been a paramedic, she’s been an arson investigator, she’s been a firefighter, she used to box, she has brother who’s another Chicago show and she owns part of the bar Molly’s. She can flip between the role of paramedic and firefighter to situate her in the action of the storyline. She suddenly knew a lot about politics and campaigning so after persuading Casey to run for Alderman she was able to help him out along the way and after he won. She comforted Platt before her wedding, who knew they were friends. When Boden was in trouble at the start of season four why on earth was she in Boden’s office with Severide, Casey and Herrmann? Severide and Casey are his lieutenants, Herrmann is a seasoned firefighter and good friend so why was Dawson there? She also came and gave Boden an inspirational speech; this was a completely illogical choice by the writers because surely it would have made more sense for Herrmann, Mouch, Casey or even Severide to do this?

I have mentioned before that Dawson managed to get centre stage at Stilettos after we have to presume that Casey killed a man to survive (4.01). The camera focuses on her after Casey leaves the room, why? Honestly I don’t know, because she was hiding her pregnancy from Casey? Perhaps but if that was the case then it was completely irrelevant to the fact that our hero of the show was forced to kill a man to survive the situation he was in, I want his reaction to that, I certainly don’t want a seemingly random shot of Dawson looking into the room where Casey had killed the man to be the focus. Some questions I would like realistic and plausible answers to, how did she get there as fast as the police? Why was she told where Casey was? How was she allowed into the building? It has not just been this situation where Dawson has been forced into the spotlight. We were once again given Dawson’s expression to focus on after a terrorist attack (4.13), why not focus on Casey, the protagonist? If they’re going to decide not to focus on a leading character then why don’t they show everyone’s reaction? I had always been led to believe it was an ensemble cast behind the two lead characters Casey and Severide.

Watching season four was difficult for me; I managed to get through it purely because of Jesse Spencer, he is the only reason I will be watching season five, it’s a shame because season one of this show was brilliant and it’s been reduced to terrible writing and story writing, maybe because there’s not more than one Chicago show, maybe because the writers seem to love the crossovers, I certainly don’t love the crossovers, I don’t enjoy the others shows so I’m not going to force myself to watch them. I’m getting off topic again; I can distinctly remember when I suddenly became aware of the amount of storylines Dawson was inserted into. I can remember watching a scene where Borelli and Brett were sat in Boden’s office (4.18), before this scene I’d never questioned the amount of storylines Dawson was placed into rather randomly, it turned season four into The Dawson Show, however the scene truly highlighted me to the situation, I can remember actually speaking out loud alone in my room, why one earth is Dawson there? Why did Dawson enter Boden’s office with her brother? I had to put the show on pause and think, yes Dawson is Brett’s roommate since despite getting back together Dawson never properly moved back in with Casey, and yes Dawson was previously a paramedic and yes her brother is a cop but what do any of those tow facts have to do with Brett’s situation? Why was her purpose in this scene, why did she join them in the office? For moral support? Moral support didn’t belong in that office at that time, it seems unprofessional to me, fair enough if Brett asked her to be there but there was no evidence to suggest that. At the end of the episode it was laughable that Dawson was now so involved in this storyline that seemed to be intended for Brett from the promo that was released.

Herrmann’s relationship with Dawson seems to be so special that she was by his bedside almost constantly after he was stabbed (4.10). Why was it not Mouch, Boden or even Casey by his side? Yes they were all on shift the morning after he was stabbed but Dawson was too. Mouch and Boden have known him the longest, Casey has known him longer than Dawson and is his commanding officer. Dawson questions the doctor’s actions, perhaps she should have gone to medical school instead becoming a firefighter, I understand that she is worried about Herrmann but his own wife didn’t run after the doctor which seems to be something she should have done rather than Dawson.

To conclude, what action there is now seems to be taken over by Dawson, the drama that used to be spread across the ensemble cast now seems to be limited and if there is something going on with another character it’s very likely that Dawson will get herself involved somehow, whether it makes sense for her to be there or not. She is a very in your face character nowadays and I truly think she must be like marmite, you either love her or you hate her. There used to be an in between but it seems to be impossible now, the fact that she seems to be constantly shoved into the centre makes me dislike her more and more, perhaps if she was the badass paramedic she was in season one I wouldn’t mind, I certainly wouldn’t mind quite as much if she treated Casey much better than she now does. I think the show’s biggest mistake was having her become a firefighter and killing off Shay, it’s where the Mary Sue in her began to rise and it looks as if there’s no stopping it, next she will actually go to medical school and join the cast of Chicago Med and then perhaps she’ll discover a love for the law and decide to attend law school before joining the cast of Chicago Justice. After all she is Gabby Sue and can do anything she wants no matter how unrealistic it is, no matter how much it drags other characters and the show in general down, her army of Twitter fans will protect her, have no doubt, and she will outlive us all.

[–] angel1008 8 years ago

Dawson questions the doctor’s actions, perhaps she should have gone to medical school instead becoming a firefighter,

This irritated the hell out of me! Rhodes, a licensed and seasoned doctor, saved Hermann's life with his care. But, of course, Gabby Sue knew more than he did. She even dragged Jay into it to ask his brother what HE would have done in Hermann's case. I was glad that Will ripped his brother a new one, it should have been Gabby.

Her lifelong dream was to become a doctor, and she just throws it away to become a firefighter? That is so lame. Just so she can be with Casey?

Oh, and don't get me started on when she and Casey used to bump uglies anywhere they wished, when Chili got into trouble for the same exact thing. Sex in an ambulance? How sanitary.

[–] fivestarfrankiefandom 8 years ago

Ah yeah I remember that now! Did that happen in the Med crossover? I did watch it, probably only crossover ep I've ever watched all of, but there were so many scenes at the hospital in Fire it all sort of blurred!

Letting her be a firefighter was the worst decision the writers ever made, that and killing off Shay!

Omg yes sex in the ambulance! I can't believe that happened... not as if they had time to clean it before they went off on a call either...

[–] ScrystaLz 8 years ago

Oh, and don't get me started on when she and Casey used to bump uglies anywhere they wished, when Chili got into trouble for the same exact thing. Sex in an ambulance? How sanitary.

just to clarify, they never actually had sex in the ambulance...they were only kissing and were about to but they got interrupted by a duty call and they had to roll out to a rescue scene, so they didn't really get the chance to go all the way through in that scene. If you pay attention to that scene you could hear the call out in the background just as Dawsey were kissing (while still having their clothes fully on) and then literally in the next second we see the new temporary paramedic walking to the ambulance and literally a few more seconds later we see Dawson getting into the passenger seat in the ambulance and Casey got out in the back. Can people really have sex that lasts for just a few seconds? I doubt it, even for a "quickie" you need at least a few minutes. Clearly the sex did NOT happen in the ambulance, it was all just alot of kissing.

If I remember correctly, the only time they've actually had sex in the firehouse was that one scene when they were making out in the shower as they were taking their clothes off...at least that was the only scene we were shown that implied they actually had sex in the firehouse. They tried to have sex in the ambulance but they got interrupted so it didn't happen then.

[–] ScrystaLz 8 years ago

you are so right on every point, Dawson has become such an arrogant, obnoxious, selfish and thoughtless b*tch who only really cares about her own needs, whatever she wants, she gets, and sometimes blames Casey for her own faults & mistakes. After everything Casey has done for Dawson, she treats him like crap, and yet Casey still keeps crawling back to this selfish b*tch, it's so infuriating! To think that a caring, loving and decent man like Casey would fall in love with such a selfish woman, love is blind afterall.

The producers & writers are just bending over backwards to please all the Dawsey fans who btw are completely blind about all of Dawson's flaws and fail to realise just how horrible of a character she is, same goes to Dawson fans...why anyone would like such a selfish, thoughtless and obnoxious character is beyond me. What is even sadder is that the producers seem to think that Dawsey is the "heart" of this show which is totally misguided, they are the reason that is actually dragging this show down, this relationship is so unbalanced, mostly because Dawson is so intolerable and horrible and she's dragging Casey's character down with her. Dawson is by far the worst character on this show.

The producers, writers, Dawsey shippers and Dawson fans are all delusional, it's just so sad that they fail to realise how horrible of a character Dawson is and how unbalanced the Dawsey relationship is.

Also a married couple cannot work together on Truck...and if Dawsey are gonna stay together then 1 of them has to leave the truck, even though they're not married but now with a kid in the picture they can't have 2 parents working high-risk jobs, so 1 of them has to leave and it's gotta be Dawson...or would you rather want Casey to give up his Lieutenant position on truck 81? Of course it's gotta be Dawson who leaves the truck and stop being a firefighter, she was much better when she was still a paramedic anyway. Dawson is a foster parent now so she needs to stop being selfish and thinking about herself and start to think about the wellbeing of the child, as the official foster parent she needs to take responsibility for the child and quit being a firefighter, and transfer to a safer job, such as returning to being a paramedic. And they should put Jimmy back on Truck 81.

[–] fivestarfrankiefandom 8 years ago

Yes arrogant and obnoxious! Two words that suit her so well yet I failed to use them!

Yes I really don't understand how Casey can still love her! I mean, he left Hallie because they disagreed, and they'd been together for eight years, on and off but still eight years! He's been with Dawson for no time at all compared to that and they've had more disagreements, all stemming from Dawson's selfishness! Irritates me to know end! I can't believe the writers haven't just ended them!

I was so hopeful that they'd break up over the whole Louie situation because Dawson was a right bitch - how anyone took her side I don't know!? But of course Casey went back to her... are the writers really so influenced by all the Dawson fans on Twitter that they're ruining the show with the Dawsey relationship? It's dragging Casey's character down with it... I hate what she's done to him, I hate how the show has changed from the first two seasons.

I've heard that Jimmy may be leaving... I really hope this isn't true, they made such a big deal about him being a fab candidate at the start of season 4... and I thought he worked well with everyone.

I really do hope that perhaps Dawson moving back onto ambo and having Louie will soften her, make her less in your face, and give us plenty of awesome action scenes Truck and Squad...

[–] isensiel 8 years ago

I think there is no way to salvage Dawson as a character. Her fans are just too rabid and spoiled now and the showrunners are just too intimidated by them. She disrupts the balance of the show.

[–] fivestarfrankiefandom 8 years ago

Her fans and MRs fans are ridiculous! Never been in a fandom with such horrid raging fans before... Or at least I've not noticed before...

I'm still holding out hope that she will disappear into the background... in reality I know she won't but a girl can dream hahaha

[–] SrEditor 8 years ago

the showrunners are just too intimidated

That's the problem, right there. Somehow creative storytelling went out the window. I found this show when I was looking to see what Jesse Spencer was doing after House folded. It was because of him and his character, the relationship they were building between Casey and Severide, some interesting plot points I decided to follow the show.

Rather than growing and developing, though, it feels as if the show has lost its way quite thoroughly.

[–] fivestarfrankiefandom 8 years ago

That's how I came across the show too - It's such a shame what's happened to Jesse's character... I miss season one! Shows should get better in time... Not this one though. The stories are now repetitive... How many times is Boden gonna be threatened by something? He's clashing with Jimmy at the start of season 5 I believe... It'll be a shame if that means Jimmy will be leaving, after all the points were made saying he's a great candidate, I didn't mind him as a paramedic either. Not seen Steven in any of the BTS photos so going to assume he's left the show?

[–] ghostbobb89 8 years ago

As soon as Monica Raymund convinced the producers to give her character the female firefighter storyline in Season 2, the writing went downhill. They had Jones, who was going to be the female firefighter to prove her father wrong, commit suicide because her father was trying to get her kicked off truck. A complete 180. And all hell has broken loose since.

The main theme of the episodes isn't about the fires or life in house 51 anymore. It's mostly about the romantic relationships. That's just tired. Matt running for Alderman. Gabby fighting with Matt at the house, which should have put an end to that work arrangement right there. Ugh.

We could have seen how Hermann got himself back into shape to resume duty after being stabbed. But no, he's back by the next episode. They could have gone more in-depth into the killer who threatened Brett, and possibly stretched it out for a few episodes. Instead, he's killed off by the end of the episode, and we don't even see what happened. We could have seen how Otis' treatment went, but nope. We get more focus on Gabby being able to incredibly adopt Louie with no parenting experience, in just a few short weeks.

This show has lost it's authentic feel, and it's why P.D. has passed it up, and Med is on its way to passing it up.

Casey has become so much weaker and more submissive since Season 1. He didn't give in to what Holly wanted. He was dead set on having a family. But he sure gives in to Gabby EVERY single time. Such a shame.

Memphis Raines: I'm a little tired, a little wired, and I think I deserve a little appreciation!

[–] isensiel 8 years ago

Casey suffered a traumatic brain injury and Dawson mindwashed him while he was recovering I suppose.

[–] ghostbobb89 8 years ago

Yep, that has almost been forgotten about.

Memphis Raines: I'm a little tired, a little wired, and I think I deserve a little appreciation!

[–] IndigoFlame 8 years ago

Raymund did that? Is she a real life Gabby abandoning her choice to be an actress to become a writer? Soon will we see her name as a producer? Yikes!

Really it's the writers and Dick Wolf you need to blame. I can't find one realistic character on this show. I, too, started watching because of Jesse Spencer even though I've not cared for Raymund as an actor since Lie to Me. The powers that be have no clue of how real people think, what they find important or how say, a fire department works.

A woman who speculates on a man in a committed relationship isn't a hero any more than long lingering camera shots on her dewy emotion filled eyes makes her an actress.

I never intended on watching one more episode but for some reason my dvr recorded it, I was along and thought what the hell? And as I speak they 'reward' some idiot Lifestyle Celebrity (is this really the world we live in?) for .. What?

This is just Marcus Welby M.D. or Barnaby Jones without taste. SMH

Nobody human has anything to say to me today!
~ Eleven

[–] ScrystaLz 8 years ago

Dick Wolf may have co-created this show, but he doesn't seem to have much control over it...the show is run by showrunners Derek Haas & Michael Brandt, they run the show, they have all the control and they are responsible for all the decision-making and everything that goes into this show. So if people want to blame someone for how bad the writing is, you need to blame Haas and Brandt, since they have most of the control...and the writers, but mostly Haas and Brandt because they control what gets written.
Dick Wolf serves as an executive producer on the Chicago shows, but he doesn't run the show.

[–] IndigoFlame 8 years ago

Dick Wolf is just another producer who uses his position for social engineering, flogging his ideology and disavowing any repercussions he might have caused. You know, one of those 'movies/television don't inspire real life actions' jack asses. Feel free to loathe me for that, too. :D

Nobody human has anything to say to me today!
~ Eleven

[–] ScrystaLz 8 years ago

feel free to think whatever you like, I'm just giving you the facts 

[–] ghostbobb89 8 years ago

This whole breakdown of the Dawson character is Emmy or Academy Awards-material.

You covered everything about Dawson and the Dawsey relationship in full detail.

And let's not forget that Chief Riddle mentioned Dawson's relationship with Casey, and the fact that she was presumably carrying his child. And she whined about it being none of his business and stormed off, and nothing ever became of it.

Dawson truly does get everything she wants, even if rules need to be bent.

Memphis Raines: I'm a little tired, a little wired, and I think I deserve a little appreciation!

[–] fivestarfrankiefandom 8 years ago

Yes! I can't believe nothing came of that! Not that I would want to see Casey getting reprimanded for it but Boden suggesting Dawson could train under Casey was a big deal at the time because of their relationship but she gets pregnant and another chief doesn't make a big deal about despite the rules that exist, Boden is very lax with the rules when it comes to Dawson so it makes sense that he'd let it slide, but Riddle letting it slide wasn't right especially when Dawson made such a big deal about everything when she had that meeting with him, she wasn't very professional...

Dreading season 5... Thank God for Jesse Spencer and all his gorgeousness ;)

[–] angel1008 8 years ago

Another one that REALLY got to me, even though it was Casey's doing, was the proposal at Boden's WEDDING! Take the focus off of he and Donna so that Gabby and Casey can have their moment to shine, since of course the wedding was not about her. I am surprised she wasn't Donna's maid of honor, since she is just so beloved by everyone.

[–] fivestarfrankiefandom 8 years ago

He proposed to her so quickly... Even with the 6 week head injury recovery time jump... They'd hardly been going out for a long time.

Tbh when I was watching it I wasn't really bothered about Boden's wedding since Casey and Shay were my fave characters but it is such a valid point - the writers turned their wedding into a dawsey proposal scene instead.

Didn't Dawson end up speaking to Platt before her wedding? Since when were they friends? Although I've only seen the first few episodes of PD so maybe they are...

[–] ghostbobb89 8 years ago

Dawson being the one to speak to Platt made absolutely no sense, especially considering Burgess was right there. She knew Platt much better, having worked under her everyday. She should have been the one giving the speech.

But according the writers, Super Gabby knows everything and can give advice to everyone.

Memphis Raines: I'm a little tired, a little wired, and I think I deserve a little appreciation!

[–] ScrystaLz 8 years ago

well reading all the spoilers for next season seem to suggest that Dawson will very likely quit being a firefighter and go back to being a paramedic in s5...I am hoping at the very least that for her to return to being a paramedic would tone down some of her annoying arrogance, prima donna antics and self-absorption, even if it's just a little bit at least.
But I wouldn't hold my breath...they started ruining Dawson's character when she became a firefighter (which btw was Monica's own idea), and she has only gotten much worse since Shay's death. IMO the producers never should've listened to Monica's ideas and bent over backwards to please her, they really love to kiss her ass don't they? The contrast between how stupidly biased the producers treat Monica compared to how they treat Jesse and the other casts is appalling. They should be ashamed of themselves for showing so much favoritism towards one actor over everyone else, it's very unfair to the other casts. And it's truly sad that they feel the need to suck up to those delusional Dawson fans and Dawsey shippers too.

[–] Top_Shelf 8 years ago

Apologies. ADHD. I stopped reading after the fifth paragraph where "Rules" start. lol I'm going to guess I agree with your dissertation. lol

I liked (like?) Gabby but her character confuses me.

I don't think she chose firefighting to be closer to Matt, I think it was greater pay and a challenge to break into the male dominated workforce. That's it.

But here is where I'm confused: She chased and waited for Casey since the series began. She finally got him and when he proposed marriage she declined. ??????? Ok, so supposedly she was happy on the firetruck, loved the house and didn't want to move. [shrug] However, at one point, I don't think she wanted him anymore and seemed to try to get away from him. Didn't she break things off and move in with a female?

While I can understand how she fell in love this one child and chose to foster him [because it happened to me too IRL], I don't understand why she'd expect Matt to want the same. After all, she was the one who was happy with the way things were and now he's supposed to flip because she did. ?

OK. IRL people try different things. (Lord knows I've made drastic career changes (bouncing between what interests me for low pay and what I'm good at for a good salary, no personal time and tremendous stress). However, I don't know what it's like to face your own mortality on the job everyday - perhaps that has something to do with her character. Also, she's no longer a young girl where every opportunity in the world will be available to her anymore. Her biological clock is moving into the red zone. She's lost a child. And now, by choice, she has to slow down and be more careful. It's not the same for a man. [MORE ANTONIO DAWSON PLEASE!]