It’s become a staple in the 9-1-1 franchise that, at a certain point in the series, the main group of firefighters will get trapped in a highly perilous facility that risks causing an apocalyptic-level event. For 9-1-1: Lone Star, it was the possibility of a nuclear meltdown that had the 126 crew saying goodbye to one another. For 9-1-1, it’s a viral pandemic, an emergency that the procedural series has surprisingly never hit before.
Season 8, Episode 14, “Sick Day,” is the first entry of a two-part contagion event that takes advantage of 9-1-1’s ability to pull off stressful stakes. From beginning to end, the 118 crew are having an episode of unpredictability, from a baby being trapped in a triggering pile-up to an emergency in an independent research facility that has a nasty virus that spreads like wildfire. “Sick Day” is what 9-1-1: Lone Star’s series finale thought it was — pure good television that looks to the past to reflect the world’s chaotic history in the past few years.
9-1-1 Touches a Sore Spot With a Virus
“Sick Day” Is 9-1-1’s Pandemic Storyline 9-1-1 never had a definitive COVID-19 storyline during the ongoing pandemic. When television shows were given the all-clear to resume production, many of them jumped at the opportunity to take inspiration from what was happening in the world for agonizing stories. 2020 was the height of the COVID-pandemic, but 2021 was the year of television’s COVID-19. Some audiences appreciated TV shows embracing the raw reality that everyone was living in, while many others despised such a devastating event infiltrating an escape from life. Thankfully, 9-1-1 found a middle ground by making COVID-19 a supporting character.
Characters wore masks and occasionally referenced the pandemic in Season 4, but there were never any COVID-central episodes. Flash-forward to 2025, 9-1-1 is tackling the pandemic storyline but with a delicate hand. The virus that could potentially put the world in danger isn’t COVID-19 but a variation of a different virus that a scientist, Moira, tampered with by shortening the incubation period to develop a cure.
The “mad scientist” vibes are off the charts, despite there being some truth to her argument that positive change can’t be made unless people take the initiative. Moira stealing the antiviral and possibly setting the lab on fire as revenge for her dismissal is the most outrageously unbelievable part of the episode, but this moment of callous villainy can be pushed aside for everything else 9-1-1 does right. It’s unlikely that 9-1-1 is completely accurate in how the military and other officials attempt to prevent a viral outbreak, but the sentiment still aims for the jugular. Colonel John Hartman has to break the news to Athena and Buck that the rest of the 118 can’t be saved because Chimney’s been exposed to the virus, thus risking a rapid exposure to the public.
TV shows dealing with pandemics often tell the narrative from the doctors’ points of view, like Grey’s Anatomy Season 17, who also have to deliver bad news, but it’s overlooked how the military have to make terrible decisions for the safety of the greater good. They go into rapid-fire emergency protocol, heightening the intensity of the situation as the 118 tries to save both Hen and Chimney’s lives inside the building. 9-1-1 doesn’t just make this personal — this is a worldwide threat.
9-1-1 Gives Ravi a Hero’s Journey
Ravi Has a Long-Needed Turning Point in His Arc One problem 9-1-1 has faced in the past few seasons is failing to smoothly incorporate Ravi into the 118 dynamic that’s been relatively untouched since Season 2. Ravi is a great addition to the group of characters as someone young, less experienced and randomly drops the most outrageous lore. But as much as he gels with the rest of the cast, he’s hardly a regular. He pops in and out, even less so in recent seasons, and the writers haven’t built an arc for him that shows any momentum. That all changes in “Sick Days.”
Ravi has the classic hero’s journey that finally puts him on the same level as the other characters. Kicking Ravi down after he makes a mistake on a call is his ordeal that he must overcome to continue his journey. He does this by disobeying the Colonel’s orders and threatening his freedom to save Chimney’s life. He might’ve failed to retrieve the antiviral, but the reward is him putting aside his guilt and fear to help his teammate. If 9-1-1 keeps up the same pace by giving him an uninterrupted arc moving forward, this was Ravi’s initiation into being a staple regular on the show. Now that’s all needed is a “Ravi Begins” episode.
