Season four of Station 19 is sure to be emotional since, well, 1) it’s Station 19 and it’s always emotional, and 2) the show will be exploring how first responders are dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. But before we can even think about all of that, we should prepare ourselves by reviewing what went down in season three. I doubt you’ll really need reminding about that massive reveal about a certain firefighter’s mother not actually being dead, but you know what? We’ve been through a lot since the finale aired in May, so no one could blame you if you’re looking for a quick reminder. Below, find a refresher on what went down at our favorite Seattle firehouse in season three before diving into the new drama of season four.
Andy Herrera had a year, people.
How Andy is still standing after everything she went through in season three is truly a miracle. Let me remind you that the season kicked off with her best friend and first love, Ryan, dying right in front of her during an accidental shooting. That is how it starts.
Let’s recap. Andy lost the captain promotion to Maya, she learned her father’s cancer is back and he’s dying, and then she and Sullivan decided to quickly get married so that Pruitt can be at the wedding. As if that’s not enough, while Station 19 is on a call at a storage unit facility and the entire team was in danger, Pruitt, knowing he didn’t have much time left anyway, arrived at the deadly fire and ventilated the roof — saving everyone’s lives, but sacrificing his own. As if that wasn’t not enough, after her father died and she started going through his belongings, Andy got suspicious about the truth behind her mother’s death when she was a child. Most people thought Andy was just spiraling from her grief, but then she got in touch with her mother’s sister. Tia Sandra had some big news to share with Andy, but it was too much to share over the phone. So Andy’s aunt — on the same day that Andy’s husband was getting surgery for his leg injury and chronic pain and might relapse back into his opioid addiction, mind you — traveled to Seattle… with Any’s mother. Andy’s mom isn’t dead. I’ll say it again: Andy’s mom is alive! Um, what does she do now?
Maya had several major revelations that should be noted.
Here are a few things our dear Maya Bishop came to realize during season three: She’d rather be captain of Station 19 than be with Jack (she dumped him and does, in fact, become captain); and she learned that when she’s in a leadership role, her friends will hate her (they all eventually come around to cutting their new captain some slack, but dang, Maya was mean in the beginning). In her biggest moment of her character development in the entire series, Maya came to realize, thanks to her mother leaving her father, that her father is emotionally and psychologically abusive to her and she cuts him out of her life (while also cutting her hair in a symbolic but also chic gesture). Finally, Maya realized she was in love with Carina — and even though Maya shut her out for pointing out some not-so-pretty things about her father — she begged Carina to forgive her for sleeping with Jack as a petty way to hurt her and asked that she please take her back. Thankfully, Carina did.
Let us chat about the Vic and Dean of it all.
Vic kicks off season three obviously still getting over Ripley, but most definitely getting under Dr. Jackson Avery (you’re welcome, tip your server). Meanwhile, Dean spent some time reeling from the news that his ex, JJ, was pregnant with his child and then reeling some more when JJ skips town, unable to be a mother to their daughter Prue (as in Pruitt, after, well, you know…). When Vic and Jackson break up (there is some backsliding, don’t you worry), she was left without a place to live, so she offered her Auntie services to Dean in exchange for a room on the houseboat. That’s nice and all…until Dean started to have some very confusing and distracting romantic feelings for his friend. Unfortunately, Vic didn’t pick up on those feelings, nor did she seem to reciprocate them (we’re holding out hope, folks), so she was very confused and hurt when, at the end of the season, Dean kicked her out of the house.
Good-bye Chief Dixon, may we never meet again.
Seattle Fire Chief Dixon is the Absolute Worst. The fact that he was the one who came in to replace dearly departed Ripley makes his time spent terrorizing Station 19 even harder to watch. Dixon not only refused to help Pruitt when he brings up issues with firefighters’ health insurance, but once Pruitt dies, Dixon does everything in his power to keep him from having a Line of Duty funeral. But Dixon is more than just a dick, he’s corrupt, too: When Sullivan, at the urging of Ben, came clean to the Fire Chief about stealing narcotics, Dixon kept the information to himself and used it as blackmail to force Sullivan to forge fire inspections for Dixon’s friends and allies. It took Sullivan a little while, but eventually our Battalion Chief realized he needed to do the right thing. Sullivan eventually exposed Dixon’s corruption to the Civil Service Commission, even though it could have brought him down, too. Dixon ended the season in handcuffs, a fitting end.
Travis spent some time sleeping with the wrong guy.
What about the other guys of Station 19, you ask? Well, Travis spends a lot of season three hooking up with Chief Dixon’s closeted son and Station 19’s probie, Emmett. Eventually, Emmett came out of the closet, decided he wasn’t cut out to be a firefighter, and professed his love for Travis. Come to think of it, Emmett really had a year, too, huh? Anyway, Travis wasn’t interested in anything real with Emmett, and had a rough but honest conversation with him about ending whatever they were. Here’s hoping Travis gets a great love story in the new season.
Ben has some ups and downs, as fictional characters on primetime dramas do.
Speaking of firefighters with great love stories, let’s talk about Ben Warren, husband of our one true queen Miranda Bailey. The season started just after he and Bailey go through a gut-wrenching miscarriage. Although they were still grieving that loss, they decided to foster a teen boy, and their marriage felt stronger than ever. On the career side of things, Ben finally got the best of both worlds when his Physician Response Team idea took off and he was able use surgical skills while also being a first responder. As a bonus, since he was running the ambulance-on-steroids (it allows the team to perform actual emergency surgeries out in the field) he was no longer running into burning buildings — a responsibility of his former position that stressed out his wife and in turn, put a strain on their marriage. The downside of the PRT? Ben learned that Sullivan was stealing fentanyl out of the rig and he had to force his superior to turn himself in.
Jack gets that sweet, sweet redemption storyline.
Jack Gibson, too, had some issues with colleagues last season. You may recall that he was caught sleeping with fellow firefighter Rigo’s wife, which is, um, extremely against firefighter code. Then, after the affair came out and Jack was shunned by his people, Rigo goes and dies in the line of duty after fighting with Jack. That certainly complicated everything, including the immense guilt Jack felt about, well, everything. He spent a lot of the season trying to re-route his moral compass and win back his friends. This journey included, but was not limited to, Jack volunteering to get rid of a bomb that could have exploded in a hospital, and helping a mom, Inara, get herself and her son away from her abusive husband. By the season’s end, Jack and Inara were making some cautiously flirty eyes in each other’s direction — so things might be looking up for him.
Friends, that’s a whole lot of drama for one season — and I didn’t even get into the whole bear attack situation. Time will only tell what season four holds for our intrepid firefighters, but at least now you’re ready to face it with the necessary information.
