REVIEW: ‘9-1-1’ Season 9 Episode 2 — “Spiraling”

What started out slow turned into one fun episode with 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2. In the episode, it’s the big moment where the long-running first responder procedural show heads to outer space. Things inevitably go wrong, of course, but the episode finds ways to keep them grounded.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2 begins with various talking head segments for a documentary about the “everyday heroes” going to space. It’s a neat little beginning that lets us meet the other members of this space flight. This is also definitely for sure an homage to the Katy Perry SpaceX flight earlier this year.

Beyond the silly premise, this space mission does give Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Athena (Angela Bassett) some quality time together. Toasting to their early morning flight, the two laugh about the ridiculous situation they find themselves in, while also poking fun at Athena’s penchant for bad luck when she travels, a nice callback to past episodes.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2 sees our faves go to space, but there are plenty of moments on Earth, too.

But there’s also an undercurrent of grief in this scene. Athena raises her glass to maybe dying tomorrow, something that, in the wake of losing Bobby, feels a little too real. Especially considering she’s distanced herself from her kids in the six months since she lost Bobby. A wonderful scene, but a moment that reveals some of the cracks in Athena’s exterior. 

Joining the mission are Parker, a young 30 under 30 entrepreneur, Lewis, a high school football coach, and Trish, Tripp Houser’s finance, along with, of course, Athena and Hen. Camera crews follow the travelers’ friends and family, which means the 118 welcomes Denny, Mara, Karen, May (Corinne Massiah), and Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) as they all gather around the TV to watch the launch. 

For a premise like this, good character-driven plots are a necessity, and 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2 delivers. After confronting their mother in the premiere episode, Harry finds the notion of Athena going to space ridiculous. He says some out-of-pocket things to May, like how, since she’s lost a significant other before, she should be over losing Bobby by now.

But Harry’s 18 years old and hasn’t lost someone before. Now, he’s watching his mother distance herself from everyone so much that she doesn’t realize Harry has dropped out of school, and now she’s going to space. 

Later, Harry tells Buck (Oliver Stark) that he’s just scared of losing his mom, just like he lost Bobby. When things clearly have gone wrong with the space launch, all of Harry’s fears seemingly come to life. He channels that into forcing the 118 to take him on a ride-along when they are called out to patrol, as the geomagnetic storm affects people on Earth.

It’s nice to see more of Harry in 9-1-1, and Buck taking on a mentorship role with Harry in these moments. As someone who also lost Bobby, he understands what Harry’s going through to an extent. On the ride-along, Harry gets some major wins, too. Is the fire academy in his future? Because he’d be a great fit.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2 also brings in Karen for a major role. As a literal rocket scientist, she learns of the geomagnetic storm from her work pretty much as soon as Hen and Athena are launched into space. It’s wonderful to see her in action, able to bring her science background to the emergency at play, as well as playing the pissed off wife heroically saving her partner from all the way down on Earth. Her strong-arming her way into getting Tripp on the line is very satisfying to watch.

We finally get to see Karen step into a bigger role, using her background to great effect.

Tripp himself is fun to watch, even though his ego puts everyone in this situation. The running gag that he doesn’t remember the names of the people he sent up to space, along with the fact that Karen’s company and his company are both suing each other, adds seamless comedy to a tense situation. Mark Consuelos is really killing it as this Elon Musk-type figure. 

Another wonderful element in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2 is the big set pieces, not just in design but in the execution of filming. When the electromagnetic storm knocks out Tripp’s satellites, it compromises the space pod the everyday heroes are in, sending them spiraling, a nod to the episode title. It is these intense moments that have Parker crawling to the center of the pod to stop the spinning. The force of the spin stops his heart, allowing Hen her time to shine. 

Down on Earth, one of 9-1-1‘s more impressive, smaller-scale sequences takes place in a hospital. The hospital uses technology owned by Tripp, so everything’s going haywire with the satellites down. The atmosphere of the hospital, with its blinking lights, sets the stage really well. However, the main action comes when a robot used during surgery malfunctions, waving around its laser-equipped robotic arms and roaming the hospital room without slowing down.

Overhead, a giant headlight configuration swings around everyone’s heads, forcing them to duck every time it comes back around while they try to extract an injured doctor. The two rogue elements in the scene create a Saw trap-like scenario, trapping the 118 even as they try to do their jobs. It’s a really dynamic scene. The more ground-level position of the camera puts us right there with everyone as they navigate this life-and-death sequence.

Things get even more intense when Buck gets trapped by himself, dodging both robots left and right, until Harry delivers a sledgehammer to Chimney, who tosses it to Buck, who smashes the robot to pieces. Both of these sequences elevate 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2 and its space premise to really great heights. Closing out the episode is another intense moment where Karen is able to contact the space pod by using 911 dispatch. With Tripp on the line, the everyday heroes can get the space pod moving again.

The music in this sequence is also a highlight; really intense and dramatic, like something out of an actual space movie. 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2 ends on a cliffhanger as the space pod, now headed back to Earth, catches on fire. I would say it’s a good thing there’s a firefighter on board, but they’re in outer space. The rules have changed.

Despite a slow start, 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2 captures the magic of this show, perfectly balancing the sillier aspects with a really grounded look at how these characters interact and work together. Throw in some well-choreographed set pieces and a good thematic title tie-in, and 9-1-1 has never been better.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 2 is streaming now on Disney+ and Hulu, with new episodes every Thursday on ABC and available on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.

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