Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
One thing about Athena Nash-Grant? Her instincts are usually on point.
And she had strong instincts about her new probie, Sparks, on 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 7, as the two found themselves paired up and the veteran officer became increasingly concerned about her probies mindset.
Because it’s pretty simple: Anyone who enters any profession with the primary objective of achieving power is much more likely to abuse it.
I’m trying to understand why we don’t get more of Athena undercover because we really should!
The opening sting operation was a fun little interlude to introduce us to the flash mob robberies that were apparently taking over Los Angeles, and Athena was right in the thick of the action.
Athena’s been a police officer for a long time, and I’d never bet against her in any situation. Still, a faulty hamstring occasionally gets us all, and the unfortunate injury caused Athena to lose her suspect and her lone wolf status.
Many people work better alone, and Athena has earned the right to more or less dictate that part of the job. We’ve never seen her with a permanent partner, and she’s never needed one.
Sparks proved an interesting decision because he may have been a hotshot, head-of-the-class recruit who wanted nothing more than to study under the tutelage of THEE Athena Grant-Nash, but the partnership was slightly doomed from the start because Athena could see right through him.
At first, she seemed slightly more hesitant about Sparks because of how quickly everything transpired. She got injured on the job, and Elaine was saddling her with a probie before she could blink.
It had much less to do with Sparks initially and more with her admittedly feeling some way about everything. I’m pretty sure we’ve all been there where we feel like something we don’t want is being unjustly thrust upon us.
She entered the forced partnership already on edge, which only increased when they spent time together in the car. You could tell that Sparks was a little too overeager and a little too into the glorification of power, as evidenced by the story he told about his father.
Sparks had an almost dreamlike look on his face as he described the events by which his father was intimidated by police who were called to his house because it was the first time he saw his horrible father scared.
He clearly saw the police asserting dominance in a way that shrank his father to a degree that he’d never experienced, and that authority became something that he coveted.
That’s never the right reason to get into any profession, especially one that requires carrying a gun and upholding laws.
Athena became a cop because of the pursuit of justice. We know her backstory and what drove her to live a life of service in the way she has, and it had nothing to do with the power trip some people with a badge like to exude.
When Athena heard Sparks’ story, you could see the lights go off in her eyes because it was so evident that the two of them were not the same, and it had nothing to do with their age gap or anything like that.
They weren’t aligned, and Athena could tell it was just a matter of time before Sparks snapped.
Finding Flash Rob was a fun little rescue, if only because we got to hear Angela Bassett deliver this award-worthy line, “Don’t be a bitch, Rob.”
But the rescue only further proved what Athena’s gut had been telling her all along because that man had no business jumping on the back of that. What if he had fallen? He could have gotten himself killed or caused an accident.
They had that truck dead to rights, with or without Sparks hanging off the back of it, but he got to take his victory lap, so for him, it was well worth what could have potentially happened.
Sparks seemed in awe of Athena, but it was interesting just how little he picked up for her in their time together. It may have been brief, but during that time, he was paying attention to her actions but not trying to glean anything from how she carried herself or the example she set.
He should have tried to mimic less, talk less, and absorb what Athena was saying, but that’s easier said than done when the whole reason he was trying to be a cop of the year was rooted in a misguided sense of superiority.
All signs were pointing toward him making a colossal mistake, but when he and Athena split, I thought perhaps we were skipping that part of the journey, and this story would subvert expectations.
But no, Sparks was insulted, and he immediately went from de-escalating the situation to escalating it to a dangerous place. You can’t tell me that with a child in the backseat, there was no better way than breaking down that window and exerting force in the manner in which he did.
The whole situation went from 0 to 100 (and how many times have we seen that story unfold?) when it didn’t need to. Suddenly, within seconds, a woman was shot and bleeding out on the pavement because a cop made a potentially fatal mistake during a traffic stop.
This story was a scary one, honestly, because how many Sparks-like cops are walking around right now?
This was an intriguing story for Athena at this point in her career, mainly because they brought back the word “retirement” for the first time in a while and talked more about her age and losing a step on the job.
Father time is undefeated, as they say, and it’s not as if anyone thought Athena would work forever, but it’s been a minute since the show started throwing all those buzzwords around, and it makes you think about what the future for Athena looks like.
Working with Sparks and getting a taste of what the future LAPD could be like if left in the hands of people like him was enough for Athena to realize that while she may have preferred working alone most of her career, as it prepares to wind down, she could be using all she’s learned to leave the job a better place than she found it.
Or at least try to.
I hope this isn’t a plot point they introduce and never follow up on because it would be a nice change of pace for Athena to have a partner, someone she could train and mentor.
It would add an appealing dynamic to the cop-focused storylines involving Athena and give her nothing new to play off.
While Athena had quite a busy few days, Bobby couldn’t escape Hotshots if he tried.
Bobby made quite the impression of Brad, to the point where the guy hasn’t been able to get Bobby out of his mind because he’s everything he wants to achieve on-screen.
And look, I get it. If there were a firefighter you wanted to model, Bobby Nash would be the one to emulate. He’s far from perfect, but he does everything the right way, and he’s the kind of person you can tell doesn’t have to ask for respect — he commands it.
On the flip side of Bobby, someone like Gerrard, with his rough exterior and horrific personality, can try all he wants to turn on the charm around Brad, but fake always gets sniffed out eventually.
But it’s interesting to see Brad and Gerrard clash so much when they’re both pretty awful. Neither treats people very well and maybe they clash because they’re too alike.
Brad’s more drawn to a good person like Bobby, probably because he can sense the bravery dripping off him in a way Gerrard could only dream of.
The Hotshots storyline was enjoyable and playful in the beginning. It was a very inside joke that thrived because it allowed Peter Krause to have fun by placing Bobby far outside his comfort zone.
But did it need to last this long? And did we ever need Gerrard to become a part of it?
This story feels like it’s hanging on for dear life at this point, and all the build-up here was leading to a place to get Brad inside 118, where I assume he’ll cause chaos or worse before he’s finally banished back to Hollywood, where he belongs.
All Bobby ever wants to do is be a captain and mind his business, but Chief Simpson had him out there trying to change a man’s personality, which then turned into him having to wine and dine the man infatuated with him.
What are we doing here exactly? Get Bobby back to his team where he belongs and away from these terrible grown men who don’t deserve anything from Bobby Nash!
Gerrard shouldn’t even be a part of the LAFD. And Brad? That whole display at the restaurant tells you everything you need to know about someone like him.
There have been flashes of his arrogance sprinkled throughout almost every scene he’s been in, and Bobby has bit his tongue time and time again because, for the most part, his haughtiness wasn’t directly hurting anyone (that I can remember because sometimes you do have to ignore Brad Torrence.)
Brad was being a jerk at dinner, and Bobby snapping was so long overdue because, seriously, screw that guy. There’s nothing worse than someone being mean-spirited and horrific just because they can.
Brad’s got issues. Gerrard’s got issues. And yet, Bobby was supposed to be some miracle worker who made everyone get along? At their big ages?
This storyline was odd, from Gerrard crying to Brad’s outbursts, and it all led to where it was always going to lead: Brad Torrence becoming an honorary and unwelcome member of the 118.
Saddle up, people. I have a feeling it’s about to get weird.
Elsewhere during this one, we saw the immediate fallout of Buck’s breakup, which, again, correct me if I’m wrong, was the first time we’ve seen this because, by history, Buck’s past relationships have come at the end of the season.
By the time the following season came around, all of Buck’s post-breakup feelings were more or less resolved outside of the Abby breakup, which did affect him throughout the early part of 9-1-1 Season 2.
The breakup with Abby was a significant part of his storyline then, so it made sense to play off the complicated emotions that would arise from that breakup, which Buck was also in denial about for much of the season.
Fast-forward to the present, Buck wasn’t in denial about Tommy breaking up with him in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 6, but he was struggling in the aftermath, and it was wholly relatable.
The dumping blindsided Buck, and Buck’s someone who puts his whole heart into everything. He was in it with Tommy, so naturally, he would be feeling the effects of that breakup in a big way.
Big feelings typically lead to big crash-outs.
They didn’t touch on it much here, but once Buck has had more time to process, I imagine some residual heartbreak will morph into anger because much of the breakup was placed at his feet in a hypothetical situation Tommy turned into an inevitable reality.
It’s not clear how much time has passed, but it didn’t appear to be much. One of the hardest things post-heartbreak is no longer having that person you talk to every day.
Suddenly, there’s no good morning text or no midday check-in, and you can feel a little adrift when that absence hits.
Buck channeling his pain into baking was smart. Baking is inherently positive. It’s certainly not a negative coping skill, even though once you start doing anything to excess, it can begin to feel like a bit of an addiction in and of itself.
The 118 had an interesting reaction to the breakup in that everyone was obviously looking out for Buck and very much not of the mindset that he needed to contact Tommy in any way, shape, or form.
Chimney even suggested Buck get back out there.
We never really saw many conversations about Buck and Tommy’s relationship from the outside. Still, in the aftermath, everyone’s reactions tell a story about how they’re behind Buck and want to protect him from any more pain.
Maddie wasn’t lying when she said that the universe would deliver him his person (maybe they already have, and he just hasn’t realized it yet…). Still, in the meantime, he’s allowed to feel his feelings.
He also got to spend a fun-filled evening with his niece, baking to his heart’s content and fully embracing his role as Uncle Buck.
Side note: we could always use more Buck and Jee scenes. There will never be enough.
It will probably take some time for Buck to move forward, and that’s okay. The relationship was significant to Buck, and it’s not easy to move on from something you were heavily invested in, even if you realize it was never meant to be.
But having said all that, we have one more hour left, and then we’re taking the dreaded winter hiatus. And here’s to a Buck continuing his journey in the second half of the season.
In speaking with Oliver Stark earlier this season, when discussing which character or storyline from Buck’s past he’d like to return, he said, “I like the idea of Buck putting himself in queer spaces ’cause we’ve not really seen that of him yet. So, I don’t know, maybe he’s in a gay club or something.
“And with someone like a Lucy Donato or something, like an ex-partner who is now there to help shepherd him and boost his confidence. Yeah, I would love to see maybe something like that.”
Let’s take Stark’s vision and make it a reality. There are so many exciting ways to begin Buck’s next chapter.
And if he wants to bring a few loaves of bread along for the ride, that would be fine.
Loose Ends
- I loved how Bobby was so beloved on the Hotshots set. He may not have wanted to be there, but he did his job correctly and was respectful, and I know everyone was happy to see him every time he rolled up.
- It’s been too long since we got some nice Athena and Hen scenes. I’ve missed those besties!
- The way Gerrard went from a bigoted, tyrannical boss from hell to comic relief this season needs to be studied.
- They had the chance to do a lot with that trip to Hotshots, and while I appreciated the callback to Buck dangling in the air, I wanted so much more!
- Has anyone ever had homemade Baked Alaska? That has always felt like one of those desserts that no one actually makes in their own kitchen.
- Buck being the first to discover Madney’s pregnancy was so fitting! And I love how absolutely thrilled he was for them, and their little group hug was everything.
Only one more hour before the midseason break!
Let me know in the comments what you’d like to see before the three-month-plus hiatus and what you thought about this in one!
You can watch 9-1-1 on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
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