This episode of 9-1-1 was a little different than usual. Instead of several different calls, “Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1” was completed focused on one: the prison. We’ve seen other shows that involve a prison fire or prison outbreak, and honestly, they aren’t our favorites. There’s just too much that can go wrong, and this episode was no exception.
At the beginning of the episode, the 118 show up to the prison to put out a fire. But the situation quickly escalates as they discover several people who need medical attention. Buck and Eddie take one of the injured men out to the ambulance. Unfortunately, they are also accompanied by Mitchell, who is one of the escaped prisoners.
While Buck makes it out of the ambulance, Eddie isn’t so lucky. It turns out that Mitchell escaped prison because his son has heart failure, and he wants to give his son his heart. Wow. But there’s a problem: death row inmates cannot donate organs. Mitchell refuses to give up and continues to hold Eddie hostage in the ambulance.
As Eddie points out, while Mitchell wants to save his son, his plan is terrible. Mitchell put a lot of people in danger and caused a lot of pain and grief. If his son found out, he would probably blame himself. But Mitchell, determined to save his son, doesn’t listen to Eddie and shoots himself. Eddie gives CPR until they can get him inside the hospital. We love that Eddie tried to keep the heart and other organs viable even though he had just been held hostage by a lunatic.
Somehow Athena gets a miracle to happen, and Mitchell’s heart is given to his son. So at least some good came out of this horrible situation.
While Eddie dealt with Mitchell, Hen had to help perform a surgery to save the prison guard’s life. She’s successful, and she decided she wants to be a general surgeon. We’re happy for Hen, and we can’t wait to see more of her journey.
The ending of “Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1″ was our favorite part of the episode. Bobby realized that Ravi didn’t need to go home alone and offered to take him out for breakfast. Buck went home to Taylor, and Eddie reunited with Christopher. Who was safe and sound in his bed.
While this 9-1-1 was a nice break from Athena and her family’s problems, we definitely prefer the usual formula with multiple events and rescues. Can we also through in some humor next week? This episode was a little too depressing.
Other Thoughts:
- Ravi was a hero in his own right in this episode. We can’t imagine having to pretend to be an inmate. And because of his actions, Hen and Bobby were able to get the guard out of the prison and to the hospital.
- Don’t ever threaten to kill Christopher! He is precious, and we will riot if anyone, especially an escaped prisoner, ever tries to hurt him.
What did you think of “Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1”? Leave a comment and let us know!
9-1-1 airs Mondays at 8/7c on Fox.