Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘9-1-1’ Season 8, Episode 4.For several seasons now, 9-1-1 has brought in every new installment with a multiple-episode emergency. Season 8’s emergency was a tornado of 22 million bees that nearly crashed a plane. With the end of that emergency comes the start of the rest of the season. Season 8, Episode 4, “No Place Like Home,” jumps right back into the show’s previous storylines, almost as if the beenado never happened.
Season 7 of 9-1-1 ended with many painful loose ends. Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Karen Wilson (Tracie Thoms) lost their foster license, as well as their daughter, Mara (Askyler Bell). Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) could not come back to the 118 after temporarily quitting, because he was replaced with Captain Gerrard (Brian Thompson). Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) and Bobby’s house burned down. It seemed as though this would all be dragged out for a long time, but 9-1-1 instead delivered a pleasant surprise this past week by resolving two of these plotlines together.
Hen goes to see Councilwoman Ortiz to beg her to drop her revenge plan, but it is no use. However, Hen soon realizes that Ortiz and Gerrard are friends and that Ortiz was the one who assigned Gerrard back to the 118. Meanwhile, Ortiz has made Gerrard implement a new policy where firefighters must wear bodycams at work. When it seems like all hope is lost for Hen and Karen, Gerrard gets Councilwoman Ortiz to implicate herself on camera. Hen plays the footage in court, and she and Karen get Mara back.
Why Does Gerrard Leave the 118 in the Latest ‘9-1-1’ Episode?
After Hen tells Bobby that Councilwoman Ortiz gave Gerrard his job in order to hurt Hen, Bobby has Gerrard meet him on the set of Hotshots, where they talk. Gerrard goes to Ortiz and says that the best way to hurt Hen is not by taking Mara away from her family. Instead, Gerrard suggests going after the 118 family by closing down that station. He points out that it would take the 118 firefighters away from each other and help with budget cuts. Ortiz agrees, but unbeknownst to her, Gerrard is recording her. This is not a redemption for Gerrard by any means, but it is still shocking to see him helping out for once. It’s revealed at the end of the episode that Bobby spoke to Gerrard and convinced him to help take the councilwoman down. Additionally, Gerrard turns out to be a huge fan of Hotshots, as well as of its star, Brad Torrence (Callum Blue). Bobby arranges for Gerrard to get his consulting job, much to Gerrard’s delight. Thus, Bobby goes back to the 118, right as Mara goes back to her family.
Now that Season 8 has moved past the beenado and the plane crash, it has gone back to 9-1-1‘s main storylines. It combines these two major problems from the end of Season 7 and resolves them together. By doing so, 9-1-1 has left the rest of the season completely open for new storylines. The rest of Season 8 can show the 118 fighting fires together and dealing with their problems as a family, now that Gerrard is completely out of the way. Additionally, Hen can take on new storylines that do not put her family at risk.
