‘9-1-1’ Season 9 Premiere: A Touching Tribute To Bobby Nash, Athena Goes To Space & Mark Consuelos Gets Swallowed By A Whale
The 9-1-1 Season 9 premiere took viewers to space in the opening sequence that had two astronauts’ lives in danger after debris hit their station.
But before viewers were treated to the out-of-this-world drama, a two-week rewind was made down to Earth for a tribute to Bobby Nash. The 118 crew gathered to memorialize Captain Bobby as the fire station was named in his honor following his sacrifice.
Interim Captain Han (Kenneth Choi) took the podium to dedicate a few words to the memory of Bobby.
“When Chief Simpson first spoke to me about a tribute for Cap, we debated what to do,” he said. “Should it be the Robert Nash Memorial Ladder Truck or a building at the academy to inspire new recruits? And then I realized that when I think of Bobby, I picture him here, in this building. Manning that stove, gathering us all around the table, taking a team and making it into a family. And now we’ve got this plaque to tell anyone who walks through these doors what we already know. This is Bobby’s house.”
After the speech, Chimney (Choi) tells Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) that Bobby would not have liked to see his name on the wall and questions if he’s doing a good job. Maddie tries to uplift him by telling him that everything is “really good” as he leads the 118.
Athena (Angela Bassett) doesn’t attend the memorial and instead is working undercover for the DEA, going on a date with a man to try to get a confession out of him. In the middle of the date, the FBI interjects and arrests the man, blowing up Athena’s cover. Athena is seemingly trying to drown herself in work not to feel Bobby’s absence.
Mark Consuelos guest stars as tech billionaire Tripp Hauser who gets swallowed by a whale. The crew rescues the tech CEO by resuscitating him after the whale spits him out.
Throughout the episode, we see Buck (Oliver Stark) not too happy about the great chemistry Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) have developed since becoming work partners.
Athena learns her son Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) dropped out of high school and now works at a coffee shop. Athena calls for a family meeting where her two kids reprimand her for not being there enough for them.
“You haven’t been our mother since Bobby died,” Harry tells Athena.
Chief Simpson calls Hen for a meeting with the tech billionaire, whom she brought back to life, who wants to donate $5M to the LAFD. Tripp Hauser offers Hen to go to space. After Karen (Tracie Thoms) declines the offer, the rest of the 118 start making their case to be Hen’s plus-one to go to space.
Chimney grapples with the idea of becoming the Captain of the 118 following Bobby’s death, saying, “It doesn’t seem right. It feels disrespectful, for me of all people, to try to step into Bobby’s shoes.”
After a heart-to-heart with Athena, Hen invites her to go to space with her.
9-1-1 Season 9 continues next Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
