9-1-1 Season 6 Episode 1 - Let The Games Begin

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9-1-1 Season 6 Episode One! - Review

The season six premiere. I was unsure how this season was going to start us off, what kind of feeling they were going to set us up for, and I have to say I wasn’t quite expecting what we got. Normally our 9-1-1 premieres have a huge disaster that spans a couple of episodes. Season six changed that up. We had a large emergency but not a disaster. Since they changed up the formula a bit I wonder if this season we won’t see a huge disaster but stick to smaller intense calls to give more focus to the characters. A big disaster is great and entertaining but it does take up more focus and time and after watching this episode it just feels like they don’t want that this season. Which I don't mind, I may miss a big disaster but I like getting back to some of the lighter side of the show we saw more in season one. And getting back to building up character arcs.  

For a premiere I wasn’t disappointed. We have some fun character arcs being built up to, we had a blimp crash, and Athena got to perform an emergency heart transplant (sort of). And they end the episode on a decent cliffhanger.  

A brief overview of the episode:

We start off with a blimp crash at a soccer stadium. The 118 handles rescuing the pilots of the blimp while Athena attempts crowd control. Someone thought a girl with an artificial heart was a bomb due to wires connecting her to her hearts battery and Athena had to check it out. Seeing it wasn’t a bomb and the girl’s heart battery wasn’t working, she rushed to find the girl’s mom who had the backup battery. Next, we see the 118 talking to Lucy over video call as she is out of commission with a broken foot. This is where we learn Bobby had intended to make her interim captain while he and Athena were on their vacation. Buck takes that pretty hard and for most of the episode will try to overcompensate and prove he is captain material, as he’s unsure why Bobby didn’t pick him. Which leads us to our next scene with Buck, Eddie, and Chris having dinner at Buck’s loft. Buck vents to them his frustrations that Bobby overlooked him. Chris has some great sassy lines, and Buck and Eddie have some couch metaphors. And a delicious looking lasagna that took Buck three tries.

Following that is a call on a golf course where a father and son were injured. The son injured his hand in a wood chipper and the father was shot by the son’s ring as it shot out of the wood chipper. Then we see Bobby vacation planning and May college planning. May struggles with picking a roommate and Bobby struggles to pick shirts. We also learn Bobby is a detailed vacation planner. Next call was at a contest where you can’t take your hand off the car and last one standing gets the car. I think that was our last call of the episode. After that we had more character moments. Maddie is staying with Chim while her apartment gets repairs, they have a moment and Chim panics. Eddie gave some relationship advice, somehow Buck got a clipboard again, and we find out Hen was actually Bobby’s first choice for interim captain. Then Bobby and Buck have a talk about why he wasn’t a choice. Maddie and Chim talk about what they want and we finish the episode with Bobby and Athena in vacation clothes. Athena is talking to her family, and we end on an emergency with Athena’s parents. A car crashing through their house.  

Getting into specifics of episode, as usual, let’s get into what I didn't like or what didn’t work for me. Which, there is surprisingly little of. Smallest of my complaints is Athena’s hair this season, it’s just not working for me, much like Eddie’s hair in season three. I wasn’t the biggest fan that Bobby was going to pick Lucy to take interim captain, I had thought Hen myself. I get Hen has so much going on and is why he didn’t ask but I would have thought someone else from 118 would have been chosen over Lucy. She may have experience as a firefighter but she’s not experienced in that house and the 118 is more than just the main five we focus on. I’m also not Lucy’s biggest fan but if the writers can make her something that isn’t just Buck but without the good qualities and not make her a love interest to Buck or Eddie than I have less qualms.

Small tangent, what I would like to see with Lucy, we’ve seen how she doesn’t take the win well if she didn’t do it. If it was partial luck. Part of feels like her character picked firefighter to just compete with her cop family. She picked an intense job to compete with an intense job. I’d like to see her realize that maybe she chose wrong. Or not totally right. I’d love to see her help Chim on a paramedic call and have Lucy do well, or have her have an aha moment. Chim could be to her what Eli was to him. And with Hen on her way to becoming a doctor a new paramedic is going to be needed eventually. Here’s a way to set that up.

Back to our main points, things that didn’t work. Where was Ravi? He was not in the promos nor did he make an appearance in the premiere. We spent a lot of time getting to know Ravi, the show made a point to build him up, and now suddenly it’s like he’s not even there. Last season they did this too. I believe it was when Lucy showed up that Ravi lost screen time. Albert too has been given similar treatment. Why get viewers attached to them just to ignore them without explanation? Lucy gets an explanation to why she won’t be around much of the season but Ravi and Albert are still pretty MIA?

I thought it was weird how the man thought the artificial heart cords were a bomb? But I suppose in a panic maybe? But they clearly looked like medical equipment. Another thing in this episode that just a little over the top. 

The last thing that didn’t work for me was just how much Buck thought he was ready to be interim captain. I know Buck is very job oriented but I can’t imagine he would really have thought he was ready? I can see Buck being a little hurt but how overboard he went felt over the top.  

Now to the good stuff.

Starting with the calls. Overall, I liked the blimp crash. It was a good mix of intense call and regular call. Eddie and Buck having to balance and not topple the blimp during the rescue was great. Athena had the more emotionally intense part of that call, saving the girl by getting her backup heart battery. I loved that we got to have Maddie walking Athena through it, a wonderful team effort we don’t get to see too often. And at the end I loved Bobby and Athena comparing calls, even better when Athena said she got to perform an emergency heart transplant. It was cute and clever.

The golf course call was a bit more humor than serious which I was fine with. I miss humor on calls. The father and son provided most of the humor but Buck talking like it was a crime scene and he was a cop and not a firefighter came with its own humor. More of Buck overcompensating.

The last call was also more humor than intense which again is ok with me. Buck seemed so happy to go get the saws and jaws. Eddie looked so amused by Buck in that scene too. I really missed them out on calls together.

Now onto character things I liked. The talk with Lucy wasn’t overly memorable but I did enjoy seeing Eddie helping out in the kitchen. I'm glad to see they didn’t forget Eddie has some kitchen competence now.

I can’t way to see May actually go to college and how she will handle that. She will probably have more life experience than her fellow students, much like Hen does in med school, and I’m excited to see where it goes. And Bobby rocking those vacation shirts was priceless. I was hoping we would have seen the vacation binder that Bobby likely had, still unsurprised he’s an over planner for vacations. And ending us with Athena’s family being in danger? Good drama call. Does that ruin their vacation? If it does I'm a little sad as I wanted to see Bathena have at least a little fun before they put them through something, which I fully expected they would.

Athena and Hen had a nice moment, we see Hen’s busy life getting the better of her and Athena being the good friend she is brings lunch to her, tacos. We haven’t had a good Athena and Hen hangout in while so it was nice to see, as they have a really great friendship.

Madney is making sweet progress. Loved their flirting on the couch and Chim fleeing the next morning was a little hilarious but also hits a little in the feels. We haven’t seen Chim be the one to panic, it’s usually been Maddie. But by the end they talk and seem to be in a good place going into the season.

Hen got to put clipboard Buck in his place. He tried to come in to Hen’s house, the ambulance, and tell her what she needed to do. She was not having any of it. She could tell Buck was overcompensating and tells him this isn’t a class president election and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Hen was on top of things. She may have gotten a bit snippy with him but it was deserved with the way he’d been acting all episode. He could have just talked to Bobby instead of trying to prove he’s good enough. But what Buck doesn’t yet understand is there is more to being a captain that organizing and giving orders.

Bobby had some great talks with Hen and Buck. I was so happy to hear him say Hen was his original first pick but hesitated because she’s so busy. That was essentially my thoughts too and I wanted it to be Hen but she does have a lot on her plate. But I think Hen can handle it if she thinks she can. Out of everyone in the 118 we see regularly Hen is responsible, handles herself well, and has never been shown to abuse power (I’m looking at you Buck and Chimney). I can’t wait to see Hen as interim captain Hen. And what that meant to Hen? It goes right to the feels, her previous captain wouldn’t even properly consider her a firefighter and here is Bobby telling her she is worthy of captain. She has all the necessary skills a captain needs. It was a great scene overall.

And with Buck, I think that talk was something he needed to hear. Bobby was honest with him and essentially says he needs more life experience before he’s ready for al leadership role. Bobby is right. Buck isn’t there yet. He’s a great firefighter but he has a lot to learn about being a leader. And Buck asking if it was because he didn't have a couch why he wasn’t considered was priceless. Bobby looked so confused, like Buck only Eddie and Chris were there for that conversation.

Now my favorite part of the episode, the kitchen scene at Buck’s. It’s no secret Buck, Eddie, and Chris scenes are my favorite. And this one felt especially domestic, more than any other scene we’ve had with Buck, Eddie, and Chris. I loved every second of it. Buck was cooking them dinner while complaining about his day while Eddie and Chris sat at the table playing a game. A game that Eddie wouldn’t let his son win, adorable. That dinner took three tries apparently. So, Buck is upset that Bobby overlooked him and vents to Eddie and Chris. Eddie is not offended the way Buck had maybe hoped he would be and Chris chimes in with “you don’t even have a couch”. Chris really gets his humorous. snark from Eddie. Buck wonders why that matters and Chris just thinks it’s weird. It was really cute.

And then we have Buck and Eddie discussing why he doesn’t have a couch. Because the last two came with girlfriends or the girlfriends came with the couch. Eddie made a valid point that it’s been like four months since Taylor moved out and he has had plenty of time to get a couch. Buck says maybe he doesn’t want to pick the wrong couch and looks right at Eddie when he says it. That look was something, felt like some subtext there which can be found in my Why Buddie blog as updates come. But the couch thing was a metaphor for Buck’s dating life. And at the end of the episode he moves a chair he already had to the spot where the couch would go. He chose something already in his life rather than getting something new. More metaphor. On top of many couch themes, for Madney, and Buddie, use of three’s was something they repeated in this ep. With Madney third time is a charm seemed to mean for the movie but also for them. I think this would be try number three. And with Buddie, we have the three lasagnas unitl its right and two couches with wanting to pick the right one for the third. Maybe I’m reading too much into things but that's what I do on the internet with my favorite shows. It seems deliberate and foreshadowing.

Overall a very strong start to the season. It’s setting us up for hopefully good character arcs and of course good drama. Drama is one thing this show does extremely well.

8/10 Biscuits.