9-1-1 Season 9, Episode 2 ‘Spiraling‘ sees Hen and Athena go to space, where things predictably go bad very, very quickly. And though the whole going to space thing is a little hard to wrap our heads around, this show has already given us a beenado, a tsunami, and multiple earthquakes, not to mention one of its characters got shot by a sniper in the middle of the street and another got hit by lightning. 9-1-1 just requires suspension of disbelief.
Ironically, what doesn’t require all that much suspension of disbelief is the reason why Hen and Athena are stuck in space, very close to dying. A billionaire ignores warning signs to go ahead with his vanity project because all that matters is him? Color me shocked.
Does that make the storyline better? Debatable. It works, in some ways, as a study of human mortality, and it hits Athena especially hard after the loss of Bobby, yes. For us, however? Considering the stakes are as low as they can be right now, and this isn’t even the end of the opening-season emergency? It’s okay, but nothing out of this world.
MORE: In case you missed it, read our review of the 9-1-1 Season 9 premiere
I’M A JINX
Athena is not having a good time in ‘Spiraling’ and it doesn’t even have to do with her going to space, which would be valid. It’s everything. It’s this life that she’s living, without her husband. It’s how the world just keeps on turning for everyone else, but it seems to have stopped for her. That’s grief. That’s realistic. It’s just really hard to watch.
Especially because she’s not the only one struggling. Harry is still very much in the anger phase of grief, and he’s lashing out at everyone. Part of that is that he hasn’t had a chance to lash out at his mom, and part is that she’s doing this dangerous thing, and he’s scared of losing her like he lost Bobby. Plus, he’s a kid! And there’s also the fact that he’s unable to express all of those emotions constructively.
Then there’s May, the big sister always, trying to understand everyone and still have her feelings. But just because she’s not lashing out like Harry or being glib about the possibility of dying like Athena, that doesn’t mean she’s not in pain. Of course she is. They all are. And they’re not grieving together, which is making it even harder.
In my experience, and I sadly have a fair bit of it, grief is the kind of thing you don’t get over; instead, it’s the kind of thing you endure. But it’s so much easier to endure it if the people you love, the ones who suffered the same loss you did, are there by your side.
MORE: We love that May and Harry are series regulars. But what about Ravi?
BRACE FOR IMPACT
These ominous words on 9-1-1 Season 9, Episode 2 feel like they’re being spoken to us. And not just about this space mission, either. A lot is going on for our 9-1-1 family. Some things feel lighter, and some people have adjusted better. But the scars of Bobby’s death still remain for everyone. That doesn’t change because Harry is the only one who looks angry, and Athena is the only one who looks lost.
Now the question is, how will the show deal with it? Will it? This hour is way too emergency-in-space focused to know what the answer will be, as everyone on the ground spends more time dealing with the issues caused by the debris, and everyone in space is just trying to figure it out. But if the show isn’t going to delve into the emotions caused by what happened, if they’re going to wave a hand and be like, it’s been six months, everyone’s mostly okay, then what was the point?
Opening emergencies can be cool. But the best ones are the ones that showcase something in the characters. The ones that result in character growth. Space is just… space, so far. There’s nothing too interesting to be found there, or on Earth. And that means this feels like a wasted arc, once again. Thankfully, it’s not over yet.
KAREN WILSON, THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE
Karen Wilson has deserved the chance to save the day for nine seasons, so it’s actually pretty fitting that she seems to be the one who’s going to do just that. I might even be able to forgive how uninteresting everything else about this mission is because of Karen. Of course, she’s the one who has the actual knowledge in this case, so it would be weird if it weren’t. But she’s also the type of person who will not stop until she gets her wife back.
This is a very good episode (and arc) for Karen, as absurd as the whole thing is, because we’ve been able to see different sides of her. She was excited about space, upset about Tripp, a little jealous, and then super competent. So often, we only get to see the side of Karen that the show needs to show us to showcase someone else’s storyline. Here, we get to see Karen as Karen. Not as a mother. Not as a wife. As a badass rocket scientist.
Nine seasons in, that feels like a very good decision for a show that now has only one other canon ship to anchor it outside of Hen and Karen. And we hope this is just the beginning of the story they are going to tell with them.
MORE: What did we think of 9-1-1: Nashville? Read our Pilot review!
Things I think I think:
- Hen just talking about Karen.
- Tripp’s fiancée OMG. This is a little on the nose, 9-1-1.
- Let me come clean here: I don’t want to go to space.
- “We all know how it turned out for Gilligan.” CHIMNEY, YOU JINXED THEM.
- Karen is a hater. I love it.
- Maddie asking Karen if she’s okay. I’m not okay.
- Karen, baby. I know this is your dream and it’s actually killing you to not do it. I’m so proud of you.
- Neil Armstrong OR Katy Perry?
- “What is up with her?” She’s sad, Harry.
- Thank you for stopping him, May. Because that was mean.
- Yeah, Harry is scared. And that’s understandable. Not being scared would be weird here.
- Okay, but she is a jinx. But I’d be joking about it too, at this point.
- And a Jeff Bezos mention! LOL
- Everyone talking about Hen, I’m crying.
- “That’s where my whole world is gonna be.”
- Karen, stoooooop.
- Wait, that horrible moment of Karen knowing how dangerous it is and the whole thing still happening, that got me.
- Yes, how do you know, Eddie?
- I would not unbuckle. No, thanks.
- NO ONE PUKE.
- “I can’t do another funeral, Buck.”
- PROTECT HARRY AT ALL COSTS. Let him grieve. Let him be a kid and grieve. Let him be wrong, and angry and sometimes harsh and still treat him softly and with care, because he’s hurting.
- Good big brother Buck, I love you.
- Of course the vibes are not good!
- Eddie being a dad is also so good.
- Aw, Eddie supporting Buck re: Harry.
- “We do our jobs, helping people.”
- TERRY. I’VE MISSED YOU.
- Eddie’s hatred of technology remains.
- Look, I might choose being in space to being hit with debris from space.
- It turns out that Eddie was right to hate technology.
- I miss Buddie partners.
- Two seconds of Eddie, Buck and Ravi being worried about Hen and Athena is all I wanted.
- Wait, hold. I also wanted 2 seconds of Eddie being worried about Buck and the killer robot! This isn’t me asking for something romantic, it’s me asking for continuity between Buck and his best friend.
- Also, how come this episode didn’t make a quip about his hatred of technology?
- “I really can’t take you anywhere.”
- They got cell service in space, but Bobby is dead.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of 9-1-1 Season 9, Episode 2 ‘Spiraling’? Share with us in the comments below! Check out our Tales From the 118 podcast if you also want to listen to our reviews. On Apple Podcasts and Spotify! Plus, if you want to leave your own rating/comment about the show, you can do so in our 9-1-1 hub!
9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
