9-1-1: Nashville has me feeling very different in comparison to 9-1-1. And I know they’re two vastly different shows. But I’m reviewing both, so I can’t help it. And while I want Buck and Eddie to make up and not be on their way to their second divorce in Season 10, I am hoping that Blythe and Don get that divorce in Season 2 and spare us all. This is where I am.
When it comes to the opening emergency of it all on 9-1-1: Nashville, I’m kind of done with it as well. I don’t understand what’s happening with this Pharaoh character, and I don’t know if I care. And it really has to do with the fact that I’m having trouble connecting the dots. I get lava. I don’t get random biblical plagues. But I do like Rogue, maybe a little too much.
Blythe Should Still Divorce Don
JESSICA CAPSHAW, RYAN PHILLIPPE
While a near-death emergency is enough to bring lovers together in a book, or in a fanfiction, it doesn’t work as well when it comes to a TV show like 9-1-1: Nashville. For Blythe and Don in particular, it feels like a temporary solution to a bigger problem. And what’s happening between Blythe and Don goes beyond that fight in the Season 1 finale or the fact that he was on his way to cheat on his devoted wife.
The very foundation of Blythe and Don’s marriage is rotten. And I would like to say it’s because of Dixie and her interference. But it really isn’t. It’s because of Don keeping this door open to something outside of his marriage. He’s a grown man who’s responsible for his own actions. And besides this one moment at Blythe’s bedside, he has never shown one bit of understanding of what he’s allowed to come between his marriage, his heart, or his home.
By the end of “Let There Be Darkness,” we see that Dixie is about to return to the picture on 9-1-1: Nashville. And I don’t trust that Don is going to stand up to his ex like he should because he never has. And this isn’t a marriage between Don and Blythe that’s just starting out with plenty of room for growth. They have a grown son who is about to have his own kid. By this time in their marriage, the hope is gone, and it would be a Christmas miracle in the same vein as AO3 being back up for Don to learn something new.
But this episode did have Sam and Roxie performing open-heart surgery. So I guess impossible things can happen.
The Opening Emergency Isn’t Working
RYAN PHILLIPPE
I don’t want to compare my two children, aka 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Nashville. I especially don’t want to compare them because Nashville is the baby in this scenario. But at the same time, these are big shows on a big network with big money behind them and a stacked cast to boot. So I don’t have to be as delicate or easy when I say that this opening emergency sucks and is a waste of time.
9-1-1: Nashville does get points for creativity when it comes to these biblical crimes and how they’re being implemented. But I think the missing component when it comes to what I’m seeing on screen is that besides Blythe, the stakes aren’t there. I’m not scared for any of them. And even Blythe, I knew she was going to be okay because they needed to fix the relationship between her and Don. But all the other emergencies? What’s happening with Dixie in the next episode? The show hasn’t worked on making me care to the point where I’m like, “Wow, I can’t miss out on this week’s episodes because I need to know what happens!”
If anything, the most interesting thing that this opening emergency has brought to 9-1-1: Nashville is Rogue. He is super cheesy, but I’m absolutely delighted by every scene that he’s in. Because he just feels like he’s there to cause trouble and be a mess. In the last episode, we had Ryan all over him in a way that definitely felt homoerotic, especially when Ryan came over while Rogue was working out. And then in this episode you have Rogue flirting with Blythe and having a friendly competition with her on who can shoot a better target. He’s intriguing. Now I need them to make me feel that for everyone else because they’ve been here longer.
The Missing Pieces of Nashville
RYAN PHILLIPPE, HUNTER MCVEY, MICHAEL PROVOST
I know that “Let There Be Darkness” is only the third episode of Season 2. Nevertheless, what are we doing with Taylor? Because so far she has been shifted to the side to either be someone that helps the team, is there to provide a hug for Blue, or pray when need be. And all of those things are valuable, I will say that. But we both know that there’s more to Taylor. So why is she being sidelined again, especially after Season 1 made a big deal about Nashville being one of the most diverse cities in the US?
Then there’s the Blue of it all. Which, I do want to see a little bit more of Taylor and Blue’s relationship and the next steps that they’re taking within that space. But I also want to know more about Blue, something I never thought I would say in Season 1. Because the freshman season made Blue’s appearance a central component of what was going on. Now I feel like they have forgotten him and sidelined him to the point where I forgot that Blue and Ryan are brothers. And that’s a problem.
9-1-1: Nashville would do better if they dumped the whole nonsensical love triangle between Blythe, Don, and Dixie and focused on beefing up their characters and their story arcs. I want to care about these characters. But 9-1-1: Nashville is giving me signals left and right that I’m here for a fun time and not a long time where I get emotionally invested and care for the well-being of every single character on my screen. And that’s a shame. Because I like caring, and I think all of these characters have potential. But I need 9-1-1: Nashville to care too.
9-1-1: Nashville airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
