RECAP: ‘9-1-1’ Season 9 Episode 10 — “Handle With Care”

9-1-1 is operating with a very strange aura these days. The tone is all over the place, while story conclusions continue to miss the mark entirely. 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 10, titled “Handle With Care,” feels like a first draft of interesting ideas that never come together fully or go in wild directions.

What could have been a wonderful story about Harry’s (Elijah M. Cooper) first shift at the 118 and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) still trying to find his footing as captain, takes a sharp turn into absolute clown territory when it draws the wrong comparison for Chimney.

Despite asking for Harry to join the 118, Chimney’s still having nightmares about getting Harry killed. His guilt about Bobby is still very much there. Having Harry under his tutelage and a part of his daily responsibility is a reminder of that. His worry is valid, especially as a first-time captain.

Hen is tapped to have a talk with Chimney in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 10.

This is all fine and good—great, even—until Chimney goes to Hen. He arrives at her house for what he thinks is going to be a friend hangout, but instead, Hen’s been tapped to have a talk with Chimney about why he keeps holding Harry back from going out on calls. The comparison was clear here—Chimney is acting a lot like Bobby, holding someone back out of worry for their safety.

However, Hen tells him he’s acting more like Gerrard, a comparison so offensive I thought AI had taken over the dialogue. It’s even worse coming from Hen, too, because she knows what it was like working for Gerrard. Later, when Chimney sits Harry down to apologize, he explains that Gerrard made him stay back from calls for a year, and it’s hard not to take that personally, which is why he’s apologizing to Harry.

But this scene forgets the reason Gerrard did that to Chimney. Gerrard is a racist bigot, and he hated that Chimney was a part of his firehouse. Keeping Chimney back from going out on calls and assigning him to cleaning duty all the time was a punishment because Chimney didn’t match the all-white toxic firehouse Gerrard had cultivated for years.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 10 continues to over-rely on established duos.

Chimney keeping Harry back is based on a worry for his safety, and the responsibility he feels as a new captain with the added pressure of Harry being Athena’s (Angela Bassett) son, and Bobby’s step-son. In this, Chimney is more like Bobby, who famously denied Buck’s (Oliver Stark) return to work in 9-1-1 Season 3 out of fear for his safety, even though he was cleared by the doctors to return to work.

Which is why Buck would have been the more appropriate person to talk with Chimney, especially since Buck himself has been a mentor to Harry all season. But that’s 9-1-1’s over-reliance on established duos, for you.

The other major plot in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 10 centers around Eddie (Ryan Guzman). While it’s nice to finally get some attention on his character, the situation with Abigail isn’t exactly “handled with care.” We met Abigail a few episodes ago when the 118 rescued her from a religious cult. Eddie and Hen testify on her behalf in court in what is a very lax and not at all legally accurate court scene.

The forced therapy scene is well-intended but quite weird.

Eddie ends up offering Abigail some help because he’s a good person and takes her to the firehouse to at least have a meal. However, this turns into a bit of an ambush, although it’s possible the show didn’t intend for it to come across that way.

Eddie brings in Alex Doyle (Aimee Teegarden), the therapist from an earlier episode, to chat with Abigail and find her a place to stay. Which would be fine, except this kind of scenario should be taking place in an office somewhere, with Abigail’s consent, not surrounded by a bunch of firemen who are all watching the conversation go down.

It’s a weird scene that has good intentions but lacks care in how to handle a case of religious and child abuse. Alex finding Abigail a faith-based home also feels strange considering what she just escaped. The premise and execution of Abigail’s story just don’t seem well-thought-out at all.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 10’s best moment is the little side plot with the old man on the lawnmower.

What does work is the attachment Abigail forms with Eddie as her rescuer, which feels pretty accurate to what could happen in cases like this. The scenes at Eddie’s house are extremely uncomfortable, and they’re supposed to be.

It’s difficult to gauge how 9-1-1 will land this story without the third act of it. 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 10 ends with Abigail arriving at Chris’ school and offering to take him home. Since it’s a cliffhanger, the show could be working off assumptions that it’s a simple kidnapping case based on jealousy. But that might be taking Abigail’s case too far (although, 9-1-1 isn’t immune to problematic portrayals of mental illness).

The best moment from the episode is the little side plot with the old man on the lawnmower, a call Athena takes. It’s a great mix of comedy and lightheartedness to counteract the more angst-driven main plot.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 10 has interesting ideas but totally fails in its execution. It does set up what could be a great story for Eddie, but it’s a rough start, and answers are a month away.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 10 is streaming now on Disney+ and Hulu. New episodes will return February 26th on AMC and on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.

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