‘9-1-1’ Season 8 Review: Buzzing Back Into Action, but Not Without Flaws
The 118 is officially back, but 9-1-1 Season 8 doesn’t take us back to what we’re familiar with. Instead, our team is thrown off-kilter without their captain — and right as a superswarm of bees attack Los Angeles. Even worse, most of the team is facing one problem or another while also having to deal with the tyrannical Captain Gerrard (Brian Thompson). Much like the Season 7 premiere, Season 8 is kicking off with a three-episode arc, this time involving a massive swarm of killer bees that accidentally gets released into the city of Los Angeles. If that sounds both horrific and also somewhat underwhelming, you’d be right. Struggling in the shadow of greater disasters, like the tsunami arc of Season 3 or the blackout that hit in Season 5, the team feels more disparate than ever, and the tempo and tone of the season just don’t gel.
The 118 Team Is Too Scattered To Make an Impact in the ‘9-1-1’ Season 8 Premiere
One thing that becomes really obvious in this premiere is that, in many ways, the episode lacks the type of levity and joy that’s become so closely associated with 9-1-1. Sure, we’ve had some very dark episodes, but season openers tend to be partly a reunion between the audience and the show as well as a tabula rasa moment, as is typical in television procedurals. But, in picking up where Season 7 left off, it’s revealed the 118 have been suffering a grueling three months under the command of Captain Gerrard. It’s still unclear how this man, who was openly racist and sexist (to the point of harassment) toward the people working for him, got this job. It’s a pretty glaring plot hole, considering how egregious Gerrard was in the past.But, if the higher-ups are willing to overlook Gerrard’s past crimes, they definitely won’t mind a bit of tough love… or plain old torture. Instead of relaxing around the kitchen while Bobby cooks up a feast, Buck (Oliver Stark), Eddie (Ryan Guzman), Chim (Kenneth Choi), and Hen (Aisha Hinds) spend their days cleaning every inch of the firehouse. And when they’re not cleaning, they’re running laps until they pass out. Would you feel safe if the firefighters who came to rescue you were already exhausted and broken down by running pointless laps all morning? I don’t know if I want to put my life into the hands of someone who is keeling over trying to catch their breath.
On the other side of town, Bobby (Peter Krause) is working with Station 119, but unlike the 118, this one exists purely on (digital) celluloid. It’s unclear how Bobby ended up on a film set as an advisor for actors playing firefighters, but it’s clear that he’s there under the department’s orders. Perhaps his attempts to get his job back failed, and this is where he’s been saddled. It’s disheartening because Bobby has often been the glue that sticks the team together. He’s an important person to the entire team, and they rely on him for leadership and guidance. Sure, we can see now how much the team needs Bobby, but was that ever in doubt? As silly and entertaining as it is to watch Bobby getting meta on set and being compared to the real-life Jake LaMotta (while the actor compares himself to Robert De Niro, of course), it feels like this storyline is just a placeholder for Bobby. At least in Season 7’s premiere, we got him with Athena (Angela Bassett), a winning duo that always plays well on screen, but Athena is shipped off pretty much immediately for a quest of her own. And while Athena’s is easily the most interesting plot of the episode, and Bassett kills her performance as usual, it still adds to the odd jumble of stories of this premiere.
‘9-1-1’ Season 8 Has To Reckon With the Show’s Leftover Storylines
One of the main reasons why Season 8 doesn’t feel so cohesive is that, in many ways, it feels like we’re watching Season 7.5, not Season 8, with the majority of the storylines in the premiere carrying over from the finale. The shorter Season 7, impacted by the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes last year, meant that all the storylines were put on ice until more episodes could follow. But, as a result of the strikes and the fact that the show’s jump to ABC has made 9-1-1 more serialized as opposed to episodic, this premiere bears more of a resemblance to a mid-season break.
Christopher (Gavin McHugh) is still in Texas with his grandparents, and Eddie does his best to celebrate his son’s birthday while being physically and emotionally pushed aside by him. Hen and Karen (Tracie Thoms) continue to struggle to get back their right to foster kids, while Mara (Askyler Bell) stays with Chim and Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Bobby and Athena are still house hunting after their home burned down. And Buck is still happily dating Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.), sharing flirtatious smiles with him and seeming genuinely content. It’s a stark difference from what the show used to be, where every season premiere felt like a clean slate.
