The second part of the 911 season 9 premiere was thrilling and heartbreaking in so many different ways. In an episode that saw the team facing multiple calls all while Athena and Hen were in peril in space, we got to see new dynamics at play that gave us a glimpse into what we could expect for the season.
Hen and Athena prepare to go to space, with the episode starting in an interview format where they, along with the other “everyday heroes,” describe why they wanted to go to space. However, it’s clear that for Athena, this is not something she normally would ever want to partake in.
In the meantime, her son Harry is also having a hard time with things. Based on a conversation with May, it’s obvious that this is a lot for him to handle, on top of the emotions he still has for everything else going on since they are still grieving Bobby’s loss. May was a great support system for Harry and we also saw this in Buck as well.
Tracie Thoms's Karen had a big role to play on 911 season 9 episode 2
Despite the launch going ahead as scheduled, Tripp learns from a colleague that there is a possible geomagnetic storm on the horizon. He decides not to scrap the launch, instead choosing to send the everyday heroes, one being his fianceé Tricia, to space despite knowing the danger.
Karen is watching the launch with the rest of the 118 and their families when she finds out about the storm from her coworker. She is horrified to find out what is happening and works to find out what is going on just as the satellites connecting them to the space capsule and the five souls onboard go offline.
When the storm hits the earth, the 118 is sent to go on calls despite originally having the day off. Buck, having already talked to Harry and seeing how worked up he is about Athena being in space, convinces Chimney to let him come on their calls. Harry being worked up is not good for Denny and Mara to see, and they let Christopher do a ride-along when he was around eight years old.
Despite Chimney's decision to have Harry stay in the truck for his safety, Harry proves helpful in the end when they need assistance in the hospital. When Buck becomes trapped in the lab after rescuing a doctor who was injured, Harry comes at Chimney’s request to bring an axe. Luckily, they can stop the robot and get out of the lab before anyone can get seriously hurt.
While this is all happening on Earth, the astronauts in space are spiraling out of control without being able to talk to mission control. One of the guys, Parker, is able to get to the control panel to unplug it and restart it. However, the exertion and hit to a chair causes his heart to stop, leading Hen to resuscitate him despite being in zero gravity.
There’s not much else they can do without being able to communicate with anyone back on Earth. But luckily, Karen figures out that they can still connect to the ship using satellites not owned by Tripp.
Karen finds a way to connect to everyone
Karen goes to get help from dispatch, where one of them, Terry, manages to connect them to Hen’s phone so she can communicate with them. Tripp is also connected to them so he can try to help them get back into Earth’s orbit so they can go home. However, even after getting the thrusters working again, a new problem emerges. There’s fire coming out of the vents of the ship, and they only have a few minutes to talk to Karen before they get disconnected.
With the stakes raised even higher for those trapped in space, we’re looking forward to finding out how they will get back to Earth safely. This was a well-done episode that kept us moving in a cohesive manner despite two of the 118’s own being stuck and in need of help themselves.
One of the best parts of this episode was seeing how Buck was there in almost a mentor capacity for Harry. It was hinted that May and Harry had spent time with Buck on a weekly basis and Buck, in turn, was there for Harry when he needed to talk through his feelings. Seeing Buck take on a leadership role with Harry in this regard showed how far he has come and he was able to recognize that Harry needed help through it.
It almost seems like this could set Harry up to not only see why his mom makes it her mission to help people through her job, but that he might also be interested in becoming a firefighter. This would be a great way to incorporate Harry further into the 118 and continue the Grant family’s connection to Bobby’s team.
We would be remiss if we didn’t give Tracie Thoms her flowers for this episode. Thoms exhibited every emotion Karen could have. Between trying to tamper with her feelings about Hen going to space without her, to the fear and determination she had to try to help her wife anyway she could. Karen is one of our favorite characters on the show and she is really shining during this epic opener.
With such an exciting start to the season, we’re excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds, at least once we get Athena and Hen back safely to solid ground.
911 airs Thursdays on ABC at 8/7. You can find more episodes on Hulu.
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