- "911. What's your emergency?"
- —Abigail Clark
"Pilot" is the first episode of the first season of 9-1-1. It was written by Brad Falchuk & Ryan Murphy & Tim Minear and directed by Bradley Buecker.
Synopsis[]
It takes a team of people to help answer the famous question, "911, what's your emergency?" Detective Athena Grant works as a member of the police force, handling cases that require her sharp mind and expertise, while also trying to juggle her own family drama. Bobby Nash and his team of firefighters help execute the daring rescues that often come along with these life-threatening situations. Meanwhile, Abby Clark spends her days taking and fielding emergency calls at the 911 call center, but constantly desires to know what happens after she sends help.[2]
Full Synopsis[]
Abby mentions how emergencies may have several definitions. One is a personalized experience and struggles revolving around specific matters, in this case Abby's deteriorating mother Patricia and a fruitless relationship with Tommy, something that never gets healed. The other is the more commonly accepted yet macabre example, where various emergency services attend and resolve.
The moment she gets to work, a caller dials when her son drowns and is unresponsive. After getting her address and dispatching emergency services, she instructs the caller to perform CPR until they arrive. Bobby brings the 118 to the scene, giving Hen and Buck instructions, while removing the caller from the immediate vicinity, assuring her he's making room for the crew who will take it from there. Hen suppplies oxygen, Buck does compressions and Chimney attaches a defibrillator unit. Bobby confirms there are no special conditions they need to worry about. The caller hangs up, much to Abby's dismay, as she always wanted to discover what's behind the incidents. Meanwhile, after several attempts, the team sussessfully revives the victim who coughs out water.
At the next incident, Abby mentions sometimes, it's better off oblivious. The caller spots a woman who he just spent a night drinking with is attempting to commit suicide and he doesn't know what to do. While the rest of the crew wait on the ground, Bobby ascends the catwalk and tries to talk her down, but she jumps before he could reach her and presumably dies, much to everyone's horror. As Bobby stares aimlessly, Abby hangs up on a non-emergency call.
At the church, Bobby looks into his handbook, then closes it and walks down the aisle, where he is joined by an unnamed priest. Immediatel after the initial rites, they are interrupted by the priest's ringtone. The priest assures Bobby despite being a newcomer, he still serves as any other priest. Bobby jokes on confessing a mortal sin but quickly shifts to moving in the general area. Bobby admits a week ago, he took drugs, painkillers and alcohol, adding he spend at least a decade of his life in rehab and had reprecussions from the fire department authorities. He did recover and was now working for 18 months. The priest is confused by his frequent confessions, but Bobby insists he would otherwise stray into disaster. The priest does sympathize with the death Bobby just witnessed, and Bobby mentions responders survive by coping psychologically - be it alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex. Meanwhile, Buck drives the 118's ladder truck to meet a girl nicknamed "Groovyheels" for sex, even betting he would be there within five minutes. After they have sex inside the vehicle's cabin. Buck denies his birthmark being described as a wound, and when he attempts to get the girl's number, she refuses, citing it may as well as turn it into a bad experience. They kiss, and after she leaves, Buck remarks "we're living in a golden age!"
Chimney and his girlfriend Tatiana are watching Die Hard on TV as he takes some popcorn from the microwave. Later at the station, he brings it up again, telling the crew Tatiana is ifficult to satisfy and gets bored easily, but he doesn't want to leave her. Bobby advises him to think otherwise as there are just too many other women for him to pick, though Hen disagrees, as Chimney is terrible at the task. Chimney then discusses on their encounter through a dating site for firefighters and police, with him telling her many exiting rescue stories. Hen is curious as they never had serious incidents recently, though Chimney clarifies he used some exaggeration. They agree about their uniform drawing lust. Buck drives the ladder truck into the station, runs up, and snatches some spaghetti from Hen's bowl without washing his hands, much to her dismay. Bobby blames Buck for misuse of public property and Buck claims he is merely getting it washed to which Chimney gives a random remark. Bobby reprimands Buck that the firehouse has its own rules, and he's getting one citation. If he gets two more, he's dismissed. Bobby then takes away the plate and advises Buck to wash his hands. Chimney suspects Bobby's effectiveness, but Bobby claims Buck is merely misguided, and Chimney instead jokes on how Bobby might die of Buck's negligence before Bobby even knows it. Bobby gets a form from Chimney, but before he could eat anything, the alarm goes off, to the crew's chagrin.
Both the police and 118 respond to the scene immediately after Abby takes an unusual call from Steve, who claims there is a baby inside the wall, possibly flushed down the toilet. The crew spring into action, with Buck grabbing an axe. Bobby declines Buck's challenge of sprinting up the staircase, as he needs to use the elevator. Inside Steve's room, Bobby initially can't hear anything, though Steve insists, and refutes Hen's suspicions when she assumes he was intoxicated, not by a hallucinogen, anyway. Chimney assumes it might be a cat, but Bobby silences the crew when he personally senses something, eventually getting a stethoscope to confirm his hypothesis. After several knocking attempts, Bobby pinpoints the location and demands them to destroy the wall. Chimney still objects and suggests it may be a tape recorder, but Hen remains neutral. Then Chimney remarks the pipe might not be enough for the baby to fit in, until Bobby plays down his speculation, informing him a baby's skeleton could as well as adapt if it is premature. Bobby also stops Buck from attacking the wall on impulse, as it may harm the baby. Instead, he orders for the saw, and Chimney comments on Buck's adrenaline-fueled act.
Athena arrives in her patrol car after the 118 and gets a briefing from one of the officers, who mentions someone might have gave birth and tried to flush the baby. Athena demands them to find tangible evidence. She adds they will have to search everywhere on floors 5 to 6 for best results, and unlike performing arrests, they have the authority to check without a warrant. Bobby, Buck and Chimney proceed to work on destroying the wall carefully, while Steve casually eats his flakes. The police perform searches with null results, and as the team tears the wall open, Hen realized the sewage coming through will not only splash the crew, but also endanger the baby, and subsequently runs upstairs to warn residents. She makes a scarcastic remark to Athena, aptly describing their scenario. The residents of apartment 513 draw Athena's suspicion, and when they deny the authorities entry, she instead begins to follow a blood trail on the ground.
Sewage bursts through the pipe as the squad take it apart. After locating the baby in the detached segment, they work on extraction. Athena tails the blood to an incomplete toilet on a construction site and eventually to a hole. When they find the baby stuck, Bobby gets Buck to fetch the defibrillator for its lubricant. Hen returns in time and is ordered to prepare the ambulance. Bobby pushes the baby to Chimney out successfully, and they begin CPR, removing congestions to revive the baby. They wrap the baby in a towel and head to the elevator, but find it unavailable. Buck volunteers with his speed, and Bobby hands over the baby. He sprints down the stairs as Bobby and Chimney look on. Confirming her suspicions, Athena bursts into 513 with brute force and finds Marika bleeding in the bed, knowing immediate hospitalization is required. Buck takes the baby to the ambulance, but refuses Athena entry and condemns Marika for literally trying to kill the baby. Bobby intervenes and loads Marika into the ambulance anyway, while Buck swears to Athena responsible if the baby ever dies. Hen reports them having five minutes before they reach hospital, while Chimney, Buck and Bobby work to stabilize the casualties. Marika is concerned on whether if the baby would die, causing Bobby to sooth her and gives her the baby's hand. After arrival, hospital staff take the casualties from the vehicle and cart them inside. Buck feels obliged to tail the baby, but Bobby stops him, claiming their part, which was going well, is now over and they can dial the hospital to learn any consequences. Athena pulls over their vehicles and scolds Buck for nearly getting Marika killed, to Buck's disagreement. She warns Buck not to mess with emergencies before leaving. Buck turns around in confusion, and Bobby recalls the crew to their vehicles.
Athena stops Harry and May whispering around the table at home, and they reveal to her wanting only one parent to be present in school, as there's some serious friction between her and Michael. They believe she is going through a divorce, which she denies, but Harry mentions they typically don't argue until they come across the worst. Athena unsuccessfully attempts to stop Michael outing himself as gay, much to her dismay, despite Michael claiming some struggle before he came to terms. Both Harry and May reacts negatively, suspecting Michael bringing trouble to the family. May snaps and angrily leaves, undeterred even by Athena. After Harry also gets off the table, Athena confronts Michael for his deception and attacks, who retorts him assuming she would have known long before now. Michael reminds Athena she is merely trying to deny what he considers courageous as shame to her, as well as the fact that he proposed to have children. Athena ushers the kids to school as Michael walks back in.
Abby feeds apple sauce to Patricia and reminds her that her husband was dead for ten years. When Veronica, her hired caretaker, arrives, Abby scolds Veronica for being thirty minutes late but Veronica tells her the SSI can't fire her anyway, only moving her to another individual in need, much to Abby's chagrin as she contemplates hiring someone else before leaving the apartment.
Jesse, a reptile hoarder, dials 9-1-1 when one of her pythons start strangling her. Bobby breaks down the door with an axe, and it takes a few minutes for the crew to search around. Chimney mentions his extreme phobia of reptiles and references Conan the Barbarian, which Buck acknowledges with indifference. They find Jesse and all save for Chimney approach, with Bobby trying to wrestle it away from her. Hen advises Bobby to cease, as the python possesses extreme physical strength in its given conditions, which also spooks Chimney. Bobby turns down Buck's idea of punching the snake as it simply would not be paralyzed, and Hen suggests using an anesthetic to sedate the python immediately. However, Bobby does not think there is enough time for it to work, and suggests killing it alongside Chimney. Hen opposes this decision and criticizes Jesse for hoarding snakes in the first place, but Bobby insists, claiming he would compensate with a PETA donation. Buck decides they must act immediately and kills the snake with a fire axe, much to the disgust of Hen and Chimney. Bobby mentions the animal control might come around while Hen, who isn't tolerant of what Buck's attitude, leaves with the crew.
To Bobby's chagrin, he catches Buck misusing the ladder truck again while having sex with Jesse. After he drives Jesse away, also mentioning he used the GPS to locate the vehicle, he fires Buck for having multiple infractions and for damaging the fire department's image. Buck claims he might be a sex addict, and Bobby questions if Buck was seriously considering his own profession - When firefighters join, they leave every personal issue behind that prevents them from doing their job since every second wasted with a resource could as well as mean a preventable death occurring. Bobby is no longer able to tolerate what Buck might bring, and turns away. Panicking, Buck tries to reason with Bobby, who refuses to stand down and walks off.
At the station, Hen finds Buck preparing to leave the LAFD and they have discussion on how Buck was never a reliable firefighter, to the point where Hen suggested getting a dog would serve better, but wasn't happy to see him leave anyway, as while Buck has his own problems obeying orders, he is still up for the task. Buck begs Hen to get some mercy from Bobby for him, and immediately after that, an alarm rings, sending all active firefighters away. Chimney also makes a brief comment as he passes, and as Bobby orders Hen to prepare, she pats Buck on the shoulder before attending.
Abby gets a call from Lily Coughlin when burglars enter her house while she's alone. Since they just moved here, she can't tell Abby her address and they cannot pinpoint her phone location, leaving them with only a street name to work with. Lily escapes to her bedroom upstairs and mentions her being in Winnetka which narrows down the search area for the dispatchers. Abby wasn't able to extract any additional clues other than it being a brown house, and the localization has a margin of error that extends for a quarter mile, so she has to direct any nearby units for assistance. Athena, who happens to be around, laments on the difficulty of actually finding it. Abby tries to dial Emma Coughlin, Lily's mother, but they discover Emma's phone also somewhere in the house. Athena objects Abby's suggestion of using sirens, as this may alert the perpetrators easily due to the high crime rate and complicate matters, but eventually comes up with the idea of a fire truck. Athena dials Hen, who's at an accident scene, for assistance, and Hen, who claims theirs are still in use, promises one engine will be there within five minutes.
Buck turns up in a fire truck, much to Athena's dismay. She warns him to stay on-task, and when Buck expresses confusion at some slangs, she doesn't believe he'd go smoothly. Buck proceeds to drive his vehicle with the sirens and lights on through the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Lily, who goes downstairs, is discovered by Dean and Petey, the perpetrators, and they pursue her. Buck quite literally passes the house as he can't spot the pink bike placed in the shadows, but Abby managed to pinpoint the location with the truck's GPS beacon and Athena stops Buck from driving away. Petey and Dean, initially spooked, are relieved to discover it was just one LAFD unit moving around. Athena proceeds to the location, and when Buck finds Emma returning home, he scrambles out of his truck to pull her away. Athena sneaks inside through a nearby alley just as the attackers seize Lily, and Abby attempts to convince Petey to escape, or face authorities coming their way. They lock Lily in a closet and Abby lures them to the back door, only to find Athena waiting for them. Enraged, Petey pushes Dean into Athena, who reports, and Abby turns to Buck for assistance as Petey takes Lily hostage. Petey releases Lily when he doesn't find the authorities at the front door, where she runs to Emma. Buck can't spare any time to respond and Abby's calls go ignored. Just then, Petey escapes on a dirt bike and Athena makes her way out, alerting reinforcements to stop him. Another police unit arrives in their patrol car, forcing Petey to turn around. When it became clear he will open fire, Athena urges Emma and Lily to hide behind the fire engine. Petey attempts to shoot Athena, who prepares to attack but the action suddenly cuts to an end when Buck, who has scaled the truck's roof, fires a jet of water, knocking Petey off the bike. Comprehending the situation, Athena looks at Buck for a moment before moving in for the arrest. Buck then responds to Abby about the consequences - Shots were fired, but the homeowners are safe for now. He also commends Abby for saving Lily, as she brought enough time for emergency units to enter, much to her relief and joy.
At the end of the day, Buck backs the vehicle into the station, and Bobby comments on how Buck went in the truck without his uniform. Buck informs Bobby the urgency didn't give any additional time. Bobby, who also learned the incident from Athena, admits he didn't really understand Buck before. Buck chases Bobby, admitting Bobby's decision to fire him was rightful and he now understands why he works, prompting Bobby to give him another chance before walking away. Hen reminds Buck he still has work to do, and later on the 118 attends to more emergencies. Athena stares at the family in her vehicle while Michael is on the phone and refuses to discuss with him out of anger, but still wishes to have them wait before she comes home for dinner. She drives off when the family walk inside. Abby mentions the importance of working at the frontlines and takes another call.
Cast[]
Starring[]
Guest Starring[]
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Co-Starring[]
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Trivia[]
- The first episode was reportedly going to be directed by McG,[3] however, it was later reported that Bradley Buecker would replace McG as director of the episode.[4] McG was also one of the executive producers on the show but left due to creative differences. Bradley also took McG's position as executive producer.
- In the press release, actor Rockmond Dunbar is not listed as being part of the cast despite him being part of the main cast of the show.[5]
- Also in the press release, Athena Grant is named a detective when she is only an officer.
- Buck's method of locating Lily with sirens is based on a real event.
- Buck's sexual partner, Groovyheels, makes a note of Buck's birthmark confusing it with a bruise (which was already present on Oliver Stark's face). Originally, at least one person on every call was going to mention it in this episode. Hen brings this up in Worst Day Ever.
- Robert Nash mentions he and Evan Buckley are both Bruce Springsteen fans as they went to a concert together.
- Bobby, as a fire captain, does not have the authority to fire employees, as he can merely document their misconduct, although these would have warranted his firing by a fire chief. Regardless, this meant nothing in the end as Bobby undoes the decision due to Buck's heroism.
Soundtrack[]
| Song | Artist | Timestamp* | Storyline |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Heroes" | Peter Gabriel | ||
| "Firework" | Katy Perry | The priest's ringtone that interrupts Bobby while he is confessing. | |
| "Bad Reputation" | Bass Drum Of Death | Plays while Buck is driving the firetruck through traffic to meet a girl. | |
| "Under Pressure" | Queen, David Bowie | Plays after Bobby gives Buck his job back. | |
| "Fade Into You" | Mazzy Star | 32:00 | Snake scene. |
*Timestamps are rounded to the minute.
Multimedia[]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.spoilertv.com/2018/01/final-adjusted-tv-ratings-for-wednesday.html
- ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20171213fox07/
- ↑ https://www.spoilertv.com/2017/08/9-1-1-peter-krause-to-star.html
- ↑ http://deadline.com/2017/09/9-1-1-bradley-buecker-direct-ep-ryan-murphy-brad-falchuk-fox-series-1202170847/
- ↑ https://www.spoilertv.com/2017/12/9-1-1-episode-101-pilot-promotional.html