S07.E10: All Fall Down (2)

[jewel21]

Quote

Following the devastating fire at the Nash home, Bobby’s fate remains uncertain, while Athena embarks on a mission to uncover the truth. Hen and Karen engage in a heated custody battle, while Christopher grapples with forgiving Eddie.

Airdate: 05/30/2024

Season finale!

[Snazzy Daisy]

[Snazzy Daisy]

Sneak peek!

Spoiler

 

 

[anna0852]

Well, shoot! We had a deal about not leaving us on wretched cliffhangers for the summer. Not cool ABC, not cool!

[Crashcourse]

I'm glad Amir didn't start the fire.

I am sooooooo sick of Athena and Bobby!  

 

[jabRI]

I missed how they arranged to get Mara back so quickly as a placement? I thought there foster license was gone.  Not sure how Maddie and Hen had that kind of influence?

[michelec]

Still processing, but how in the world did Gerard end up back at the 118 when he was previously relieved of his duties because of numerous complaints from his team? Scratching my head at that one.

[Chaos Theory]

The one truth about the show regardless of the network is that if you piss off Athena Grant she will come for you.  

Alot of handwaving to get Mara back but it will be interesting to see Maddie and Chimney juggle two kids.  

I don't think I am going to care about the needless drama added by asshole misogynistic chief guy who was there when both Chimney and Hen started.  It's a dumb story.

 

 

[anna0852]

9 minutes ago, michelec said:

Still processing, but how in the world did Gerard end up back at the 118 when he was previously relieved of his duties because of numerous complaints from his team? Scratching my head at that one.

I'm going to guess that Season 8 picks up right where this scene left off and that we see the whole crew walking out. Just a flat 'No' from Hen, she spins on her heel and the rest of them follow.

[agathapenny]

55 minutes ago, michelec said:

Still processing, but how in the world did Gerard end up back at the 118 when he was previously relieved of his duties because of numerous complaints from his team? Scratching my head at that one.

Not to mention that two of those team members are still there.

I've been in work situations with a toxic boss where I should have walked away for my own mental health, but didn't. So when I see it as a plot in a TV show that's an automatic "no" for me. I hope I'm not going to be driven away from watching.

We know what he was like with Chim and Hen, and he signalled pretty clearly he's also homophobic, so he's not going to be good to Buck either. Eddie's mixed race, so who knows how that will go. Honestly, if it's not resolved within, like, the first episode next season I might be out. I could stand it in the Chim and Hen begin episodes because we knew the outcome. But I can't stand watching characters I like being tortured.

It's such a damn cliche, but I expect they'll all be split up and have to come back together. The showrunner seems to have run out of new (and good) ideas, and that one's already played out on his spinoff show, so I expect yet another retread. 

Don't even get me started on Eddie and Christopher. If Eddie had good parents they would have told Christopher he needs to work things out with his Dad.

This was all just too depressing for me. I'm done.

Edited May 31 by agathapenny

[anna0852]

23 minutes ago, agathapenny said:

Don't even get me started on Eddie and Christopher. If Eddie had good parents they would have told Christopher he needs to work things out with his Dad.

This was all just too depressing for me. I'm done.

I completely understand Christopher being very upset and wanting space. But there needed to have been some elements in the conversation such as Eddie telling Christopher that he could spend the summer with his grandparents, but he will be returning for the school year in the fall. And that when Christopher returns home, he and Eddie are going to do family therapy together. Or when Buck was talking to him acknowledging how upset Christopher is and asking him to just keep in mind that he may feel different when he’s older. I think conversation was pretty good, I just think rather than telling Chris he will feel different a better tact would’ve been to ask him to just try to keep it in mind.

Edited May 31 by anna0852

[Calvada]

I think if any of my parents' grandchildren had called them to come and get them, my parents would have contacted that kid's parents to ask what was going on.  They wouldn't just show up, expecting to take the kid back with them, unless there was some life-threatening situation, like Mom is drinking a bottle of vodka a day or Dad is smoking crack.  

How do Chim & Maddie get instant approval to be foster parents?  Can you imagine what the evil councilwoman will do to them?  She killed her husband!  She abandoned her infant daughter for months!  He had a bar through his head!  

Bobby looked like he completely forgot he had retired.  Did he actually file the paperwork?  

It seems unlikely that Athena and Bobby's house burned down and both of them were hospitalized, and it wouldn't be known by the rest of the 118 until hours later.  Plus the hospital would be filled with members of both the police & fire departments, to show their support for their brother and sister.  Also it seemed that the determination it was arson happened quickly, but there was no thought that Athena and Bobby might be at risk of another attack?  

The cartel guys kidnapped Amir, are about to torture him before killing him in some horrible way, but with Bobby, it was eh, let's set his house on fire and keep our fingers crossed it kills him?  

"I'm MRS Bobby Nash!" really cracked me up.  

[agathapenny]

43 minutes ago, Calvada said:

I think if any of my parents' grandchildren had called them to come and get them, my parents would have contacted that kid's parents to ask what was going on.  They wouldn't just show up, expecting to take the kid back with them, unless there was some life-threatening situation, like Mom is drinking a bottle of vodka a day or Dad is smoking crack.  

I couldn't agree more. It's a problem to let a kid manipulate a situation by playing the adults in his life against each other when he doesn't get his way. 

And I can't forget that Eddie's parents think he's a terrible father "dragging Christopher down with him" and tried to take him from Eddie permanently in the past. And the way this was framed was that Chris was going to his grandparents indefinitely, up to and including permanently, not just a summer vacation. They didn't seem as if they had any empathy for Eddie, or worry about his pain, they just seemed smug to finally take his child away. The writers actually kind of made me hate Christopher, which is just so, so wrong. Then I remind myself he's a mixed-up kid who doesn't know how to deal with his emotions.

Eddie was absolutely heartbreaking. I don't give a crap whether we see either of the women again, but the punishment here does not, in my estimation, fit the "crime" — which was basically Eddie trying to figure out a way to finally move on (no matter how much I hate this rewriting of history that somehow he was still hung up on Shannon in the first place). i hate that his parents managed to manipulate him in a moment of weakness to give up his child, thinking he's doing the right thing. You can see what a great dad Eddie is with him telling Chris, while his heart is breaking, that he loves him and will always be there for him, no matter what, swallowing his own feelings to do what he's being told is right.

I did like that Buck was part of the whole thing. Buck, Eddie and Chris are family, no matter the framing you put on it.

At least they resolved Athena and Bobby's storyline. Not at all looking forward to the continuation if Hen's storyline, though at least we had a misery reprieve there.

And the old evil captain, along with the evil politician, are not something this show needed. In fact, I find both a huge turnoff.

But my biggest beef:

Remember when this show was fun?!? When it made us LAUGH and cry? When there was action, and rescue and emotional moments? The mix is all wrong now and it feels like I'm watching emotional torture porn (which I do not enjoy in the slightest).

I think I'm going to wait to see reviews of episodes next season before deciding if I'll watch. The show's tone and format has changed so drastically, and not in a way I find at all enjoyable.

[possibilities]

For Godsake, Hen and Karen, get a fucking lawyer! All you can do now is beg? BEG??? That is insanity. GET A LAWYER.

For the person who was asking how they got Mara back-- they didn't. Chim and Maddie got themselves approved for emergency fostering and THEY will have Mara, while Hen and Karen figure out that they can GET A FUCKING LAWYER FOR GODSAKE!!! (except the show didn't say the lawyer part, that's me) And yeah, it's not realistic that C&M got approved that fast, but whatever. Something went wrong with this show and they have leaned even farther into unrealistic and maudlin storytelling than Lone Star, which I thought was already a far inferior show.

Eddie feels guilty and ashamed. I get that. Nobody was more annoyed by his storyline than I was. But FIGHT FOR YOUR KID! I get that Christopher is old enough to have SOME of his wishes respected, but not this one. Besides which: what has it been? A day or maybe 2 since The Incident? Cooling off before making a major change would be sane. Just giving up like that is wrong. Also, Eddie should have talked to him. Once Buck opened the door, Eddie should have gone in next. Buck talks to him. Then Eddie does it. The grandparents are over-stepping. If they really want to give Christopher a break, send him to Uncle Buck's for a weekend.

Does Gavin want to leave the show? Is that they they did this? I really want Christopher to come back by the time the new season starts. Just fucking reset this bullshit. Pretend it didn't happen. Bad writing is best forgotten. And that goes double for the Evil Bigot Abusive Captain story.

It's also weird that they really totally abandoned the Buck story as soon as he came out. We have seen nothing of the relationship other than that it exists. Weird.

Nice of Amir to handwave Athena pointing a gun at him and threatening to summarily kill him. She is lucky he got kidnapped so he could be grateful to her like he was grateful to Bobby in the desert, and that he is the most even keeled and forgiving-even-if-he-says-he-doesn't-forgive guy on the planet. Athena needs counseling. I love her but that was some scary acting out.

I love this show, I really do. But this was, as others have said, not the show I love.

[agathapenny]

6 minutes ago, possibilities said:

For Godsake, Hen and Karen, get a fucking lawyer! All you can do now is beg? BEG??? That is insanity. GET A LAWYER.

Yes! Yes, yes, yes to the 100th power. Unless that politician has every single family court judge in her pocket, it is beyond clear to an objective observer that the child is better off with Hen and Karen than in a group home, where she was clearly regressing quickly into catatonia. For God's sake!

6 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Something went wrong with this show and they have leaned even farther into unrealistic and maudlin storytelling than Lone Star, which I thought was already a far inferior show.

Something has gone so, so wrong at whatever level they are making storyline decisions. Now we're not just getting retreads of old 9-1-1 character storylines (done in a badly soap opera manner), now we're getting retreads of old 9-1-1 Lone Star evil bosses crap. I actually don't mind Lone Star most of the time — it has its own tone and formula. But I in no way wanted 9-1-1 to turn into it. I enjoyed 9-1-1 more.

6 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Eddie feels guilty and ashamed. I get that. Nobody was more annoyed by his storyline than I was. But FIGHT FOR YOUR KID! I get that Christopher is old enough to have SOME of his wishes respected, but not this one. Besides which: what has it been? A day or maybe 2 since The Incident? Cooling off before making a major change would be sane. Just giving up like that is wrong. Also, Eddie should have talked to him. Once Buck opened the door, Eddie should have gone in next. Buck talks to him. Then Eddie does it. The grandparents are over-stepping. If they really want to give Christopher a break, send him to Uncle Buck's for a weekend.

Yeah, I agree. Though I empathize more with Eddie in this situation, since I think he knows he screwed up and is desperately trying to do the right thing now, only the people telling him what the right thing is (his parents) have been trying for years to steal his kid, and he's in a place where he's really doubting himself and his judgment.

6 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Does Gavin want to leave the show? Is that they they did this? I really want Christopher to come back by the time the new season starts. Just fucking reset this bullshit. Pretend it didn't happen. Bad writing is best forgotten. And that goes double for the Evil Bigot Abusive Captain story.

I am all in on a reset in episode 1 of next season. I hate to say it, but if the actor wants to leave, recast. They recast Harry. I don't care that it would be ridiculous, but have Bobby make a phone call and Gerard exits stage left. Or have that happen off screen between seasons. I agree, bad storylines are better dropped early before they can metastasize.

6 minutes ago, possibilities said:

It's also weird that they really totally abandoned the Buck story as soon as he came out. We have seen nothing of the relationship other than that it exists. Weird.

This has definitely been odd. Maybe they thought they didn't have enough time this season to really explore it? That's the best I've got...Oh, and maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I found the "Daddy issues" comment the opposite of sexy. So, so icky.

6 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I love this show, I really do. But this was, as others have said, not the show I love.

I hope they reset the whole show back to the 9-1-1 of old. They had a winning formula — why the hell did they think it needed to more closely resemble a daytime soap?

[Snazzy Daisy]

A rushed and underwhelming finale. 👎🏻

Bobby’s hospital arc falls flat. No carry over of the tension and suspense from the penultimate episode. Athena going rogue, leaving Bobby on the hospital bed just to urgently act on her rage seems a bit out of character.

Eddie’s arc becomes all about Christopher and Marisol is totally forgotten. She’s a nonentity.

Bringing back Capt. Gerrard is a big mistake - several steps backward for the show. Been there, done that. Leave him in the flashback.

What most people expect from 9-1-1 are the insane 911 calls and the daredevil rescues. Not enough of these in Season 7. Let’s not bring more petty dramas into Season 8. This isn’t Grey’s Anatomy or soap opera.

 

[agathapenny]

11 minutes ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

What most people expect from 9-1-1 are the insane 911 calls and the daredevil rescues. Not enough of these in Season 7. Let’s not bring more petty dramas into Season 8. This isn’t Grey’s Anatomy or soap opera.

The 9-1-1 calls have completely vanished this season, and I, for one, miss them a lot. I even kind of miss the rather ham-handed voiceovers of early seasons.

And to add insult to injury, they need to fire the sound designer, who hasn't picked a memorable song to build a touching/emotional/funny moment all season. Lol.

[Irlandesa]

I actually liked the finale more than I liked most of the season.  A lot of the decisions were nonsensical tonight but I kind of expect that from this show.

I'm not loving the trend of Athena going off on vigilante missions.  Nor did I like that Amir thanked Athena for saving his life yet she never acknowledged that he basically sacrificed himself ahead of time to keep her presence at his house protected. That was pretty darn heroic.  I like Amir and wish there were a natural way we could see him more next season.

Tommy mentioned that the 118 needs its own wing of the hospital.  If I had any ailments, that's where I'd want to end up.  Bobby immediately recovers from a major heart attack.  Chimney survives a bar going through his forehead.  All of Madney's wedding guests are protected from Chim's encephalitis.  It's pretty amazing.

I liked the Buck and Tommy scene.  For whatever reason, they decided to not spend a lot of time in the second part of the season on Buck's bisexuality or his developing relationship.  I expect that to change next season with Gerrard back but I like seeing they have a developing relationship and are still in the 'horny for you' stage. As the kids say, they match each other's freak.

23 hours ago, possibilities said:

Does Gavin want to leave the show? Is that they they did this?

Apparently, Gavin lives in GA with his family and comes to LA to film this show.  Maybe putting him in TX is a way to have a ready-made excuse as to why Chris isn't around all the time. 

I hope he doesn't stay in TX, though.  Given the circumstances, I think it's 100% appropriate that Eddie let Chris go stay with his grandparents for a while.  Seeing his dad, who had a girlfriend, making out with a woman who looked exactly like his mom has to be pretty traumatic for Chris.  Considering summer is coming up, it's the perfect time for this to happen.  But at some point, they will both have to deal with it. 

 

Edited June 1 by Irlandesa

[dancingdreamer]

Eddie  looked so good tonight, I felt so sorry  for him when Christopher  wouldn't  look at him, even if it was his own fault. 

Hen and Karen, grab a clue and a lawyer.

I was so happy Amir didn't  start the fire..

I too , miss the freaky 911 calls, it's just another soap now.

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, agathapenny said:

maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I found the "Daddy issues" comment the opposite of sexy. So, so icky.

I had the same reaction. Not my kink. At all.

I watch Lone Star. I just don't like it as much as this show, usually. And I definitely don't want the two shows to be identical twins. But even Lone Star isn't as emo as this show was this season. 

I think everyone was telling Eddie to give up-- even Buck, which is weird. Buck usually gives Eddie more of a pep talk and a kick in the ass when needed. I think the show has some really weird takes on parenting this season-- with Eddie as well as Hen and Karen. None of them needed to give up as fast as they did, and the show set it up so that everyone around them thought they did. 

I would understand if they hit a wall of despair under pressure, but for everyone around them to see it the same way is just weird. 

 

[jabRI]

Hen and Karen could also take the story to the press.  Can't think that would look very good for evil councilwoman.  Karen is a freaking rocket scientist and Hen has saved hundreds of lives.

[Chaos Theory]

It’s possible the kid playing Christopher wanted off the show.   He is still young and he might not want to act anymore and the show hasn’t really done much with him lately.   Besides Eddie has spent the last few years basically living for Christopher.  Forgoing his own needs for his son’s.  And it all kinda blew up in a spectacular fashion.   What happens when Eddie has to figure out what he and only he wants?  It’s actually a pretty interesting story.

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, Calvada said:

Bobby looked like he completely forgot he had retired.  Did he actually file the paperwork?  

All we got was from last week:

• [BOBBY] Chief Simpson was pretty surprised, too, having his star captain resign at an event that was supposed to honor his star firehouse. He asked me not to tell anybody about it until he figures out how he wants to spin it.

7 hours ago, agathapenny said:

And the old evil captain, along with the evil politician, are not something this show needed. In fact, I find both a huge turnoff.

I'm hoping the return of the evil captain will be a misdirect. Evil politician is more than enough. But I guess these low-budget soap opera dramas mean more money left for the bigger rescue special effects.

 

I'm guessing Gavin (Christopher) is going to be spending more time with school IRL and this plot allows him to literally "phone it in" (or Zoom it in).

But I did really like this bit of writing, in spite of it being delivered by one of the weaker actors on the show:

• [EDDIE TO CHRISTOPHER] I love you. You're not even gonna look at me?…I know you're angry, but you need to listen to me. I love you, no matter what. You want to go with your grandparents? Okay. I hate it, but I love you. So I'm letting you go. But you can always come back. If you change your mind five minutes or five months from now... you just say the word... and I'll come for you. Okay?

Although I kept coming back to 13 being the age at which (at least in California) kids can pretty much decide where they want to live. 
Hmmm. Maybe code for Gavin choosing the plot?

 

6 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

If I had any ailments, that's where I'd want to end up.  Bobby immediately recovers from a major heart attack.  Chimney survives a bag going through his forehead.  All of Madney's wedding guests are protected from Chim's encephalitis.  It's pretty amazing.

Seriously.

[Chaos Theory]

Is it me or has the show completely dropped the call center?   It might be why Maddie and Chimney have a 2nd kid.  Gives Maddie something to do since no more scenes in call center.  

[possibilities]

Why wouldn't they promote Hen, if Bobby retired? She was fine as the interim captain. And the station just won an award, so it's not like they are under-performing and need a major change, so bringing in Bad Captain to fix what ain't broken seems stupid. It makes me think they want more stupid writing next season, just like this season. NOOOOO.

[shapeshifter]

15 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Why wouldn't they promote Hen, if Bobby retired? She was fine as the interim captain. And the station just won an award, so it's not like they are under-performing and need a major change, so bringing in Bad Captain to fix what ain't broken seems stupid. It makes me think they want more stupid writing next season, just like this season. NOOOOO.

Oooo! Maybe Evil Ex-Captain is in cahoots with Evil Lady Politician.

[michelec]

10 hours ago, Calvada said:

How do Chim & Maddie get instant approval to be foster parents?  Can you imagine what the evil councilwoman will do to them?  She killed her husband!  She abandoned her infant daughter for months!  He had a bar through his head!  

In person interviews, background checks, that would take at least a few weeks at least, but I'll handwave it away for a semi-happy ending. And yes, after Hen left the councilwoman's office she should have made a call to her lawyer ASAP.

 

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I liked the Buck and Tommy scene.  For whatever reason, they decided to not spend a lot of time in the second part of the season on Buck's bisexuality or his developing relationship.  I expect that to change next season with Gerrard back but I like seeing they have a developing relationship and are still in the 'horny for you' stage. As the kids say, they match each other's freak.

I thought it was cute, and I got the breadcrumb developments I asked for last week.

 

10 hours ago, Calvada said:

It seems unlikely that Athena and Bobby's house burned down and both of them were hospitalized, and it wouldn't be known by the rest of the 118 until hours later.  Plus the hospital would be filled with members of both the police & fire departments, to show their support for their brother and sister.  

That puzzled me too. At the very least, the 118 B-crew would have known and notifications would have started from there. Also, where was Harry when the fire started? The best I could come up with was he had a sleepover at a friend's house.

 

I love Athena, but her going rogue really has become cliche at this point. I've made my peace with her not having a partner, but you leave your husband's bedside when he's touch and go to chase bad guys? What if he had died and she wasn't there? The guilt would have ate her up.

As far as Eddie, I'm gonna give his parents a small benefit of the doubt since in the last couple of seasons his dad started to realize his mistakes and was moving toward making up for them.  I think Christopher having a change of scenery for a little while as Eddie works to heal himself may be good for them both in the long run. That said, I reserve the right to change my mind in early season 8.

I'll be optimistic and chalk up this uneven season to being constrained to half the amount of episodes to tell a full seasons worth of stories, and hope for a needed reset for season 8.

[iMonrey]

This has been a really disappointing season overall. It started with a three-parter which, while reasonably entertaining, was a shameless ripoff of several famous disaster movies. The episodes since have been pure melodrama and character study, with an almost complete absence of the fire and rescue calls this show is supposed to be about. I don't know if it's because it was a shorter season or because of the move to another network or just what, but it's clearly gone in a new direction and it's been awful. 

Athena once again ran into a dangerous situation without backup, it's absurd how this has become her trademark. And setting that whole place on fire, given Amir's backstory, was an odd choice which could have gone very, very wrong.

When Athena was asked if she had called her kids she said no, but isn't her son (Harry?) living with them? Where was he? Even if he was staying over at a friend's house or something, he's gonna go back home eventually. Might want to give him a heads up about the house not being there anymore.

I don't see how Evil Councilwoman didn't put the kibosh on Maddie and Chim taking in Mara. She's hellbent on keeping the kid away from Hen, and if she's so well connected surely she'd see through such an obvious ploy.

I noticed that all the firefighters at the hospital were wearing name tag stickers that said "visitor" with their names written on them. And that Chim's was hidden underneath his jacket so we wouldn't see his name.

Bottom line, the writing on this show isn't good enough to transition into straight drama. They need to go back to doing what they used to do. I just hope it's not too late.

[agathapenny]

9 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Marisol is totally forgotten. She’s a nonentity.

That I didn't care about. If we never see her again I won't be sad.

9 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Bringing back Capt. Gerrard is a big mistake - several steps backward for the show. Been there, done that. Leave him in the flashback.

Yup. Never once during the flashback episodes did I say to myself "You know what this show needs? More evil captain Gerrard."

9 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

What most people expect from 9-1-1 are the insane 911 calls and the daredevil rescues. Not enough of these in Season 7. Let’s not bring more petty dramas into Season 8. This isn’t Grey’s Anatomy or soap opera.

This depresses me more than any individual storyline I dislike. They've completely abandoned the show's formula. I enjoyed the formula. It's why I watched. I do not watch ABC's (or any other network's) soaps.

1 hour ago, michelec said:

That puzzled me too. At the very least, the 118 B-crew would have known and notifications would have started from there. 

This was very, very weird, and contributed to what others have already identified as the lack of tension over Bobby at the hospital. There was never a feeling that he was in real danger and that the other characters were worried about him. I blame the writing and direction since we never really got to see their reactions.

1 hour ago, michelec said:

As far as Eddie, I'm gonna give his parents a small benefit of the doubt since in the last couple of seasons his dad started to realize his mistakes and was moving toward making up for them.  I think Christopher having a change of scenery for a little while as Eddie works to heal himself may be good for them both in the long run. That said, I reserve the right to change my mind in early season 8.

I'd be more of this mind if they had given it more than what, a day? for Chris to come to terms at home? And if we hadn't already seen Eddie's parents try to steal his son from him. And if they'd shown the slightest bit of concern for you know, their actual son, Eddie. They just seemed smug and satisfied to be getting their way. 

I'll say it again, if the actor playing Chris wants to leave the show for whatever reason, that's totally fine with me. Recast.

1 hour ago, michelec said:

I'll be optimistic and chalk up this uneven season to being constrained to half the amount of episodes to tell a full seasons worth of stories, and hope for a needed reset for season 8.

You're more optimistic than I am. I was optimistic early on, since I thought the cruise ship adventure came close to the original formula and tone of the show, but I've lost all faith here since they've completely abandoned the original formula of the show for pure soap opera, both in writing and delivery.

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

Why wouldn't they promote Hen, if Bobby retired? She was fine as the interim captain. And the station just won an award, so it's not like they are under-performing and need a major change, so bringing in Bad Captain to fix what ain't broken seems stupid. It makes me think they want more stupid writing next season, just like this season. NOOOOO.

I couldn't agree more with this. Which is why I think I'm going to read reviews of episodes at the beginning of next season before I watch, to see if I need to just give the show up for lost.

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Is it me or has the show completely dropped the call center?   It might be why Maddie and Chimney have a 2nd kid.  Gives Maddie something to do since no more scenes in call center.  

Not just you. Along with the 9-1-1 calls, the show has abandoned the call centre. Which is another huge misstep. 

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

I had the same reaction. Not my kink. At all.

Right? Bleh!

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

I watch Lone Star. I just don't like it as much as this show, usually. And I definitely don't want the two shows to be identical twins. But even Lone Star isn't as emo as this show was this season. 

Yup. Even Lone Star had more humour than this season of 9-1-1. The humour and action are what set 9-1-1 apart from all the many other shows on TV. I miss it.

8 hours ago, possibilities said:

I think everyone was telling Eddie to give up-- even Buck, which is weird. Buck usually gives Eddie more of a pep talk and a kick in the ass when needed. I think the show has some really weird takes on parenting this season-- with Eddie as well as Hen and Karen. None of them needed to give up as fast as they did, and the show set it up so that everyone around them thought they did. 

I would understand if they hit a wall of despair under pressure, but for everyone around them to see it the same way is just weird.

Yes! You said this better than I was trying to. Especially Eddie — why, after just a day, would everyone suddenly think he should give up his kid indefinitely?

I also thought Buck's last convo with Chris seemed off. He was talking to Chris like a kid much younger than 13. Probably a directorial thing, but I thought Ryan Guzman hit the proper tone a lot better for an adult talking to a kid that age.

3 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Besides Eddie has spent the last few years basically living for Christopher.  Forgoing his own needs for his son’s.  And it all kinda blew up in a spectacular fashion.   What happens when Eddie has to figure out what he and only he wants?  It’s actually a pretty interesting story.

I absolutely think Eddie needs to figure out what he wants for himself. And that is an interesting story. But as a parent, you figure yourself out while you look after your child. It's not either/or. Both things have to be part of his life. 

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But I did really like this bit of writing,

• [EDDIE TO CHRISTOPHER] I love you. You're not even gonna look at me?…I know you're angry, but you need to listen to me. I love you, no matter what. You want to go with your grandparents? Okay. I hate it, but I love you. So I'm letting you go. But you can always come back. If you change your mind five minutes or five months from now... you just say the word... and I'll come for you. Okay?

This was the only good thing about the whole stupid story — Eddie still being a good dad. I thought Ryan was great here.

[possibilities]

That'a a good point about Ryan's acting. I never thought he could act before. He always seemed to me like dead faced dead weight. But he really nailed it this episode. I felt for him, maybe for the first time. He seemed animated and sincere and pained and overwhelmed in all the right ways.

[Clanstarling]

I can't imagine someone who had his heart stopped for 14 minutes and then codes later, is ready not only to get up and go home, but is also well enough to start work without a healing period. (though I guess those 14 minutes scrubbed his resignation from his brain).

I'd forgotten that Eddie's parents tried to get custody of Christopher. Nonetheless, I think distance is a good thing for Christopher at this time. And if the actor doesn't want the role anymore, I'd be cool without him in the cast. Not that I dislike the character or the actor.

Amen to everyone saying Hen should get a lawyer. How is that not your first though?!

I too miss the funny 911 calls, and can't remember the last time we had anything amusingly crazy on the show.

I do hope that Emir becomes a more regular part of the cast - not likely, I suppose, but his presence added a lot to the show. And as a traveling nurse, maybe they'd run into him now and again.

I, for one, didn't care for the three Poseidon adventure episodes. It was just too much.

I'm glad that Hen and Maddie were able to get Mara into their home (however unrealistically) . That little actress is doing a bang up job, and I like her relationship with Denny.

I think promotions are a little more complicated than "just make the acting captain a captain" in a fire department. But keeping Hen an acting captain for a while seems like it would be a lot better than someone with a known bad history with the 118.

Maddie did have one 911 call at least, this season, the kidnapped woman with a child, which I thought was good, but we definitely needed more.

I was puzzled why the gang wasn't at the hospital right away, but then again, they were all going through personal crises at the time.

Not a stellar season, but let's hope it's more due to the shortened season.

Edited May 31 by Clanstarling

[KatWay]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

That'a a good point about Ryan's acting. I never thought he could act before. He always seemed to me like dead faced dead weight. But he really nailed it this episode. I felt for him, maybe for the first time. He seemed animated and sincere and pained and overwhelmed in all the right ways.

idk the whole time I was thinking someone else would have killed this. He was...okay. Which for him is good I guess but he never really strikes the right chords for me emotionally. The only time I truly thought he was good was his breakdown in S5, he sold that.

[eel2178]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

I can't imagine someone who had his heart stopped for 14 minutes and then codes later, is ready not only to get up and go home, but is also well enough to start work without a healing period.

Apparently, this hospital has never heard of an EEG, CT or MRI scan. The "we'll have no idea the extent of his brain damage until he wakes up" would have been total bullshit if they had done the appropriate tests.

I knew he wasn't going to die when Hen showed up at the hospital in a jacket that said "honor the gift" on it. If they were going to turn him into an organ donor, they wouldn't have given us that Easter egg.

That wasn't a code. That was Bobby waking up and fighting the ventilator. Once they got him extubated, his recovery was indeed miraculous. No period of prolonged agitation that happens to all survivors of anoxic brain injuries. No need for speech, occupational or physical therapy to overcome the brain injuries from the hypoxia.

It was the typical Hollywood trope of "the coma patient jumps out of bed and is 100% back to normal immediately after having opened his eyes for the first time." Unfortunately, laymen see this happen in fictional stories and believe that is what they're supposed to expect from anyone who has experienced an anoxic brain injury. It just doesn't happen that way. . . ever! 

[eel2178]

14 hours ago, possibilities said:

For Godsake, Hen and Karen, get a fucking lawyer! All you can do now is beg? BEG??? That is insanity. GET A LAWYER.

Where I live if Social Services doesn't agree with changing the placement of a foster child, the state pays for a lawyer to represent the child rather than the foster parents.

I don't know if it works that way everywhere.

[Maximoose]

6 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Is it me or has the show completely dropped the call center?   It might be why Maddie and Chimney have a 2nd kid.  Gives Maddie something to do since no more scenes in call center.  

They had to get their money's worth from that hospital set! 🤣

[tennisgurl]

What the hell happened this season, and how do we make sure that it never happens again? Most of this season was a mess, especially the end. I go to this show for likable characters, fun/exciting rescues, with some soap opera drama and tears along the way, but this was ALL drama and ALL tears, it was honestly exhausting. Next season, can we get back to normal please? No more sticking every single character into a Lifetime movie? 

"I have reason to believe that his life is in danger...from me." Athena is lucky that the cartel guys showed up to kidnap Amir so that she could save him so he could forgive her for pulling a gun on him. Athena really needs to work on running into potentially dangerous situations, but I guess we should just get used to those tendencies by now. Even if I found a lot of her plot frustrating, Angela Bassett was great, you could feel her rage just burning through the screen. Don't ever fuck with Athena!

I have no idea why Hen and Karen wont just get a damn lawyer and go to the press instead of just letting Evil Politician run all over them. She's a public figure, one well known and powerful enough to do all of this, it would be a very bad look for her if an article was published about how she was unfairly targeting two highly respected happily married black women and traumatized an innocent little girl in the name of a petty grudge. 

Its so weird that after so much build up, Buck and Tommy's relationship has been pushed way to the side right after it was established, I would have much preferred to dig into that more than pretty much any of these other plots. 

Christopher (and the now disappeared Marisol) have every right to be freaked out and pissed at Eddie, but no way should his grandparents have been so willing to take him. Eddie and Christopher need to talk things out, this isn't going to fix anything.  

You know what this show really needs? Yet another cartoon bad guy! Did Bobby forget that he quit his job? Why, of all the fire captains in the LA area, did they pick a guy who several members of the team have made formal complaints abut? Why weren't any of them told about this? Wasn't this show about rescues at some point?

[DearEvette]

Yeah. Honestly, I have not watched the last two episodes and that has never happened. This season had felt like what Lone Star feels like all the time.  That show has always prioritized the misfortunes of their main cast and Rob Lowe over the actual 911 calls.

And while this show has also had its fair share of main cast trauma, it always had a much better balance with humor and interesting rescues.  I honestly would need to go back and look and see how many rescues they did this season that did not directly involved one of their own being the rescuee.

I am crossing my fingers that the lack of rescues is a by-product of the short episode count (10 as opposed to the normal 18) and the restricted time they had in getting the shows up and going after the strike.  I checked the episode writers and they are the same people who have written rescue heavy episodes in the past.  So I am hoping a full season to course correct is on the horizon.

I will of course watch when it comes back, but if it doesn't get back that balance I'll probably not watch as regularly.

[agathapenny]

5 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

What the hell happened this season, and how do we make sure that it never happens again? Most of this season was a mess, especially the end. I go to this show for likable characters, fun/exciting rescues, with some soap opera drama and tears along the way, but this was ALL drama and ALL tears, it was honestly exhausting. Next season, can we get back to normal please? No more sticking every single character into a Lifetime movie? 

Amen. Seriously. Exhausting is the perfect description of this season. Remember when the characters confronted normal, everyday things, like May not wanting to go straight to college? It made the show feel so much more down to earth.

5 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I have no idea why Hen and Karen wont just get a damn lawyer and go to the press instead of just letting Evil Politician run all over them. She's a public figure, one well known and powerful enough to do all of this, it would be a very bad look for her if an article was published about how she was unfairly targeting two highly respected happily married black women and traumatized an innocent little girl in the name of a petty grudge. 

Yup. How much would she want people to be talking about her drunk driving son, who injured others and clearly refused care? And now she is totally unsubtly targeting the first responder in that case. Public opinion would bury her and her "friends" who did her "favours" would abandon her so fast her head would spin.

5 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Its so weird that after so much build up, Buck and Tommy's relationship has been pushed way to the side right after it was established, I would have much preferred to dig into that more than pretty much any of these other plots. 

Given how the other plots were written, be careful what you wish for. Seriously. I wished for a story of substance for Eddie and look where that got me, lol.

[Attatude]

So many questions without answers.

1. How did the cartel find Bobby’s house to torch it.

2. How were they lucky enough to start the fire right after Amir acted like he wanted to commit arson?

3. How did Eddie’s parents get there so quickly when Christopher called them at 3 am? Their time or his? Why was he up so late?

4. How did Bobby go from half dead to awake and alert and ready to leave the hospital in one commercial break?

5.  How did Maddie and Chimney fill out a foster application and go through a lengthy approval process in one day?  Did it happen so fast, the agency didn’t find out that their best friends are evils former foster parents Hen and Karen?

6. How did Bobby forget he quit? Did his heart attack cause amnesia?

I have more but writing them all down has made me so tired.

The good parts of the show

Christopher leaving. I will miss him, but he was a series regular so he had a contract.  If he is leaving, the actor broke the contract because he needed or wanted to leave, so that is alright.  Being on set for years isn’t all that good for children.  He has a lot of fans so if he wants to come back or even go into a different show, they will follow him.

Bobby didn’t die. Peter Krause isn’t leaving.

Amir isn’t so bad after all.

We didn’t have endless Buck and Tommy scenes.  That was a good decision after giving them so much air time.  Let them just be two normal guys now in a relationship and not turn it into the centerpiece of the show.  Other characters need stories.

Bringing Gerard back.  We detest him but he’s so easy to hate we know they are going to kick him to the curb in a spectacular manner next season.

 

[Calvada]

Another thing - there's no follow up on why Bobby's heart stopped? It's not like he sneezed for 14 minutes straight, which you might wave off, his heart stopped!!  How was he so quickly approved to return to work? And Athena was fully cured from her smoke inhalation immediately as well.  Lourdes has nothing on this hospital.

[Irlandesa]

12 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I don't see how Evil Councilwoman didn't put the kibosh on Maddie and Chim taking in Mara. She's hellbent on keeping the kid away from Hen, and if she's so well connected surely she'd see through such an obvious ploy.

I think it's because the councilwoman doesn't care about Mara.  She only cared about Hen not getting her.  Once the child was in the group home, she stopped paying attention.

11 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I too miss the funny 911 calls, and can't remember the last time we had anything amusingly crazy on the show.

A few episodes ago there was the rescue with the guy uncontrollably hitting himself and grabbing Eddie in the nether regions. 

Quote

I, for one, didn't care for the three Poseidon adventure episodes. It was just too much.

I didn't care that it was a knockoff but I did care that it was a three-episode disaster arc that largely focused on only two of the characters.  There was a little bit of the other characters here and there but it wasn't as good as the tsunami arc.  The thing I remember about that is even though Buck and Christopher were the more emotional story, everyone else had major parts to play in the various rescues. 

Poseiden was mostly Bobby and Athena.  And it was a third of the season. And I suspect it sucked up a lot of the budget. 

I'm hoping the longer season and that they have a few months before they go back into filming will help with the planning.

[agathapenny]

17 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

A few episodes ago there was the rescue with the guy uncontrollably hitting himself and grabbing Eddie in the nether regions. 

Sad to say, but this was one of the best parts of the whole season.

17 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I didn't care that it was a knockoff but I did care that it was a three-episode disaster arc that largely focused on only two of the characters.  There was a little bit of the other characters here and there but it wasn't as good as the tsunami arc.  The thing I remember about that is even though Buck and Christopher were the more emotional story, everyone else had major parts to play in the various rescues. 

Poseiden was mostly Bobby and Athena.  And it was a third of the season. 

I found the season as a whole was heavily focused on Bobby. And I love Bobby, but never before have I felt like he was the sole lead and everyone else was supporting characters.

And yeah, there wasn't nearly enough of the other characters in the ship sinking story. I feel like they could have had the main cast more involved.

This show is at its best when the team is a family working and laughing together, with enough poignant moments to elevate the material.

[shapeshifter]

9 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think it's because the councilwoman doesn't care about Mara.  She only cared about Hen not getting her.  Once the child was in the group home, she stopped paying attention.

There was some real life (i think?) case sometime within the past few decades in which law enforcement didn't want to go after the person who was already scheduled for a trial because it could look like harassment and could hurt the current case.
Or maybe that was just a common thing in the 80s or 90s?
Anyway, Councilwoman Cruella might not want to risk being accused of harassment, but, actually if she does find out (and she will🙄) that Mara is staying with Hen's friends/coworker so Mara can visit, Bad Things Will Ensue.

[Nicolette]

On 5/31/2024 at 7:53 AM, jabRI said:

Hen and Karen could also take the story to the press.  Can't think that would look very good for evil councilwoman.  Karen is a freaking rocket scientist and Hen has saved hundreds of lives.

Could someone remind me what episode it was that Hen didn't save the councilwoman's son? 

[KatWay]

12 hours ago, Attatude said:

We didn’t have endless Buck and Tommy scenes.  That was a good decision after giving them so much air time.  Let them just be two normal guys now in a relationship and not turn it into the centerpiece of the show.  Other characters need stories.

really? I thought the opposite. They basically got together and came out as a couple in like 2 eps and then never shared any significant scenes again. They're sorely lacking in development as a couple for now. Aside from his backstory at the 118 Tommy is basically at Marisol "just kinda there" levels of love interest.

there's surely a better middle ground between "centerpiece of the show" (which I don't think they ever were? other characters had storylines too in the two episode(s)) and "barely relevant" that I'd like the writers to cover with them.

[Clanstarling]

20 hours ago, eel2178 said:

Where I live if Social Services doesn't agree with changing the placement of a foster child, the state pays for a lawyer to represent the child rather than the foster parents.

I don't know if it works that way everywhere.

In this case, it's the foster parents who don't agree with the changing of the placement. So they should get their own lawyer.

12 hours ago, Attatude said:

3. How did Eddie’s parents get there so quickly when Christopher called them at 3 am? Their time or his? Why was he up so late?

 

snip

6. How did Bobby forget he quit? Did his heart attack cause amnesia?

snip

Christopher leaving. I will miss him, but he was a series regular so he had a contract.  If he is leaving, the actor broke the contract because he needed or wanted to leave, so that is alright.  Being on set for years isn’t all that good for children.  He has a lot of fans so if he wants to come back or even go into a different show, they will follow him.

3 - After that trauma, I imagine Christopher didn't get any sleep at all.

6 - Valid question, though after having gone through the desert ordeal, the house burning, and almost dying, it might have slipped his mind. (I'm not sure, now, if the desert stuff was before he quit or not)

If the actor who plays Christopher is leaving, he didn't necessarily break his contract. As I understand it, Actors aren't contracted for the run of the show, but usually season to season. Some may be contracted for multiple seasons, I'm not that familiar. But actors, especially secondary characters, do leave shows fairly regularly. Some by choice, some not.

[possibilities]

39 minutes ago, Nicolette said:

Could someone remind me what episode it was that Hen didn't save the councilwoman's son? 

The son was the belligerant intoxicated driver who hit another car and refused to let Hen or Chim (or anyone else) assess if he himself was injured. They kept trying to convince him to let them check him out and make sure he was okay and he was aggressively refusing. They finally gave up (he was threatening, and they also had the family he hit to take care of). And then the guy died. It was unclear whether the death was actually related to the accident, or if it was a pre-existing condition + the drugs. Either way, Hen and Chim tried but he was hellbent on not letting them check him.

[agathapenny]

39 minutes ago, possibilities said:

The son was the belligerant intoxicated driver who hit another car and refused to let Hen or Chim (or anyone else) assess if he himself was injured. They kept trying to convince him to let them check him out and make sure he was okay and he was aggressively refusing. They finally gave up (he was threatening, and they also had the family he hit to take care of). And then the guy died. It was unclear whether the death was actually related to the accident, or if it was a pre-existing condition + the drugs. Either way, Hen and Chim tried but he was hellbent on not letting them check him.

To be 100 per cent fair, Hen was pretty evident in her disgust for him at the scene. But she was investigated briefly and cleared — this was right before they all commandeered a helicopter and headed out to sea to find Athena and Bobby.

I actually couldn't help but think at the time that Bobby might have handled that differently and showed more compassion, as is his wont with people in trouble with substances. But Hen didn't actually do anything wrong, and if someone refuses care, that's their right.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

If the actor who plays Christopher is leaving, he didn't necessarily break his contract. As I understand it, Actors aren't contracted for the run of the show, but usually season to season. Some may be contracted for multiple seasons, I'm not that familiar. But actors, especially secondary characters, do leave shows fairly regularly. Some by choice, some not.

If an actor is mid-contract, producers usually have the power.  Actors usually can't leave but they typically can still be fired.  That said, big procedural shows that aren't centered around a particular character tend to be more flexible with their cast.  If a cast member would like to leave mid-contract, they're usually able to negotiate a departure.  I don't see TPTB at 9-1-1 punishing anyone that wanted to leave.

[iMonrey]

12 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think it's because the councilwoman doesn't care about Mara.  She only cared about Hen not getting her.  Once the child was in the group home, she stopped paying attention.

Yeah, but if she has the connections and reach to pull Mara out of Hen and Karen's home, then surely whoever she contacted would have called her to let her know Mara had a new foster family. And when she found out it was yet another firefighter from Hen's station she would have been all "Oh hell no." You can pull up just as many infractions against Maddy and Chim as you can against Hen. This was a blatant end-run around what she had done, and I don't think she'd just let it go and give up.

Quote

If an actor is mid-contract, producers usually have the power.  Actors usually can't leave but they typically can still be fired.

The kid who plays Christopher is recurring, he's not under contract. He can leave any time he wants. We've had no indication he wants to, though. And I think we'd have heard about it by now if he did. I think the whole point of him moving was just another melodramatic cliff-hanger for the season, and it will give Eddie something to do next season.

Edited June 1 by iMonrey