The first responders on Fox’s 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star are no strangers to disasters. Since the original show's second season, which is now well into the sixth, they’ve faced a significant earthquake, a tsunami, a blackout, and a broken dam. On the spin-off, they’ve had solar, ice, and dust storms and a wildfire. Thousands of lives are put at risk and into their hands as they combat the catastrophic events with bravery and courage, taking the risk that everything will be okay. These disasters, at least in the original, often occur over multiple episodes to begin the season on a strong note. In Lone Star, only the ice storm has followed suit, while the others have played out as special finale episode events.
This year, the universe strayed from this tradition and avoided the multi-episode disaster arcs at the top of the season in favor of smaller, yet still significant disasters in both of the premieres. On the original in Los Angeles, a blimp crashed into a stadium and left several injured, giving the 118 some difficulty in how to proceed. In Austin, on Lone Star, a freak storm led to green skies, frogs raining from the sky, and later an intense wave of heat. Truth be told, this method of beginning the season on a big note in a single episode is far from preferable.
The Major Disasters Aren’t Why Fans Love the ‘9-1-1’ Universe
At some point, it seems the writers have come to an understanding that fans wholly enjoy these multi-episode disasters every year. While the earthquake and tsunami were top-tier television, that wasn’t because of the disasters that caused unbelievable damage to the city. With the earthquake at the top of the second season, it allowed newcomers Maddie Buckley (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman) a chance to show off their skills. Maddie was thrust into being a dispatcher with little training or supervision because it was necessary and proved herself one of the strongest the department had ever seen. Eddie, while an experienced firefighter already, had a chance to prove his skills alongside his determination to save those in danger. This event allowed us to quickly get on these characters’ sides, which was necessary after spending the first season with the others and already getting to know them.
Similarly, with the tsunami in the third season, the reason this event is so beloved by fans is particularly because of Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie’s son Christopher (Gavin McHugh). They are caught in the wave together, and we see Buck fighting tooth and nail to find and save Christopher. It’s a perfect glimpse of Buck’s relationships with Christopher and Eddie, who had already become just as much his family as his sister Maddie. That said, it isn’t the disasters themselves that make these episodes worth watching. It’s despite the disasters that make them great, as these events often create great and compelling moments for character and relationship development, although that has somewhat disappeared in recent seasons. As any fan will tell you, the characters are what makes this universe worth tuning into. There are sometimes very heartwarming and heartbreaking emergencies that add to the experience, yes, but those aren’t necessary when we’re getting great stuff with our favorite characters. The recent seasons have tried to replicate this, like TK (Ronen Rubenstein) nearly dying in the ice storm, but have fallen flat. Plus, extending the disasters from two-episode events to three or even four episodes has made watching much more of a chore and limited the stories available for the already short seasons.
We Need Disasters in the ‘9-1-1’ Universe, But Timing Is Everything
Now, nobody is saying we should get rid of disasters altogether in the 9-1-1 universe. They emphasize the life-or-death nature of the series in a way that standard emergencies do not, while still providing awe-worthy stories (even if they don’t land quite as well as those that came before). It’s the timing of these disasters that is often a bigger issue. These are meant to begin the seasons on a high note, but that hasn’t happened since the third season. Now, it feels to be an odd choice that prevents us from getting back in touch with these characters as quickly after the months-long breaks in between seasons. Instead of fully stepping back into their lives, we sit with the characters as they deal with the disaster at hand and put aside everything that may be plaguing them in their personal lives (or even issues they may have at work). Nothing else matters in that situation. 9-1-1: Lone Star excelled in the first two seasons by ending their season with a disaster, rather than using it to kick things off. In the first season, they had the solar storm that threw everything off in Austin. In the second season, they had a dust storm. It allowed the show to go out with a bang after we spent the entire season with the characters and their journeys.
Regardless of whether to kick-start or end the season, the one-episode disasters often work better than those that span multiple episodes. (At least they do now.) They take away less time from these characters and their relationships, allowing for more episodes of the emotional and centered stories that we’re tuning in for. Often, one-episode disasters are still character-focused, too, rather than trying to explain the damage to the entire city and its residents. Plus, expectations aren’t quite as high for them, as nothing is ever going to live up to those first two disasters on 9-1-1. The current seasons of both shows opting to do away with the multi-episode disasters is a breath of fresh air. They had become stale, and this has allowed us quicker re-entry into our favorite characters’ lives from the get-go. All in all, it seems best that this tradition is put to bed for a while. Perhaps, in the future, it can be revisited, but hopefully not until the writers have a great idea. For years now, it has felt like they were obligated to do these stories, which wasn’t very enjoyable to watch or start a new season with.
Every episode of 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star is streaming on Hulu.