I fear I have been misled about the bees. When I’m promised a three-episode bee-nado event, I expect there to be plenty of stinging insects throughout. Instead, the second episode of 9-1-1the eighth season of – the The Empire Strikes Back bee-nado chapter – has no bee in sight. The bees were just the inciting incident for the air disaster that takes up most of the impeccable title “When the Boeing Gets Hard.” Perhaps I was wrong to assume that the hive would return for revenge, but it’s hard not to feel a little deflated. My name is Patricia Arquette. Childhood saying, “I just thought there would be more,” in this case, specifically referring to bees.

I’ll put aside my disappointment right off the bat, because this episode is actually an improvement over the season premiere, offering a more focused story that gives Angela Bassett ample room to shine. We’re on the plane from the jump, although we start just before Athena and Dennis Jenkins board, which leaves time to introduce all the characters we need to know: Tia and her man-hating dog , the businessman Jordan, the child prodigy of the plane. the passionate Jim and his father, an older couple meeting their new grandchild and, of course, an entire girls’ volleyball team. (As a superstitious person who is very afraid of flying, I am always looking for reasons not to fly, but instead to fly.Yellow vests world, if I see teenage girls in uniform on my flight, I’m running.)

Now that 9-1-1 introduced us to the passengers who will be horribly injured or help the horribly injured, the show advances to just before the mid-air collision. Jenkins explains why these scary men are after him: The U.S. Attorney’s Office actually transferred him to another prison for the express purpose of getting him closer to Maxwell “Schmeffrey Schmepstein” Fulton, who eventually disclosed the location from his library of incriminating evidence. . Fulton also warned Jenkins that there are people who will stop at nothing to get their hands on his little black book, but Jenkins is always willing to share his information. In fact, he will cooperate with the US Attorney’s Office without benefit of the early release he was promised – unless Athena forgives him for the murder of her fiancé. It’s an interesting, if somewhat low-stakes, moral dilemma for her (Jenkins is going to spill anyway), but before she can think about it properly, the bee-plagued pilot from the season premiere crashes in their plane.

The smaller machine makes two large holes in the airliner. The first, in the cockpit, puts the pilot in the open air (RIP), while the second, in the rear of the plane, is a very stressful experience for passengers. Fortunately, both holes are pretty quickly (albeit temporarily) clogged with debris, so no one else flies through. The co-pilot is also seriously injured, but he manages to level the plane before passing out. Athena heads to the cockpit, where she soon discovers that the radio is broken, so she does the only rational thing that also happens to be the title of the show: she calls 9-1-1 on her cell phone. (I would like to know who its carrier is.)

Josh receives the call and forwards Athena to air traffic control, who is very good at keeping his cool even as he privately wonders whether to evacuate the entire airport. The plane has an autopilot engaged and air traffic control is clearing the airspace around it, so it should be fine for a minute – but as a flight attendant tells Athena, there is lots of injured passengers and, let’s not forget, a gaping hole in the plane. the plane. (That’s the last thing Boeing needs.) They work together to keep the passengers away from the danger zone, and Athena delivers a rousing speech over the intercom. It’s a great showcase for Bassett, who brings real gravitas to the stupidest situations. She’s a big part of the reason 9-1-1 works so well because it still commits to taking the absurdity seriously.

But the series also works because it’s an ensemble, and this episode manages to involve (almost) everyone. 118 is still reeling from Buck knocking down Gerrard, saving him from the flying buzzsaw. While the captain is in the hospital receiving medical treatment, Hen is in charge – and they all have work to do. Maddie calls and lets the station know that she will take care of the passengers from Athena’s flight so the firefighters can help triage the injured 30,000 feet away. This is a very clever way to keep the 118 in action, and so I’m willing to suspend my disbelief at all the working cell phones on the plane.

Although there appear to be multiple injuries, we are actually focusing on two cases. The first is a volleyball player, who has a horribly broken leg. Chimney guides Jenkins while stabilizing the leg, which then begins to swell. The diagnosis is compartment syndrome and the treatment is deeply distressing: They will have to relieve the pressure by performing an emergency fasciotomy with a razor-sharp object, and no, a plastic knife won’t cut it. It’s Jenkins who comes to the rescue: “I can make a blade; give me a toothbrush and a lighter. Chimney guides them by using the surin to slice the muscle along the girl’s leg. It’s very disgusting, but it works instantly. (Too instantaneously for my taste. There is a grotesque popping noise.)

The other case is that of businessman Jordan, who has been unable to breathe properly since the plane stabilized. On the phone with Tia, Hen first diagnoses that Jordan is having a panic attack (that would be me in this situation, so I understand), but once he starts coughing up bloody sputum, she correctly identifies the problem as a high altitude pulmonary edema. Hen’s brilliant idea? Boner pills, which will dilate his blood vessels too, well, you know. Jordan can’t swallow, so Hen suggests putting the pills in a nebulizer, which does the trick and allows him to breathe again. She then tells Tia to cover Jordan’s knees with a blanket out of “modesty.” Thank you to the grandparents on the plane for providing the two items needed to save Jordan’s life. “The perks of being geriatric, my dear,” says Grandma, a queen.

Meanwhile, Athena faces a larger crisis: Air traffic control has told her she must land the plane herself. But she’s not alone: ​​They brought in a flight instructor who has taught countless students how to do it. Yes, these students were landing in flight simulators, but it’s really no different, not counting the potential massive losses. And she gets help from Jim, the plane-loving child we met in the opening scene, who successfully helps Athena turn back, the first step in the process. Honestly, everything is going pretty well until the injured volleyball player has the audacity to say out loud that she’s going to be okay – never do that! — at that point, the debris blocking the hole in the back of the plane breaks loose and the plane begins to tumble out of the sky.

Jim naturally knows what to do and helps Athena stabilize the airliner again, with help from the people on the ground. And that’s not the only reason to rejoice: the co-pilot has woken up, which means Athena is out of the woods and doesn’t need to learn how to land while doing it. 118 is on its way to LAX to provide aid when the plane lands, and Buck heads to the set of the firefighter show Bobby works on to pick him up directly. But it is 9-1-1 and nothing is ever that simple, especially when you’re in the middle of a three-part event. The co-pilot gets up and promptly has a heart attack – and we’re left with another cliffhanger. I have no doubt that Angela Bassett could land a plane…but can Athena?

• I realize I haven’t said much about Bobby’s story, and that’s because he hasn’t yet been integrated into the larger plot. For most of the episode, no one can even reach him. I like that the series he’s working on is clearly 9-1-1until the director chastised him: “Hey, tech advisor, it’s a TV show, not reality.” » Take that, fact-checkers!

• I’m also waiting for the other shoe to drop with Brad, the very intense actor who seems obsessed with Bobby. What’s going on there? I’m always happy to see Callum Blue, but the vibes are disabled. However, I am legally obligated to note that Brad inviting Bobby to a “just guys” weekend in the mountains or at his house in Malibu is very gay.

• Buck-Tommy Watch: Speaking of gay, Tommy is MIA in this episode. Since there are no updates to report on Buck-Tommy, I’ll use this space to clarify that I’m absolutely not trying to get in the middle of a shipper war here. I am delighted that 9-1-1 put Buck in a same-sex relationship, and I wanted to celebrate that. If he leaves Tommy for Eddie, rest assured this will become a Buddie watch section. In this house, we love and appreciate guys who kiss Buck, period.

• Some great laugh out loud moments in this episode, and also some notable snaps: “As interim captain while Gerrard is incapacitated, my first order of business is a dance party”, and the coach of volleyball “Hey, we you go to this tournament and no matter what happens, you’re still the captain of the team, okay?

• As much as I hate the guy, Captain Gerrard’s radio silence is concerning. If he’s dead, does that mean Buck is responsible? Or is it a wash because the blade would have killed him anyway?