REVIEW: 9-1-1 Season 8 Never Finds Its Rhythm

To say 9-1-1 Season 8 is a frustrating season of television is an understatement. The second half of the season outpaced the first in quality and consistency, but it wasn’t enough to stick the landing in the finale. The season is full of ideas, and it doesn’t know what to do with them, like Eddie’s entire Texas arc and Buck’s move. Bobby’s death promised something fresh, but ultimately was a letdown in the aftermath.

The problems started with the lack of follow-through on the setups 9-1-1 Season 7 set in motion. Bringing back Vincent Gerrard didn’t yield the promised drama, declawing his bigotry and turning him into a cartoonish villain. His return in the post-Bobby (Peter Krause) world grounded him more, but he’s still a wildly different character from who he was in 9-1-1 Season 2 and 7.

From there, things either spiraled or stalled. Episodically, the season succeeded more than any overarching story. Episodes like “Masks,” “Holy Mother of God,” and “Sob Stories” really nailed the thematic storytelling between rescues and character drama that 9-1-1 has been so good at in the past. However, many long-form narrative arcs for characters lacked cohesion or even sense.

Eddie (Ryan Guzman) was probably the worst victim in this regard. He didn’t have his son around with him for the first eight episodes of 9-1-1 Season 8. This was a first for his character, as his son largely defined him. Chris left for a significant reason at the end of 9-1-1 Season 7, betrayed by his father for cheating on his current girlfriend with a doppleganger of his ex-wife and Chris’ mom. It’s such a ridiculous scenario, but the emotions rang true. However, this situation is hardly mentioned as the cause of Chris’ departure.

Poor planning contributed to a lot of the issues in 9-1-1 Season 8.

By never mentioning it, it’s difficult to determine Chris’s feelings on the matter. When Eddie eventually joins him in Texas for a two-episode reconciliation arc, their scenes are only about how Chris didn’t like chess and turning Eddie’s parents into the bad guys. There’s no real emotional catharsis between the two; instead, it’s all wrapped up in a pretty bow by the end of the season with their unceremonious official return to Los Angeles. A lot of Eddie’s story this season feels like a result of not knowing what to do with him, and it’s become very obvious on screen by how little effort is being put into writing him a decent storyline.

However, others also suffered from poor planning in 9-1-1 Season 8. The drama around Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Karen’s adoption of Mara is relegated to a one-episode wrap-up in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 4. Councilwoman Ortiz could have made a decent antagonist for our crew, but instead, she’s easily dispatched in one episode. We don’t even get to see the Wilsons officially adopt Mara until the finale episode, a whole fourteen episodes after they get rid of Ortiz, with no other mention of it until the finale montage.

For Hen, the rest of 9-1-1 Season 8 was a series of inconsequential moments. She got some focus in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 13, but it was an offensively scraped-together episode that didn’t follow any character logic. Then she turned down the captaincy, citing reasons brought up in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 4 — that she needed to spend more time with her family — and never touched again until that very moment. She wants to spend more time with her family, especially now that they can adopt Mara. But it’s so narratively unsatisfying.

Maddie and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) also lacked in their stories this season, hardly getting much to do in the first half. The second half started strong for them with the two-episode Maddie kidnapping arc and a decent healing episode, but other than that, they didn’t get much to chew on. It’s not until the two-parter and the fallout episodes that Chimney gets some attention, arguably the best part of those episodes, alongside Athena (Angela Bassett).

As for Buck’s (Oliver Stark) narrative, it is easier to track across 9-1-1 Season 8. Much of it focuses on his relationship with Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr), despite the lack of screen time they actually get. He loses a lot of things this season — his boyfriend, his loft, his best friend, and ultimately his new house. He matures a lot, but what’s ultimately frustrating about his story is how little of it connects with each other.

While he was dating Tommy, his relationship didn’t feel like it existed outside the scenes he’s in with Tommy. Once they were broken up, all of a sudden, Tommy felt like a character that existed to other people because of how much Buck talked about him. The facets of Buck’s life in 9-1-1 Season 8 that go into much of his decision-making barely seem like they cross paths. When he and Eddie search for Maddie, he starts connecting the dots, lining up all the events that led to a recent turning point in his life.

But that kind of character depth doesn’t come back around, which is a shame, especially in the episodes where he’s grieving Bobby. In the wake of tragedy, how does a character’s past shape how they deal with their present? 9-1-1 never seems interested in exploring their characters to that level of depth in 9-1-1 Season 8, especially for Buck.

If 9-1-1 Season 8 gets credit for anything, it’s for boldly killing off a main character. Bobby’s death, while tragic, was the most interesting thing this show has done in a while. It shakes up the status quo for every character, something 9-1-1 needs. But by the end of the season, it ultimately falls flat. The three-episode grieving arc to close the season did not live up to expectations, much like the rest of what 9-1-1 Season 8 promised. The loss of Bobby could very well carry over in 9-1-1 Season 9, but the end of the season rushed through much of the immediate grief to get to empty catharsis.

Great performances kept 9-1-1 Season 8 tethered while its storylines didn’t.

Bobby and Athena spent much of the season building a home together, though a lot happened off-screen. Their stories together after the initial opening disaster arc never felt consequential. Individually, they each had more to do. Athena considers retirement after getting hurt on the job, but ends up trying to mentor a younger cop. That only leads to disaster, but it ends on a note that Athena will train a probie so they can learn good policing. But that thread never returns in the back half of the season.

9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 11 was a great Bobby episode that featured his mother and brother for the first time. But any emotional resolution that happened in that episode is squandered by his death and lack of reaction from his mother and brother, who were both present in the funeral episode but had no speaking parts.

For much of this season, it didn’t seem like there was ever a plan in place. Many ideas feel hastily thrown together and fail to deliver on a larger scale. There were certainly thrilling moments, like the helicopter chase. The season also delivered a lot of fantastic episode direction, with a particular shoutout to Aisha Hinds for her directorial debut with 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 11. Andrew Mitchell’s work as director of photography gave life to many of the episodes that lacked in other areas.

The season was full of great performances from everyone across the board. Bassett’s performance as a grieving Athena in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 16 was particularly moving. Everyone had their standout moments throughout the season. One of Krause’s best scenes comes after Bobby’s death. In a flashback, Bobby expresses his belief that he’ll see his kids again someday.

Guzman got to stretch his comedic chops during the Texas arc, and Stark sold Buck’s maturity over a short period of time to perfection. Choi, as always, was the highlight of any emotionally tough scene he got to do as Chimney. And Hewitt’s shining moment came not from her escape from a serial killer’s basement but from Maddie gaining her voice back as she searched for her daughter.

Everyone from the mains down to the secondaries did so much with so little. Ferrigno Jr brought Tommy to life one micro expression at a time. At the same time, Anirudh Pisharody landed every eye roll as Ravi, but also delivered on the rare emotional scenes he gets as Ravi.

Echoes of the best 9-1-1 have to offer were present, but the season lacked consistency in many areas. The most criminal aspect of that is how little the characters were actually served by their storylines this season. Each of their stories either feels narratively unsatisfying, rushed, or cheap. 9-1-1 Season 8 had its moments, but when all is said and done, this season could have been an email.

9-1-1 is streaming now on Hulu. Season 9 will premiere this fall.