Source: 9-1-1 // FOX
Let’s talk about not getting excited about a new show on certain networks (cough ABC, cough Fox) because they inevitably drop the ball, don’t invest in promotion and shelve something special 9-12 episodes in.
This may not be the case.
Fox’s description for 9-1-1 reads like standard procedural fare: the lives of a 911 operator, firefighters, police sergeant and EMTs intersect in the wild streets of L.A. What the descriptor didn’t delve into was the fabulous chemistry this diverse cast of actors has established with each other 2 episodes in.
Courtesy of Fox
Each episode follows fire lieutenant Bobby (Peter Krause), his hothead rookie Buck (Oliver Stark), 9-1-1 dispatcher Abby (Connie Britton), police sergeant Athena (Angela Bassett) and EMTs Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Howie (Kenneth Choi). The calls are ripped from real life and included some pulse-pounding moments in the first episodes (roller coaster gets stuck upside down? No thanks).
Courtesy of Fox
The formula doesn’t follow the “Law and Order” track of ‘work the case’; the personal lives of these characters are given full view and agency (i.e. Abby’s mother has Alzheimer’s, Athena’s husband is gay, Buck is a possible sex addict).
In the latest episode, a bummed out Buck is lamenting his first-person lost in the field when Abby gives him a pep talk. These two don’t know one another-only in passing dispatches over the emergency line. I’m thay brief conversation, Abby discovers her own cougar crush and Buck discovers what actual friendship (with a woman) can be. Solidarity in crises.
Courtesy of Fox
You can catch “9-1-1” on Fox, Wednesdays at 9PM and the first 2 episodes on Hulu.
