9-1-1 Review: Ocean’s 9-1-1 (Season 2 Episode 15)
Once again, 9-1-1 sets out to prove that they know what stories they want to tell. With 9-1-1 Season 2 Episode 15, “Ocean’s 9-1-1,” the stories are woven together in a way that keeps us guessing from start to finish.
It isn’t often that this show graces us with an intriguing and mysterious plot. In fact, often the episodes are a series of cases that are quick with an easy finish. With “Ocean’s 9-1-1” the who, the what, and the how all become the focus beyond the emergency.
To be completely honest, it’s nice to see a bit of the investigative/police action for once. Often, when the LAPD is involved it’s just Athena kicking butt and taking names.
This episode shakes things up a bit — just when we were getting used to their formula. It is something that every show should do every once in a while. It keeps the audience guessing and truly invested in the story being presented.
This time, the LAPD is investigating everyone we know and love, including Athena. It’s a side of law enforcement I personally wasn’t expecting going into the episode, and it’s a side I never want to see again.
While it is unsettling to see these characters that we know and trust being accused of something as serious as a bank robbery, the whole situation did bring about a unification that seemed to have been abandoned this season — Hen and Athena.
It’s always nice to see at least one solid friendship that defies all stereotypes and struggles on TV. For 9-1-1, Hen and Athena is that friendship. These ladies show the world just how much ass kicking can happen when women get together and build each other up instead of tearing each other down.
When the going gets tough for Hen, and she does start to look really suspicious, Athena digs in her heels and holds on even tighter to the bond she has with her best friend. She informs the investigators that under no uncertain terms will she allow them to make Hen take the fall for this plot.
It’s a true testament to the writing as well as the performances given by Angela Bassett and Aisha Hinds. These women take their real-life friendship and throw it into their characters — a quality every fan of this show should and probably does appreciate.
How I’d love to be a fly on the wall around Bassett and Hinds. I’m sure their onscreen magic translates strongly offscreen as well.
While their strength in friendship is something that should always be celebrated the issue that this brings up should not. In one of the most pivotal moments of the whole episode, Hen reminds us all that being falsely accused is a terrifying reality for people of color in this country.
It’s a momentous scene that is treated with grace and honesty from both Athena and Hen. Neither of them invalidates each other, instead, they both lean into the reality of it all and support one another.
It is moments like these that really move the show along in the right directions. While the emergencies are exciting and compelling to watch, it’s the human moments that really bring the show home for many fans.
Human moments like finding out that Hen’s wife lost her job — a stark reality for some people on a daily basis. Or like Bobby thinking they were all home free once Marty was caught only to realize that the investigation turned up a skeleton that threatens his life and livelihood.
It’s these stories that keep us coming back and get the wheels a turning in our heads trying to figure out what the writers will throw at us next.
After all, Bobby’s story seemed completed and dealt with back in Season 1. Now we come to find out he didn’t tell the whole truth about what happened with the fire all those years ago. Now we are all wondering if his guilt isn’t because of what he said happened but something even more disturbing.
Whatever it is, clearly it’s enough to give the LAFD pause and suspend him. What is the 118 without Bobby Nash? Who is going to step up and replace him in the interim?
All of these questions and more will hopefully be answered in the coming weeks, the last few before the finale, but until then our theories run abound. Let’s just sit back, relax, and follow Buck’s lead.
Buck: I’m so confused. Can you start over?
Who knows what clues and details have been thrown in throughout the season that we just didn’t notice.
Maybe going back to the beginning will turn up something we’ve missed until now. If the tale of Marty is anything to go by we know that anything is possible.
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What did you think of this episode of 9-1-1? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Catch up on our review of 9-1-1 Season 2 Episode 14, “Broken” right here!
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9-1-1 airs Mondays at 9/8c on FOX.
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Mads Misasi
Mads is a part-time entertainment journalist and full-time marketing content creator. They love any and all TV Dramas with a few sitcoms mixed in. Join in the fun talking about TV by following them on Twitter: @dorothynyc89.