Spoilers ahead!
After completing the latest 9-1-1 This episode, I had to sit by myself for a while because this episode left me with so many mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was very funny about some things and surprisingly laughed out loud in many scenes. On the other hand, this is a comeback of Athena Cop-related drama, which has always left me a little weirded out.
I’ll briefly explain why, but let me recap the episode first. Athena (Angela Bassett) is injured while apprehending a criminal known as Flash Robbery, who organizes flash mob thugs to carry out robberies. Later, still injured, she is assigned to mentor rookie Sparks (Zach Tinker). As they hunt down the Flash together, Athena’s instincts tell her that something isn’t right with Sparks, a situation that reminds me a lot of what Hen (Aisha Hinds) did to Jonah (played by Season 5, who happens to be Caregivers of serial killers).
This isn’t the first time the series has chosen to focus on police-related aspects. There have been many previous episodes dedicated to exploring Athena’s career, and they’ve generally sought to both praise and criticize police actions, often casting Athena as a model professional as opposed to the bad cop of the week. The most striking example to me is episode five of season three, angerIn the film, Athena’s ex-husband Michael (former series regular Rockmond Dunbar) has a run-in with racist police officers that nearly ends with Harry (former series series regular Marcanton Reyes) being shot. This starts a huge storyline about police brutality and racism in the Grant-Nash family – Athena, seeing how this situation scares her children, is forced to reconsider how she views police officers in the greater scheme of things role.
“Hot Spot” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Angela Bassett as Athena. Photo: Ray Mickshaw/ABC © 2024 Disney. all rights reserved.
This week’s situation was somewhat similar to that, as Sparks got into an argument with a woman that ended up with the woman being injured after being shot by Sparks, who would have been injured had Athena not intervened Almost dead. All of this plays nicely into Athena’s storyline: She may be older and out of shape, but her wits are stronger than ever and her instincts can help young up-and-comers. That’s why she tells Captain Elaine Maynard (Claudia Christian) that she’s willing to mentor another rookie in the future and is willing to stop being a lone wolf.
Positives to this storyline: having Athena wear a beautiful wig and costume in her initial scenes; the long awaited tea time with Athena and Hen as besties; watching an episode filled with Angela Bassett scenes Always a joy to watch, especially with someone as charismatic as Zach Tinker.
Cons: This show is silly, over-the-top, melodramatic at its best, but overall fun. These heavier storylines can easily be tied to real-world issues, and I think they need to be carefully planned out and probably take a few episodes to work. Otherwise, it feels a bit disingenuous: I try not to take myself too seriously when Athena abuses her power (which happens a lot on this show, but let’s take what she did to Amir in the Season 7 finale as an example ), because it’s just a stupid show, etc. Instead, she should be a role model, and I would even say, in the end, she feels a little sorry for Sparks. I mean…is this really a comment on police brutality? I think the message is pervasive and I would rather not have such a sensitive issue addressed on the show than to do it in this way.
“Hot Spot” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Peter Kraus as Bobby and Callum Blue as Brad. Photo: Ray Mickshaw/ABC © 2024 Disney. all rights reserved.
Regarding Athena as a mentor in the future, I think there’s a potentially interesting story there, but part of me would like to see Athena interact more with the different protagonists in 118. Klaus) has had a lot of storylines) and sometimes has storylines with her kids (more often in past seasons) and Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Her friendship with Hen makes a welcome return in this one and I wish these two had a longer storyline. Or maybe they could try something new and give us Athena and Chimney (Kenneth Choi), or Athena and Eddie (Ryan Guzman), and/or Christopher (Gavin McHugh) )…I don’t know, I just think as the main character of this show it would be really cool to have her bond with characters she doesn’t normally interact with that much, rather than reintroducing a new recurring character as her sidekick.
Meanwhile, Bobby and 118 returned to the set. Hot shots — and that’s because Brad (Callum Blue) is still obsessed with Bobby, perhaps Gerald’s (Brian Thompson) biggest hater. It’s great to have 118 on this fictional firefighter show. I think they missed the opportunity to do a full version here, which could have been interesting. Instead, the episode focused on Brad trying to get Bobby back on set, clashing with Gerald. Is this how Gerrard is lightly sentenced in the play? Having him so disoriented by Brad and his new role is hilarious, but I guess it’s also some sort of punishment. Is he punished and redeemed in some way? I’m not sure the answers to these questions, but Gerrard is playing more relaxedly now. At the end of the episode, Brad joins 118 in order to study Bobby and the firefighters’ daily routine – and he’ll cause more trouble in the future, that’s for sure.
“Hot Spot” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Oliver Stark as Buck Played by Beili Liang Jiyun. Photo: Ray Mickshaw/ABC © 2024 Disney. all rights reserved.
Finally, we have Buck (Oliver Stark) dealing with his recent breakup. His storyline is smaller here, but there are some beautiful moments, like the moment when Maddie and Yan Ni reveal their pregnancy, or his adorable scene with Ji Wun (Bailey Liang) – that’s such a nice, beautiful one time. Also, I had a lot of laughs during the scene where Eddie stops Buck from making the phone call. Hen joins them for a fun moment, but it’s all because Eddie is trying to be a lighter, more spontaneous person – he’s awkward at it, but also endearing. Interestingly, although Buck and Eddie have been together in many scenes this season, they have yet to talk about everything that’s going on in their lives. Their only scene entirely alone had them in silence, so I think there should be something revealed between them in the future. Let’s wait and see what that is.
Overall, this episode left me with mixed feelings: it was full of funny moments and interesting interactions between characters, but it was also all over the place in terms of its message and police-related storyline. Especially since it keeps Athena away from 118 and her cop storyline works better when done with the other main characters. It’s also written in this questionable way, trying to point out some of the worst parts of our system while saying that maybe they exist for a reason. I’d say this is the weakest of the season so far, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing – on rewatching the full season, viewers may find something new to care about here.
what do you think Popular figures? What to expect from next week’s fall finale? Feel free to leave your impressions and theoretical comments, and thank you for reading!
