S03.E09: Fallout

[Whimsy]

Quote

The 118 responds to debris from a meteor shower crashing into an apartment building and a deadly fire caused by a hazardous waste truck crash inside a tunnel. Meanwhile, Hen struggles with guilt over her ambulance accident, Bobby introduces Eddie to an old friend to help with his anger and Maddie receives an urgent call for help

Original air date 11/25/19

[Whimsy]

The scene with Bobby sending Buck out to take care of the fire in the tunnel was harder to watch than I expected. We just lost a firefighter in our community. He saved two of his own men before the fire overtook him and he died. He was married with three children and they were supposed to leave for Disney World when he got off shift that day. My husband has been involved with going to the funeral and working overtime at their station.  Even though the circumstances were (obviously) completely different, the sacrifice Bobby made to get his men out and safe hit me hard. 

[Chaos Theory]

Well apparently Maddie was right about the dude she was stalking. Not that it matters.   I am guessing his wife will end up dead by the end of the season.

[Lady Calypso]

Am I surprised that Hen is already back at work? Not really. I was hoping that it would take her longer than an episode to deal with her trauma, but I expected it to be dealt with quickly, similar to everything else. It's a shame, because it could have been interesting to see Hen decide to not come back to work for a while.

So, Bobby really throws himself in the line of fire. I hope he's ok....at the very least, I hope he doesn't get cancer in, like, three episodes from now.

The Buck/Eddie conversation was needed. I am glad that, at least, they're keeping Buck on blood thinners and not completely waving that away. But seriously, the scene with Buck, Eddie, and Christopher was super adorable.

It was good to see Maddie have to deal with the fact that Tara needs to get help for herself. It looks like that storyline could end tragically, but at least Maddie knows she did everything she could.

May....damn, girl. You broke your mother's heart a bit with that essay. That really sucks for Athena, but Michael did a good job in extinguishing those potential flames.

Can we see more people in therapy? I do like that we got to see them go, but we definitely need more of it, since there are characters who need therapy for various other reasons.

[jewel21]

How is that girl alive with that hole through her body? Is it still there? Was it filled with something? 

[elle]

7 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

May....damn, girl. You broke your mother's heart a bit with that essay. That really sucks for Athena, but Michael did a good job in extinguishing those potential flames.

Can you summarize what was in the essay and what Michael said?  I missed the first twenty minutes.  Sounds like there was a meteor that hit the girl. Did the woman Maggie was stalking call her for help?

[Lady Calypso]

1 minute ago, elle said:

Can you summarize what was in the essay and what Michael said?  I missed the first twenty minutes.  Sounds like there was a meteor that hit the girl. Did the woman Maggie was stalking call her for help?

The essay that May wrote was titled something along the lines of "Living with My Worst Enemy" and it was about Athena and her job. I think it was more about cops in general, referencing that awful traffic stop that May, Michael, and Harry had to endure, but it definitely included Athena because of her job as a cop.

Michael basically had to sit Athena down to tell her that she can disagree with May about the essay but to not totally freak out because May is making her own adult choices, or something along those lines. All I recall is Michael stopping Athena from starting a fight with May over the essay, even though Athena's mad.

Meteor hit the girl, but she's obviously fine.

Tara called Maddie directly for help. I still kind of hope that the twist is that Tara's the abuser, not the husband. Why? Because it would be a fun twist. But I don't see how that could happen, since they have set up the husband as the abuser quite well.

[elle]

2 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Tara called Maddie directly for help. I still kind of hope that the twist is that Tara's the abuser, not the husband. Why? Because it would be a fun twist. But I don't see how that could happen, since they have set up the husband as the abuser quite well

Thanks for the summary, Lady Calypso!

I wonder if they may still have a twist with the couple. Maggie's reaction to the husband claiming it was self inflicted made me think that she thinks something is not right.  But it may simply a way for the show to have Maggie deal with the "fallout" of what happened to her.

[tennisgurl]

When the wife called Maddie all upset having shot her husband, I really did think for a second that they would do a twist where she was the abuser all along and was covering her ass and faking injuries, but sadly that is probably not meant to be. That might actually be interesting and make Maddie realize she has seriously unresolved issues with her own experience with abuse and actually be ridiculously cliche. At least Maddie seemed to realize she cant rescue Tara, and that she still has tons of issues she needs to work through, so thats something at least. 

I saw Chernobyl on HBO, so I really hope that we are totally sure that Bobby is alright! 

[HunterHunted]

Why are Eddie and Buck NOT dating? The subtext is essentially text now. Hen and Chim are besties. Hen and Athena are besties. None of their dialogue sounds like Eddie and Buck. Hen is a queer woman who doesn't sound half as swoony talking to her ex or her wife as Eddie and Buck sound talking to each other.

I feel for Athena and May in the essay situation. Most people don't have professions where the average person has a handy opinion about your job and May has had a legitimate terrible experience with police. Part of the problem is that there aren't enough incentives for good police to report bad and bad policing techniques and policies tends to get entrenched and memorialized.

1 hour ago, jewel21 said:

How is that girl alive with that hole through her body? Is it still there? Was it filled with something? 

People aren't buckets; you don't need to refill if they've lost some of their contents (it does depend on the contents). The meteor damaged part of her intestines and a kidney. Assuming her intestines were resected, she's completely able to live.

1 hour ago, elle said:

I wonder if they may still have a twist with the couple. Maggie's reaction to the husband claiming it was self inflicted made me think that she thinks something is not right.  But it may simply a way for the show to have Maggie deal with the "fallout" of what happened to her.

I think there may still be a twist.

[PupCal]

Was anyone else's episode super slow at the beginning or was verizon just fucking with us?

[izabella]

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Michael basically had to sit Athena down to tell her that she can disagree with May about the essay but to not totally freak out because May is making her own adult choices, or something along those lines. All I recall is Michael stopping Athena from starting a fight with May over the essay, even though Athena's mad.

He did a good thing there.  Athena needs to remember May had this experience with the traffic stop, and it is her story to tell, her emotions and fears to work through, and her feelings to sort out.  With her mom also being police, that makes her thoughts and feelings even more complicated.  It's good that May is talking about it, even in essay form, because it wasn't something she could just move on from. I like that they are showing the longer lasting repercussions, and aren't just sweeping that traffic stop under the rug.

[UnknownK]

3 hours ago, jewel21 said:

How is that girl alive with that hole through her body? Is it still there? Was it filled with something? 

A high powered bullet goes something like 1 KM/sec. A meteor will be going 20 times that. Something the size of a canon ball hitting you at those speeds would turn you into tomato soup.

[HunterHunted]

33 minutes ago, UnknownK said:

A high powered bullet goes something like 1 KM/sec. A meteor will be going 20 times that. Something the size of a canon ball hitting you at those speeds would turn you into tomato soup.

The woman this is based on ended up with a deep large bruise. The meteor chunk looked a little bigger than the prop in the episode.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/2/130220-russia-meteorite-ann-hodges-science-space-hit/

[UnknownK]

7 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

The woman this is based on ended up with a deep large bruise. The meteor chunk looked a little bigger than the prop in the episode.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/2/130220-russia-meteorite-ann-hodges-science-space-hit/

That meteor hit the ground and bounced off giving her a glancing blow and still one hell of a bruise.

The one in the show went through the roof shingles, ceiling, a weighted blanket that acted like a bullet proof vest (ok somehwhat like one), through the couch, floor, concrete, and some dirt and was still visible and glowing and kinda large.

Either way a hole that big through your guts is not something you are going to live through even if you don't bleed out instantly. The velocity of something like that going through you will cause major shock damage to all the organs around the penetration (we are mostly water and a large fast moving rock hitting a body of water will make for a very large splash).

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, UnknownK said:

Either way a hole that big through your guts is not something you are going to live through even if you don't bleed out instantly. The velocity of something like that going through you will cause major shock damage to all the organs around the penetration (we are mostly water and a large fast moving rock hitting a body of water will make for a very large splash).

I'm not trying to be oppositional, but they made a point to say that the meteorite was hot enough to cauterize her wounds. She clearly didn't bleed out.

Speed is an issue, but the reality is that a 10 pound meteorite is going to cause more damage than a 10 pound spike traveling the same speed because the penetrating surface area is much larger.  People's insides don't just turn to mush because they are hit by fast moving items. Weight matters, size matters, speed, temperature, balance, surface area, and angle of impact matter. The episode posits that a super hot fast moving object hit the woman and didn't kill her. That's not out of the realm of possibility.

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

I assume her weighted blanket was filled with plastic beads.  I don't know how having melted plastic in her body would affect her health.

Yeah, the plastic is no good. If it was hot and fast enough, she might not have gotten too much plastic in her system. The edges of her injury are still likely to be a plastic coated mess.

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

This is the first season that I have watched 911. Is it normally this preachy and filled with cliches?  Sometimes that alone takes me out of the show.  I feel like I should be writing them all down in some small notebook as words to live by.

Yeah, it kind of is. However, any show is likely always going to turn a little preachy when the subject of race and law enforcement comes up. 

Edited November 26, 2019 by HunterHunted

[emcmac87]

9 hours ago, Whimsy said:

The scene with Bobby sending Buck out to take care of the fire in the tunnel was harder to watch than I expected. We just lost a firefighter in our community. He saved two of his own men before the fire overtook him and he died. He was married with three children and they were supposed to leave for Disney World when he got off shift that day. My husband has been involved with going to the funeral and working overtime at their station.  Even though the circumstances were (obviously) completely different, the sacrifice Bobby made to get his men out and safe hit me hard. 

We must live in the same community. It really is a tragedy, my uncle was one of the fire fighters that responded to that fire. I can definitely see what you mean about Bobby getting the younger guys out safe, and it being a reminder. My other uncle(they’re brothers) was at the fire 20 years ago where they lost 6 men so I think it’s hitting them both hard at the moment. 

[Whimsy]

34 minutes ago, emcmac87 said:

We must live in the same community. It really is a tragedy, my uncle was one of the fire fighters that responded to that fire. I can definitely see what you mean about Bobby getting the younger guys out safe, and it being a reminder. My other uncle(they’re brothers) was at the fire 20 years ago where they lost 6 men so I think it’s hitting them both hard at the moment. 

Yes. Same community. We still grieve the W6 20 years later. My husband was covering the station with the one who died last year and heard all the radio calls. It’s a tough time to be a part of the firefighting community right now. 
 

Back to the episode, besides that scene that made me sad, I liked the episode overall. I really hope Maddie really is done with that lady. She tried. You can’t make people get help, even though that will definitely end in tragedy. 

[Chaos Theory]

I am actually glad the show isn’t dwelling too heavily on Hen’s pain.   I was really not looking forward to that just like I was not looking forward to Buck’s pain about losing Christopher.    When it is woven into other episodes that is fine and like with Maddie and her abuse It is likely that the show is going to deal with Hen killing someone again before the season is over.

i am just glad the show isn’t getting bogged down by it.

[chlban]

While I enjoy this show overall, it's choppy for me.  Some episodes just don't click for me and this was one. I had the passing thought that JLH was ruining another show for me-I completely stopped watching Criminal Minds after about 3 episodes with her-but I am not sure she was the problem. Hopefully next week will be better. 

Edited November 26, 2019 by chlban

[jewel21]

7 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

People aren't buckets; you don't need to refill if they've lost some of their contents (it does depend on the contents). The meteor damaged part of her intestines and a kidney. Assuming her intestines were resected, she's completely able to live.

What I'm wondering about is it looked like a pretty decent size hole. Were they able to sew it closed? Did she need a skin graft? Or is she just walking around with a hole through her that people can put their fists through when they're bored, heh.

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, jewel21 said:

What I'm wondering about is it looked like a pretty decent size hole. Were they able to sew it closed? Did she need a skin graft? Or is she just walking around with a hole through her that people can put their fists through when they're bored, heh.

Probably skin grafts.

They made a point to say that the driver was going to be in trouble for telling the firefighters about the nuclear waste, but the reality is that the company was always going to be in trouble. Someone was going to have to clean up that accident at which point the nuclear waste would have been discovered. The company would have been eaten alive over letting nuclear material sit around unsecured and potentially contaminating firefighters, police, and just random citizens. The driver honestly saved the company so much money in additional fines. The company should retire the man, give him a half million, and let him walk away.

[Ohwell]

8 hours ago, PupCal said:

Was anyone else's episode super slow at the beginning or was verizon just fucking with us?

Funny, my episode was super fast in the beginning.  At first, I thought something was wrong with my tv but when I switched to other channels, they were fine.  Then after about five minutes, the episode was ok.

[Ohwell]

6 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I was glad Athena listened to Michael and took his advice.  It seemed like Athena was ready to unload on May before that conversation.

Instead of trying to understand her daughter's point of view considering what she'd been through with the traffic stop, Athena initially took umbrage and acted self-righteous.  That's the main reason I've never liked her character.  I'm glad Michael calmed her down. 

[gonzosgirrl]

6 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Instead of trying to understand her daughter's point of view considering what she'd been through with the traffic stop, Athena initially took umbrage and acted self-righteous.  That's the main reason I've never liked her character.  I'm glad Michael calmed her down. 

To be fair though, May didn't just write about her experience, she chose to include her police officer Sargent (sorry Athena, lol) as ''the enemy". That's a pretty personal. So I'm glad that Athena chose to deal with it the way she did (after Michael talked her down), but she was certainly entitled to be hurt over it without it being self-righteous.

[Ohwell]

44 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

To be fair though, May didn't just write about her experience, she chose to include her police officer Sargent (sorry Athena, lol) as ''the enemy". That's a pretty personal. So I'm glad that Athena chose to deal with it the way she did (after Michael talked her down), but she was certainly entitled to be hurt over it without it being self-righteous.

Sure, I can understand her being hurt, but if Michael hadn't talked her down she surely would have unloaded on her daughter. 

That stone face alone would have me running the other way, lol.

[tvgoddess]

3 hours ago, chlban said:

While I enjoy this show overall, it's choppy for me.  Some episodes just don't click for me and this was one. I had the passing thought that JLH was ruining another show for me-I completely stopped watching Criminal Minds after about 3 episodes with her-but I am not sure she was the problem. Hopefully next week will be better. 

My problem with this episode is that I actually wanted it to focus more on Bobby and the rest of the crew dealing with the chemical fallout from the truck crash. When over half the episode was over and they still hadn't shown it, I was disappointed. The first half was just blah. I liked the meteor crashing emergency, even if due to others' comments not so sure it was realistic she survived. Still, the actress was likeable and her snarky takes on her life were amusing. And "Saw? I'm sorry, did you say saw?!"

I realize they had to deal with Hen's feeling guilty from last week, but it was a huge downer for me and I could have done without it. 

The entire Maddie section I could have done without also. I am hoping for that twist though.

I did enjoy Buck/Eddie because hell let's face it, they're adorable and I want them together.

I'm semi-glad that something serious finally happened to Bobby, because I want to see how Athena deals with it. She's still somewhat unemotional in the hospital scene, although she said the right things. I just didn't like the portrayal. Her googling "radiation poisoning" though kind of hints that there might be issues later, which I'm okay with. I want to see more drama between these two. 

[iMonrey]

I must have missed what specific epiphany caused Hen to get her groove back. I thought the whole thing was rather abrupt. 

At this point I think the show is trolling us with Buck and Eddie. Buck's plea for forgiveness this time just did not feel organic at all. The show keeps throwing these two together off-hours for emotional support and it's kind of weird considering they haven't really even known each other that long. At the very least you would assume they'd been best friends since childhood.

I've defended JLH from the start and really have no issues with her as an actress, but her role on this show no longer seems to fit organically either. It feels like she's on some other show in a way it never did with Connie Britton.

[CoderLady]

33 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I must have missed what specific epiphany caused Hen to get her groove back. I thought the whole thing was rather abrupt.

When Hen and Karen were entering the spa for their healing time, they ran into a woman there whose life Hen had saved years ago and who Hen said had been the reason she'd become a paramedic. The woman told them over dinner that evening glowing details of all the positive things she'd done with her life as a result of her rescue. It was obviously to counterbalance the loss of the girl killed in the car and it seems to work for Hen in the end, though I doubt if she no longer still needs some therapy.

[iMonrey]

Thanks CoderLady. Of course I watched that scene but at the time didn't get the impression it completely turned Hen's outlook around. In fact just before that dinner she was telling Karen no matter what the lady had  to say it didn't change the fact that she killed some girl. I didn't see any kind of "lightbulb" moment during that dinner scene.  That's what I thought I must have missed. 

[Chaos Theory]

I thought the daughter was picking a fight with her mother.   “Oh I feel so put upon having to live with a police officer.”   It was childish.   She showed it to Athena to hurt her and get a reaction out of her.   Why else ask her to look at it?   If she wanted to make the very same point she could have done it without making her mother “the enemy”.  

Edited November 26, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[CoderLady]

2 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Thanks CoderLady. Of course I watched that scene but at the time didn't get the impression it completely turned Hen's outlook around. In fact just before that dinner she was telling Karen no matter what the lady had  to say it didn't change the fact that she killed some girl. I didn't see any kind of "lightbulb" moment during that dinner scene.  That's what I thought I must have missed. 

Yeah, I see what you mean. There wasn't a moment when we could see Hen's outlook shift, just her showing up for work.

[DearEvette]

16 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Tara called Maddie directly for help. I still kind of hope that the twist is that Tara's the abuser, not the husband. Why? Because it would be a fun twist. But I don't see how that could happen, since they have set up the husband as the abuser quite well.

If this isn't the end of the story with these two,  then It kinda could still work. 

There was something really off about that entire scene, imo.  The wife had one little bruise on around her eye and a split lip.  If they were fighting bad enough where she felt her life was in jeopardy (this time) then she should have been much worse off than she was.  As it was she ambulatory, not other bruises and remarkably aggressive toward Maddie.

I can't help but think what happens in abuse sometimes...

-    the abuser can feel remorse after they've abused their victim (like the wife did here after she shot him). 

- They are the ones who will often cry and blame the victim for what they've done "Look what you made me do"   Maybe this time he defended himself and hit her back and she went for the gun because 'he made her do it.'

- The victim will do anything to placate their abuser, often taking the blame just to agree with them "You're right it is all my fault, I won't do it again."   (like the husband did here, he promised not to do it again).

- The victim will also take the blame for their own wounds "I fell down the stairs, so clumsy of me."   (in this case the husband claims he shot himself.)

-  The abuser is often a master manipulator that can make people think all sorts of things.  Since Maddie has made it known that she believes the wife is the victim, the wife in turn will use Maddie to shore up that idea.  Calling her instead of 911.

If you think about that scene in that light, the husband can still be the victim.  We never got hear or see him say anything directly himself.  Everything seemed to be filtered through the wife.

I knew Hen wasn't going to be off too long, but that was only one episode.  Dang.  I mean even Athena had a two episode suspension. can't lie, thought, I loved the group hug in the end.

Is a weighted blanket the new IT thing?  I swear I had seen like four  references to to one in just the last two days and had never heard of it before. 

Edited November 26, 2019 by DearEvette

[Raja]

20 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I knew Hen wasn't going to be off too long, but that was only one episode.  Dang.  I mean even Athena had a two episode suspension. can't lie, thought, I loved the group hug in the end.

Hen wasn't under a disciplinary suspension, after the investigation she was on an open ended compassionate leave to deal with being a partial cause of a death.  As was speculated in the last episode "Malfunction" thread by Dani-Ellie there was a system malfunction and while she had a green light so did the victim.  The first civilian driver in the left lane stopped due to the siren and/or flashing lights and screened the ambulance and second driver from each other's view until it was too late.

[tennisgurl]

There was a Lifetime movie from a few years ago, I cant recall the name, but it reminds me of the Maddie story line somewhat. It was about a woman who escaped an abusive relationship, then wrote a book about it and became famous doing speeches about surviving domestic abuse, and eventually she met a woman who said she was a huge fan, that she had sent a letter to her thanks her for inspiring her to leave her abusive spouse, and that she had killed her husband in self defense, and needed her help building her case. The two of them get really close and the main character sees a lot of herself in the woman, only to find out...

Spoiler

That it was actually the wife who was the abuser. Her husband had written the letter about her inspiring him to leave his abusive spouse, and when he tried to leave, his wife killed him, and she showed up pretending to have written the letter and have been the abused spouse to mount a self defense case. 

I actually normally like Maddie, when she is working in the call center and being a friend/sister/girlfriend/normal person and I thought the whole plot with her husband coming back was much less ridiculous than I expected it to be, but this whole plot with the other abused wife is just awful, especially if it all turns out that Maddie was right all along and that her stalking this couple and making assumptions based on her own experiences was totally the right call. 

I cant blame Athena for being upset with May, I would have expected her to be MORE upset! I dont blame May for still being deeply hurt and scared by the incident with that cop, and having conflicted feelings about her mom being a cop, but she made it pretty personal, with the "Living With the Enemy" title, and apparently spent a lot of the paper saying how her mother was wasting her time being a cop and just helping perpetuate the system, which is pretty unfair, as Athena has done a lot of very heroic things in the line of duty, regardless of the many many flaws of the LAPD, both as an organization and as individual cops. I am glad that Michael talked her down a bit though so that she didnt escalate the situation, and the two of them clearly have some unresolved issues they now need to talk about. I cant believe May didnt go with the natural disaster story. She saved a persons life! That sounds way better than this story she went with! 

Glad that the truck driver is going public, he seemed like a good guy, I hope that he wont get eaten by cancer in about a month. Poor Bobby, but I guess it was his turn to end up in a life threatening situation. 

The Buck and Eddie scenes were adorable as always. I mean, come on show, your just messing with me at this point, they even act like they're going to start making out any second!

[gonzosgirrl]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Thanks CoderLady. Of course I watched that scene but at the time didn't get the impression it completely turned Hen's outlook around. In fact just before that dinner she was telling Karen no matter what the lady had  to say it didn't change the fact that she killed some girl. I didn't see any kind of "lightbulb" moment during that dinner scene.  That's what I thought I must have missed. 

I think the lightbulb moment was not that she'd saved this one woman's life, but all the things that flowed from that - her seeing her daughter get married, her grandchildren, etc. The tears rolling down Hen's face when the woman finished speaking said it all (for me).

ETA: That woman looked familiar to me and I didn't remember her from Hen's origin story, but it's Rae Dawn Chong. Man, I didn't realize she was that old (and 3 years older than me!).

Edited November 26, 2019 by gonzosgirrl

[izabella]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I've defended JLH from the start and really have no issues with her as an actress, but her role on this show no longer seems to fit organically either. It feels like she's on some other show in a way it never did with Connie Britton.

The problem is, they aren't using her as a 911 call center operator anymore.  We aren't seeing the call center much, and mostly we've been seeing her off on her own with her own abusive ex problems and going on missions to save other abused wives.

This show is way too deep on the personal dramas and tragedies.  It's becoming less about emergency services and more about personal emergencies or missions. 

[PamelaMaeSnap]

Here in DC area, first part was very slow and choppy ... I was almost ready to just wait until it was available on demand when it clicked into synch.

So, really stupid question but re: the episode description, who was the old friend Bobby introduced Eddie to? I don't remember this from episode at all  

But I Really loved this episode (who am I kidding? I'm totally this show's bitch). 

As usual, I think they do a great job casting the guest roles. I was actually relieved Ernest survived. Thought meteor girl was excellent. 

So glad that they seem to have expanded Michael's role. Longtime fan of Rockmond Dunbar. 

Finally, re: weighted blankets, never heard of them until Little Snappy and New-Son-in-law Snappy had one on their VERY short gift registry for recent wedding. Now I've gotta check it out, especially if added benefit is making you meteor-proof. 

[Ohwell]

My main problem with Athena is how she stomps around LA, constantly alone, equipment swinging on her hips, acting like she's the only LAPD officer doing heroic things on his/her job.   She just acts so self-important.

[elle]

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

ETA: That woman looked familiar to me and I didn't remember her from Hen's origin story, but it's Rae Dawn Chong. Man, I didn't realize she was that old (and 3 years older than me!).

Thank you!  I was going to ask if any knew who was the actress.  

When did they explain about the malfunction?

Does anyone recognize the paramedic who was involved with Maggie's case?

[iMonrey]

Quote

ETA: That woman looked familiar to me and I didn't remember her from Hen's origin story, but it's Rae Dawn Chong. Man, I didn't realize she was that old (and 3 years older than me!).

{headsmack} I didn't realize that was her either, and I was looking for her after I saw her name in the opening credits. 

Quote

When did they explain about the malfunction?

Early in the episode, Bobby had gotten the final report or whatever from headquarters and sat down with Hen to reveal their findings. She still said she blamed herself and would need some time before she could come back to work, and Bobby told her to take all the time she needed.

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, CoderLady said:

When Hen and Karen were entering the spa for their healing time, they ran into a woman there whose life Hen had saved years ago and who Hen said had been the reason she'd become a paramedic.

I thought that was an amazing coincidence, and assumed someone (Karen, Bobby, other) had contacted the woman and arranged for their meeting, hoping it would help Hen.

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

There was something really off about that entire scene, imo.  The wife had one little bruise on around her eye and a split lip.  If they were fighting bad enough where she felt her life was in jeopardy (this time) then she should have been much worse off than she was.  As it was she ambulatory, not other bruises and remarkably aggressive toward Maddie.

That scene seemed off to me as well; I really got the feeling it didn't go down quite the way the wife described it to Maddie. And of course, LAPD sent the guy who graduated last in his class to the hospital, so he did no investigation beyond listening to the husband's claim that he accidentally shot himself.

46 minutes ago, izabella said:

This show is way too deep on the personal dramas and tragedies.  It's becoming less about emergency services and more about personal emergencies or missions. 

Agreed, it has become more Days of Our Lives than Emergency! or Adam-12 and I'm not particularly a soap opera fan.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

{headsmack} I didn't realize that was her either, and I was looking for her after I saw her name in the opening credits. 

Cool I wasn't the only one looking for her and thought that I just missed her appearance.

2 hours ago, Moose135 said:

I thought that was an amazing coincidence, and assumed someone (Karen, Bobby, other) had contacted the woman and arranged for their meeting, hoping it would help Hen.

I was thinking they just pulled that stunt to keep Maddie on her job, they can't be recycling already.

[kicotan]

20 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Why are Eddie and Buck NOT dating? The subtext is essentially text now. Hen and Chim are besties. Hen and Athena are besties. None of their dialogue sounds like Eddie and Buck. Hen is a queer woman who doesn't sound half as swoony talking to her ex or her wife as Eddie and Buck sound talking to each other.

My theory:

the writers are banking on their fan base to support them in the building of  likeable hetero single male characters by having them interact with each other socially using dialogue that would typically be reserved for the female “besties”.  I almost expected Eddie and Buck’s conversation to end in a pillow fight and then doing each other’s nails.

The female besties are busy projecting strength and empowerment in their support for each other, so there’s no time for sappy swooning, pillow fights or nail polish.

I could be wrong, though.

[sweetandsour]

22 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Why are Eddie and Buck NOT dating? The subtext is essentially text now.

I usually watch with closed captioning on since tv dialogue can be hard to make out sometimes.  Sometimes the subtitles don't align with what's happening on the screen - it's either too early or too late (or omitted entirely, like with difficult names).  During the end of Buck and Eddie's kitchen scene, the subtitle said "[romantic music]" before it cut over to Hen and Karen at their getaway.  But I mean ... I don't think the subtitle was out of place, despite its inaccuracy.

Re: meteor girl, she must have had the same magic/treatment as Goldie Hawn in "Death Becomes Her."  NBD!

[WinJet0819]

15 hours ago, Raja said:

Hen wasn't under a disciplinary suspension, after the investigation she was on an open ended compassionate leave to deal with being a partial cause of a death.  As was speculated in the last episode "Malfunction" thread by Dani-Ellie there was a system malfunction and while she had a green light so did the victim.  The first civilian driver in the left lane stopped due to the siren and/or flashing lights and screened the ambulance and second driver from each other's view until it was too late.

I kind of figured Hen would be found not at fault and cleared. But I was half expecting the family might drag this into court with a lawsuit. They can't accept the fact that their daughter, a probable cello prodigy, was killed in a collision with an ambulance. And this might still happen later on in the season, and force Hen to relive the day, and the family's lawyers will dredge up Hen and Karen's personal issues as a cause for the crash. And Hen might run into a family member on a call or out running errands and there's an altercation. Though it will probably be a tougher case now since she was cleared and the cause was found to be an issue with the circuit board in the traffic light.

It is great that Hen is back, but it is strange that she wants drive the rig again, right away. Sometimes, it can take some time to fully get back in the saddle (or driver's seat) after that kind of tragedy, even after learning it wasn't your fault. You might want to ease back in, rather than jump back in.

[Jillybean]

And just like that, Hen's storyline is resolved in the blink of an eye...with the added bonus of snapping Karen out of her depression. 

Eh, we ordered a weighted blanket from Amazon over the summer and ended up returning it (thank God for free shipping and returns). I guess we'll have to take our chances with a meteor strike.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Jillybean

[DearEvette]

18 hours ago, Raja said:

Hen wasn't under a disciplinary suspension, after the investigation she was on an open ended compassionate leave to deal with being a partial cause of a death. 

I didn't mean it in terms of in-story censure, but in overall story closure.  In every situation where someone had to be away from their job for whatever reason (Bobby' suspension, Buck's lawsuit, Chimney's stabbing etc.) they were back in uniform in about two-to-three episodes.  Hen's sitch was set up to be so fraught in the preceding episode and yet "Welp, no fault" at the beginning of this one and she's back in action.  I expected maybe one more episode of suspense at least.  LOL.

[gonzosgirrl]

Was it mentioned in-show how long it had been since the accident? Chim seemed to be missing her and kind of expecting her to come/be back. Buck still had scrapes on his face, so I'm assuming not that much time, but maybe a couple weeks at least? There seemed to be more than one therapy session for Eddie and Maddie in the elapsed time, but I really can't recall if it was mentioned.

[Raja]

4 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Was it mentioned in-show how long it had been since the accident? Chim seemed to be missing her and kind of expecting her to come/be back. Buck still had scrapes on his face, so I'm assuming not that much time, but maybe a couple weeks at least? There seemed to be more than one therapy session for Eddie and Maddie in the elapsed time, but I really can't recall if it was mentioned.

Well it had to be long enough to investigate a fatal accident, down to pulling and testing the electronics on the signal lights. But shows never lock into a time if they can help it. That is why all veterans are from Afghanistan and not the shorter but larger in troop strength war in Iraq so they can slide the time scale and retain continuity later.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Raja