9-1-1 Season 9, Episode 4 ‘Reentry‘ isn’t about loss, or even about how you handle the aftermath of it, but about how you start building a life after it. Sometimes that’s the hardest part. For Athena, for May and Harry, for the 118, going on without Bobby is hard. It will continue to be hard. But life doesn’t stop after loss. Sometimes you wish it did. Sometimes you want it to. But it doesn’t.
And, perhaps the biggest question to ask after a loss that cripples you like Bobby’s did is: what would they want for me? Would they want me to give up? Would they want me to stop living? Or would they rather that, as hard as it might be, I find a way to stop putting one step in front of the other. The answer is awful and hard, but obvious. If someone really loved you, they wouldn’t want you to suffer—not even because of their absence. Athena knows. She’s been there before.
I didn’t want Bobby to die. I don’t like that he did. I will take any curveball that brings him back. But, in this world we exist without him, I understand that the characters (and in some way, the fans) can and should find ways to live, to laugh, and to love, even in his absence. That’s what Bobby would have wanted.
MORE: Remember when 9-1-1 killed Bobby Nash because “realism”? We’re still mad.
MOVING ON IS NOT LETTING GO
‘Reentry’ is, above all, about Athena. It’s, of course, about Angela Bassett, the kind of actress who can carry this episode, and this show. The kind of actress who commands the screen. The one we can’t stop watching. But it’s above all about the character.
Athena, who saves the day. Who loses hope, but then finds a way to keep going, over and over again. Who isn’t whole and might never be healed, but is putting one foot in front of the other and continuing life, not just for her, but for her family. And her struggle seems very familiar to those of us who have lost people and who have, for a bit, felt like going on without them was impossible.
The pain Athena was feeling, the loss, is normal. It’s believable. And the part where she didn’t know how to deal for six entire months, she threw herself into work, then took on this dangerous trip with Hen, and just… didn’t really want to die, but also wasn’t fully invested in living, truly living, that’s sadly relatable. We talk so much about these fixed stages of grief that we don’t really focus enough on the moment where anger might have left, but acceptance hasn’t set in. That’s where Athena is; she can’t appreciate what she still has because she’s so focused on what she lost.
It is, of course, part of the depression stage, but it’s not just depression. It’s a loss of hope. That’s what Athena needed in this episode, and that’s what May and Harry needed from her. Hope. Not that they are going to be better without Bobby, because they won’t be. But hope that they are at least going to be okay, and that this pain that they’re feeling, this loss, they’re going to handle together.
MORE: In case you missed it, read our review of the 9-1-1 Season 9 premiere! And here’s Episode 2. And Episode 3.
THE REAL HEROES ARE THE ONES WHO NEVER MADE IT HOME
I disagree with Athena that the only way to be a hero is to die. But I don’t actually think this belief Athena has is new. We see it in the flashbacks of her younger self. Athena didn’t start believing this because Bobby died. She always thought it. And that’s why she doesn’t consider herself a hero. Why she might not even consider the rest of the first responders she works with so closely heroes. And, it’s also why she volunteers to do the dangerous, stupid thing that might kill her.
To her, Bobby is a hero. Bobby made the ultimate sacrifice. She is just the one who has to pick up the pieces and figure out how to go on. And from her point of view, it’s easier to die than to let Hen go out there and be responsible for Karen, Denny, and Mara losing their mom. Easier to die than have to live without someone else she loves. Even though she wouldn’t be responsible. Even though Hen is an adult capable of making her own choices.
But Athena is also a hero. Not because of the dangerous thing she does, or at least not just because of that. She’s a hero because she saves everyone, yes. But she’s also a hero because she chooses to continue trying. Because she finds a light in the middle of her despair and reaches for it. And because when the easy option would be to give up and stop trying, instead, she fights. For herself. For her life. Because she does have people who want to see her come back. And she won’t let them down.
MORE: What did we want to see in 9-1-1 Season 9? Listen to our preview!
Things I think I think:
- Even Buck is putting his training to use.
- “When was the last time you ate?” Big brother Evan Buckley means a lot to me.
- I have a hard time deciding if the “you don’t want to handle this Cap?” is genuine or not. Season 9 Eddie Diaz, you are a mystery.
- At this point, no news is no news. Nothing more, nothing else.
- Also, if this is happening to the ISS, why aren’t other countries doing anything?! That might be the most absurd thing happening this episode.
- Building this thing cost $150 billion. They spend around $3 billion a year. Like $1 million per astronaut. And that space trash just tore through it like nothing.
- Athena about to volunteer, and here comes Hen.
- Of course, Athena doesn’t consider herself a hero.
- It is better to ride with someone who wants to make it home.
- “The real heroes are the ones who never made it home.”
- We don’t give Henrietta Wilson enough credit.
- “If we get home, I am so going to break up with Tripp.”
- “You can’t decide what risks I take.”
- When she said there was nothing for her on Earth!
- “You know I lost him too?”
- MY HUSBAND, SHE SAID. MY HUSBAND.
- The Bobby flashback so unfair.
- She does love to give orders.
- “You have to move on. Move forward.”
- Okay, but is this why Athena doesn’t have a partner anymore? Because this is traumatizing.
- “Away from all the pain. All the loss. So much loss. And for what? What has it all been for anyway?”
- “For all the moments in between. No matter how far apart they may be.”
- Not today.
- “Pain is the price we pay for joy” hit me hard.
- The creepy music as they’re attempting to leave the ISS got me too.
- I hope we never see Tripp Hauser again.
- Eddie and Buck mirroring each other as the capsule is descending.
- I’d laugh too! What are you gonna do but laugh at that point?
- Hen and Karen OTP goals.
- “How does it feel to be a hero?” Karen was, indeed, the hero.
- TRICIA GO YOU.
- “You’ve been grieving, Mom.”
- Harry wants to be a firefighter. WHAT A SHOCK. I’m sooo shocked. Never would have seen it coming. Ever. Shocking development indeed.
- I knew that was Michael!
- “For Dad”
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of 9-1-1 Season 9, Episode 4 ‘Reentry’? 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.
