S03.E18: What's Next?

[jewel21]

The 118 rush to save lives in the aftermath of a massive train derailment.

Airdate: 05/11/2020

[gonzosgirrl]

Well, I called it for Michael and for Chimney/Maddie. Two for two. 🙂

Honestly though? How do you make a literal train wreck so utterly boring? Connie Britton's return was the biggest let down.

[anna0852]

I called that as soon as she yawned at Josh.

So glad this ended on a high note.

I would like to know why May wanted to talk to Maddie about her college plans.

[Empress1]

That was pretty lackluster. I don’t know why we needed Connie Britton, and I like Connie Britton. I did like that Buck called Abby on ghosting. It was shitty of her. If she wanted to break up with him, she could have sent him an email. Everything she said to him on that bench, she could have said to him when she was away.

I’m so happy for Michael, both for the tumor shrinking and him seeing the doctor again.

I’ve been thinking about people who are graduating during this crisis. One of my coworkers is getting her BA, 10 years after she started. I think that’s so great, and it sucks that she can’t do the ceremony & celebration. I thought of that when they showed May’s party.

[Ohwell]

13 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Honestly though? How do you make a literal train wreck so utterly boring? Connie Britton's return was the biggest let down.

I agree.  How do you make a train wreck so boring?  I was yawning throughout the entire episode.  

12 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

I would like to know why May wanted to talk to Maddie about her college plans.

So would I.  I guess they're saving that for next season?

I was shocked, SHOCKED that Athena admitted that she should have called for backup. 

[Ohwell]

12 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

That was pretty lackluster. I don’t know why we needed Connie Britton, and I like Connie Britton. I did like that Buck called Abby on ghosting. It was shitty of her. If she wanted to break up with him, she could have sent him an email. Everything she said to him on that bench, she could have said to him when she was away.

I liked that Buck called her on her shit too.  Her word salad BS reminded me of that guy Zach on Married At First Sight. 

[preeya]

Based on the title of the episode "What's Next?" and what we saw in this finale, I'd say there's quite a bit of "What's Next?"

 

[Wamboyil]

My guess? May wants to become a 911 dispatcher. Kills 2 birds with 1 stone...gives May a little beefier role, and keeps the action focused on the dispatch center while Maddie is on maternity leave.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Wamboyil

[Chaos Theory]

I thought this episode was really well done.  All the main cast dealing with the emotional fallout The season.    I really thought Josh’s victim impact statement was really good which makes me wonder why the writers didn’t put as much thought into the Abby and Buck scenes.   Yes I am glad Buck got his closure but the way Abby was written seemed very off to me.  
 

so called Michael running into hot elevator guy.   I am happy for him.

Also Maddie and Chimney are pregnant.   

[Lady Calypso]

Well, for a finale, I guess I was expecting more? But this worked well in terms of focusing on character progression, rather than the actual action stuff. 

Not that the train crash was boring...per say...but it kind of fizzled out. Nice to see some B-list guests, like Rumer Willis. 

I'm very surprised with the route they went with Abby. Not the being engaged stuff, but with how little she felt for what she did to Buck. She showed pretty much no remorse and made excuse after excuse for why she completely ghosted him and never contacted him after that.

"Oh, I needed to find myself. I felt lost before I left. I didn't want to retreat back into my former self if I came back."

Great, lady. How about you pick up a damn phone and tell Buck OVER THE PHONE, then? Instead of leaving, never contacting him again, and then having the balls to act like everything is normal when you DO run into him? And the fact that she told her fiance about Buck...just made it WORSE for me.

I didn't think she would ever be the worst character on this show, but...there you go. Not that I could have forgiven her as a character if she DID have a better apology...or any apology, but they really went down a path that made her look like a shitty ass person. They might have been able to salvage it if she had anything better to say. But she didn't. 

But I'm glad Buck decided to stop giving her the time of day after their conversation. She isn't worth the time to think about anymore. And I even liked Abby in season 1.

Athena's scenes with Brooke Shields' character (whose name I never caught) were decent, but they definitely rushed a little through that. However, I'm glad that it ended with her admitting that she should be using backup more often. Maybe that means she'll actually get a partner next season.

Hen saves the kid, which is great. That technically should be a great story to tell when applying to med school. I think that her experience more than makes up for her average test score.

Michael's tumour has shrunk! And he gets a hot new boyfriend to boot! And Josh gets to stand up to his attacker! Yay!

I'm pretty sure May is only going to ask Maddie how she can become a dispatcher. Which is what they hinted at in the tsunami arc, when she helped save that woman. Maybe not being a dispatcher, but going in a similar field.

Chimney/Maddie are having a baby, which isn't a total surprise. They hinted at the idea earlier in the season, when the two were discussing kids. And I think it's actually not bad timing. They both deserve some happiness after what they've gone through on this show alone.

[jewel21]

Let's try and keep discussion to what happened in the episode and to the characters. Thanks!

[rhys]

I must have blinked and missed it. How did Rumor Willis's character get saved?

[jewel21]

2 minutes ago, rhys said:

I must have blinked and missed it. How did Rumor Willis's character get saved?

Buck made a hole in the side of the train car from the outside and they got a basket up there to bring her down. 

[Irlandesa]

Normally a rescue with the scale implied in the train crash would be the focus of the whole episode, if not a two or three parter.  Here, it was probably less than half of the screen time with the Michael and Athena stories being added in yet not having anything to do with the big train rescue.   I don't have a problem with those stories but I think it threw off the pacing of episode.

In addition, the show usually does a pretty good job making us care about the victims in these situations but I think they attempted to shorthand that normal character building by using guest stars which doesn't work if they don't give you anything.

And as one of the maybe few Abby and Buck fans from the first season, the closure that this episode was supposed to provide really didn't work for me.  Abby being burnt out on caregiving made sense to me.  Abby being afraid she'd return to that person if she returned to Buck didn't. That wasn't their dynamic.  If anything, he was more of the caregiver.

But somehow getting engaged less than two years after leaving and ending up in a position where she's going to be a stepmother to two school-aged children isn't being thrown back into caregiving mode?

Okay.  Glad your wedding is likely to get cancelled, Abby.

One thing I do appreciate about this series is that each season pretty much ends wrapped up instead of with a cliffhanger. 

Random Thoughts: 

Does Hen know that she can take practice tests on the computer now?  They mimic real tests so she's used to the experience.

Do the writers know that tests are taken on computers these days for the most part?

Do the writers know that Rumer Willis is 31 and a bit beyond being described as "just a kid?"

The best emotional writing in this episode I think was the argument between Buck and Bobby. It was had the right history and points of view behind it.

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Irlandesa

[tennisgurl]

As far as season finales that involve a literal train wreck go, this episode was just kind of dull. Not bad, it had some nice moments and some decently exciting saves, but I was rather underwhelmed. Especially with all the hype of Abby returning for an episode. 

I remember liking Abby, but as it turns out Abby...kind of sucks. I wanted to hear why she just ghosted Buck without so much as a call or an email, but we go no explanation for why a damn phone call to break up with the guy was just too much for her to bother with, nor any apology for how badly she handled that. I guess that was supposed to give Buck (and us) closure, but I really wanted to get more of an explanation, instead of excuses. Yeah she was burned out, yeah she was excited for her new adventure, but just because she was Eat Pray Loving across Europe, that doesent mean she cant at least be honest with the guy she was dating who was waiting back in LA for her to call. She doesent have to stay with him if she doesent want to, but an actual break up would be appreciated instead of just leaving Buck to pine away and wonder what he did wrong. Also, so Abby doesent want to be a caretaker anymore, but is marrying a man with two school age kids? Buck did show a lot of maturity here, pretty much calling Abby out on her shoddy treatment of him, but then when she just kept making stupid excuses, not even acting like she was sorry, he just told her he was happy for her and left, which is a lot classier than what I think I lot of people would have been. You can do better anyway Buck. 

Bye bye brain cancer! I am so glad that Michael is doing better, AND that he went on a date with hot doc! I was pretty sure that Michael would be alright, but I did get concerned a few times, so I was super relieved to hear that his tumor was shrinking. Mays party looked fun, it was great seeing the whole cast hanging out and having fun, especially after all the drama this season. 

Maddie and Chim are going to have a baby! They really deserve some good things, and I am glad that a season finally didnt end with someone in mortal peril.  

Edited May 12, 2020 by tennisgurl

[elle]

How sweet was that search and rescue beagle with his protective booties!  I said “aw” out loud.

 

[CoyoteBlue]

Funny that there's a post in the media thread about Buck and Eddie, because those two were too goddamn adorable in the photo booth together. Almost as adorable as that rescue beagle!

Abby sucks. She and her old-lady glasses can disappear into her Eat Pray Ghost world for good.

Internal decapitation! Very cool. Well, even cooler that the kid will live, but still, cool!

I think May's going to ask Maddie about being a 911 operator. Would she really put off /give up college, though? Athena would go ballistic. Can you do that job summers and during breaks?

[meatball77]

Love that Chimney and Maddie are pregnant.  She's totally going to go into labor while in an elevator that's either on fire or flooding with water next season.

[rhys]

8 hours ago, jewel21 said:

Buck made a hole in the side of the train car from the outside and they got a basket up there to bring her down. 

Thanks for this. I thought that was Sam! Balls, I wasn't paying attention at all!

[SuprSuprElevated]

14 hours ago, Wamboyil said:

May wants to become a 911 dispatcher.

That's where I went also.

[iMonrey]

There's no way any rescue personnel would ever go up into the train car that was upended like that. Not until equipment arrived to secure it. Clearly it was shifting position and in danger of toppling over. The last thing in the world you want to do is put more weight at the top of it by adding people and equipment. I get that our characters are meant to be heroic but there are clear policies and rules in place for situations like this to keep deaths to a minimum. Sending men up there to rescue survivors is just reckless and violates every rule in the book.

Quote

Also Maddie and Chimney are pregnant.   

No. No to "we're pregnant." Just no. We are not pregnant. Only one of us has a uterus and only one of us is giving birth. "We're having a baby" is just fine and accurate but no to "we're pregnant." 

[PamelaMaeSnap]

I will confess I got all teary when Michael got his happy ending ... or happy NOT-ending! He and Hen are my two favorite characters on this show and I was really sure they were going to indeed kill him off. 

[lorbeer]

15 hours ago, Wamboyil said:

My guess? May wants to become a 911 dispatcher. Kills 2 birds with 1 stone...gives May a little beefier role, and keeps the action focused on the dispatch center while Maddie is on maternity leave.

I thought that too but also there's a possibility she wants to be a nurse (or a doctor?). Maddie used to be a nurse. Asking Maddie for advice it's a dead giveaway so maybe there will be some twist. 😉 Just like we all thought May was going to write her essay about tsunami and saving that woman and it turned to be about "living with enemy".

15 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

  Yes I am glad Buck got his closure but the way Abby was written seemed very off to me.  

Her behaviour was odd. I wasn't sure why she wanted to meet Buck after the accident. In this story I'm totally on the Buck's side, though I can understand why she wanted her alone time, to just find her own way to be happy and not having to apologize for it. I get it, I really do. She wanted to be in control of her own life and she didn't want to explain herself. We all deserve to have this 'me time' and God knows Abby's live wasn't easy. I even understand why she didn't tell Buck at first. Again, I do. BUT I do havea grudge against her for not talking to Buck after some time, when it become very clear to her that she and Buck were done. And I think this is what she was supposed to tell Buck there. That she was sorry for leaving him hanging. She didn't have to say she was sorry for her journey, she had every right for that.

Another thing that really bugs me  - how could she afford all that travelling? Do 9-1-1 dispatchers earn that much?

7 hours ago, meatball77 said:

Love that Chimney and Maddie are pregnant.  She's totally going to go into labor while in an elevator that's either on fire or flooding with water next season.

You totally right, there will be labor drama. 😄

I really like that they immediate reaction was beign happy with it. 🙂

Edited May 12, 2020 by lorbeer

[tvgoddess]

12 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

The best emotional writing in this episode I think was the argument between Buck and Bobby. It was had the right history and points of view behind it.

I really liked that too, especially Bobby's "what did you just say to me?" like he couldn't believe Buck was accurately calling him out about Athena. 

I kind of forgot about the details of Abby leaving Buck, so I guess that's why I wasn't as bothered by her explanation. Let's face it, when a character on any show leaves they either are killed off or move away. This didn't end up as well as it could have, but it was much better than some of my other shows and their couples.

Thought the party was fun, and another nod to Peter Krause's inability to dance (see: Parenthood). 

So glad that Michael gets his date with Doc and that we end on a happy note.

The episode wasn't thrilling by any means, but we'll be wishing for this kind of stuff when we get to fall and have nothing.

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

I will confess I got all teary when Michael got his happy ending ... or happy NOT-ending! He and Hen are my two favorite characters on this show and I was really sure they were going to indeed kill him off. 

I love Hen’s med school journey. I admire anyone who pursues a dream “later in life.” The time will pass no matter what, she might as well be Dr. at the end of it. Also Aisha Hinds has the most radiant smile.

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

No to "we're pregnant." Just no. We are not pregnant. Only one of us has a uterus and only one of us is giving birth. "We're having a baby" is just fine and accurate but no to "we're pregnant." 

I feel the same way. Both people will have, as in “possess, be responsible for” the baby. Only one will be pregnant.

... Buck will be THE BEST uncle. I can’t wait to watch him find out.

[Chaos Theory]

If anything I would have written Abby as wanting  to come back to LA to see Buck and explain before she married Sam.   That would have been a better reason for her (them both really) being on the train.   Buck is unfinished business for her as well and acknowledging that would have made sense and her wanting to have her “official”  goodbye to Buck before she marries Sam would have made more sense to me.  Plus there were a lot of people on the show she was friendly with and she got no time with any of them which was odd as well.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Chaos Theory

[Ohwell]

May's little dude looked cute dancing with Bobby.  

And those glasses didn't do Abby any favors.  If someone had walked by and seen her and Buck on that bench, they would have thought a mom was having a heartfelt conversation with her son.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Ohwell

[preeya]

1 hour ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

I will confess I got all teary when Michael got his happy ending ... or happy NOT-ending! He and Hen are my two favorite characters on this show and I was really sure they were going to indeed kill him off. 

If Hen is going to be a doctor, how will they be able to keep her on the show? Anyone know if Aisha Hinds has anything in the works besides 9-1-1?

Edited May 12, 2020 by preeya

[Chaos Theory]

1 minute ago, preeya said:

If Hen is going to be a doctor, how will they be able to keep her on the show? Anyone know if Aisha Hinds has anything in the works besides 9-1-1?

They may include ERs in the mix which is technically an emergency service.

But the great thing about RM is if he rotated actors.  Heck a couple actors have made a career in his stable.   

[cameron]

17 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I agree.  How do you make a train wreck so boring?  I was yawning throughout the entire episode.  

So would I.  I guess they're saving that for next season?

I was shocked, SHOCKED that Athena admitted that she should have called for backup. 

It's because she doesn't want to go to college and wants to become a 911 dispatcher.

[Ohwell]

55 minutes ago, cameron said:

It's because she doesn't want to go to college and wants to become a 911 dispatcher.

That might be true but unless there are spoilers out there, right now that's just speculation.  I can definitely wait until next season to find out.

[shapeshifter]

14 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Bye bye brain cancer! I am so glad that Michael is doing better, AND that he went on a date with hot doc!

Best part of this season finale episode, IMO. 

[gonzosgirrl]

3 hours ago, lorbeer said:

Another thing that really bugs me  - how could she afford all that travelling? Do 9-1-1 dispatchers earn that much?

Insurance and/or inheritance from her mother?

 

[gonzosgirrl]

3 hours ago, Empress1 said:

love Hen’s med school journey. I admire anyone who pursues a dream “later in life.” The time will pass no matter what, she might as well be Dr. at the end of it. Also Aisha Hinds has the most radiant smile.

Agree on all points. I remember reading a Dear Abby column once and the reader asked advice about just that, going to med school later in life. She wrote something like, but in 7 years I'll be 50 years old, and Abby's response was, and how old will you be in seven years of you don't do it? 

[Empress1]

46 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Agree on all points. I remember reading a Dear Abby column once and the reader asked advice about just that, going to med school later in life. She wrote something like, but in 7 years I'll be 50 years old, and Abby's response was, and how old will you be in seven years of you don't do it? 

Right! And let's say Hen is 50 when she gets out of med school. She could practice medicine for 20 more years! That's plenty of time.

[Andyourlittledog2]

The whole impact statement storyline pisses me off. Somehow it has gotten into the media that giving an impact statement is the way those who are impacted by crime must participate in order to prove they are stronger etc. That's bullshit. I was the victim or a very violent crime last year and was offered the chance to do an impact statement. Once the DA assured me that the sentence would not be affected by it (long story) I said no. To me, for me, I had no desire to tell that asshole how he affected me.  I was not going to talk about my pain, my emotions, my difficulties, for that man to hear. He didn't care or he wouldn't have done it in the first place and I felt he had no business knowing anything at all about me or my thoughts. That was me taking power over what I shared, over my very self.  He did what he did. He wasn't going to have any more of me. Having someone brow beat me into doing that statement would not have gone over well with me at all. And when I hear Maddie just hound her coworker into making a statement he doesn't want to do it infuriates me. Leave him alone!

The rest of the episode?  I could have done without a trainwreck. I like the smaller stories.

[SuprSuprElevated]

22 minutes ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

The whole impact statement storyline pisses me off. Somehow it has gotten into the media that giving an impact statement is the way those who are impacted by crime must participate in order to prove they are stronger etc. That's bullshit. I was the victim or a very violent crime last year and was offered the chance to do an impact statement. Once the DA assured me that the sentence would not be affected by it (long story) I said no. To me, for me, I had no desire to tell that asshole how he affected me.  I was not going to talk about my pain, my emotions, my difficulties, for that man to hear. He didn't care or he wouldn't have done it in the first place and I felt he had no business knowing anything at all about me or my thoughts. That was me taking power over what I shared, over my very self.  He did what he did. He wasn't going to have any more of me. Having someone brow beat me into doing that statement would not have gone over well with me at all. And when I hear Maddie just hound her coworker into making a statement he doesn't want to do it infuriates me. Leave him alone!

The rest of the episode?  I could have done without a trainwreck. I like the smaller stories.

Sorry you went through that, glad you've taken control!

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, lorbeer said:

Another thing that really bugs me  - how could she afford all that travelling? Do 9-1-1 dispatchers earn that much?

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Insurance and/or inheritance from her mother?

Abby having her mother live with her, and Abby providing most of the care for her mother herself (I recently binged season 1) would have saved a lot of money, and I recall it being Abby’s choice rather than necessity, so, yes, likely there was some money inherited from her mother.
But it now seems weird to me that they had Abby show up for the big emotional scene with Buck in the season 4 finale when she hasn’t been on the show for 2 years. 
Kind of anticlimactic. 
But back to about Abby traveling so much: My (still) red-haired daughter is a 9-1-1 dispatcher who works overtime and uses frequent flyer miles to travel a lot. Maybe it’s a common way to de-stress from the job (pre-pandemic).
 

[ramble]

I’ve always been meh about Connie Britton but she has now moved from meh to all out boring blah. What a waste of her return and what a crock of crap she tried to sell to Buck. You could have picked up a phone woman. I didn’t dislike this episode it just felt... I don’t know... oddly uneventful. Although the beagle in the booties was fantastic! 

[jcbrown]

7 hours ago, Ohwell said:

May's little dude looked cute dancing with Bobby.  

And those glasses didn't do Abby any favors.  If someone had walked by and seen her and Buck on that bench, they would have thought a mom was having a heartfelt conversation with her son.

I kept wondering if Abby had some disorder that blinded her to fashion beyond the mid-eighties. Did Connie Britton piss someone off or why was she styled this way?

[Gramto6]

1 hour ago, jcbrown said:

I kept wondering if Abby had some disorder that blinded her to fashion beyond the mid-eighties. Did Connie Britton piss someone off or why was she styled this way?

Kind of like Nell on NCIS-LA for some unknown reason wardrobe seems to hate these women!

[Kel Varnsen]

I could have done without the Brooke Shields part of the episode since I think if they made it all train crash it would have been a lot more suspenseful. I mean the thing with the kid was kind of pointless. In one part they are saying they need a neurosurgeon and an we ready to go and then a few scenes later the paramedics say he is going to be ok. That makes no sense and is worse than Buck making the promise to find the fiance. 

Also I have only been watching the show since mid last year and I don't really know LA geography but have they ever explained why the 118 seems to handle downtown/urban type calls and rural type calls like this and the kid who fell down the well?

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Also I have only been watching the show since mid last year and I don't really know LA geography but have they ever explained why the 118 seems to handle downtown/urban type calls and rural type calls like this and the kid who fell down the well?

You can't really think too hard about the geography in these kind of shows. Going back as far as Adam-12 and Emergency! (and probably even earlier, but I don't remember much before them), they would handle calls in all sorts of areas that didn't always make sense based on where they were based. It's just a way to show a variety of calls while keeping the same cast.

[Bulldog]

I will forever love Connie Britton (seriously, if she had never done anything except play Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights, she would be one of my all time favorite actresses).  BUT, that was a serious letdown.  The writing was off.  Her acting seemed off.  Heck, the train wreck should have been EPIC and it lasted about three scenes.  They don't even have the excuse of having to cut taping short due to the virus as that was their planned finale.   As someone else mentioned, a rescue of that magnitude should have stretched over several episodes.  Abby's reunion with Buck was just meh, and frankly, made no sense and was extremely out of character for the Abby of S1.  Big disappointment all the way around.  Like Lonestar levels of disappointment. 

Why would May want to celebrate her graduation with all of her parents' friends?  Seriously?  And yes, she is totally wanting to become a 911 dispatch instead of going to college (although I don't see why she couldn't do both, many college kids have jobs). 

 

[SuprSuprElevated]

13 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I could have done without the Brooke Shields part of the episode since I think if they made it all train crash it would have been a lot more suspenseful. I mean the thing with the kid was kind of pointless. In one part they are saying they need a neurosurgeon and an we ready to go and then a few scenes later the paramedics say he is going to be ok. That makes no sense and is worse than Buck making the promise to find the fiance. 

Also I have only been watching the show since mid last year and I don't really know LA geography but have they ever explained why the 118 seems to handle downtown/urban type calls and rural type calls like this and the kid who fell down the well?

It's sort of necessary on shows like this, for us to suspend belief/reality to the point that we think every situation is handled by this group.  Sort of like most police dramas.  Jamie Reagan and his partners not only respond to every.single.call on Blue Bloods, but they then do the follow-up investigating.  His sister Erin prosecutes every case.  

[Raja]

13 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

 

Also I have only been watching the show since mid last year and I don't really know LA geography but have they ever explained why the 118 seems to handle downtown/urban type calls and rural type calls like this and the kid who fell down the well?

Given their location as stated in the pilot of North Hollywood they are a relative short ride towards some high rises as there are pockets spread over the city basin and the LA valleys. In this specific episode a train crash on the city limits line as shown on this episode could be a relatively short run as 118 reinforced the other units already on the scene when they arrived.. It was the run to the beach during the tsunami and especially being the first at the jetliner crash into the ocean off of LAX which was not creditable.

But as has been mentioned before since in LA neither the LAPD or County Sheriff's Deputies normally geographic unit insignia are not worn by officers or deputies.  City police shows  with LAPD have their units all over a very large geographic area and when they do give real street names they sometimes don't make sense.  Sergeant Friday on his Dragnet narration used to give parallel streets as cross streets or on a recent episode of Blackish a West 42nd was shown as East 42 on a GPS location and I had a laugh he would never get his son to the hood he was said to be aiming for.

 Other local police departments, there are 88 cities in LA County although 42 contract with the Sheriff for police services,  do wear shoulder  patches so you can localize them to some extent. But jurisdiction runs statewide so police do cross political lines. And with fire departments  on Emergency County 51 across the street from an oil refinery  traveled as much as City 118 and their producer Jack Webb was known for authenticity.

[Zoe]

On 5/13/2020 at 11:14 PM, Bulldog said:

Why would May want to celebrate her graduation with all of her parents' friends?  Seriously?  And yes, she is totally wanting to become a 911 dispatch instead of going to college (although I don't see why she couldn't do both, many college kids have jobs).

Those graduation parties are really for the parents. Each family is going to be throwing their own. 

[Diana Berry]

On 5/11/2020 at 9:41 PM, Wamboyil said:

My guess? May wants to become a 911 dispatcher. Kills 2 birds with 1 stone...gives May a little beefier role, and keeps the action focused on the dispatch center while Maddie is on maternity leave.

Exactly or a cop

I did like Buck being so protective of Christopher going to camp— my two dads

So Eddie has 2 weeks to ask out cute teacher.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Diana Berry

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 5/14/2020 at 10:31 AM, Raja said:

Given their location as stated in the pilot of North Hollywood they are a relative short ride towards some high rises as there are pockets spread over the city basin and the LA valleys. In this specific episode a train crash on the city limits line as shown on this episode could be a relatively short run as 118 reinforced the other units already on the scene when they arrived.. It was the run to the beach during the tsunami and especially being the first at the jetliner crash into the ocean off of LAX which was not creditable.

But as has been mentioned before since in LA neither the LAPD or County Sheriff's Deputies normally geographic unit insignia are not worn by officers or deputies.  City police shows  with LAPD have their units all over a very large geographic area and when they do give real street names they sometimes don't make sense.  Sergeant Friday on his Dragnet narration used to give parallel streets as cross streets or on a recent episode of Blackish a West 42nd was shown as East 42 on a GPS location and I had a laugh he would never get his son to the hood he was said to be aiming for.

 Other local police departments, there are 88 cities in LA County although 42 contract with the Sheriff for police services,  do wear shoulder  patches so you can localize them to some extent. But jurisdiction runs statewide so police do cross political lines. And with fire departments  on Emergency County 51 across the street from an oil refinery  traveled as much as City 118 and their producer Jack Webb was known for authenticity.

Great post and thank you for the details and insight! I wish I had even more detail-specific knowledge of the greater LA area but I’m working on it!!! 
 

Our daughter moved out there in 2011, living in an apartment in WeHo for a few years, then in Beverly Hills (NOT the fancy part lol) and now newlywed in Van Nuys, so almost NoHo! We’ve gotten more familiar with layout etc. including the outlying burbs and plan on moving out there ... soonish. Plans had been for this coming winter but obviously are on hold for now ...

I LOVE when I recognize a place or neighborhood while watching the show! (There was one scene I think when Chim and maybe Maddie were out for dinner somewhere that I recognized across the street, I think, from Sunset Plaza ... a Japanese restaurant. So I felt like a total faux Angeleno lol ...)

 

 

[oceanview]

On 5/12/2020 at 5:11 PM, gonzosgirrl said:

Agree on all points. I remember reading a Dear Abby column once and the reader asked advice about just that, going to med school later in life. She wrote something like, but in 7 years I'll be 50 years old, and Abby's response was, and how old will you be in seven years of you don't do it? 

I remember that Dear Abby column too -  about 100 years ago!   LOL    I always thought it was quite profound a statement and often repeated in over the years.