S05.E16: May Day

[possibilities]

They never could decide what was keeping Eddie from being a firefighter. Was it to protect his kid? Was it because he was recently traumatized by events on the job? Was it residual trauma from his time in the military? Was it because he's a dick and no one wants to work with him? Who knows?

 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, kwnyc said:

I called Claudette's death in the first scene. (I do that, and my wife gives me a "no spoilers" look.) 

So they brought her back to kill her. Ah, well, it's a paycheck for the actor.

So May's definitely going to college.

I now assume the plot arc for Claudette was always intended to end this way. 
I mean, they made her so abrasive from the beginning, that her character was more of a caricature, and a chess piece in another character's (May's) plot arc.  
This Newsweek article: https://www.newsweek.com/911-season-5-claudette-death-vanessa-estelle-williams-episode-16-1702903
--implies that Vanessa Estelle Williams was hired to fill in for the duration of Jennifer Love Hewitt's maternity leave. 

Oooo. I wonder if JLH had decided not to return, if they had an alternate plot arc resolution for Claudette in which she stayed?

[possibilities]

I like May at the call center, but I can't argue with the idea of her going to college. I will miss her being on the show, though, if they're shipping her out.

[Raja]

On 5/3/2022 at 5:49 AM, Maverick said:

 I obviously don't pay much attention to the credits because I never saw here name.   I haven't seen her since Melrose Place so I didn't realize she was still acting. 

This Vanessa Williams has always been more of TV presence than her famous MIss America counterpart. It was weird when they switched up who gets to use the famous name for credits after many years of Miss America being forced to add her middle initial for TV and movies. It really got strange when Miss America did the movie Soul Food and Melrose Place was a star on the TV Soul Food adaptation.

[anna0852]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

As far as we know they never even met Bobby prior to the wedding. We never got to see them react to the news that their mom was dating him or what their reaction was when she told them they were getting married. I guess they were just on board immediately, but why? I don't think the writers gave it much though. The kids were more or less props back then. It's only been since Bobby and Athena hooked up that the kids have been given any kind of real agency, especially May.

The kids met Bobby at the start of Season Two, after the earthquake. Michael made a big deal of inviting him in for dinner when Bobby stopped by to check on Athena. And he was shown spending quite a bit of time at the house, even before the engagement. 

[DearEvette]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Their acceptance of the relationship was short-handed. As far as we know they never even met Bobby prior to the wedding. We never got to see them react to the news that their mom was dating him or what their reaction was when she told them they were getting married. I guess they were just on board immediately, but why? I don't think the writers gave it much though. The kids were more or less props back then. It's only been since Bobby and Athena hooked up that the kids have been given any kind of real agency, especially May.

Bobby moved in with and he and Athena got engaged at the mid-season finale in season 2 and then they actually got married during the season finale.  In the episodes between, we got the one episode where Bobby did a fire safety talk with Harry's class and it was clear that harry hero-worshipped Bobby a and Michael got jealous because he said Bobby as step-dad has a cooler job..  There was also the ep where Bobby met Athena's parents and Athena's mom got snitty at him for disciplining Harry, even though he'd only done it because Athena has chided him earlier for being too easy on Harry. They also showed the kids being involved in the wedding planning.  One of the reasons they ended up getting married in a Judge's chambers was because of the tv staple misunderstanding.  They thought Harry wasn't on board with the wedding because he was getting mopey-er as the wedding planning went.  Turns our he liked Bobby he just didn't want to wear a tux.  So there were a fair amount of episodes that tried to show the kids (and Michael) incorporating Bobby into their lives before the wedding.

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, anna0852 said:

The kids met Bobby at the start of Season Two, after the earthquake. Michael made a big deal of inviting him in for dinner when Bobby stopped by to check on Athena. And he was shown spending quite a bit of time at the house, even before the engagement. 

I remember him cooking for the family. I think he moved in after they got engaged. Athena asked him to move in, he hesitated, and then he came back a few days later and she was like “look, it was just a thought” and he surprised her by proposing.

I really liked the relationship Bobby and Michael had too. It’s a shame we won’t see that again.

[PrincessTT]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I know May and Harry have never shown any objection to Athena and Bobby's marriage but by the same token their attitudes have never been explained or addressed. Their acceptance of the relationship was short-handed. As far as we know they never even met Bobby prior to the wedding. We never got to see them react to the news that their mom was dating him or what their reaction was when she told them they were getting married. I guess they were just on board immediately, but why? I don't think the writers gave it much though. The kids were more or less props back then. It's only been since Bobby and Athena hooked up that the kids have been given any kind of real agency, especially May.

There were quite a few scenes of Bobby, Athena and the kids before they got married. 

2x03 was when Bobby first met the kids - Michael invited him in for dinner after the earthquake and said that the kids wanted to meet him. 

2x06 was heavy on the scenes with the kids, Bobby was in the house at the beginning of the episode when May was trying on her dress and then the end of that episode was when May asked Bobby to be in the family pictures. 

2x07 was a Halloween episode, and we saw Bobby carving pumpkins with the kids. 

2x10 was when Bobby proposed, and he spent Christmas with Athena and the kids. 

2x11 is when Athena’s parents come to visit and Bobby is at the house with her and the kids - they talk about how he was helping Harry with a school project. 

2x14 is when Harry’s school have a talk at the firehouse, and he’s talking with his classmate about how cool Bobby is - then Harry runs away from Michael when he’s in trouble, and hides at the firehouse to talk to Bobby. 

And I think it is 2x17 when Harry asks if they have to get married, Bobby & Athena say they won’t if Harry isn’t ready for them too; they talk about how the wedding is Athena & the kids choosing Bobby to join their family - Harry says he wants them to get married, he just doesn’t want to wear a tux or dance with May. 

Then Bobby and Athena got married in 2x18 with the kids there, and they have the big family hug at the end.

Bobby didn’t actually move in with them until after the wedding - he told Athena’s mum that had decided to wait until they were married before he moved in. 

When he was suspended in 2x17, he was wedding planning from his apartment while all of the 118 came around to complain about work. 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by PrincessTT

[ribboninthesky1]

On 10/13/2021 at 5:37 PM, ribboninthesky1 said:

It's too early for me to call what they do with Claudette - she might die a horrible death, or she and May might be friends.  Or maybe they become friends, then she dies! Never really know with this show. 

From Oct 2021. Latter option it is! Sort of.  

Loved the Bobby and May bonding scenes. Athena had to talk him down from "I need to speak to the manager" mode!  I was highly amused.  

Still don't care about Eddie. 

I'm one of the few (if any) who finds Josh annoying and prefers Sue by many miles, but I'm still glad that the contractor didn't have murderous intent. 

I was ambivalent about Jonah, other than finding him cute.  But even I was a bit thrown by the potential God complex stuff.  I didn't even mind Hen's open dislike, as I didn't need there to be a reason beyond her missing her best friend.  Sometimes people don't like other people, and they don't need to be otherwise.  But hey, it's TV and this show in particularly never fails being OTT.  

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

On 10/13/2021 at 5:37 PM, ribboninthesky1 said:

It's too early for me to call what they do with Claudette - she might die a horrible death, or she and May might be friends.  Or maybe they become friends, then she dies! Never really know with this show. 

From Oct 2021. Latter option it is! Sort of.  

💯🥇🏆

[CoderLady]

What was the point of that mental break Claudette had at the sight of fire and the burn scars on her shoulder if she was to be killed off before getting further into it? This show doesn't waste plot points.

8 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

I was ambivalent about Jonah, other than finding him cute.  But even I was a bit thrown by the potential God complex stuff.  I didn't even mind Hen's open dislike, as I didn't need there to be a reason beyond her missing her best friend.  Sometimes people don't like other people, and they don't need to be otherwise.  But hey, it's TV and this show in particularly never fails being OTT.  

I've noticed Jonah makes a point of ending all his conversations with Hen by giving her a little shoulder squeeze on his way out the door. He doesn't seem to do that with anyone else. It seems odd since they're definitely not friendly enough for that. I've half-ass tied this gesture to the two Claudette mysteries (how did she get burned in the past? how did she end up dead in the ambulance?) but I admit it's a stretch.

[ribboninthesky1]

3 hours ago, CoderLady said:

I've noticed Jonah makes a point of ending all his conversations with Hen by giving her a little shoulder squeeze on his way out the door. He doesn't seem to do that with anyone else. It seems odd since they're definitely not friendly enough for that. I've half-ass tied this gesture to the two Claudette mysteries (how did she get burned in the past? how did she end up dead in the ambulance?) but I admit it's a stretch.

I hadn't noticed that (the shoulder squeezing), so you may be on to something! I don't think we've seen Jonah interact with much of anyone beyond Hen and Lucy. I remember thinking it was weird that he mentioned Hen enjoying the limelight and asked Lucy if Hen missed him a few episodes back.  Why would she?     

3 hours ago, CoderLady said:

What was the point of that mental break Claudette had at the sight of fire and the burn scars on her shoulder if she was to be killed off before getting further into it? This show doesn't waste plot points.

I assumed the mental break was for role reversal purposes and Claudette to ultimately show May some much deserved respect. May became the stronger personality while Claudette the timid one.  

[Kel Varnsen]

I really thought Chimney's brother was a goner when they were up on the roof. When he fell through I am surprised Chim saved him. Wondering if he is going to quit though. Because Chim just said you don't need to be like me and then they hugged. Maybe he actually realized he wants to be a fire fighter.

Also why didn't the sprinklers work in the building. I mean I get why the alarm might not work but fire sprinklers are completely mechanical. When the room gets too hot the little bulb in one bursts and it starts spraying.

[CoderLady]

51 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Also why didn't the sprinklers work in the building. I mean I get why the alarm might not work but fire sprinklers are completely mechanical. When the room gets too hot the little bulb in one bursts and it starts spraying.

I have to recheck, but I think they were in the process of switching over to a chemical fire suppression system and had turned off the water.

[mostlylurking]

Ok so I’ll preface this by saying it’s horrible she died but I didn’t like Claudette at all and I really didn’t like how they tried to redeem her with a tragic backstory. She was one of the worst type of people who acts like a total nightmare yet makes you feel like you are the one who did something wrong. I guess the kids call it gaslighting nowadays. The supervisor lady even said she expected more out of May, but I guess didn’t expect more out of Claudette because she’s always rude and for some reason it’s excused.  Now May will probably credit Claudette for whatever decision May makes about college, and that just really drives me crazy. 

It didn’t seem to me that “Monday” was just throwing Claudette away, I mean he seemed to be trying pretty hard to save her so I guess we’ll see what happens with that. Maybe he’s autistic or some sort or sensory processing issue since he said he needed space when he was setting up the triage center?  I haven’t seen anything that would indicate he’s evil but truthfully haven’t been invested this character enough to notice anything off. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by mostlylurking

[WinJet0819]

7 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I really thought Chimney's brother was a goner when they were up on the roof. When he fell through I am surprised Chim saved him. Wondering if he is going to quit though. Because Chim just said you don't need to be like me and then they hugged. Maybe he actually realized he wants to be a fire fighter.

Also why didn't the sprinklers work in the building. I mean I get why the alarm might not work but fire sprinklers are completely mechanical. When the room gets too hot the little bulb in one bursts and it starts spraying.

There were no sprinklers because they were in the process of changing it over to the fire suppression system. That's what Carson was there to do. And of course it never got finished do to the fire.

My wonder is how there's not, at the very least, a smoke detector in the quiet room, which could have given them a decent heads-up to get out of there earlier.

On 5/4/2022 at 11:00 AM, possibilities said:

They never could decide what was keeping Eddie from being a firefighter. Was it to protect his kid? Was it because he was recently traumatized by events on the job? Was it residual trauma from his time in the military? Was it because he's a dick and no one wants to work with him? Who knows?

 

It's been explained a bit in his therapy and his outburst at home that it's traum from the military He's struggling with the fact that all his squad mates that he pulled from the helicopter crash have all died (I believe all by suicide) since being home. Now, he's worried he's going to follow their steps.

[WinJet0819]

Decent episode. I will not miss Claudette. Though how does that quiet room not have a smoke detector? May and Claudette didn't notice anything until the fire is already rolling and the floor felt warm. And of course this fire and Claudette dying are going to be used as a plot device to help May make her decision. Even without the fire, you can't turn down admission to USC simply to be 9-1-1 dispatcher. She has so much more to offer.  I do also hope this fire is not a tired plot device to get Eddie back at the 118. Just because he performed like he hadn't missed a beat doesn't mean his issues are magically fixed. The producer did mention that it's going to be a while before Eddie's back on the 118. And by a while, I hope he didn't mean just 5-6 episodes. And as others have said, Bobby had a roof fall on him, and took the full brunt to protect May. And he's not seriously injured?

The least favorite part was Buck, out of the blue, telling Lucy he's glad she wasn't with Capt when the roof fell. Of course, Taylor had to be with earshot. Where exactly did this come from? The last few episodes, they've been working fine as a unit, doing rescues and saves, and Buck giving advice. There's been nothing indicating any feelings more than team members and friends since the awkward first episode after Bobby assigned her to the house. And it's brought up now? This is why I hated that kiss because though it hadn't been referenced to recently, I knew it something from that connection was going to come up again. This show is good enough to not need this. I'm actually quite glad Taylor spoke up. She is right. The 118 is Buck's family and it gives him structure. A relationship with a member of the house would ruin that.

On 5/2/2022 at 10:09 PM, stonehaven said:

Great episode but how many more times will that dispatch center come under attack?

Crazy show but I love it anyway....

At least the dispatch center is getting storylines in this show. We can hardly say that with Lone Star.

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, WinJet0819 said:

Though how does that quiet room not have a smoke detector? May and Claudette didn't notice anything until the fire is already rolling and the floor felt warm

I guess the name of “Quiet Room” implies that it was designed with extra insulation to keep out the noises of the phone calls, and that noise sealant also kept out the smoke?

[possibilities]

3 hours ago, WinJet0819 said:

11 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I really thought Chimney's brother was a goner when they were up on the roof. When he fell through I am surprised Chim saved him. Wondering if he is going to quit though. Because Chim just said you don't need to be like me and then they hugged. Maybe he actually realized he wants to be a fire fighter.

Also why didn't the sprinklers work in the building. I mean I get why the alarm might not work but fire sprinklers are completely mechanical. When the room gets too hot the little bulb in one bursts and it starts spraying.

Expand  

There were no sprinklers because they were in the process of changing it over to the fire suppression system. That's what Carson was there to do. And of course it never got finished do to the fire.

My wonder is how there's not, at the very least, a smoke detector in the quiet room, which could have given them a decent heads-up to get out of there earlier.

On 5/4/2022 at 12:00 PM, possibilities said:

They never could decide what was keeping Eddie from being a firefighter. Was it to protect his kid? Was it because he was recently traumatized by events on the job? Was it residual trauma from his time in the military? Was it because he's a dick and no one wants to work with him? Who knows?

 

It's been explained a bit in his therapy and his outburst at home that it's traum from the military He's struggling with the fact that all his squad mates that he pulled from the helicopter crash have all died (I believe all by suicide) since being home. Now, he's worried he's going to follow their steps.

That's what they said most recently. But before that, he was leaving because Christopher was worried about him. There was a multi-episode arc about that, and then suddenly Christopher said he was over it and they pivoted to PTSD for Eddie himself.

They spent some time having Bobby tell him he needed to take time off because he was having trauma due to events on his current job. Then his therapist had him contact people from his former job in the military because they would understand about trauma, and when he found out they were all dead, the story became that he was worried he saved them for nothing and was going to self-destruct out of either survivor guilt or because of grief over the futility of having saved the lives of people who later died, or maybe because he himself was on a self-destruct course due to the traumatic elements of being in battle.

And all of it went away when he went into rescue mode at the call center. It's like they were saying that all he needed was to do one more rescue to stop being traumatized and freezing during rescues. It's like they're saying all the people who wanted him to take time off because he was having panic attacks on the job were wrong and all he really needed to do was one more rescue and he'd be over it. It's like they think his meltdowns and panic attacks and rage outbursts were magically healed by one last adrenaline rush, when all the adrenaline rushes before then didn't work.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

16 hours ago, WinJet0819 said:

There were no sprinklers because they were in the process of changing it over to the fire suppression system. That's what Carson was there to do. And of course it never got finished do to the fire.

My wonder is how there's not, at the very least, a smoke detector in the quiet room, which could have given them a decent heads-up to get out of there earlier.

It's funny, at first this comment made me think of one of my old jobs where I used to design mechanical systems for buildings, including sprinkler piping, and how based on that I would have thought that if you were retrofitting part of a sprinkler system you would just isolate that small area with valves rather than the whole building. But then I remembered another job I had where the office building next to mine had a major fire because contractors were doing work and shut off the sprinkler system. Part of the roof even collapsed (our building was taller and I will never forget seeing that). 

As for the smoke detector, at least where I live if a building is sprinklers there aren't as many requirements for smoke detectors. The idea being that if a sprinkler goes off that probably means fire which sets off the alarm to evacuate the building.

[amarante]

On 5/6/2022 at 8:12 PM, mostlylurking said:

 

It didn’t seem to me that “Monday” was just throwing Claudette away, I mean he seemed to be trying pretty hard to save her so I guess we’ll see what happens with that. Maybe he’s autistic or some sort or sensory processing issue since he said he needed space when he was setting up the triage center?  I haven’t seen anything that would indicate he’s evil but truthfully haven’t been invested this character enough to notice anything off. 

I could be over complicating things but he said "I usually don't lose them" or something like that. And I thought maybe he is the rogue medical provider who creates a medical crisis so that they can have a heroic save. There have been a few cases where these people have been discovered because they don't manage to revive all of the people they put in danger and so the mortality rates get skewed when they are on duty. 

[methodwriter85]

On 5/5/2022 at 9:42 AM, ribboninthesky1 said:

I was ambivalent about Jonah, other than finding him cute

I just realized who Jonah reminded me of- a young Eric Close but with blonder hair. I also think he's taller.

Edited June 12, 2022 by methodwriter85

[CoyoteBlue]

On 5/6/2022 at 7:06 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

I really thought Chimney's brother was a goner when they were up on the roof. When he fell through I am surprised Chim saved him. Wondering if he is going to quit though. Because Chim just said you don't need to be like me and then they hugged. Maybe he actually realized he wants to be a fire fighter.

They almost exactly recreated how Kevin Lee died so I imagine a lot of Chim's acceptance of Albert leaving the LAFD comes from the reminder of what can happen to even the most dedicated firefighters.