Note: This story contains spoilers from “9-1-1” Season 9, Episode 1.
“9-1-1” is taking its first responders to outer space in Season 9, and the premiere episode reveals exactly why.
Episode 1, titled “Eat the Rich,” kicked off as the crew came together for a firehouse dedication to the late Bobby Nash (Peter Krause). Later, they are dispatched for an emergency involving controversial tech billionaire Tripp Hauser (Mark Consuelos) being swallowed by a whale.
Hen (Aisha Hinds) ends up being the first person Tripp sees after the crew helps force the whale back to the surface and gets it to spit him up, with Eddie (Ryan Guzman) jumping in the ocean to get him to safety. The incident then goes viral on social media, prompting the tech mogul to enlist Hen’s help in rehabilitating his image by inviting her on a publicity stunt that involves space travel — in exchange for a hefty donation to the LAFD.
Both excited and hesitant by the prospect of going to space, Hen first went to her wife Karen (Tracie Thoms), a rocket scientist, to invite her to join on the journey “up about 100 miles, we do two laps around the planet and then we come back down.”
Karen also notes Tripp’s hidden agenda, but gets excited at the prospect of finally going up into space. Then she realizes she can’t accept the invitation, as she works for a competing company that is currently in litigation with Tripp.
That left Hen with no plus-one, and after Athena skipped on her husband Bobby’s dedication ceremony to go undercover — and getting benched after the feds take over the investigation — Hen decided the space travel might be just what the doctor ordered to give her friend an escape after Bobby’s death. That choice also stopped her from having to decide between her insistent fire station colleagues.
The premiere ended with Hen inviting Athena on the journey after a heartfelt conversation, with the next scene featuring the duo strapped and jetting off into the unknown.
Of course, it wouldn’t be “9-1-1” without an emergency situation. Promos for the Season 9 premiere event teased the space flight will go wrong and leave Hen and Athena stranded in space, after debris hits the space craft before setting its sights on Los Angeles. The opening moments for Episode 1 previewed the emergency when workers at a space station were sent into chaos by the incoming debris.
Elsewhere in the episode, Chimney (Kenneth Choi) was revealed to be the interim chief of the 118. Buck (Oliver Stark) also struggled to see Eddie and Hen getting close as new partners after Chimney’s promotion, and very much still grieving Bobby’s loss.
And beyond her upcoming voyage, Athena learned that her son Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) dropped out of high school and has been working at a coffee shop. The reveal led to a heated argument between Athena, Harry and May (Corinne Massiah) in which they accused her of neglecting them following Bobby’s death.
“9-1-1” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
