#and outside the arcs set up season 4 with eddie and maddie everyone has just kinda been...there all season

[maddiebuckettebuckley]

come talk to me about your wildest dream plot lines for season eight these are all of mine :) this got a little out of hand but i have no regrets

eddie: obviously this is the most important to me. I have a series of demands. 1) get his gay ass out of the closet I’m so fucking serious. catholic guilt and leaning on Bobby can be a part of it. it will be torturous and like pulling teeth but he’ll be girl who is going to be okay afterwards!! 2) (strongly tied in with #1) him exploring what he likes/wants/who he is as a person outside of fatherhood (bc he’s been a dad since he was!! a teenager!!!!). give him some new friends (Maddie and Karen!!! preferably!!!!!!). give him some new hobbies that he actually enjoys and isn’t just using to escape from The Horrors. AND let him go to gay night at a line dancing club 3) he comes head to head with his parents about um everything. actually sets boundaries about their relationship with Christopher (I.e. you cannot just show up at my house to take my son away even when I’m having a mental health crisis. maybe actually support me next time or just fuck off) 4) drop him in the middle of the woods and have him presumed dead due to a plane crash when he does go to pick up Chris (maybe midseason? but I really don’t want chris gone for that long)* 5) feelings realization re buck in the second half of the season. I think he actually realizes at the same time he realizes he’s gay but it is simply too scary so he’s like okay I have to deal with one thing at a time. but then he simply cannot ignore it anymore. probably due to buck is being insane after his own feelings realization. 6) spurred on by his self-discovery arc in star first half of the season, he starts working towards his paramedic license yayyyy

buck: princessa….. okay I don’t have much for buck. I want him to mostly be background to other people’s arcs. bc I actually think that’s where he thrives EXCEPT: 1) I want him to start really struggling with the fact that he doesn’t have kids yet, and like even looking into ways to have kids on his own (esp. since he knows he’s bi now) like surrogacy and adoption and stuff. and 2) actually think this could be an interesting point of conflict (and breakup??) between him and Tommy (where Tommy is just not that interested in having kids) because it would be an actual discussion and require buck to actually examine what he wants out of a relationship 3) presumed deaddie leading to feelings realization. this makes him insane, obviously, and he makes it everyone’s problem. yay :)

hen: 1) she kills Gerrard with her bare hands. the boys can help if they want but she should land the killing blow. and by this I of course mean get him fired and make sure he never works for the LAFD again. bc it’s crazy he still has a job. or maybe she actually does kill him that would be so fine too 2) she and karen (I actually think Karen might lead this bc hen will be busy killing Gerrard) tear down the entire DCFS system to get their daughter back. I genuinely think she has to be home by the end of the first three episodes. or I will go crazy. 3) the gerrard and bobby situation leads to captaincy succession drama between hen and chim, where they actually sort-of fight about who should be captain and they both make very good points. the resolution to this is 4) hen’s nightmare with councilwoman ortiz gets her interested in local politics, and she runs for city council (or something), and decides that’s what she wants to focus on right now rather than trying to become captain

chimney: 1) fostering mara gets Maddie and chimney talking about the possibility of having more kids. chimney really wants to, and specifically wants to adopt kids, because he was given a home when he had none as a child and really wants to offer that to someone else, and he doesn’t want jee to grow up without a sibling. this leads to some more exploration into his childhood and confrontation of his past grief. they ultimately decide it’s not what’s best for their family, but do decide to keep their house open for emergency temporary foster placement 2) captaincy succession drama with hen, as aforementioned. he struggles with his whole inferiority complex when it comes to leadership positions, and ultimately realizes how much he’s grown in that regard and that he actually could be a fantastic captain. because he loves hen he’s willing to give it up for her, but then she encourages him to go for it so he starts down that path 3) can we revisit the fact that this man has come within kissing distance of death more times than anyone else on this team???? like, what has that done to his psyche???? how has it changed him as a person???? it’s years too late but I want it so bad.

maddie: 1) aforementioned family planning discussions with chimney. because of her traumatic experience after jee’s birth, she really cannot see herself ever having other kids of their own, because she just knows it would bring her back to that place emotionally, and she feels that their family is complete with jee. this causes a lot of tension between her and chimney for a while, as they come to understand each other’s points of view. but she does love what they’re able to do for mara, and wants to continue with emergency foster care 2) I just really need her to bond with eddie. they have so much in common and I feel like could really be a support system for each other, especially as they’re both grappling with parenthood struggles 3) she starts considering taking on a leadership position in dispatch alongside chimney starting down a captaincy path and maybe there is even like maddie-josh drama or maddie-linda drama that parallels the chimney-hen drama

ravi: because he WILL be a main. trust 1) struggling with fitting in with A-shift after coming from B-shift, because they’re so tight-knit and he’s been in and out, but ultimately realizing he’s part of the family already. and they throw him a surprise party obviously 2) baby’s first life threatening injury!!!! and everyone is freaking out bc that’s their little guy and they JUST officially adopted him. and of course this is his begins episode, so we get to see some of his childhood growing up in hospitals and stuff and how he got into firefighting. I would love for it to be like. his family is actually super supportive but he struggles to fit in and be a part of a team due to he was sick all the time as a kid. this would work together nicely with him feeling like he doesn’t fit in with A-shift! I also think it would be funny if he was in the hospital and the 118 assumed his family wouldn’t show up and then they ALL do like parents siblings everyone. and they’re like oh. that’s… never happened before?? 3) it would be very funny if hen and chim were trying to get everyone to pick sides in their captaincy drama and they were fighting over ravi and he was so sick over it. like I can’t choose i love them both. why is this happening. do I need to talk to HR?? and everyone is like no this is just how things are around here bro. but he kind of has to stand up for himself a bit and be like dudes. I’m not doing this.

bobby: 1) the Gerrard stuff is going to have Bobby actually considering retirement and not just in a suicidal way. and ultimately I think he’ll decide that he wants to back away from the day-to-day stuff and do more oversight stuff, so he starts the process of stepping up the ranks to ultimately become fire chief, in part so that no one like Gerrard can stick around in the LAFD. this is a big factor in hen and chim thinking about captaincy. 2) I would be really interested to see his reaction to buck thinking/talking about having kids, since he sees buck as a surrogate child, and if it makes him feel a certain way about like fatherhood and mortality and legacy and stuff. buck obviously is like ‘well and would the kid call you grandpa or pops or what. because pops would be so funny considering.’ and bobby just starts crying. 3) I want Bobby’s special blood thing to come back lmao like maybe the blood people are like hey so that other guy in Australia died um do you have any siblings?? and he has to reconnect with his brother because of it. and deal with some of his unresolved stuff about his father’s death. this can happen for reasons other than his special blood I suppose but I would love for it to be special blood related 4) he has to go back to Minnesota for some reason (maybe related to reconnecting to his brother) and it like literally almost kills him but it’s ultimately really good for him

athena: all love to ms bassett but I’ll be honest as a certified cop hater the only athena arc I’m interested in is her quitting her job. I would love for her to get in trouble due to her abuse of power wrt Amir, and realizing how many other times she’s abused her position of power. I would also love for May and/or harry to be involved in helping her realize this. and then maybe she gets into like an alternatives to policing model or community organizing or something. this will of course never ever happen. but I actually feel like thematically it would align well with the rest of the characters’ arcs (self-discovery, transition periods, stepping into new roles, etc.)

other stuff:

-*to elaborate on presumed deaddie, no one kill me but maybe it’s on the way BACK from Texas and Chris is also in the plane crash? and in part due to eddie being concussed, he has to kind of step up and use what hes learned through osmosis about first aid and emergency stuff to help people and keep them calm. he’s literally a baby and he shouldn’t HAVE to do this but I think it would be so beautiful to see him like confidently helping out in a horrible situation because everyone he knows is first responders lol. so he knows what to do and how to keep a clear head about it. my brave brave boy!! of course if eddie and chris were BOTH presumed dead buck would kill himself For Real so there has to be hope that they’re alive. maybe eddie wanders into the woods (due to he’s concussed and disoriented) away from the crash site so they find Chris first and then spend the whole next episode looking for Eddie. and they literally have to sedate buck and/or put him on a physical leash so that he doesn’t run off into the woods to die with Eddie. of course. and the will comes up as a part of all of this obviously which is associated with the feelings realization AND the kid stuff.

- I would love to have another female firefighter on the team, especially if Ravi joins as a main. I think like a really tiny angry 20 year old female probie who picks fights with Buck specifically would be a really iconic addition. and I think Hen would LOVE to mentor a younger female firefighter. and she and eddie and ravi would all be best friends. she would take a while to warm up to buck and she would think chimney was kind of weird but in a fun cool-uncle kind of way.

- controversial but if Taylor came back in some way I think that would be so funny. maybe they want to turn her book into a movie or something so they come to interview the firehouse about it. and they would all hate it so bad, except chimney who would be thriving

- more emergencies in general. hopefully with an 18 episode season they can actually do this

- stuck-in-the firehouse bottle episode where there are zero (0) calls all day but they are being discouraged from driving around for some reason so they literally have to stay inside all day. and the AC isn’t working. this overlaps with hen and chim’s captaincy drama AND buddie mutual pining era and they all make it everyone’s problem

- ending the season with a buddie cliffhanger (maybe a first kiss? confession?) but also ending with a cliffhanger of someone else in serious danger, like maybe hen and karen getting into a car accident or something????, and then they couldn’t do a time jump and would have to resolve both things simultaneously and the tension and chaos would be wild and I just think that would be a slay setup for the start of s9!!

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend, still here though its been a very long work week, and still stewing in my bitterness about the OG finale 😠. And by finale I mean season 6 in general. Like, there are parts of the LS season that sucked and absolutely could and should been done better (dropping the marriage plot and 50% of the police investigations to make room for the 3 tragic storylines in the finale to breathe over the season and let it end with a happy wedding pretty much fixes 99% of the problems) but it could at least have been done better. I think if you asked me how to save S6 I would say something like "with a time machine to S4" or "don't try, just burn it to the ground".

And if I really think about it, it didn't start out this way? Remember 1000 years ago when we got 6x01?? I remember being excited because the things being setup looked legitimately interesting for all the characters. Buck starting his leadership arc, Chim and Maddie repairing their relationship, Hen struggling with to balance her job and medical school, Eddie having to deal with Chris growing up (remember that?), Bobby and Athena going to see her family and giving her a chance for closure, everyone had something that made sense for where they were when S5 ended. Even 6x02 didn't look too bad, I though Buck's happiness arc would end up tying into his leadership one, and basically turn into a finding peace with yourself plot. And maybe its just me but suddenly there was this abrupt, weird shift in 6x04?? Like all these wonderful potential season-long plotlines suddenly needed to get wrapped up ASAP? Maybe those scripts were already written before the cancellation news came in because when I look back it feels like a different show. I remember being excited that the firefam was a focus again, we got them back!! And then the slow disappointment as the season went along to find that those moments didn't ever hold any weight. Am I imagining all this??

I don't know if any of this makes sense. When things disappointment me I tend to shift into analysis mode and try and make sense of it, and after thinking back to those first few episodes, i feel like this isn't the season we were supposed to have. Like all that promise in the first couple of episodes suddenly got replaced with half thought out nonsense. Again, I don't know if I'm trying to make a coherent statement here, or maybe checking in to see if I remember things right.

Anywho, hope you are doing well on your end cause we have a long, fraught hiatus up ahead. I've started to watch The Night Agent for a distraction and so far (I'm mostly through episode 2) am enjoying it. Rose hasn't done too much but I see the potential with her character and Peter looks like a highly whumpable partner for her. Can't wait to see where it goes. Got any good recs for further watching during hiatus (to distract me from keeping an eye out for KR hopefully making a career change)?

Hello my friend! It has indeed been A Week and that's even without all the 911 nonsense. You're not imagining things though! There was a lot of potential set up at the beginning of the season, though much like the blimp emergency, it turned out to be a lot of hype for an anticlimactic dud of a season. (I'm also wondering if the shift came about after the cancelation notice went out since it was before October, but also we all saw season 5 so KR just being Bad At Showrunning could also be a lot of the problem. If they were getting canceled you would think they would make an effort to...IDK make it better? Not waste any time? Have all the mains all the time doing all the things? What an idea 🙄)

A time machine back to season 4 would have been nice! LS definitely had pacing issues but you're right that just spacing some of it out could have solved a lot of problems. Also cutting Owen's billion plots outside of the firehouse and giving that time to emergency calls where we see more of the 126 interacting would have helped. But OG feels very much like a "throw the whole thing out and start over" kind of deal. Even the ideas that WERE good were executed so poorly that really just starting from scratch is the only fix. *sigh*

Anyway, I hope you enjoy The Night Agent, it was a lot of fun! Rose is very much "wet feral cat" energy and down to commit crimes at all times, while Peter is so "golden retriever that got left on the porch in the rain" energy it hurts. They're wonderful and I love them so much! Enjoy!

I'm not really watching much else? I started White Collar with my mom since I lost track of that show at some point and never finished it, and I'm about to watch the last episode or two of So Help Me Todd which I found to be some silly, laid back fun. I also really enjoyed Animal Control. It was absolutely RIDICULOUS but also sweet and fun. Shred and Emily are TOO CUTE. I'm working on finding something else to watch, but I'm also working on my Countdowns fic FINALLY even if it's just a lot of bullet points right now. I have some fun ideas I'm excited to work on so hopefully I will be able to get that done before the show comes back to suck the life out of me again. Or, if we're lucky, turn my brain to static in a GOOD way! Also, if you want to dissolve into a puddle of feelings, the new Ed Sheeran album WRECKED me this week so there's that too. I'm just full of emotions!

Hopefully next week will see both of us feeling a little better, or at least on the motivated side of salty and spiteful instead of the mournfully sad side! If season 7 and ABC don't give us episodes we can make song posts about I'm going to pull a Jason Mendoza and start throwing Molotov cocktails.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend and wow, that episode was A LOT. I'm glad we got to see TayKay in her true form, though also glad we didn't see the final break-up this episode since the focus deserved to be on the incredible Hen & Chim friendship. They are the foundation of the 118 and while they've had bits (read: not enough) of their individual stories told this season, I'm really happy to see an episode so focused on their bond (though not gonna lie, that scene with them and Jonah at the end left me

feeling nauseous). Speaking of Jonah, love that the actor had a truly stand out performance while AK continues to "meh" audiences. Anyway also in focus us what feels like nearly the end of Eddie's healing arc, which again was beautiful to see. All the little tidbits we got from his childhood made me 😭😭😭, but the joy of seeing him say he was going to be better for himself was such a fantastic moment. Eddie really has come so far (also Ryan's performance has been amazing) and in a good position to support his future husband next season when Buck has his breakdown era. Other notable things this episode include the welcome lack of L and Bobby punching Jonah. I'm going to predict during his spiral next episode we see Eddie returning the advice Frank gave him when they talked about Afghanistan, particularly about blaming themselves on not seeing the danger when they were focused on healing others. Anyway if there are any complaints i want to mention it is not with the episode itself but with the fact that the entire TayKay and triangle storyline has been such a waste of time. TayKay never changed, we didn't need to know anything else about her for the breakup to work. Why have her crappy "truth is everything" plot, the vague attempt to give her a sympathetic backstory, the dumb cheating plot with her inconsistent characterisation when original recipe TayKay was enough to end BT? At least the event itself looks to be glorious!

Bestie, I am thriving today, though I have to admit to being a little surprised that a lot of people were less than pleased with the episode. I was just too caught up in the euphoria of Hen/Chim bestieism, tay kay’s true self being shown, almost NO L, and Eddie facing generational trauma and walking out of it with him and his dad wanting to do better, to be too concerned about anything else. I’ve got some issues today but nothing that makes this not still one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences I’ve had in 5b. 🤷🏻‍♀️ So lets talk about it!!

Hen and Chim were literally at their BEST all episode! Aisha and Kenny are criminally underused and it’s been particularly glaring in this season with them choosing to write Kenny out while JLH was out, and the pacing this season being a mess so the mains did fuck all most of the time. But this episode had some BANGER moments for them! We got serious talk besties, we got joking besties, we got investigation besties (Chim being nervous about getting caught, PLEASE I want to kiss Kenny on the mouth for every single choice he made this episode), we got absolutely panicked Hen and Chim to the rescue even half dead (twice dead? twice revived?), and my favorite moment (aside from the juice pouch because GOD Kenny is adorable and perfect) was Chim calling himself the comic relief (which people often think he is and forget what an amazing and layered character Chim is) and Hen shutting that down and reminding him (and the audience) that he’s so much more than that. It was SO GOOD to have them back on my screen for most of the episode. Also, not for nothing, but the contrast to their best friend moments and the way they look at each other vs Buddie was...very loud.

As for the Jonah of it all, I was not expecting it to go as far as it did, but by that point I was just *vibrating* with Hen/Chim love and we knew they would be okay, so I made it through okay, but it being SO dark, SO quickly was unusual for the show in general but knowing KR had a hand it in and she was the one pushing the Jeffrey stuff I can’t say I’m too surprised 🤷🏻‍♀️ But I’ll take this storyline ANY DAY over that other one. I have also seen lots of people pointing out the pacing of the episode was weird which I can agree with, it just didn’t take me out of the joy of watching nearly like every second L is on my screen pulls me out and makes scenes nearly unwatchable 🤷🏻‍♀️ I do think if they were going to go that hard at the end, that we maybe should have had more scenes of him leading up to this episode. Not a lot, but maybe just a little bit more than what we got. I’m going to talk about pacing a little more later but I’m with you and also cackling about Bryce being basically ignored (though likely part of the “misdirect” but still. It was way more shady saying nothing about him and then just having him still around for some reason) while the hyped character and storyline has been SO BAD it was almost entirely cut 🤭 

Bryce came out and delivered an incredible performance in this episode but also throughout 5b, being in the background and mostly likable before really letting Jonah’s true self shine, but I continue to be baffled at what both AK and MW are doing with their faces 90% of the time. I’ve never seen either of them in anything else so IDK if it’s just this show, but AK’s line delivery is SO WEIRD and she only had like 2 brief scenes this episode and both times I messaged someone specifically to ask what she was doing with her face in those brief moments because it was just so noticeably off.  The blessed lack of L was nice, though both moments of hers still weren’t even needed because some rando who has never worked A shift asking Ravi what’s going on with Hen and Chim (who have to be a bit notorious even within the 118 if even other houses know about them) and Ravi saying it’s better not to ask would have made more sense than someone who has been working with them constantly for months 🙄 But it was far less than what I was bracing for. I’m still pissed about her presence taking me out of the joy and feeling of May Day, so I was happy to be spared here, and I refuse to think about the finale just yet. 

And then we have MW and her delivery which is...glaringly bad when you see it in gifsets with other characters from this episode. Her “serial killer” and “I can do something” lines were just so bad, but BOY is it nice to get back to the show acknowledging through other characters, especially Buck, how deeply awful she is! I have only half-watched most of her scenes since 4x14 because I was so sick of what they were trying (and failing) to do with her, but this felt so much like 2x06 that I was just eating it up with a spoon. Go girl! Be the Huge Wrench in your own relationship! But I’m with you, this makes the whole L thing look even MORE pointless which I thought wasn’t possible! We knew it always needed to come down to this, that she’s a terrible person and Buck should never have been with her, but did we need to drag it out this long only to be told that she hasn’t really changed and this has all just been a waste of time? Several people have pointed out that this feels like a storyline that was supposed to be in 5a but got pushed and I could buy that. They had to change her personality every 5 minutes and drag Buck down with her just to keep this relationship on life support long enough to make it to the end of the season, only to end with zero outside influence or interference either from L or Buck “spiraling” because his family is missing. At least it looks like we’ll be getting the breakup Buck deserves to have, so fingers crossed they follow through on that! (also “ original recipe TayKay “ please I am crying! 🤣🤣🤣)

Okay this is already entirely too long BUT as much as the pacing was weird and Eddie’s storyline didn’t really fit in this particular episode tone-wise (this would have been a good 2-parter) it was SO GOOD and pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. I love how 911 addresses generational trauma, and Eddie may have stirred stuff up, but he didn’t shut down! He not only let those angry feelings out, but he let himself be vulnerable and at least start talking it out with his dad. And surprise! He found out his dad felt a lot of the same things he himself felt about missing out on time with their kids and they both want to do better! I LOVE this for him. Adult parent/child relationships are almost always complicated because you still feel those childhood wounds and hurt, but you’ve lived enough to know that they’re just people! No two situations are exactly alike and not every parent/child relationship can or should be salvaged, but I like the direction they took with Eddie’s story. It’s not all fixed or all better, but Eddie is really taking what he learned in therapy to heart and it’s helping him so much. Look at him! He looks SO MUCH better and freer already!

This really is too long but quick miscellaneous things

It was weird not seeing Chris but it was likely episode contract related, and we at least knew where he was at all times

Very weird there was no Madney scene at the hospital but JLH just had a baby and the show working around her schedule as a new mom is a good thing!

SHIRTLESS CHIM!, 

Bobby decking Jonah, and Athena having to act like she wasn’t about to do the same thing, and sweetly icing his hand for him

Karen being the smartest person in the room as always

Uncle!Buck, ADHD!Buck (the dinosaur! 😭😭😭 I want to smoosh his little cheeks), Hoodie!Buck, Husband!Buck just hanging around watching Eddie pack so Eddie has a sounding board for his worries, Angry!Buck (I am having impure thoughts) just...BUCK. 

“I need a hero” being THE music choice of the episode 

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here and after watching 911 2x05 I'm having some thoughts. This was a very Maddie and Hen centric episode, barely even featuring Buck or Eddie at all, and I really enjoyed it, I thought it showcased both characters beautifully in terms of their choices and values. But it got me thinking about how if RNM had episodes barely featuring Malex, Kyle, or Rosa I know I'd hate it, and why that is. Here's what I decided, while both shows are supposed to be ensemble shows, only 911 shows it. TBC

The characters in 911 feel like a family, and like family I may prefer seeing some over others, I value knowing what's going on in their lives. I loved that the Athena and Maddie interaction felt normal in the way it was set up, even though both are outside the firefighter group. One could argue that it's easier to do this in a drama about emergency service employees than in a scifi, but OG Roswell didn't have a problem doing so, only C*rina, she never wrote for the group. She has scenes between characters that she wanted to happen, but never tried to bind the characters together as a unit (Chris has had to do it, bring characters that have never interacted before together). Instead of feeling like the characters have a common interest in each others happiness, you have characters that seem to be actively undermine other characters happiness. That's not an ensemble, that's bad teenage drama. Hence I have a hierarchy of characters I care about. Anyway, i'd like for Chris to correct this by moderating certain characters behaviors but that isn't happening so far (at least for one). But without it I'll never feel fully invested in the show, just the ships (friend and romantic) that I like. Hopefully I'll finish 2x06 soon, maybe watch 2x07 and have some thoughts for you before Monday night when I expect my Malex heart to take flight.

Hi my friend! I’m SO glad you’re enjoying 911! 2x05 actually has one of those scenes that makes me choke up every time, when the lady realizes that Maddie didn’t hang up on her and I think it says so much about Maddie’s character. I absolutely understand what you mean about it being a family and feeling more like an ensemble show. I love Buck and Eddie, but I truly adore all the main characters and they do feel like a family that I want to know about and if someone gets a little more of the story in one episode, I don’t feel cheated that I’m not seeing someone else. Everyone gets their moments to shine and they are all so great that I truly enjoy seeing all of their stories. 

But on the RNM front, I’m with you in that I definitely do not enjoy episodes where certain characters are missing or certain characters are featured and I agree that c*rina was never able to write for the group as a whole, or even for who these characters are or how they would react to things given their history. I feel like she went into making this show with a checklist of things she wanted to happen before it was even decided what the backstories for characters would be and she refused to adapt or change anything even if it didn’t make sense anymore with the storylines, set up, or backstories they went with. Contrast that with 911 and (not to be too spoilery for you) how JLH was told it was under consideration that her character Maddie was going to be paired with Eddie and she was just like, no, Maddie would fall in love with Chimney, and she was absolutely correct, especially given the storyline they chose for Eddie in season 3. And I don’t know how much of this show or story arcs were planned beforehand, but 911 is really good at making parallels between the different relationships, and making call backs to previous seasons in a way where re-watching seasons is so much fun because there are things that slot into place or make more sense or shift things into a new direction. I’ve said it a million times, but the Buck Begins episode in season 4 puts season 1 Buck into an entirely new light and it was fascinating to go back and re-watch with that lens. Which is how it should work! 

“Instead of feeling like the characters have a common interest in each others happiness, you have characters that seem to be actively undermine other characters happiness. That's not an ensemble, that's bad teenage drama.” You’re right and you should say it. The characters in 911 are such a family and as such, there are fights, and disagreements, but there is always and undercurrent of love in all the interactions. You truly believe everyone deeply cares about everyone else and wants them to succeed and be happy. And sometimes that is being frustrated when it looks like they are going down the wrong path, or calling them out when they are doing something dangerous or putting themselves at risk and it doesn’t always come out right and feelings get hurt, but it always, always comes back to love and the characters actually talk about things and resolve their problems and try to see things from the other person’s point of view. (Sidebar, as someone who loves and appreciates the hope that Ryan always puts in his music, 911 is also big on ending things with hope. It’s so much lighter than other shows like this which is why I always struggled to get into them. The characters were never allowed to be happy without it immediately being snatched away, but 911 is so good at letting characters be happy and fulfilled in their friendships and long-term relationships as well and being able to lean on those relationships when things are bad or they are struggling and it just makes me tear up sometimes, it’s so refreshing to see!) While again, with RNM characters are too wrapped up in themselves or their relationship drama to be there for their friends, or are actively undermining each other while the dialogue keeps trying to tell us that these characters are just the best of friends. And no one tells anyone anything ever so it’s impossible for us to know who knows what, or see some characters reactions to learning important things (Alex’s reaction to finding out Michael’s hand was healed a whole ass season ago but it has never come back up again?! Begging for season 3 to address this and give us a flashback or at least dialogue about when it first happened). And at this point after 2 seasons they are not trying to force that one character into the center of things but since they haven’t addressed in even the slightest, most subtle capacity and have just doubled down on what happened last season, it’s not working and making me actually dread certain episodes and scenes that we’ve see stills for. There are a few guest star/side characters in 911 that I do not particularly enjoy, but I’ve never dreaded an episode or scene and I think a lot of that has to do with how over several seasons 911 has earned at least a little of my trust with where they are going with things and how they address things where as RNM just like, actively betrays every little bit of trust I try to give on a weekly basis 🙄 

I’m still hopeful for Malex (WHERE IS THEIR REUNION?! GIVE IT TO ME!!!) and for some of the things coming up in season 3 and I’m excited to see where Chris takes these characters but yeah, I doubt I’ll ever be able to be fully invested in some parts of the show. 🤷‍♀️ I am excited to hear your thoughts on the next episodes of 911 and I am SO READY to flail about Malex with you after the new episode on Monday!!