9-1-1 Season 10 Episode 1 Review: Is the Volcano Just a Little Too Silly, or Is It Just Right?

9-1-1 has always been extreme, and honestly, that’s why we love it. On 9-1-1 Season 10 Episode 1, “That Sinking Feeling,” the series takes its love of over-the-top disasters further than it ever has. And that’s saying something. 

The season premiere starts, as it often does, by setting the scene with victims who will need to call for help.

In this case, it’s several strangers who collide in a car accident, but after that collision, a sinkhole opens up beneath them.

Cue the 118, who do such a great job at the scene that there are no fatalities. It’s complete with some endearing moments, including one between a father and daughter, and a risk that Harry takes which winds up saving one more life.

As the episode progresses, the city investigates this strange incident, and Maddie is asked by the Office of Emergency Management to analyze every 9-1-1 call from the past several days to try to determine what happened.

There had been a lot of seemingly unrelated calls, but more calls than usual. This is the kind of thing Maddie is great at, and it’s fun to see her start to make connections. It also puts her in a position to show anyone who underestimates her in her new role just how great a leader she can be.

Meanwhile, Athena is also trying to prove herself in a new role. She’s a detective now, and she’s feeling insecure about her abilities in that position. 

When a case falls practically right at her feet, though, she proves to herself — and to everyone else — that she knows what she’s doing. Athena at least partly solves the case involving a victim with strange burns, but even when she’s told to “take the W,” something still doesn’t sit right with her. 

She continues to investigate, and it leads her to a tunnel that puts her close to finding the answers. Unfortunately, it also puts her right in the midst of disaster. 

Every detail leads up to what happens at the end of the episode, which is one of the wildest, and perhaps riskiest, disasters 9-1-1 has had so far. It’s a volcano.

Does this feel realistic at all? Of course not. Is it entertaining?

Absolutely.

I’ve said for a long time that 9-1-1 isn’t a show that’s meant to exist in a realistic universe. It’s meant to be over-the-top, and maybe just leans a bit into a horror genre.

When the volcano erupts, every detail feels exactly like that. The tone feels like a B-horror movie, from the special effects to the background music. It also echoes the 1997 film Volcano, especially in the pacing of that moment before the volcano erupts. 

We’re left with a cliffhanger as the lava shoots up from the ground. Our firefighters are right in the midst of the danger, and Athena is trapped underground.

There’s no question that the next episode will be even more over-the-top, but honestly, that’s a good thing. It makes for entertaining television; you just have to suspend your disbelief a little. 

Other thoughts:

• While there isn’t much of May on this episode, there’s at least a glimpse of her doing well as a nursing student, which is nice to see.
• The season premiere also gives the audience a glimpse of Buck as a father, and so far, things aren’t going great. He knew Theo would be a handful, but it seems like it’s more than he expected. Eddie clearly wants to give him some much-needed parenting advice, and this sets up potential for a really interesting dynamic moving forward.

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9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.

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