It only takes "One Minute" to really have to choose between life and death, love and loss, and good and bad decisions - and, tonight, Chief Boden had the thankless task of making some of those calls.

As I mentioned last week, Boden’s presence on Chicago Fire is palpable; the man has no difficulty commanding the scene and my screen. However, the real strength of his character comes from his position and his personality. Boden is a man that truly loves his job, takes it seriously and recognizes what it is all about. 

This is a boss who truly appreciates the men, women and children he protects and serves in the community, but he’s not willing to justify that cost if it means his people are the human sacrifice. It’s a decision not many can make, and he bears the brunt of his rash choices every single day the lives of his men are in his hands.

The other side of tonight’s story focused mostly on Severide. It’s nice to see the guy is a big teddy bear on the inside (but aren’t they all?), yet he’s also full of integrity and honesty. He went above and beyond the call of duty for the elderly woman continually harassed by the drug lords in her neighborhood and put his life on the line.

One of the stronger and emotionally resonating moments of “One Minute” was Severide’s personality. He’s a rescuer in all senses of the word, and I’m glad that Chicago Fire has moved past just informing us about his condition. It’s a nice change of pace to see him recognize that Nikki’s romps with him were more than just about their storage closet rendezvous, but about her own fear of being engaged.

If it meant helping Nikki a little more, Severide was willing to open up and talk about his shared experiences with her, even willing to open up about his past engagement.

Finally, there’s Casey’s continuing drama with Detective “Scary Pants” Voight. The guy still gives me the chills, and it looks like that is trait of his is beginning to shake Casey as well. The guy is dirty, willing to go far outside the confines of the law if it means he can get revenge upon Casey and get his son’s charges dropped.

While Casey doesn’t seem to be the type of guy to back down, it doesn’t mean he isn’t immune to Voight’s threats, and Voight knows right where to hit too. 

Other thoughts:

• I loved Hermann’s speech that simultaneously stuck up for Boden and took down the man suing the county. Hermann’s speech also served another purpose: illuminating his poor financial state and the stress he’s under living with wife’s parents.
• The smartest thing Chicago Fire could do is drop the rivalry between Casey and Severide’s teams.
• Boden’s speech to Mills was beautiful, head over to our Chicago Fire quotes page to read it.