Our long national nightmare is over: Captain Gerrard is out at 118, and Bobby Nash is back as captain. That’s not the only welcome plot twist “No Place Like Home” brings to 9-1-1—but while last week’s episode wrapped up the plot too neatly, this week’s episode offers a resolution that feels worthy. Plus, and this is important, there are a lot of serious injuries and a tiger. Here’s why we’re watching!
The episode begins with Gerrard and Buck on the golf course, where the captain reveals that mandatory budget cuts are coming to the fire department. Bobby has coddled the team and turned them into snowflakes, but now they’ll have to face the harsh reality of layoffs. Naturally, Gerrard wants his project to help him decide who to cut. (His feelings for Buck are still somewhere between paternal and sexual, and I’m ready to move on.) As someone who has worked in media for the past few decades, I found the firing talk to be very stirring.
There are more changes coming to 118. Councilwoman Olivia Ortiz, who is currently running for mayor on a platform of being, I guess, evil, wants first responders held accountable after her son’s death last season. The team was put on a pilot where they all wore body cameras when interacting with the public—not a bad idea, I think, because I believe in transparency and because I want to see a shaky-cam found footage-style episode of 9-1-1. Of course, this is really just part of Ortiz’s revenge on Hen, which makes it all the harder to swallow.
Fortunately, this isn’t exactly a city hall episode. We get our first emergency of the week, a high school cheerleader named Weston. His mother attends the game to support her son, but his father is missing. Before we can get too far into Wes’s injury, however, he’s accidentally tackled into the bench by a football player. Suddenly his lower half is facing the opposite direction as his upper half, an injury that would look dangerous even if he were still conscious. As a 9-1-1 caller helpfully explains, “A cheerleader is upside down!”
9-1-1 arrives, supposedly, bringing Wes back to normal. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Eddie, who’s seen this type of injury in Afghanistan, explains that they’re looking at an open fracture, aka a broken pelvis. There are a lot of arteries in the pelvis, so that means they have to be extremely careful when transporting him to the hospital. When Wes’s blood pressure drops in the ambulance, Eddie has to perform a REBOA (resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta, if you’re wondering) in a moving car. It works, and the delirious fan wakes up and calls Eddie “Dad.” Any of us?
Out of work, Hen and Karen are in court trying to get their foster licenses reinstated. Things aren’t going well, especially after the opposing attorney reveals that they met Mara when she lived with Chimney and Maddie. Hen gives a convincing speech explaining that Mara is being used as a pawn by Ortiz for revenge, but despite Aisha Hinds’ touching performance, the judge isn’t swayed. In fact, she orders Hen and Karen to have no contact with Mara.
Out of options, Hen tries to appeal directly to Ortiz, but it turns out the woman is actually a supervillain. Despite Hen’s excellent account of Mara’s past and why reuniting with her family is so important, Ortiz remains unmoved. Hen, Karen, and Denny may be all Mara has, but Ortiz’s son Kyle is all she has. She’s been forced to live without her loved ones, so Mara will have to learn to do the same. Ortiz is so evil in this scene that it’s almost unbelievable; on the other hand, there’s nothing I want less from 9-1-1 than confidence. Here, Hen realizes something else—Ortiz and Gerrard are old friends, and she’s made him captain of 118 as part of her revenge plan. (See? Supervillain!) Hen decides to tell Bobby the real reason Gerrard replaced him, and it turns out she’s not the only one who’s come to the former captain for advice. We see Buck, Eddie, and Chimney vent about Gerrard’s reign of terror. Buck wants to quit because Gerrard “called me his little buddy and he touched me,” which makes Bobby react in shock. Chimney insists that 118 needs Bobby. As for Eddie — well, Eddie’s distracted by thoughts of Wes’ absent father, because he misses Christopher, and these firefighters love nothing more than a good movie night. It’s refreshing to see
