Spoilers ahead!
Since its move to ABC, 9-1-1 is determined to explore higher grounds for its opening disasters. For season 7, we had a cruise ship sinking in the ocean. Last season, a beenado (!!!) caused two flying vehicles to collide, forcing Athena to land a plane.
For its ninth year, the creative team wanted to take their show to infinity and beyond: this time, we’re going to space. And like last season, the premiere opens with a quick scene that gives us a taste of what’s to come in the future, juicier parts of the disaster:
Elbow surgery on a robotic arm in the cold vacuum of space goes wrong
Astronaut Joyner is fixing something outside the spaceship. Captain Stanton talks to him from inside, trying to convince the mechanic to finish the repair later. Then, communication is down. Stanton sees something approaching Joyner; it’s coming to hit him from behind, and it’s coming fast. She tries to warn him, but it’s too late: Joyner is hit by space debris while the captain deals with the chaos inside the spaceship.
Then the episode rewinds to two weeks earlier, during the ceremony to name the station after Bobby.
“Eat The Rich” – 9-1-1. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.
Athena misses the Memorial Station ceremony because she has a date to attend
Chimney, now Interim Captain Han, has a few words to share after Chief Simpson opens the ceremony. He’s doing his best to keep it cool, but talking later with Maddie, it’s possible to see a bit of his insecurity. After all, it’s no small mission to step into Bobby’s shoes. Is he really fit for the job? Are his friends about to hate him now that he’s their boss? His wife is quick to assure Chim he’s doing a great job as the new captain, and she’s proud of him — a lovely Madney scene!
“Six months ago, the LAFD lost a hero. To honor his leadership, his service, and his sacrifice, from today on, this will be the Robert Wade Nash Memorial Station.”
Meanwhile, Hen and Eddie are having the time of their lives with their new partnership as the 118 paramedics. At least it’s what Buck thinks, feeling hints of a similar jealousy to the one shown in the episode “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered,” now that his best friend is not his work partner anymore. It’s been a while since the relationship between Buck and Eddie hasn’t been the same, and I have a feeling a big part of this first half of the season will have them figure out why.
May and Harry also attend the ceremony, and during a quick convo with Sue, it’s stated that Harry is crashing at May’s, who is completing her studies in December. But that’s just small talk for now. The siblings are apprehensive: their mom, Athena, didn’t show up to Bobby’s — her late husband’s — tribute. Karen and Hen are also feeling the sergeant’s absence, and they are all asking themselves: Where is Athena?
On a date, of course.
A fake one (obviously) as she works undercover to investigate a case. Disguised as “Sondra” and assisted by Elaine, Athena aims to gather information and confessions from Jonathan Prescott, a man linked to mobsters. Frustrating Athena, the fake date is interrupted by Special Agent Cordell, now responsible for the suspect, as the FBI hijacks the case.
“Eat The Rich” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Angela Bassett as Athena, Maurice L. Whitfield as Agent Cordell. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.
Anyone else got the vibes that Cordell might come back in the future? Perhaps the FBI has an interest in monitoring Athena? There’s something about how this agent was introduced that makes it look like there’s more to this story.
Elsewhere, a whale eats a man…
This week’s crazy emergencies
1) A billionaire, while kayaking off Angel’s Gate, ends up eaten by a humpback whale;
2) A bus school driver and the kids he’s driving deal with ethylene glycol poisoning;
3) A woman faces an infection by foodborne bacteria from a wound caused by a soup can cut.
Eaten by a whale
Tripp Hauser is in trouble. People are protesting because the app he created is too addictive and threatening to the environment. Meanwhile, he’s spending millions on private millionaire spaceflights, causing dips in the company’s stock and making the board consider changing the leadership.
Kayaking off Angel’s Gate in the middle of a videoconference, Tripp ends up eaten by a humpback whale. The call isn’t interrupted; in fact, he gets to talk to Maddie from inside the whale while the 9-1-1 operator contacts the 118.
“Eat The Rich” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Ryan Guzman as Eddie, Oliver Stark as Buck. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.
As the Coast Guard takes too long to arrive for rescue, Captain Chimney has an idea straight from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Humpbacks sing to each other, and loud noises, like boat engines, can force them to the surface. They also hear sounds through water for miles. Therefore, the 118 puts a parking cone over the siren, connecting it to the gated valve and running an inch and a half line through it. After charging it full blast, the firefighters pump 120 decibels into the bay, saving Tripp.
The images created to represent the sounds of the siren wailing through the valve and hitting the humpback are some of the coolest things this episode has to offer, and some of my favorites from the show. Also, the special effects used to create the whale are awesome. Props to the involved!
After Eddie jumps off a bridge to rescue an unconscious Tripp, Hen proceeds to reanimate the billionaire, who wakes to the vision of paramedic Wilson saving him. People record the team saving Tripp’s life, and it doesn’t take long for those TikToks to go viral… Let’s circle back to this soon.
Tequila for the kids
A school bus driver passes out while driving a whole class of children, all of them unconscious too. After an accident happens, Athena joins forces with the 118 to discover what happened. The antifreeze is to blame: the engine overheated, compromising the hose and getting into the AC system. Everyone in the bus breathed it in and got ethylene glycol poisoning as a result. Metabolized to glycolic acid, this caused multiple organ failure in fifteen kids. To save the day, the team had to do the unthinkable, giving rum, whiskey, and tequila shots to the kids.
If someone cares…
Gina Moningham was once a person full of love, friends, and the will to live. In the present, she’s an old woman who appears to be dead, with affected areas in her arms, hands, upper torso, neck, and face. Athena comes to investigate, as the smell attracts the attention of Gina’s neighbors.
Thinking she’s standing in front of a corpse, Athena’s shocked when the old woman screams for help. While the 118 tries to find out why she’s in that state, her past is revealed, as the audience gets glimpses of her old life as a young person in love and expecting a child, with Jasmine Thompson’s Mad World playing in the background. As things don’t go as she planned, Gina isolates herself from the outside world, becoming a person who gets infections by foodborne bacteria from a wound because she doesn’t care about checking the wound, and no one is looking out for her.
“Eat The Rich” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Tamra Meskimen as Gina. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.
“It makes a difference if someone cares.”
This final emergency hits Athena hard. She’s all alone in her house, trying to keep herself occupied, going undercover in multiple cases. She’s also rejecting all the invites and avoiding her children — a scene with May and Harry touches this subject, as Athena discovers Harry dropped out of school and is working at a coffee shop.
This episode deals with Athena’s grief in ways that last season couldn’t, showing a character frozen in time, avoiding ceremonies that could remind her of Bobby, and avoiding even calling him by name. Instead, she drowns herself in work, going undercover and creating other names and personalities so she gets a break from being Athena Grant. This is all very interesting, and Angela Bassett shines as much as ever.
A tiny little favor
Meanwhile, Tripp decides to reward Hen. As his popularity declines and Hen becomes famous after the rescue she performed goes viral, Tripp’s company, MacroNova, offers to donate $5 million to the LAFD. This could mean new equipment, upgrades to the firehouses, counseling services to firefighters and their families. However, for this donation to happen, Hen will need to do Tripp a tiny little favor: Hen has got to go to space.
“Eat The Rich” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Tracie Thoms as Karen, Aisha Hinds as Hen. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.
It’s in low Earth orbit. They’d go up some hundred miles, do two laps around the planet, and come back down. Hen’s got a plus-one invite, so her rocket scientist wife Karen goes with her. But Karen has to deny it, as there are several pending lawsuits between Tripp and the people Karen works for.
After Buck, Eddie, and Chimney spend the episode trying to convince Hen to take one of them with her to space, Hen makes her decision during a conversation with Athena. The sergeant is worried about having a fate similar to Gina’s. After Hen assures her friend that this is not happening in a beautiful heart-to-heart, Athena says that she’s saying yes to the next thing she’s invited to. Hen smiles. Cut. They are inside a spaceship, ready to take off. The episode ends.
“Eat The Rich” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Kenneth Choi as Chimney, Aisha Hinds as Hen. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.
In conclusion…
Eat The Rich ups the game after an underwhelming finale. Following the rushed, weirdly irregular (or simply outright bad) final episodes of season 8, this premiere competently reintroduces the audience to a world without Bobby. Everyone has plenty of screentime, from the 118 members to Athena, May, and Harry. And most importantly, Bobby’s here too, haunting the narrative of every character from afar. The emergencies are great and fun, and the space journey promises to be a wild ride.
But 9-1-1 never had a problem with premieres and opening emergencies. Excluding one season of two, you can always count on this show when it comes to beginning strong and well. What is done with the middle and the ending is another story, tho.
This season in particular has a huge task: after leaving room for interpretation about Bobby being actually alive, it’s safe to assume that part of the audience is eager to discover if all those clues will culminate in what could be one of this show’s most explosive storylines, or if it was all for clout. And if it ends up being the latter, whatever is planned for the middle of the season is at risk of being judged not only for what it is, but also for what it isn’t.
Additionally, the last season suffered a lot with some of the main characters’ storylines being sidelined in favor of minor/recurring characters, not to mention the frequent big emergencies that push personal storylines for later. So while it’s all fun and games in the premieres, will the writing team be able to keep writing consistently for every main character all season long?
Anyway, a win is a win, and the ninth season starts strong. The emergency being focused on Athena and Hen is a huge pro, as their friendship is one of the nicest and most solid things on the show. And the space thing, just like the beenado, could end up being way better than expected. That’s to say that the next two weeks are promising, and 9-1-1 is back on track!
Feel free to leave a comment with your impressions and theories. Thanks for reading!