9-1-1 Recap: Ground Control to Sergeant Grant

I fear I have been bamboozled about bees. When I’m promised a three-episode bee-nado event, I expect that there will be ample stinging insects throughout. Instead, the second episode of 9-1-1’s eighth season — the Empire Strikes Back chapter of the bee-nado — has nary a bee in sight. The bees were merely the inciting incident of the plane disaster that takes up the bulk of the impeccably titled “When the Boeing Gets Tough.” Perhaps it was wrong of me to assume that the hive would return seeking revenge, but it’s hard not to feel a little deflated. I am Patricia Arquette in Boyhood saying, “I just thought there would be more,” in this case specifically referring to bees.

I’m getting my disappointment out of the way upfront because this episode is actually an improvement on the season premiere, offering a more tightly focused story that gives Angela Bassett ample room to shine. We’re on the plane from the jump, though we begin right before Athena and Dennis Jenkins make it onboard, allowing time for introductions to all the characters we need to know: Tia and her dog who hates men, businessman Jordan, child prodigy plane enthusiast Jim and his dad, an older couple meeting their new grandchild, and, of course, an entire girls’ volleyball team. (As a superstitious person who is very afraid of flying, I’m always looking for reasons not to get on a plane, but in a post-Yellowjackets world, if I see teen girls in uniform on my flight, I am running.)

Now that 9-1-1 has introduced us to the passengers who will be horribly injured or help the horribly injured, the show moves forward to right before the mid-air collision. Jenkins explains why the scary men are after him: The U.S. Attorney’s Office actually transferred him to another prison with the express purpose of getting him to cozy up to Maxwell “Schmeffrey Schmepstein” Fulton, who did eventually divulge the location of his library of incriminating evidence. Fulton also warned Jenkins that there were people who would stop at nothing to get their hands on his little black book, but Jenkins is still willing to share his intel. In fact, he’ll cooperate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office without the early release he’s been promised — unless Athena forgives him for murdering her fiancé. It’s an interesting, though somewhat stakes-less, moral dilemma for her (Jenkins is going to spill regardless), but before she can properly mull it over, the bee-plagued pilot from the season premiere crashes into their plane.

The smaller craft rips two big holes in the airliner. The first, in the cockpit, yeets the pilot up and out into the open sky (RIP), while the second, in the back of the plane, just makes for a very stressful experience for the passengers. Thankfully, both holes are pretty quickly (if temporarily) plugged by debris, so no one else goes flying. The co-pilot is also seriously wounded, but he’s able to level the plane before passing out. Athena makes her way to the cockpit, where she soon discovers that the radio is busted, so she does the only rational thing that also happens to be the title of the show — she calls 9-1-1 on her cell. (I would love to know who her carrier is.)

Josh gets the call and patches Athena through to air traffic control, who are very good at keeping calm despite privately wondering if they need to evacuate the whole airport. The plane has autopilot engaged and air traffic control is clearing the airspace around it, so they should be okay for a minute—but as a flight attendant tells Athena, there are a lot of injured passengers and, let’s not forget, a gaping hole in the aircraft. (This is the last thing Boeing needs.) They work together to move the passengers away from the danger zone, and Athena makes a rousing speech over the intercom. It’s a beautiful showcase for Bassett, who brings real gravitas to the silliest of situations. She’s a big part of the reason 9-1-1 works as well as it does, because she’s always committed to taking the absurdity seriously.

But the show also works because it’s an ensemble, and this episode manages to get (almost) everyone else involved. The 118 is still reeling from Buck knocking down Gerrard-slash-saving him from the flying buzzsaw. While the captain is in the hospital getting medical treatment, Hen is in charge — and they’ve all got work to do. Maddie calls and lets the station know that she’ll be patching through passengers on Athena’s flight so the firefighter paramedics can help triage the injured from 30,000 feet away. It’s a very clever way to keep the 118 in action, and I’m therefore willing to suspend disbelief about all the working cell phones on the plane.

While there are apparently multiple injuries, we really just focus on two cases. The first is one of the volleyball girls, who has a horrifically broken leg. Chimney walks Jenkins through stabilizing the leg, which then starts swelling up. The diagnosis is compartment syndrome, and the treatment is deeply upsetting — they’ll have to relieve the pressure by performing an emergency fasciotomy with a razor-sharp object, and no, a plastic knife won’t cut it. It’s Jenkins to the rescue: “I can make a blade; get me a toothbrush and a cigarette lighter.” Chimney walks them through using the shiv to slice down to the muscle along the girl’s leg. It’s very gross, but it works instantly. (Too instantly for my liking. There is a grotesque popping sound.)

The other case is businessman Jordan, who hasn’t been able to breathe properly since the aircraft stabilized. On the phone with Tia, Hen initially diagnoses Jordan as having a panic attack (this would be me in that situation, so I get it), but once he starts coughing up bloody sputum, she correctly identifies the issue as high altitude pulmonary edema. Hen’s brilliant idea? Boner pills, which will dilate his blood vessels in addition to, well, you know. Jordan can’t swallow, so Hen suggests putting the pills into a nebulizer, which does the trick and gets him breathing again. She then tells Tia to cover Jordan’s lap with a blanket for “modesty.” Shoutout to the grandparents on the plane for providing both of the elements needed to save Jordan’s life. “Perks of being geriatric, dear” says grandma, a queen.

Meanwhile, Athena is facing a bigger-picture crisis: Air traffic control has told her that she needs to land the plane herself. She’s not alone, though—they’ve called in a flight instructor who has taught countless students how to do this. Yes, those students were landing in flight simulators, but it’s really no different, minus the potential mass casualties. And she’s got an assist from Jim, the plane-loving kid we met in the opening scene, who successfully helps Athena turn the plane around, the first step in the process. It’s honestly going pretty smoothly until the injured volleyball girl has the audacity to say out loud that they’re going to be okay — never do this! — at which point the debris blocking the hole in the back of the plane comes loose, and the aircraft starts tumbling out of the sky.

Jim naturally knows what to do and helps Athena stabilize the airliner again, with an assist from the people on the ground. And that’s not the only reason to celebrate: The co-pilot has woken up, meaning Athena is off the hook and doesn’t have to learn how to land while doing it. The 118 is en route to LAX to provide assistance when the plane touches down, and Buck heads to the set of the firefighter show Bobby is working on to fetch him directly. But this is 9-1-1 and nothing is ever so simple, especially when you’re at the midpoint of a three-part event. The co-pilot stands up and promptly has a heart attack — and we’re left with another cliffhanger. I have no doubt that Angela Bassett could land a plane … but can Athena?

Call Log

• I realize I didn’t say much about Bobby’s storyline, and that’s because he still hasn’t been integrated into the larger plot. For most of the episode, no one can even reach him. I do appreciate that the series he’s working on is clearly 9-1-1, down to the director admonishing him with, “Hey, tech advisor, it’s a TV show, not reality.” Take that, fact-checkers!

• I’m also waiting for the other shoe to drop with Brad, the very intense actor who seems obsessed with Bobby. What’s going on there? I’m always happy to see Callum Blue, but the vibes are off. However, I am legally obligated to note that Brad inviting Bobby to a “just the men” weekend in the mountains or at his place in Malibu is very gay.

• Buck-Tommy watch: Speaking of gay, Tommy is MIA in this episode. Since there’s no update on Buck-Tommy to report, I’ll use this space to clarify that I am absolutely not trying to get in the middle of any shipper wars here. I’m thrilled that 9-1-1 has put Buck in a same-sex relationship, and I wanted to celebrate that. If he does happen to leave Tommy for Eddie, trust that this will become a Buddie watch section. In this house, we love and appreciate Buck kissing dudes, full stop.

• Some great laugh-out-loud moments in this episode, and also a couple of notable clunkers: Hen’s “as acting captain while Gerrard is incapacitated, my first order of business is a dance party,” and the volleyball coach’s “Hey, we are going to that tournament and no matter what, you are still team captain, okay?”

• Much as I hate the guy, the radio silence from Captain Gerrard is concerning. If he’s dead, does that mean Buck is responsible? Or is it a wash because the blade would have killed him anyway?