9-1-1 Review: Fallout (Season 3 Episode 9)

With 9-1-1 Season 3 Episode 9, “Fallout,” the show continues its trend of stellar cohesiveness from moment to moment. This season has proven again and again that 9-1-1 really just needed a bit of time to really hit its stride.

Now, the writers are hitting it out of the park episode after episode. After 9-1-1 Season 3 Episode 8, “Malfunction,” it appeared that the show wouldn’t be able to ever top the emotionality of the final moments.

However, with “Fallout,” it sets out to prove us all wrong. The focus on first responders and mental health is a nice segue into the real issue at stake, which is the cohesiveness of the 118. 

Hen: It’s not the trauma that defines us. It’s how we choose to react to it. How we choose to move on.

While this quote comes as the bookend quote of the episode, it rings true for the overall theme. 

In fact, this theme of trauma and recovery is a nice connector between all of the episodes from the first half of this season and beyond. We don’t really think about it, but everything that has happened this season is a direct result of the trauma caused by the events of last season’s finale and the tsunami in the season opener.

Sometimes, shows need time to really bring together thoughts that come across from season to season, and it helps if fans have patience and allow that growth and connection to happen. It’s nice to see this episode hint at some of the problems from the past as a way to allow these first responders to look to the future.

In a conversation about therapy, Chim talks about a female therapist he saw after he was stabbed in Season 2 — a comment that prompts Buck to ask if it was the one he slept with. 

This is one of the first references to Buck’s past sex addiction we have seen since Season 1, so it’s nice to see that the writers haven’t forgotten that element of Buck’s character. When the writers reference previously established character traits, it shows that they remember elements of their storytelling that they’ve already established. 

It’s always disappointing when shows throw away important information like that in lieu of creating more dramatic elements. Showing Buck’s past struggles makes it clear just how much he has grown and matured in such a short time. 

We also get to see how his experience with therapy helps him to communicate with his best friend Eddie, who is now currently in therapy. These two are allowed the opportunity to discuss their traumatic experiences as a way to build up their friendship and show how much they both help each other.

Eddie needs Buck, which is why Buck’s actions with the lawsuit — combined with Eddie losing his wife — created a level of anger in Eddie that he didn’t know how to control. So instead of seeking help to work through the trauma, Eddie let the trauma run him. 

A great move on the part of 9-1-1 is giving Buck the opportunity to make amends for his actions by helping his friend find a more productive outlet for his frustrations — video games with his son. It really drives home that when we are suffering it is okay to lean on one another and guide each other through to the other side. 

That is also why it is so important to see the camera cut to Eddie, Hen, and Maddie in their therapy sessions throughout the episode. Mental health is very important, and unfortunately many first responders don’t end up getting the therapy they need and instead work through the trauma on their own.

9-1-1 uses the time post-Hen’s accident, post-Eddie’s wife’s death, and post-Doug’s murder to show everyone that it’s okay to ask for help. 

By the end of the episode, we get to see Maddie actually break down all her defenses and admit to her therapist that she needs to talk about her emotions and feelings surrounding her ex-husband’s death. She’s been simply floating through the motions ever since she killed him last season, something which is hard to pick up on unless you compare her behavior episode to episode. 

This is monumental and fantastic writing for Maddie’s character. To be quite honest, I wasn’t even sure we would ever get a further exploration of Maddie’s feelings about her part in Doug’s death. 

Just when I think that 9-1-1 has dropped the ball on perfect opportunities to further explore characters like Maddie, they jump in and give us exactly that. 

She has been kind of on the periphery all season long, and now we know it’s with good reason. The show seemingly wanted to build her up as seeing her specific trauma everywhere just so they could tear down that assumption by Maddie walking away, knowing that she couldn’t help this woman. 

It’s a strong moment for Maddie and a moment her character desperately needs if she wishes to continue to grow and expand. With the character of Abby — the other 9-1-1 operator from Season 1 — we never really got to see her grow and work through her traumas. 

With Maddie, we are getting to see that all unfold, and no matter what, that is a positive step for 9-1-1. They have finally figured out what it means to build all their characters into complex beings with a multitude of layers.

The character of Hen is one of the most layered of them all. This whole time we have seen Hen keep it together — even when she cheats on her wife. 

Now, she has suffered one of the biggest, most guilt-ridden traumas a first responder — or anyone for that matter — has to face. She has been involved in the accident that led to a young musician’s death, and at first, she lets that guilt define her.

First responders all hope they never have to deal with the death of someone they are trying to save. For Hen, it goes a level further, because she physically caused the ambulance and car to collide, killing the girl, and Hen walks away without a problem.

If I am going to nitpick something from Hen’s story, it is this: Her fellow first responders are great friends and are very supportive of her, but it’s off-putting and upsetting to hear them complain that the only thing she wants to talk about is the girl who died.

I’m sure the intention of that scene is to highlight how fixated Hen is on the trauma and not getting past it, but it comes across as inconsiderate and rude. Maybe instead of creating a scene like that one, 9-1-1 could’ve made it a conversation about how to help a friend who really needs your support, even if you don’t fully understand their trauma.

Of all the great moments on “Fallout,” the best one is hands down Hen and Karen going away to recharge and reconnect. It shows that sometimes the best way to move forward is to remove yourself from the traumatic environment to begin with.

The focus on not just Hen’s trauma but also Karen’s is a smart move for the simple fact that it makes their characters that much more dynamic and understood. Both of these women love each other and realize they need a change of scenery to facilitate the important, but hard conversations they need to have.

It’s nice to see their growth as a couple, even though it’s only just become a more prominent fixture on the show. It’s as if the show knows Hen and Karen represent hope and strength to many different types of people. 

Both of their separate traumas on a different show would’ve probably spelled the end of their relationship. However, what I love most about 9-1-1 is their challenge to that stereotype. 

Time and time again, they’ve used moments where the drama would irreparably break apart couples on any other show, but on 9-1-1 these moments are utilized to show how relationships take work and effort in order to maintain. It’s not just the romantic pairings that get this treatment either — just take a look at the Grant family, and you can see that method with how Athena and Michael communicate as well as how Athena problem solves and compromises with her children. 

I can’t give this episode the full five stars because once again while they succeed in really connecting in order to tell a story with their first responders, they fail to wow us (or even interest us) beyond a surface reaction with the emergencies of the week. 

While the cobalt-60 explosion truck is heart-pounding and action-packed, it does little to make us actually care about the civilians involved. What makes them special and worth our time?

Then, there is the highly unbelievable meteor-through-a-girl story. From the moment she is introduced, the character is annoying and my only thought centers on when I would be able to say goodbye to her.

Honestly, if “Fallout” had simply stuck to the cobalt-60 explosion truck story and all the exploration of the individual responders, the episode would have been as close to perfect one could get.

Further Grant Family Thoughts:

• It is nice to see the show also explore how traumatized May is by both the tsunami and then the bad officer traffic stop. Athena may not agree with how she is choosing to face her trauma, but as a great momma, she tells May that her journey is still valid.
• The way Michael handles himself around Athena is a far cry from their relationship in the pilot episode. It shows that both he and Athena are willing to work together and raise their children as equals.

What did you think of this episode of 9-1-1? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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9-1-1 airs Mondays at 8/7c on FOX.

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