Things didn’t go well on Athena’s flight — and it’s clear things are about to get worse as the three-part 9-1-1 premiere continues on Thursday.
Athena (Angela Bassett) ended the season 8 premiere on a jet that collided with a small plane stuck in the “bee-nado.” Last week’s episode 2 saw the Los Angeles police officer tasked with flying the plane while keeping an eye on the prisoner she was transporting — Dennis, who shot her first fiancé, Emmett, decades ago and helped put him behind bars in season 3. With the help of a young aviation-savvy passenger, Athena enlisted the help of a flight instructor working with air traffic control on the ground and the plan was to land at Los Angeles’s largest airport, LAX. But in a sneak peek from episode 3 exclusive to Entertainment Weekly, it seems like there’s no choice left.
“I’ve had better days,” Athena tells her husband, Bobby (Peter Krause), who’s on his way to LAX with his former firefighter Buck (Oliver Stark) (at least for now).
“I’m sorry I missed all your calls,” Bobby replies. “Honey, you’ve been all over the news. Listen, I’m on my way to LAX, there’s just one problem, the 110 [freeway] is a little congested, so I might have to meet you at the baggage carousel.”
The happy moment is cut short when Athena updates him: “Save the trip, we’re gonna miss LAX…. We’ve lost the ability to turn around. In about six minutes, we’re gonna be waved to LAX when we go through there.”
“So what do you need from me?” Bobby replied, suppressing his panic. “You got runway in your back pocket?” Athena replied. Then Bobby had an idea: “Which direction are you headed?”
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“Heading north, to God knows where,” she replied. “Bobby, we’re running low on fuel, and they’re worried this thing is going to kill everyone—and I’m not just talking about the people in it.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Bobby told his wife. When she informed him that she would need about a mile of clear runway, he replied, “I’ll give you more than that.”
“Bobby, I’m on runway 110!” Athena said, putting the pieces together as Bobby interjected: “And I’m heading straight for you.”
9-1-1 season 8, episode 3, “Final Approach” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
