RECAP: ‘9-1-1’ Season 9 Episode 9 — “Fighting Back”

After the four-part space opening emergency, 9-1-1 Season 9 has really lost momentum. 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9, titled “Fighting Back,” at least does a better job at crafting believable character dynamics, but everything just feels kind of lackluster.

A wonderful montage opens 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9: the 118 rallies around Hen (Aisha Hinds) as she manages her newly diagnosed autoimmune disorder. Buck (Oliver Stark) prepares healthy meals, Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) teaches her vocal exercises, Eddie (Ryan Guzman) and Chris teach Hen dancing exercises, Athena (Angela Bassett) and May play games with Hen to help with coordination, and Chimney (Kenneth Choi)  supports her during hand physical therapy.

It’s nice to see them all coming together to help Hen, but after the last episode, there’s an air of guilt in the air. But considering how unbelievable the arguments were, it’s hard to take the 118-as-family moments seriously in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9 lets us get inside Hen’s head more.

While Hen’s initial acceptance of everyone’s help and support starts well, a two-month time jump reveals the seemingly positive approach to their health game plan. That time jump means Season 9 spans nine months in just nine episodes. Can I get a “what is ‘pacing’ for 200, Alex?”

The toll of not getting better and back to her job is getting to Hen two months down the line. Muted lighting visually sells the mood. Hinds delivers a great performance in this episode. Despite this story’s many execution issues so far, 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9 lets us get inside Hen’s head more. Her despair turns to not allowing the 118 to help anymore, and barely acknowledging Karen. In an effort to get Hen back into regular exercise, Karen hires a physical trainer and therapist, Adam, for Hen.

The two have a good rapport, but when Adam collapses from a heart attack, Hen’s not able to perform CPR for him. Different paramedics arrive than the 118, and they take Adam to the hospital. The scene is very reminiscent of Hen Begins, in which Hen’s therapist collapses during a session, and Hen saves her life, leading Hen to decide to join the fire academy.

The direction of 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9, given Hen’s illness, is mainly driven by problematic sentimentality.

It’s a nice parallel. But the direction of 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9, given Hen’s illness, is mainly driven by problematic sentimentality. Hen’s mom reads Hen’s diary back to her from when she was recovering from being shot when she was 16. That recovery took longer than expected, too. But Hen’s resilience persevered. It’s a reminder Hen needed, and the episode ends with her smiling again. But autoimmune disorders aren’t “fixed” based on belief. They’re long-term chronic illnesses, and 9-1-1 isn’t a show that does long-term very well.

That’s why giving Hen a storyline about a chronic illness was always going to end badly. We don’t yet know where this will end up, but basing recovery on “belief” isn’t a great approach.

That overarching theme of belief does translate well into Harry’s (Elijah M. Cooper) part of the episode. In his last days at the fire academy, Harry takes a tumble off a ladder, ending up in the hospital with a concussion. This obviously freaks Athena and May out, the ghost of Bobby haunting every scene. It also continues Harry and Athena’s disconnect on Harry’s career plans. Athena has begrudgingly accepted his desire to go to the fire academy, but when he gets hurt, she’s glad it means he gets to stay home from the academy for a bit, and maybe even not finish.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9 is an okay episode; there just doesn’t feel like there’s any energy behind it.

When Harry gets too caught up in his head about his mother’s worry, he goes to Buck for some advice. This is a nice continuation from earlier Season 9 episodes that saw Buck training Harry to enter the fire academy. Now, faced with a Harry who is uncertain of his decision and worried about how he’s supposed to be a firefighter when all he can think about is what it would do to his mom if something happened to him, Buck realizes that Harry is on the verge of giving up on his dream.

He goes to Athena and tells her that Harry is too in his head about her worry and is on the verge of quitting. Athena drives Harry to the training course in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9. She gives him a motivational speech, overlaid with Hen’s narration from her diary, ironically better suited to Harry than to Hen.

Harry makes it to the graduation, and then suddenly, he’s the new member of the 118. Huzzah! Maybe done a little too easily, but oh well.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 9 is an okay episode; there just doesn’t feel like there’s any energy behind it. Like it’s going through the motions. The Harry and Athena stuff is pretty great, and the Hen storyline does its best to garner some emotion out of you, but that sentimental low-grade value still bogs it down. There’s really no reference to the tension from the last episode, and the time jump means none of it will be revisited. But at the end of the day, it is nice to see the 118 acting like the 118 again.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 8 is streaming now on Disney+ and Hulu, with new episodes every Thursday on ABC, and is available on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.

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