There’s something special about a 9-1-1 premiere and welcoming back one of the most ambitious and compelling shows on television.
Yes, this is number nine, and it should be old hat by now, but I’ll never tire of a brand-new season of 9-1-1 shenanigans because, for all its mighty highs and lows, there’s nothing else like it on television.
What other television show is giving you Mark Consuelos cosplaying as Jeff Bezos getting eaten by a whale and then sending people into space as a publicity stunt? Never change, 9-1-1.
Six months have passed since 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 18, and it’s been six months of adjustments for everyone in the aftermath of Bobby’s death.
On the one hand, jumping ahead six months feels like a copout because that’s a lot of time we missed in the lives of everyone trying to pick up the pieces.
But on the other hand, it’s pretty on par for 9-1-1, and it drops us into unique places within everyone’s lives, setting the storylines into motion.
Athena wasn’t doing very well, as one would expect, and seeing her throw herself into work is what we’ve historically known her to do. But even so, it was still difficult to see her isolating, even if you could understand she was still hurting.
Grief takes on various forms, and it can show up when you least expect it.
Athena skipping the firehouse memorial and dedication to Bobby was born from the pain and the grief that being there and around his team brought to her. And that’s extremely understandable on a human level.
Sometimes being around loved ones can make you feel better, while other times it can be a stark reminder of what you’ve lost.
But completely isolating to the point you’re essentially checked out on your children and the world around you, outside of what you’ll allow yourself to see and feel, was never going to be sustainable.
I can say enough about the decision to bring back Harry and May as series regulars for this season. The characters are truly pillars of the series, and with them being older now, we get to see different sides of them as characters, alongside their relationship with their mother.
Harry dropping out of the school and him and May giving Athena some hard truths about the past few months are the kind of raw, emotional conversations that I’m glad the show tackles.
Harry’s words may have come from a place of anger, but that was a real and honest moment for the family, and a starting place for them to move forward together.
Bobby’s death is the biggest thing to happen on this show, and those three episodes after his death will NEVER be enough to parse through all the feelings these characters should have, alongside continuing to allow the audience to grieve as well.
The emergency with the older woman was very on the nose, similar to many other emergencies the show employs. Still, it did what it was intended to do: open Athena’s eyes to the fact that if she continued on her current path, she could possibly alienate the people who love her most.
You don’t get over profound loss in a day or two, or two months, or even two years, but you can move forward in whatever way that can look like for you to do.
Accepting Hen’s offer to go to space? That very much felt like the moment for Athena to take a step outside of herself and her pain for the first time in months.
It’s just a shame that this being 9-1-1, we already know she’ll be fighting for her life in no time. It wouldn’t be an opening arc without it.
Speaking of space, though, the whole circumstances around space exploration were so outlandish, but also everything that 9-1-1 has built itself around.
Typically, you’ll see them take some obscure real-life emergency and give it the Hollywood treatment, and they did that here with the whole whale eating someone and surviving to tell the tale. (Seriously, Google it!)
But having the man eaten in this scenario be a Jeff Bezos type with a space program the world hates was a genius move, tapping into a cultural event that so many people witnessed.
We all saw that shot of Katy Perry, Gayle King, and others ringing the bell as they prepared to blast off for their 11-minute journey, and bringing that to the world of 9-1-1 to join the Mt. Rushmore of opening emergencies was a genius move.
Who thought they would be going to space? No one, that’s who.
Everything about Tripp Hauser was giving swarmy billionaire, from the way he talked to people to how he found opportunities to throw money at problems and perks at something that would bring him something larger in return.
With all the bad press he was receiving, he turned his near-death experience into an opportunity. And it just so happened that Hen was the one presented with the chance, something she felt like she couldn’t exactly turn down.
Now, it was an interesting decision to have this whole space plotline for Hen, considering she is married to a ROCKET SCIENTIST. And Karen’s refusal to join Hen made perfect sense because, although it was an incredible experience, it didn’t exactly come from a good place. I felt horrible for her, though.
Hopefully, she gets a chance to go up there on her own terms, and not on the dime of someone like Tripp, who is doing everything for the absolute wrong reasons.
While we already know that things are about to go horribly wrong in space and will dominate at least the next hour, if not the third one as well, we got our first taste of what some of the early-season personal storylines will be for the 118. And naturally, they revolve around changing dynamics and the ongoing process of Bobby’s passing.
Chimney, being the interim Captain, felt like a sure thing after the events of the 9-1-1 Season 8 finale, even if it wasn’t something he was necessarily ecstatic about back then, and for good reason.
The 118 needed a captain, of course. But replacing Bobby? That’s not replacing just a captain, but a father figure, friend, and mentor.
Could you blame Chimney for having doubts or even just feeling uneasy about trying to follow in the footsteps of someone like Bobby, who left a mark on everyone and much more?
I know and you know that Chimney is more than capable of leading, but having a little doubt, especially considering the position he’s been put in, feels natural and relatable.
Watching Chimney step into the position and seeing him grow within it will be a treat this season, but I do have to wonder why, with such a significant time jump, the interim label is still attached, and Chimney is struggling to take the captain test.
Are they setting us up for someone else to step in eventually? Or for Chimney to eventually decide he really doesn’t want to be captain?
I have questions.
One thing I don’t have questions about? The new work dynamics.
As much as I love and have grown accustomed to it always being Hen and Chimney and Buck and Eddie, I am the biggest fan of paramedic Eddie. If there were a time to switch things up, it would obviously be now.
Hen and Eddie immediately leaning into the partnership was cute, as were the flames of jealousy radiating off Buck, particularly as he watched them giggling over cake and conversation.
Buck is so used to having things a certain way, so of course, it would bother him, even if just a little, that he was no longer going to be working side by side with Eddie on every scene.
We all remember what happened when Eddie moved to Texas! The man was in distress!
I’m all about Buck and Ravi teaming up, though. We’ve seen it before, and they’re a capable and strong duo together.
Could this be the season they finally do right by Ravi? It’s a question that’s been asked for years now, and it certainly stinks that his increased inclusion would result from Bobby’s death and the shifting work dynamics.
While surely Buck and Eddie will get their time to shine, this hour didn’t dive too deeply into what they got going on, though it did give us one lovely scene between Buck and his nephew, Robert Han (will never be over that name!)
We don’t get nearly enough Uncle Buck scenes, and this was an incredibly bittersweet one.
Everyone’s dealing with their grief and all of these complex emotions in their own way, and for someone like Buck, using his baby nephew as a sounding board with something he needed in that moment.
As depressing as all of this still remains, the series is making great strides to honor Bobby, if the opening hour is anything to go by.
Loose Ends
- Poor Eddie. He was the one who jumped in there and risked his neck to save Mr. Tripp, and the man didn’t even consider him for the space trip. Eddie Diaz and getting overlooked sadly go hand-in-hand.
- Eddie getting the big dramatic entrance in last season’s finale and the big dive in this one. Somebody is coming for Buck’s king of dramatics spot!
- Hen and Eddie having a psychic on the job connection. We love to see it, honestly.
- The whole school bus emergency was so ridiculous that I’m not sure it’s worth doing a deep dive on.
- The Athena on a date fakeout was entirely out of pocket, given my fragile state when the episode started. Never again.
- Watching the team work together to save Tripp brought on so many feels.
- The guys all trying to get Hen to take them to space was CUTE, until it got SAD. The hour felt like it was fluctuating between moments of levity and then sadness overload.
We are so back, people! We have never been more back.
I’m excited for this season, though I’m still adjusting to the new normal.
What did you guys think about the opening hour?
Are you excited about the space emergency?
Let me know in the comments below how you’re feeling so we can chat about it!
You can watch 9-1-1 on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
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