9-1-1 Makes the 118's Chosen Family a Home Away from Home on TV
ABC's procedural drama, 9-1-1, quietly become my go-to comfort show.
This post discusses sensitive subject matters, so please read with caution.
ABC’s 9-1-1 is my go-to comfort show. If you’ve seen the procedural drama created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear, you know that may be a wild statement to believe. Saying as much has even become an in-joke among fans. Sharing one of the most devastating (and well-made) edits has become a beacon of expressing why 9-1-1 is an intriguing choice for a comfort watch.
Over the last seven seasons, the characters have endured catastrophic and traumatic events and near-death experiences in quick succession. Even when they’re not running into burning buildings, life hits the team at the 118 and the surrounding characters fast and hard. And yet, 9-1-1 is my go-to comfort show right now and has been for a while—a lot longer than I ever realized.
It wasn’t until the buzz around its Season 7 premiere started to build that I noticed how often I turn to 9-1-1 for entertainment and, surprisingly to some, comfort. I caught up on the show sometime in 2022 and haven’t missed an episode since. I have certainly rewatched every episode at least once.
Some of the episodes I watch most are the more devasting ones, like 9-1-1 Season 2 Episode 12, “Chimney Begins,” or the three-episode tsunami arc at the start of Season 3. Those episodes are beautifully written and exceptionally directed. The cast (Kenneth Choi! Oliver Stark!) turn in some of their best performances in them. Still, they are some of 9-1-1’s most emotionally brutal outings.
So, why do I keep coming back to them? It’s actually not all that uncommon. Streaming numbers support procedural dramas as comfort shows, as do the people who make them. Grey’s Anatomy’s showrunner Meg Marinis told Variety:
“What makes Grey’s Anatomy such a comfort for so many people is that its characters are based in reality and flawed just like us. Everyone can find parts of themselves in the episodes, and we pride ourselves on crafting storylines that are relatable and speak to the human condition. So much of living in today’s world is about holding back and tempering feelings. Grey’s gives people an outlet to actually feel those feelings.”
Marinis’ quote made me think about a quote from Ethan Hawke’s TED Talk in 2020. Hawke discusses how people may not think about poetry until “…you’re desperate for making sense out of this life.” He says, “And that’s when art’s not a luxury, it’s sustenance. You need it.”
Of course, Hawke is not talking about the FOX-canceled, ABC-revived first-responder drama series 9-1-1, but his point stands. I came to the show during a time of upheaval in my life, and the chaos felt entirely unmanageable. I felt like I was drowning in change and endings becoming beginnings, and I didn’t know how to navigate any of it. I found comfort in the space 9-1-1 held for its characters during their brightest and darkest times — and there are many of the latter.
You can pick any character from this show, and they will have experienced a mind-boggling combination of setbacks and traumas. For instance, Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Maddie Buckley quickly became a favorite character of mine upon her introduction in 9-1-1’s Season 2 premiere. Little did I know what awaited her (and me) over the next few seasons, including surviving an abusive husband who she killed in self-defense, getting help after a suicide attempt, and living with postpartum depression after the birth of her and Chimney Han’s daughter.
Interestingly, 9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 12, “Boston,” where Maddie receives professional help and eventually reunites with Chimney and their daughter Jee-Yun, is one of my favorite episodes of the series. It’s a heavy watch, but it is unflinching in its depictions of Maddie’s mental health struggles. So often, TV can gloss over the jagged edges of a story to make it more palatable, but 9-1-1 leans into the reality of this character’s lived experiences. However dark and twisty (Yes, I’m a Grey’s Anatomy fan!), this series shows up for the characters then and afterward. Instead of glossing over Maddie’s recovery, 9-1-1 follows her through every ebb and flow, specifically during her therapy appointments with Dr. Frank.
Since Season 3, Dr. Frank has been a present and positive professional therapist for the 118’s team and their families. He has held sessions with Bobby Nash, Henrietta Wilson, Eddie Diaz, and Athena Grant-Nash. Though characters may have personal qualms with the process, 9-1-1 never turns its nose up at therapy or presents it as an entirely negative option in a person’s wellness journey.
When the characters aren’t receiving professional help, they lift each other up. They show up for each other in every way that counts, and one of the best and earliest examples comes in 9-1-1 Season 1 Episode 4, “Worst Day Ever.”
Bobby develops an addiction after using medication, alcohol, and drugs to cope with the pain of a back injury acquired on the job. One night, when he fell asleep under the influence, Bobby inadvertently caused a fire that killed 148 people in his apartment building, including his wife and two children. Bobby keeps most of this from his team when he relocates to Los Angeles and takes a job as the 118’s captain — until “Worst Day Ever.” Buck and Hen find Bobby after a tough call and a relapse. Instead of leaving him when Bobby ties to keep his distance, Buck and Hen gently hold space for Bobby to know that it’s okay to ask for help.
There’s a pregnant pause, and Bobby says, “Help.” Then, Buck and Hen go from holding space to holding Bobby. It’s a profoundly vulnerable performance by Peter Krause and an extremely short scene that underscores why 9-1-1 has reached 100 episodes, with an eighth season already confirmed.
The 118 family stands by each other through the thickest and thinnest times. As I write, I realize that’s why I clung so hard to the show when I watched it for the first time in 2022. I saw a group of people experiencing unfathomable traumas and living through them. I saw a group of people finding comfort and love in each other through those times. I saw a dramatic show with obscene emergencies but also a show concerned with character and connection.
That tether between me and 9-1-1 isn’t unique, but it is special. It’s something the people behind the camera are aware of. “Obviously, a lot of people come to it for the [expletive] emergencies. But people also like to see nice people doing the right things and caring about each other,” Tim Minear told The New York Times in April 2021.
It makes sense that when my life and/or the world feels the most chaotic, I look for comfort and order in the media I watch. The comfort comes from the chosen family that the 118 has become over the last seven seasons, and the order comes from the procedural drama’s format. Together, 9-1-1 has become a safe place for me to fall during times of uncertainty. Every week (pending hiatuses), the 118 finds ways to walk through figurative and literal fires to live another day.
As strange as it sounds, that gives me hope that I can get through whatever I’m going through, too — even if it isn’t as dramatized or extreme as what’s happening on the show. As specific as that feels, it’s a more universal effect that the people who work in TV know about, too. “Procedurals are somewhat reassuring that there is some order to the universe. You get to see people care about other people deeply and sacrifice their own energies and time to make other people whole,” Peter Jankowski, Chief Operating Officer of Wolf Entertainment, told Variety.
9-1-1 loves to show that sacrifice grandly, kicking off its current and seventh season with a three-episode cruise ship disaster. Athena and Bobby put their lives and love on the line to save as many people as possible when their long-awaited honeymoon takes a deadly turn. It’s some of the best work the show has done.
Still, 9-1-1 showcases the characters’ care for one another in quieter ways, making this chosen family feel real and lived in after 100 episodes. Chimney and Maddie offer some of Jee-Yun’s hand-me-downs to Hen and her wife, Karen, as they plan to welcome a baby girl into their family. Bobby dowels out advice to Eddie and Hen at the station’s kitchen table like the firehouse dad he is, helping his team — his family — as best as he can. Eddie unconditionally supports Buck when he tells Eddie that Buck was on a date with a man, their mutual friend Tommy.
That last one is especially meaningful after seasons of Evan Buckley running on a hamster wheel of self-discovery. Of course, I am one of the 9-1-1 fans who wish that Buck and Eddie realize their romantic feelings for each other in time. However, until then, their final scene on 9-1-1 Season 7 Episode 5, “You Don’t Know Me,” will stay with me. It’s a brilliant scene that doesn’t laugh in the face of this tender, vulnerable relationship the two men have built since Season 2. Instead, it feels like a celebration of the unconditional (and canonically platonic until the show says otherwise and, hopefully, it does) love Buck and Eddie have.
9-1-1 is filled with unconditional love among the 118. Eddie points out how vital that dynamic is on 9-1-1 Season 2 Episode 18, “The Life We Choose,” when he tells Chimney, “That’s what the 118 is — the family we chose.”
Sometimes, and cleverly, 9-1-1 sprinkles in most(ly) light-hearted excursions as a reminder that this show can do comedy and that this team genuinely enjoys each other’s company. That notion shines through in 9-1-1 Season 2 Episode 15, “Ocean’s 9-1-1,” Season 4 Episode 6, “Jinx,” and Season 4 Episode 12, “Treasure Hunt.” Why wouldn’t I watch and rewatch a TV show with that kind of range and that level of deep-seated hope? It’s enjoyable and reassuring!
Even at its darkest turns, 9-1-1 finds the light with the 118. It may take a few episodes or seasons, but even that longevity is soothing in its relatability. It’s perfectly understandable that not everyone will see 9-1-1 as their go-to comfort show—or even put it on their shortlist. But for me, it feels exactly how Found showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll describes procedurals for Variety: “It’s as satisfying and as reliable as coffee and a crossword puzzle on a Sunday morning.” Catching up with the 118, even if it’s an episode I’ve seen a million times (9-1-1 Season 3 Episode 2, “Sink or Swim”) feels like a home away from home.
What’s more comforting than that?
💌 Shelby
*Featured Photo: 9-1-1 – ABC’s “9-1-1” stars Oliver Stark as Evan “Buck” Buckley, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Maddie Kendall, Kenneth Choi as Howie “Chimney” Han, Angela Bassett as Athena Grant, Peter Krause as Bobby Nash, Aisha Hinds as Henrietta “Hen” Wilson, Gavin McHugh as Christopher Diaz, and Ryan Guzman as Eddie Diaz. (Disney/Justin Stephens)