9-1-1season 8 has aired some of the most infamous moments in the procedural’s history, but the penultimate episode’s cliffhanger highlights a tiresome pattern.9-1-1season 8 has continued the series norm of dramatic medical emergencies, emotional narratives, and surprising character development, but some plots were more fleshed out than others. The main cast of characters— now headed by Angela Bassett’s Athena Grant following the death of Peter Krause’s Bobby Nash— is slated to respond to one of9-1-1’s hallmark intense disastersin the season 8 finale, but the members of LAFD station 118 all have unfinished business.
The main firefighters— Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark), Henrietta “Hen” Wilson (Aisha Hinds), Howard “Chimney” Han (Kenneth Choi), Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman), and Ravi Panikkar (Anirudh Pisharody)— each have ongoing storylines that the9-1-1season 8 finale will hopefully resolve. Yet,how the first-responder drama solves the ensemble cast’s problems is another concern entirely.Season 8 included some of9-1-1’s most gruesome injuries, not to mention its first main character death. Yet, before the aftermath had even cleared,9-1-1continued introducing additional conflicts for the 118 that preemptively set up the season finale’s main objectives.
9-1-1 Season 8’s Finale Will Conclude A Two-Episode Arc
Athena’s Cliffhanger Sets Up The Final Emergency Of The Season
The most obvious hints about the9-1-1season 8 finale’s plot, however, lie in the penultimate episode itself.9-1-1season 8, episode 17established the most pressing issues for each character, ranging from Athena and Chimney’s strained relationship to Eddie’s potential return. Instead of resolving any of its storylines, however,9-1-1season 8, episode 17 sets up the season finale with a cliffhanger ending. After Athena responds to a nuisance call, a sudden explosion threatens to bring down a nearby building. The severity of the emergency is immediately apparent, as Athena urgently tells dispatch to“Send everybody!”
9-1-1season 8’s finale will directly follow the events of “Don’t Drink the Water,”creating one continuous storyline across the two episodes. Every plot that was integral to9-1-1season 8, episode 17 will presumably return in the finale: Athena and Chimney will have to confront their tension head-on, Eddie will have to choose between moving home or pursuing the job in El Paso, and Hen will have to decide once and for all whether she’ll accept the captaincy. Naturally, the building collapse will also take up the bulk of9-1-1season 8’s finale.
9-1-1 Included Multiple Other Two-Part Events In Season 8
From The Midseason Return To The Infamous Contagion Saga
The season finale is far from9-1-1season 8’s first multi-episode timeline, however. The opening of9-1-1season 8 included an exhaustive three-episode storyline following Athena’s journey navigating a plane’s emergency landing. Similarly, the midseason premiere (“Sob Stories”) introduced a two-part story for Maddie Han (Jennifer Love Hewitt) andAbigail Spencer’s9-1-1character, Amber Braeburn. While9-1-1season 8, episode 9 extensively explored Maddie’s trauma and an anonymous serial killer, the cliffhanger ending ofMaddie being abducted by Braeburn set up “Voices” as a direct continuation. Unsurprisingly,9-1-1season 8, episode 10 focused on Braeburn’s evil plan and Maddie’s escape.
Both Chimney and Bobby were infected by Moira’s Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever strain, but Bobby purposefully hid his symptoms during9-1-1: Contagion.
More recently,9-1-1season 8, episodes 14 and 15 were connected under the umbrella name of9-1-1: Contagion. The first episode in the two-part arc introduced9-1-1’s evil scientist, Moira Blake(Bridget Regan), and laid the groundwork for the CCHF super-strain to loom overhead as an omnipresent threat after the LAFD is accidentally quarantined in the research lab.The narrative of “Sick Day” continues into “Lab Rats”seamlessly, as Buck and Athena apprehend Moira and deliver the antidote to save Chimney’s life. After the smoke seems to clear,Bobby’s death in9-1-1acts as the two-part event’s dramatic twist ending.
Overusing The Two-Part Structure In 9-1-1 Season 8 Made It Less Effective
Cliffhangers Started To Feel Like A Crutch
While each of the aforementioned two-part events were interesting by themselves, the seemingly constant cliffhangers and continuations make9-1-1season 8 feel disjointed when considered as one cohesive, linear storyline. Rather than the typical structure of standalone narratives building an overarching story for the season,9-1-1season 8 segmented itself with multi-episode arcs. Using the two-part structure once or twice could have been effective without sacrificing the overall plot, but the9-1-1season 8 finale will be the fourth multi-episode event in 18 episodes. Statistically, that means9-1-1season 8 employed a cliffhanger about once every four episodes.
9-1-1season 8 felt like a never-ending stream of drama and danger— intriguing in small doses, but draining when over-utilized.
Breaking the season up into distinct segments overwhelmingly contributed to the biggest concern of9-1-1’s showrunner, Tim Minear: raising the stakes. Whereasnear-death experiences in9-1-1were previously few and far between,9-1-1season 8 overloaded the characters with personal crises. If the procedural had stuck to its formula and balanced character development with wacky medical emergencies,9-1-1could have retained its ability to use near-misses and extreme disasters as rare but impactful tools. Instead,9-1-1season 8 felt like a never-ending stream of drama and danger— intriguing in small doses, but draining when over-utilized.
What 9-1-1 Season 9 Can Do To Replace Its Two-Part Events
There Are Other Episode Types To Explore
Fortunately,9-1-1still has time to tweak its episodic structures.9-1-1season 9has already been confirmed by ABC, meaning the long-running procedural will have another full batch of episodes to prove its merit. If the first-responder drama wants a chance at season 10, though,9-1-1will have to stop relying on multi-episode events and excessive cliffhangers. The series must once again prioritize its characters over its disasters; high-octane calls are entertaining, but they’re supplemental to the true selling point of9-1-1— the 118.
9-1-1’s found family aspecthas been pivotal to many character arcs and overarching narratives, like Eddie moving to Texas and Maddie’s second pregnancy. Yet, the found family at the center of it all has rarely been acknowledged in recent seasons of9-1-1. Rather than jam-packing the season with as many twists and turns as possible,9-1-1season 9 should consider a more nuanced approach and start treating its cast as a true ensemble again. By retiring the two-episode structure that forces most of the cast to the sidelines,9-1-1season 9 can include everyone in the episodic narratives.
All episodes of9-1-1are streaming on Hulu.
Additionally, ABC can revisit some of the best9-1-1episodesthat had unique plots, such as “Ocean’s 9-1-1,” “Jinx,” and “Treasure Hunt.”9-1-1can return to fun filler episodes or even experiment with new structures entirely, like the limited scope of a“bottle episode”(one that typically takes place in a single setting with limited distractions). Likewise,9-1-1can return to staples like character backstories, especially considering Maddie and Ravi are both obvious candidates for a “Begins” episode. Regardless of how,9-1-1needs to replace its two-part episode structure if it wants to avoid burning out prematurely.
