Spoilers forward!
At the start of this season, Athena (Angela Bassett) expresses her issues about happening a belated honeymoon cruise with Bobby (Peter Krause), her husband. At first, it looks like watching The Poseidon Adventure throughout her childhood traumatized her to some extent the place spending a while abroad could be robust. Flashforward to this yr’s catastrophe: the ship flipped the wrong way up, with Athena and Bobby saying “I love you” to one another whereas drowning. Flashforward ends. Time to find how they get on this state of affairs.
After virtually a yr because it aired its season 6 finale, 9-1-1 is again! Canceled by FOX final yr and picked up by ABC, the primary episode of its shortened seventh season is tasked with beginning a 3-episode-arc that can lead us to our major couple dealing with one other near-death expertise collectively. Also, it’s (re)introducing major and supporting characters to a brand new viewers, making it some sort of “pilot” of its personal.
And in the event you have been lacking the usually loopy, bizarre, over-the-top emergency circumstances confronted by the 118 group, “Abandon Ships” delivers a few of it. Here, Captain Hen (Aisha Hinds), Chimney (Kenneth Choi), Eddie (Ryan Guzman), and Buck (Oliver Stark) take care of a fighter jet crashing into the home of an arguing outdated couple and a pair caught collectively in sudden methods. The first case looks like the nice, outdated 9-1-1 days: a person trapped underneath his favourite chair by a jet, a bomb about to blow up, and our first responders having some insights on their private lives provoked by the victims’ conditions.
Here, Chimney’s the one to have an perception! After noticing how the couple treats one another, he fears his relationship with 9-1-1 dispatcher Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) may in the future flip like this. Because of this worry, he comes up with a “forever dating” plan, which incorporates hours of filling spreadsheets and scheduling each day dates so their love won’t ever calcify.
Another character with a lot of courting happening is Christopher (Gavin McHugh), which is making Eddie a bit anxious. After all, Christopher is embodying a participant persona, speaking to some women on the identical time with out letting them know he’s not searching for something severe and/or unique with them. Because of this, Eddie enlists Buck’s (as soon as a participant as nicely) assist to have a troublesome dialog with Chris. This results in a heartbreaking discovery and a teary letter learn by an sudden cameo.
The second case involves steadiness issues and convey comedian reduction to the story. When a pair having intercourse in a scorching tub finally ends up caught collectively, Eddie makes use of some rest strategies to show the girl off in a scene that’s each stunning and humorous. By the best way, folks feeling caught is likely to be the episode’s theme: Athena is feeling caught not solely by the ship but additionally by her relationship with Bobby. She fears they don’t have anything in frequent when at peace — as if their love may solely make sense throughout chaotic occasions and nerve-racking occasions. Maddie and Chimney are additionally caught by their spreadsheet courting plans, whereas Christopher feels caught by his grief, which fuels his anger and motivates him to deal with women this fashion as a result of “they will leave him anyway”, identical to his mother did.
Well, this premiere was actually good, particularly with regards to the 118 elements! But I completed my first watch with blended emotions, and never so positive about what was bugging me. After a rewatch, it was clear that I anticipated extra from the cruise plot. Don’t get me flawed, I used to be conscious from the start that this story could be advised in 3 episodes, identical to the tsunami arc. So I had a really imprecise expectation of a premiere centered on this gang of worldwide smugglers that might result in a sinking ship battle within the subsequent two episodes. I received over it rapidly — the best way it occurred is sensible, in any case.
That stated, once I first watched these very awkward interactions between Athena, Bobby, Norman, and Lola, I felt confused — in any case, the place was the battle, the motion? During the rewatch I spotted perhaps the battle wasn’t the sinking ship (cruise), however the sinking ship (Bathena). And then I understood what bothered me probably the most throughout that first view. I’m all in on Athena and Bobby engaged on some private features of their relationships, akin to why they’re in love with one another, and likewise what makes them an excellent pairing when there’s no chaos round them. I’m all for it — so the rationale Athena was appearing unusual was fantastic, however how she expressed these emotions bugged me a little bit. Some moments really feel out of character for Athena, and there may be additionally this comedian reduction tone added to those scenes that doesn’t match with the brink of a disaster — however I’ll develop my ideas on this after watching the entire arc, it’s too quickly to attract a conclusion. Regarding my first impressions, I consider this method to Bobby and Athena’s relationship can lead to some attention-grabbing moments.
Overall, this was a really strong, very entertaining season premiere — I missed these characters a lot, and the solid/crew did such an excellent job introducing new plots, outdated faces, and new circumstances, all whereas making it really feel the identical (however stronger than ever). I can’t look forward to subsequent week and for this season as an entire.
What about you? What was your favourite second from “Abandon Ships”? What do you anticipate to observe on this #9-1-1onABC season?
Thanks for studying, and see you quickly!