9-1-1 Review: Pinned (Season 3 Episode 13)
After a couple of somewhat blah episodes, 9-1-1 Season 3 Episode 13, “Pinned,” reminds us that this show can really hit us where it hurts when we least expect it. Based on the synopsis of this episode, we think we are in for an easy-going episode.
Wrong.
Michael’s condition manages to really pack a punch on all levels this time around. Sure, this subject has been on our minds and a part of each episode since his diagnosis on 9-1-1 Season 3 Episode 10, “Christmas Spirit,” but it hasn’t really hit anyone yet on what that really means.
With “Pinned,” Michael asks Bobby to come along with him and Harry as they embark on what is their traditional father/son camping trip. Bobby thinks he is only there as an emergency back-up.
Things really start to hit our hearts when Michael has to stop driving because he has numbness in his hands, and then again when they arrive and he immediately takes a nap. There isn’t much being said about his tumor at this point, but the feel of it all is definitely very foreboding.
There’s a finality to it all that makes it plain as day that Michael’s time on this Earth — and the show — is limited. He’s a wonderful father figure and a great character, so the realization that he may be leaving us already is heartbreaking.
From the very beginning, Michael has been a character that we could believe in despite all of his major missteps in life. Being introduced as a closeted gay man who is lying to his wife could’ve easily villainized him and made him out to be the type of character no one can relate to or even root for.
However, here we are three years later and it’s like that mistake is but a tiny blip on the radar that is Michael’s life. He never once steps down from being a father first and an individual second.
We’ve always known that Michael values the happiness and welfare of his children above all else. So it comes as no surprise when we find out that even with Michael seeming to take this tumor in a blase fashion, he is still thinking of his children first.
The mere mention of Bobby and Michael’s fireside chat is enough to bowl us over with emotion due to the significant magnitude of its meaning. Add in that it is brought on because Michael and Bobby have been building this mutual respect of each other for over a year now, and we are all dead — hook, line, and sinker.
These two men are proving not only to audiences that fathers and step-fathers can co-exist in the same circle of friends but also to their mutually shared kids — Harry and May. Michael brings Bobby along on the camping trip to teach him how to be a father to Harry when he is gone, but what he doesn’t realize is Bobby is already well versed.
All this talk of Michael being gone makes us cry because we know now that it’s all these characters talk about, and his number really is coming soon. We can just hope that we and the rest of Michael’s family are ready for it when it does.
Hen: Embrace the not knowing. Treat each day as if it could be his last.
Hen has definitely helped Athena come to terms with that with her usual level of compassion and wisdom. It’s her words that remind us all to just live our lives instead of fearing the end.
Athena is definitely taking the news of Michael’s tumor the hardest. This just goes to show that even after everything they went through as a couple, she still loves him very much.
She also manages to show her character more loudly than her words when she sits down with May to discuss everything from her acceptance to USC and her father’s impending demise. Athena may have been hesitant to be overly positive with May; however, she does still manage to reassure her daughter and put May’s mind at ease despite her own insecurities.
This illness has definitely tested the bonds of this family more strongly than anything else has before. And they are proving over and over again that they will get through it — together.
All the emotional focus is on Michael, which harms the growing relationship between Chim and Maddie in some big ways. It’s not terrible that the show chooses to focus their attention on Michael because his struggle has wide-ranging effects; however, they could’ve used that same level of writing and emotional direction when dealing with Chim and Maddie.
This couple has been taking it super slow for almost a year now, so it’s high time they spice things up. Personally, I expected the romance to be sizzling and in our face due to the level of in-your-face the rest of the episode is.
It’s a major letdown when their romantic dinner is interrupted by an emergency and we don’t really even get to see the build-up to their steamy night together in the hotel. In fact, what should be a free-flowing, memorably sexy night is very disjointed and misses the mark big time.
I’m still not convinced they took it up a notch at all. One half romantic dinner and a morning breakfast by candlelight while wearing robes is not enough to convince this romantic at heart.
Though I will concede that their conversation surrounding the whole “I love you” issue is very sweet and very in tune with who they are as characters. I just hope that Chim will catch on quickly that Maddie saying those three words to him in those final moments are a sign of distress.
Basically it comes down to this: Maddie and Chim deserve as much attention to development and growth as Michael and the rest of the Grant family got on “Pinned.” 9-1-1 giving them a half-hearted story is a huge disservice.
What did you think of this episode of 9-1-1? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
9-1-1 airs Mondays at 8/7c on FOX.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
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.