S01.E06: Friends Like These

[formerlyfreedom]

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Emergencies include a ride-share trip gone awry, a farming accident and a memorial service that may turn into another funeral. Owen unexpectedly bonds with the former Captain of the 126 (guest star Billy Burke), while Marjan and the crew help Mateo try to pass his written exams.

Airing Monday, February 17, 2020.

 

[anna0852]

Anyone else snerking about the two women talking about watching LOTR in high school, roughly 2 minutes before Liv shows up on screen?

[Ohwell]

I've tried with this show but it really does suck.  I'm out.

Also, for a 9-1-1 operator Grace seems to know a lot of medical stuff and a lot of MacGyver shit.    

And I can't take anymore of Liv Tyler.

So yeah....too bad, Rob Lowe.   I hope you get a better show down the road.

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Ohwell

[rhys]

Yep it's pretty bad. Why Marjan (?) was surprised she couldn't be the test reader was stupid to me. 

 But the other captain pulled a dick move on Owen by reporting his health issues to the chief.

[preeya]

2 hours ago, rhys said:

 But the other captain pulled a dick move on Owen by reporting his health issues to the chief.

Billy Burke always plays someone who'll make a dick move. It's part of his acting DNA. It was inevitable and Liv even warned Owen.

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by preeya

[Bulldog]

Fairly predictable episode - from Billy double crossing Owen to Probie passing his test. 

For the first time since the show began, I didn't actively dislike Michelle.  That's progress, I guess. 

[possibilities]

The show started 10 minutes late due to a sports overrun, and I missed the ending. Will stream it at Hulu tomorrow, or whenever it's available.

I knew the dog wasn't in attack mode. Everyone really needs to be taught dog body language. It's sad how many misunderstandings happen because we generally aren't reading dog signals properly.

[jewel21]

I felt so bad for that poor dog. I hope someone looked after him until that man's son could be called and arrived to take him. 

[Chaos Theory]

I really do wish this show was better then it is.   Maybe because I like OG 911 so much and I see parts of Lonestar that I do like.   Like everyone getting Probie ready for his retest.   That was great.   

I am hating the Owen storyline.   I see it going in one of two ways.   One which is unlikely is that he beats the test alone against all odds but the more likely outcome is that Judd gets pulled in two directions and when he sees Owen fall half way through the test he heats even Owens son in to help Owen beat the test and it’s a team effort and they all maintain that is what’s true team dies and that’s what they are.

 

[Xantar]

I didn’t understand the physics of the first accident. We clearly see in the shot that the car with the two women goes in front of the truck. We also see the truck driver make a surprised face and then slam on the brakes (the shot shows a man’s foot hitting the brakes with a screeching sound). 

So how did the car end up getting dragged behind the truck with the driver not knowing anything happened?

[shapeshifter]

Billy Burke defines type casting. If he was more well known, there’d be an SNL or Jimmy Fallon comedy skit in which a daughter brings her fiancé to meet the parents and the fiancé is Billy Burke. Cue the nooses, knives, and poisons falling out of his coat pockets and Billy Burke laconically explaining them away.

 

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

I nearly puked up my Cheetos when that dude was choking on the ashes of his friend

The CGI on his face and eye colors were so over the top that it wasn’t real enough to bother me too much. We didn’t get to find out what exactly he coughed up, did we? Or were we to assume it was the aforementioned artificial knee? Regardless, no way anything that large would have been inhaled accidentally or even picked up by a gust of wind. 
 

Speaking of TV physics 

12 minutes ago, Xantar said:

I didn’t understand the physics of the first accident. We clearly see in the shot that the car with the two women goes in front of the truck. We also see the truck driver make a surprised face and then slam on the brakes (the shot shows a man’s foot hitting the brakes with a screeching sound). 

So how did the car end up getting dragged behind the truck with the driver not knowing anything happened?

The only times I’ve known of similar accidents, nobody survived because there’s not enough vertical space. 

[PamelaMaeSnap]

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

The show started 10 minutes late due to a sports overrun, and I missed the ending. Will stream it at Hulu tomorrow, or whenever it's available.

You and me both. Like I don't already hate precious TV time being wasted with way-too-long post-race interviews I was yelling at the TV because I KNEW this meant the show would be cut. Will keep checking my Hulu so I can watch it again and find out what happens. 

Agreed, though, that Billy Burke = good-looking bad guy. And from what I can tell, Kyle Secor had still not shown up on my screen when it cut out. Or else I blinked and missed him. Is he still handsome?

 

[Raja]

This Captain versus Captain storyline doesn't make any sense. They are acting like when Captain Strands crew goes off duty Station 126 is padlocked closed and the other crews don't take over. Even if Captain Strand commands the other crews and a Lieutenant leads them are we to believe if replaced by the old line with the Justice Department gone a new Captain that can't get a plumber at 121 would tear out the remodeling?

[Steph01924]

2 hours ago, Xantar said:

I didn’t understand the physics of the first accident. We clearly see in the shot that the car with the two women goes in front of the truck. We also see the truck driver make a surprised face and then slam on the brakes (the shot shows a man’s foot hitting the brakes with a screeching sound). 

So how did the car end up getting dragged behind the truck with the driver not knowing anything happened?

There were early establishing shots showing the car with the women in it was behind the truck. Some random car from a side street pulled out in front of the semi and caused him to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting it, and because our characters were always behind him, when she was distracted by the phone she rear-ended the truck.

I also thought at first they were the car pulling out, too; it was a bit confusing.

[DearEvette]

Oh show.  Why?  You are already working my last nerve with your dim, depressing color palette.  But did we really need to pile yet more onto Owen?  Why couldn't he and Billy simply have become friends?  Owen needs a friend outside of his son and Michelle.  So in addition to actual cancer he needs a stress inducing work rivalry as well?  Why not give some other character a meaty story-line instead?

That said, I did like the probie story-line and the crew coming together to help.  That's the kind of workplace camaraderie that is welcome in these sorts of shows.  And I know the gruff asshole captain was supposed to be an asshole, but I mean... come on... if Mateo has a documented learning disability then it isn't the 'disability card'  and he is eligible for reasonable accommodation under the ADA.  Which brings us to why the manuals weren't already in available in an audio-assistive way for people with an LD?

I think was the best amount of Michelle.  I did not miss her sister trauma at all.

 

[possibilities]

5 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I didn't know it was possible to read dog body language other than a wagging tail. 

One good place to start is with "Calming Signals" by Turid Rugaas. There are others, but that's one of my favorites. It's easy to read, has great information, and helps not only decode what the dog is saying, but also teaches people how to respond for better outcomes.

[Dowel Jones]

1 hour ago, Steph01924 said:

There were early establishing shots showing the car with the women in it was behind the truck.

Additionally, DOT requires that all trucks over 10,000# GVW have a rear collision bar on the trailer, which is supposed to prevent that very occurrence.  I would think that both vehicles would have to be traveling at rather high speeds for the car to have enough force to bend that bar back enough for it to slide under the trailer.  But, if that were the case, we wouldn't have the thrilling race to save the driver with the slowest extrication possible vs. the person to person blood donation.  Type O for the win!

[mojito]

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I didn't know it was possible to read dog body language other than a wagging tail. 

I would've approached the dog, too. Besides the hackles not being raised and ears not being drawn back, he wasn't baring his teeth. He just looked like an excited dog to me.

The constant New York-Texas-redneck references are tiresome. We get it. He's a New Yorker (sans NYC regional accent which, at least, would make him stand out) in Texas. Enough already!

[possibilities]

You can always try tossing some food to the dog, preferably a little to the side (away from the kids or whatever else you want to approach) and see if the dog goes for it. If yes, you can keep tossing more food over there as a way to de-escalate the conflict and also make the dog like you rather than fear you. Even if it doesn't work, it's not going to hurt anything, and it's a better first effort than shooting the dog, which is an action that can't be undone.

Edited February 19, 2020 by possibilities

[jcbrown]

I like Rob Lowe a lot but Owen is the character that I am the least interested to see more of so this storyline does nothing for me.

Anyone know when original flavor 9-1-1 comes back?

Edited February 19, 2020 by jcbrown
adding a question

[BooksRule]

10 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Additionally, DOT requires that all trucks over 10,000# GVW have a rear collision bar on the trailer, which is supposed to prevent that very occurrence.  I would think that both vehicles would have to be traveling at rather high speeds for the car to have enough force to bend that bar back enough for it to slide under the trailer. 

I always think of the accident that killed actress Jayne Mansfield when I see an accident like this.  I thought that the bars (nicknamed 'Mansfield Bars') were preventing accidents, but it looks like they really aren't (or maybe they were when they were first required, but the specs have changed, making them not as good in preventing accidents. Here is an interesting article about their origin: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/28155/how-jayne-mansfield-changed-design-tractor-trailers

I'm scared of getting into a serious car accident anyway (I guess most people are), but I have a special horror of this type.  I do question the usefulness of a blood transfusion right there on site. Would that fairly slow/small flow of blood actually help a person who is quickly bleeding to death?   

[tennisgurl]

Billy Burke just cant get away with not being the bad guy can he? I was really hoping that Owen would just make a friend, but no, this other guy was playing him like some kind of supervillain looking for information that he could use to get him fired. So, what is this guys master plan? Go back to being the captain of his old station, fire everyone, and then...perform a necromancy ritual to bring his old crew back? Why just go back to be at the building? 

The cases of the week were all pretty good, I always like the "everything part of a theme" episodes, even when they get cheesy. The best was, of course, the one with Peanut, the very good doggie who was just trying to save his human, but kept getting stopped by people that cant read a dogs body language! I guess if your a little kid, its understandable to be freaked out by a strange dog covered in blood coming at you barking, but I would think that most adults could tell the difference between an excited dog and an attacking dog. Thank God Owen saw that he wasnt aggressive and was just trying to Lassie up a rescue, I really think that people should try to learn at least basic animal body language. 

Everyone coming together to help Probie out with his test was a nice subplot, showed a lot of comradire growing between the team, which is certainly going to be important with the new guy trying to mess everything up! Them all recording the different parts of the study materials was really cool. 

[shapeshifter]

2 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Billy Burke just cant get away with not being the bad guy can he? 

Spoiler

At the end of this episode they showed the promo for next week, and I thought I saw them back out on the golf course at night, possibly with Billy Burke's character getting hit by lightning, which is kind of funny because it's Billy Burke Bad Guy/Supervillain. 

 

[iLoveNny]

Did we know the probie was a Dreamer? If not this show just keeps putting hats on hats. It wasn't enough that he had a learning disability to make him unique. They had to add another layer for us to be interested in?

 

It just seems like...a lot  

[Raja]

12 minutes ago, iLoveNny said:

Did we know the probie was a Dreamer? If not this show just keeps putting hats on hats. It wasn't enough that he had a learning disability to make him unique. They had to add another layer for us to be interested in?

 

It just seems like...a lot  

Dreamer and not just Latino was revealed and an official dyslexia diagnosis and the ADA was also mentioned for the first time

[atiyah9369]

On 2/18/2020 at 2:44 AM, possibilities said:

The show started 10 minutes late due to a sports overrun, and I missed the ending. Will stream it at Hulu tomorrow, or whenever it's available.

I knew the dog wasn't in attack mode. Everyone really needs to be taught dog body language. It's sad how many misunderstandings happen because we generally aren't reading dog signals properly.

I am far from a dog person. Even I knew that dog wasn't in attack mode. I kept saying he needs help. Follow him.

[iMonrey]

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I didn't know it was possible to read dog body language other than a wagging tail. 
 

You must not have a dog. That dog seemed about as threatening as Lassie. That was clearly "Come help! Timmy fell down the well!" barking, not "Fear me I am Cujo" barking. Whoever called 911 was an idiot to just stand there cowering in the front door. Even if she thought the dog was rabid she could have gone out there with a shovel or something. Geez.

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This Captain versus Captain storyline doesn't make any sense. They are acting like when Captain Strands crew goes off duty Station 126 is padlocked closed and the other crews don't take over. 

I don't get this either! And now I'm trying to remember if the other 911 ever mentions other shifts. Obviously these people aren't working 24/7 so where are the other crews at this station and why couldn't Billy have been put in charge of one of those?

Edited February 19, 2020 by iMonrey

[Moose135]

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I don't get this either! And now I'm trying to remember if the other 911 ever mentions other shifts. Obviously these people aren't working 24/7 so where are the other crews at this station and why couldn't Billy have been put in charge of one of those?

Of course that would kill the premise of the entire show, that Josh had to go get Sam the Austin FD had to bring Owen in from NY because the entire house was killed and he was the only person in the history of the uniformed fire service who had ever built an entire house from scratch.

[VegetasMom]

On 2/17/2020 at 5:15 PM, anna0852 said:

Anyone else snerking about the two women talking about watching LOTR in high school, roughly 2 minutes before Liv shows up on screen?

I was waiting for the accident victim to look up in a daze and think she was seeing Arwen talking to her.  

[Guy Caballaro]

Is it just me, or does Billy Burke = dollar store Jim Bob Thornton?

[shapeshifter]

38 minutes ago, Guy Caballaro said:

Is it just me, or does Billy Burke = dollar store Jim Bob Thornton?

You  meant Billy Bob Thornton? Anyway, they are aging similarly, but Billy Burke has more classic facial bone structure. Or, if you were referring to their creepy villain roles, yeah.

[juno]

One of the reasons I left Chicago Fire was the constant theme of other government officials, and other first responders trying to take the chiefs/Casey/Severide's job or shut down the fire station.

This episode kicked in the first red flag of the theme of someone trying to take the Chiefs job.

I will be out soon if they start to go down the painful TV well of "they are coming for us" and "they are out to get us".

[DearEvette]

43 minutes ago, juno said:

One of the reasons I left Chicago Fire was the constant theme of other government officials, and other first responders trying to take the chiefs/Casey/Severide's job or shut down the fire station.

This is me.  After the third or fourth storyline where Boden's job was in jeopardy I realized just how lame that was as a plotline even once let alone four times. So yeah, this is a red flag for this show to do this so early with Owen.

Like I said upthread, it would have been nice to make them friends.  They have already given Owen a heavy storyline,, no need to pile on.  Or they could have gone with a twist and had the other house captains look upon him with skepticism and given him a long arc where over time he had to build trust and prove himself not so much the outsider. 

I saw this episode was written by Rob Lowe's son.  According to imdb it is his only major tv writing credit.  I choose to side eye.

[Jillybean]

I really enjoy OG 9-1-1 but I'm struggling a lot with this one. I find Owen very unlikable and the supporting cast isn't given enough good material to overcome that for me. I'm trying to figure out whether it;'s the way Owen is written, or acted, or both. I think it's both. I've liked Rob Lowe in other stuff but Owen almost seems like a caricature. His vanity and arrogance isn't sufficiently offset by good qualities, and I can't even sympathize with his cancer, because it barely seems to be affecting him. Not sure I'll keep sticking with this. 

[thewhiteowl]

Owen doesn't appear to be a bad guy but he's squarely in the wrong here. He's hiding his cancer and chemo from most of his team. He seems to be doing ok but that could change at any moment. Sure his supposed friend is slimy but he was warned. I can't even blame the friend, who did the responsible thing but lost everything anyway. 

[Dowel Jones]

Are you saying that the other captain did the right thing by informing the BC that Owen has cancer, or are you referring to something else?  The former is in no way a responsible act in a workplace.

[thewhiteowl]

38 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

Are you saying that the other captain did the right thing by informing the BC that Owen has cancer, or are you referring to something else?  The former is in no way a responsible act in a workplace.

I was referring to him taking time off for chemo and recovery. His station was shut down when the others died and he was transferred. Actually, Owen had the responsibility to inform his boss but he apparently prefers to be a liability.  The other dude was in no way obligated to keep Owen's secret.

[Raja]

49 minutes ago, thewhiteowl said:

I was referring to him taking time off for chemo and recovery. His station was shut down when the others died and he was transferred. Actually, Owen had the responsibility to inform his boss but he apparently prefers to be a liability.  The other dude was in no way obligated to keep Owen's secret.

You might say that as a Captain he had the duty to inform the department lest Captain Strand's condition endangers other Austin Firefighters or the public they protect.

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, thewhiteowl said:

The other dude was in no way obligated to keep Owen's secret.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that.

[msrachelj]

On 2/18/2020 at 2:44 AM, possibilities said:

The show started 10 minutes late due to a sports overrun, and I missed the ending. Will stream it at Hulu tomorrow, or whenever it's available.

I knew the dog wasn't in attack mode. Everyone really needs to be taught dog body language. It's sad how many misunderstandings happen because we generally aren't reading dog signals properly.

Same thoughts here. I was praying no one was going to shoot it! 

[BooksRule]

On 2/19/2020 at 12:36 AM, tennisgurl said:

Billy Burke just cant get away with not being the bad guy can he?

I think the only role I've ever seen him in where he wasn't the bad guy was as Bella's clueless dad in the 'Twilight' movies (yes, I've seen them.  They are good background movies for when I'm cleaning house. 🙂 ) I like him as a nice guy, and I'm hoping he'll turn out not to be so bad on this show. He was better in the next episode after this one. 

[anna0852]

He was a pretty decent guy on Rizzoli and Isles too

[torqy]

Oh no, Boden is now being threatened by Philip Stroh!! 

[DearEvette]

43 minutes ago, torqy said:

Oh no, Boden is now being threatened by Philip Stroh!! 

🙄

[ribboninthesky1]

On 2/24/2020 at 1:38 PM, Jillybean said:

I really enjoy OG 9-1-1 but I'm struggling a lot with this one. I find Owen very unlikable and the supporting cast isn't given enough good material to overcome that for me. I'm trying to figure out whether it;'s the way Owen is written, or acted, or both. I think it's both. I've liked Rob Lowe in other stuff but Owen almost seems like a caricature. His vanity and arrogance isn't sufficiently offset by good qualities, and I can't even sympathize with his cancer, because it barely seems to be affecting him. Not sure I'll keep sticking with this. 

Right there with you on the bolded.  I'm agnostic on Rob as an actor, but I think he's a bigger miscast than Liv Tyler. At least the show seemed to course correct on her storyline.  There's an ever present "And WHY is Judd not captain again?" thought when I watch this show.  It's not like the franchise has never had a captain with PTSD, heh.            

On 2/24/2020 at 3:37 PM, thewhiteowl said:

Owen doesn't appear to be a bad guy but he's squarely in the wrong here. He's hiding his cancer and chemo from most of his team. He seems to be doing ok but that could change at any moment. Sure his supposed friend is slimy but he was warned. I can't even blame the friend, who did the responsible thing but lost everything anyway. 

Yeah, when he immediately dismissed Michelle's warning as "a woman scorned," I actively hoped that Billy Burke's character would turn on him.    

On 2/24/2020 at 11:25 PM, Raja said:

You might say that as a Captain he had the duty to inform the department lest Captain Strand's condition endangers other Austin Firefighters or the public they protect.

This seems to be a blind spot for the show's writers.  The importance of his physical health shouldn't be an understatement in this context. 

[Lady Calypso]

So, I just got around to watching the episode. Not because I haven't had time, but because I haven't had the interest. 

I still find this series just ok. It's very bland, which makes it hard to like. I don't even have a lot to snark on, which is the only other reason for me to watch the series. I'm trying, but with the stupid filter and the lack of real character moments with anyone not named Owen, Michelle, or Judd... I dunno, it's hard to watch. 

For a series that promotes itself on diversity, the diverse characters only get an episode each to actually do anything. Otherwise, they're supporting the three main characters (Owen, Michelle, Judd). I know that the original series had similar problems in their first season, with the focus being more on Bobby, Buck, and Abby, but they at least gave Athena something to do. 

Here, they haven't given anything really to any other character. And no, I don't think that necessarily giving them an episode where they get to star in their own subplot really counts, not when they get dropped to being almost glorified extras by the next episode. I know it's only episode 6, and there's only 10 episodes total but...they don't have very good balance with the storylines they're giving these characters. 

Probie is still as dull as dishwater (and the actor is pretty terrible). Marjan got one episode where she got a plot and now she's Probie's babysitter. I like Marjan and at least they're trying to give her a little something to do, but they're still not doing a great job. Carlos gets to prop up Michelle and his relationship with TK has only been shown in four scenes, total, in the last six episodes (MAYBE five scenes). Paul got his storyline with his date last episode and now he's back to having a couple of lines here and there.

And Grace has gotten ZERO storyline of her own. Her entire storyline has been supporting Judd. Now, I do like Judd so that's a good sign, but I know absolutely nothing about Grace as a person. Also, TK kind of weaves in and out of storylines. Sometimes, he gets screentime and then other times, he seems to fade into the background. 

Liv Tyler still doesn't fit the role of Michelle but toning down on the sister drama and only giving her two or three scenes here was helpful. 

Owen's storylines have also not been very good, and I can't say that I care that he got played by Billy Burke. I like Billy Burke, but I never truly thought that he'd be an actual friend to Owen. Why would he, after all? He barely knows the guy and I feel like Owen was being a jackass to him at the poker game. For someone you just met, maybe tone down on the "playful" banter? Even if Billy seemed like he liked it, it's probably not the time to start snorting at the guy like a pig. 

That being said, Billy also sucks, mostly because he went to befriend Owen as a means to take him down. Because, really, there's no way I could believe that Billy blabbed Owen's secret out of the goodness of his heart.  

I'm moving on to the next episode in hopes that it's a bit better.