Spoilers ahead for Episode 5 of Chicago Fire Season 11, called “Haunted House.”
Chicago Fire got into the Halloween spirit with “Haunted House” between Firehouse 51 hosting an open house for the holiday and the firefighters having to tackle an inferno at a funeral home, but the storyline that should leave Gallo shaking in his boots had nothing to do with Halloween. He’s continuing his secret relationship with Herrmann’s niece Tracy, and it now seems like only a matter of time before he’s caught.
One Fire star promised that “heads will roll” in the Halloween episode, but Gallo may need to worry about that more in the weeks to come! There were three twists in “Haunted House” that may have set his secret up to come out, so let’s dig into them.
Strike 1: Spreading The Secret To Violet
Gallo was originally doing a pretty good job of keeping his hookups with Tracy on the downlow, with only Ritter in the know. They weren’t doing to best job of hiding that they had a secret, but Violet was the only one who actually pushed to find out what was going on. After she asked them to start treating her normally again despite her grief over Hawkins (which Severide helped her with last week), Gallo spilled the details.
Now, Violet isn’t likely to go and deliberately rat Gallo out to Herrmann, but this trio isn’t exactly the best at being sneaky when they’re scheming about something, and one more person knowing is one more liability. The whole Firehouse 51 team is very close, and it may only be a matter of time before their whispering is overheard by the wrong person.
Strike 2: Hooking Up In Molly’s
Although hooking up in Molly’s is practically a tradition on Chicago Fire at this point, Gallo could have been a lot smarter about it. The bar was actually open (albeit empty and with little hope of patrons coming in) when they started kissing, and Herrmann had recently installed security cameras.
Even though Gallo didn’t know about the cameras at the time, it was a reckless move that would have gotten him caught if not for a lucky break. They could have at least gone into the back room!
Strike 3: Telling Carver
Gallo wasn’t done bringing people in on the secret after he told Violet about the situation with Tracy, although his second reveal was out of desperation more than confidence. Herrmann couldn’t figure out how to review the security footage over his phone, and Carver volunteered to help. After Gallo saved the newcomer to Truck in the funeral home fire, he called in his favor to get Carver to erase the footage.
So, while Gallo managed to guarantee that Herrmann won’t literally see him hooking up with his niece at his bar, it was a close call that required him to tell another person… who he doesn’t know very well and has a drinking problem. Like Violet, Carver may not be the kind of person to deliberately drop the secret, but one more person knowing is one more way he could be caught.
Is The Secret Coming Out To Herrmann?
Whether Herrmann finds out sooner or later, it seems inevitable that the Engine lieutenant will learn the truth about Gallo and Tracy. The timing may depend on whether the security cameras were a one-off gag for “Haunted House” or something that will continue on Chicago Fire, but the secret is spreading throughout the very tight-knit firehouse. Secrets don’t necessarily stay secret for too long when people spend so much time together. Maybe Gallo is just lucky that he’s on Truck and Herrmann’s on Engine!
Personally, I would say that Gallo might want to be proactive and either cut things off with Tracy or come clean to Herrmann, rather than risk the fallout being much worse if he finds out by accident. Of course, where would be the drama in that? I’m guessing that Fire is going to make things messy for Gallo as Season 11 continues, and it could be a whole lot of fun to watch.
See what’s next for Gallo and Co. with new episodes of Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Chicago Med (which will soon lose a longtime character) at 8 p.m. and Chicago P.D. (which is giving Torres a new mentor after losing Halstead) at 10 p.m. You can also catch any episodes that you might have missed streaming with a Peacock subscription.
