9-1-1 returns with Titanic opener
Just when you thought the 118 had seen it all ...
Regular viewers of Los Angeles-based procedural 9-1-1 could be forgiven for thinking there’s no way the writers could top the earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, serial mail bombers, runaway blimps and ransomware attacks they’ve thrown at their firefighters, paramedics and associated call centre and police crews.
But, as the seventh season’s opening instalment, Abandon Ships (debuting on Three and ThreeNow tomorrow night), teases us, this three-parter is a wild ride involving gunmen, gnarly weather and drama on a truly Titanic scale.
But then again, nothing should really surprise those who have followed the fortunes of Captain Robert “Bobby” Nash (Peter Krause) and his fellow firstresponders from the very beginning in the early days of 2018.
Every episode plays out like a Michael Bay disaster movie crossed with a telenovela, as the city and our heroes lurch from one crisis to the next. Twists and dramatic character arcs are terribly telegraphed, villains are one-dimensional at best and the writers have definitely overused the “how this member of the team got their start” and the “beginning with the end of the story” narrative devices.
And yet, despite the seemingly endless carnage, both visually (to the City of Angels and its inhabitants) and to the art of storytelling, once dipped into, it is hard not to get hopelessly addicted to 9-1-1.
Created by the fiendish minds behind everything from Glee to American Horror Story and Scream Queens, it boasts the same high production values and selfawareness that made those shows sing and develop a devoted army of admirers.
Each week, the team are put through the emotional ringer, before emerging with a wink and a smile – to each other and the audience (although there will often be a deliberate “scar” created to be picked up down the line).
In a way, with all the explosions, bust-ups and talk of family, this is the television equivalent of the Fast and Furious franchise (albeit one populated by Emmy and Oscar-nominated actors like Krause and Angela Bassett), a belief backed up by the increasingly over-thetop scenarios the 118 find themselves in.
Designed to introduce the show to a whole new audience as it switches from Fox to ABC in the United States, Abandon Ships not only casually throws in a close encounter with an F-18 and an awkward exemplar of what happens when Viagrameets-vaginismus in a spa pool, but it also rewards fans with a couple of callbacks to previous adventures.
Most notably in the form of Lola (Romy Rosemont) and Norman Peterson (Daniel Roebuck), a couple who last caused a stir in Season 2’s Buck, Actually but who we now find gatecrashing Bobby and Athena’s (Bassett) belated honeymoon cruise.
While Bobby finds their constant presence irritating, Athena actually encourages them, struggling not only to shake off her fear of boats, caused by watching The Poseidon Adventure on television as a child, but also the feeling that, away from their vocations, she and her husband have nothing to talk about.
“Our life together is a whirlwind,” she tells her therapist before they depart, “take away the chaos and what’s left?”
Fortunately, for us at least, she doesn’t have to contemplate that for long, particularly after Lola goes missing.
As anyone who has indulged, even casually, in 9-1-1 knows, you come for the thrilling set-pieces but stay for the heightened emotional stakes and actually, sometimes, truly-inspired banter.
“I just told you a man fell through an upside-down skylight, what about it do you not goddamn get?” Athena berates her therapist, as he dares to question her fears “based on a TV movie”.
“A major motion picture,” she abruptly corrects, “Shelley Winters was even nominated for best supporting actress.”
And yes, picking apart 9-1-1’s quirks and exposing its shortcomings is one of the joys of watching the show. It’s interactive viewing of the best kind, as you and your viewing partner(s) try to outdo each other on guessing what will happen next, snort in stereo at the more florid storylines and dialogue and giggle at the sometimes wild over-emoting, all while becoming hopelessly entangled in the lives and loves of the regulars onscreen.
That the cast – occasionally at least – seems to be in on the fun just makes it even more satisfying.
Season 7 of 9-1-1 debuts at 8.30pm tomorrow. Episodes will also be available to stream on ThreeNow.