Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 6.
This week’s episode of 9-1-1, “Family History,” marks the mid-season finale for 9-1-1 Season 9. After opening the season with a space-themed emergency, 9-1-1 has been giving focus to storylines like Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) deciding to become a firefighter, and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) finally taking on the permanent role of Captain at the 118. The season has dragged these storylines out quite a bit, but they finally get wrapped up in this week’s episode.
“Family History” sees Athena (Angela Bassett) investigating a cyberbullying case that reminds her of what May (Corinne Massiah) went through at the start of Season 1. All the while, Buck (Oliver Stark) helps Harry train in preparation to apply for the firefighting academy, and Chimney considers finally taking the leap and becoming Captain of the 118. Hen (Aisha Hinds) also has a health scare, and the episode ends in a cliffhanger before she can learn what’s going on.
In ‘9-1-1’ Season 9, Episode 6, Chimney Finally Becomes Captain of the 118
I hoped that after Chimney and Eddie’s (Ryan Guzman) heart-to-heart in the Season 9 premiere that Chimney would decide to become Captain of the 118. Instead, this week’s episode shows him preparing to pass that title onto someone else. After some encouragement from Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), though, Chimney decides to take the leap. He goes out for dinner with Chief Simpson (Richard Brooks), and at the end of the episode, he is sworn in with a nice ceremony.
Oddly, though, the episode doesn’t show Chimney actually changing his mind. It tries to juggle four storylines, and in doing so, sidelines Chimney’s and Hen’s plots. After dragging this decision out all season, Chimney changes his mind off-screen, and then he becomes Captain of the 118. Most of the entire first half of this season has felt transitional, so now that Chimney is Captain of the 118, hopefully, 9-1-1 will be able to move forward with some new storylines that are less connected to Bobby’s (Peter Krause) death.
‘9-1-1′ Season 9, Episode 6 Revisits the Grants’ Past Storylines
Athena, May, and Harry all have to revisit difficult moments from their past this episode. Athena is shaken up when tending to a teenage girl who attempted suicide due to cyberbullying, and she then tries to figure out the identity of the bully. This whole storyline felt predictable to me because it has the same twist reveal as the Netflix documentary, Unknown Number: The High School Catfish. The girl’s mother is the one bullying her, which Athena figures out. The girl’s mother overdoses after Athena confronts her, but she lives, and her daughter cuts her off. The benefit of this storyline is that it brought back this major moment in Athena and May’s lives that hasn’t been mentioned in quite a while. Athena and May talk about what May went through back then, and it brings them closer.
Meanwhile, Harry asks Buck to help him train to get into the firefighting academy, and this leads to some hilarious scenes, including a montage of Buck doing bizarre training exercises with Harry. It goes very well, until Harry’s Season 7 storyline of getting arrested resurfaces. For those who need a refresher: in “Buck, Bothered, and Bewildered,” Harry was unfairly arrested for defending himself against a racist shop owner, and he ended up coming to live with Athena for a while. Harry wants to give up after it comes out that he has a record, but Buck talks to Chief Simpson and gives Harry the chance to speak up for himself. This is my favorite storyline this week, and it ends with Harry officially getting into the firefighting academy.
In ‘9-1-1’ Season 9, Episode 6, Hen Has a Health Scare
In theory, Bobby’s death last season should’ve heightened the stakes of 9-1-1, because it proved that nobody was safe. Instead, it’s obvious that 9-1-1 wouldn’t kill off another main character so soon after, so none of the life-and-death risks this season are particularly concerning. We knew that Athena and Hen would survive when they went to space, just like it’s clear that Hen will get through this health scare. Hen deals with a number of symptoms throughout the episode, but she keeps it all a secret from the people in her life so they won’t worry about her. At the end of the episode, Hen gets an MRI, but we don’t see her results.
This was ultimately a lackluster mid-season finale, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this wasn’t supposed to be the mid-season finale at all, and maybe the four-episode opening emergency pushed everything back by a week. As it stands, the first half of the season ends with Harry and Chimney’s big storylines this season finally getting wrapped up, so that it feels like 9-1-1 might actually be able to move forward when it returns in the spring. Hen’s health scare feels like an odd choice for a Hen-centered storyline right now, especially because she just had a near-death experience in space. Alas, I have hope that 9-1-1 will have its sea legs back after the hiatus, and I look forward to it quickly moving past Hen’s mysterious illness.
9-1-1 will return to ABC on January 8, at 8:00 P.M. EST on ABC.
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