Spoilers ahead!

Seismic Shifts wraps up the eighth season of 9-1-1, carrying all its flaws and some of its strengths. After a building collapses, Athena and the 118 come to rescue the day, dealing with multiple emergencies simultaneously. Typical 9-1-1, except that this time we’re dealing with Eddie and Christopher about to leave to Texas once again, with Buck ready to leave the 118 because Bobby and Eddie won’t be there anymore, and of course, with Chimney, Hen, and Ravi devastated because their leader isn’t there to lead them.

Even with a little screentime, we get to care about the victims of this episode. And the emergency is interesting because the characters are all divided — Athena and Chim are trapped with two injured men, Buck and Ravi are trapped with another one, meanwhile, Eddie decides to miss the flight and comes to help the team.

So we get to see Athena and Chim making amends after joining forces to save people (Chim is the one who does the most here, and he shines a lot), Eddie saving Buck, Ravi, the injured man with them, and then helping save other people, and so on. It’s a nice episode in the sense that everybody is working together, and this series is at its best when it remembers it’s an ensemble show.

However, like many things this season, the conclusion feels rushed and anticlimactic at times; there are too many things happening with too little time for them to be properly and satisfyingly wrapped up. There are hints of who may be the next captain (Hen, Eddie, but especially and more visibly Chimney, they all have their moments here to maybe make them options for becoming captain in the next season), there is the conflict between Chimney and Athena, there is Eddie about to fly with Christopher back to Texas, there is Buck that is about to leave the 118, and of course, there are the huge moments in the ending montage that certainly could have been better explored: Maddie giving birth to their second child, Hen and Karen officially adopting Mara, Buck looking for a new place to live after Eddie and Christopher return to their house, Athena selling the house that she built with Bobby during the season… All of that is a lot, and each one of these events could have been explored during the past episodes. Except that all of them gained a quick 2-minute montage in the end.

All of this to say that I feel that their plan to use Bobby’s death to boost storylines and turn the game was not a good move, not at all — nothing that we’ve been in these past three episodes justifies killing Bobby. No storyline (the ones that resulted from Bobby’s absence, the ones that existed before) was properly dealt with; all the opportunities for huge, satisfying moments with the characters were wasted, and all for what? For another huge emergency that takes most of the screentime in the episode? Except that this time, instead of being on the edge of my seat, I was so confident no one would die, not after Bobby just died randomly. And even if somebody died, I don’t know if they could make me care at this point.

So, in a way, much like this season, this finale was a wasted opportunity. It had a few enjoyable moments, as it was a good episode, but only when you ignore context — if you ignore that this is a season finale that wraps up the three episode arc that sends off Bobby, if you ignore every storyline sidelined so this big emergency can exist, then yes, this is a nice episode. If you think too much, though… Why don’t we see Eddie choosing to stay for himself and for Christopher? Why don’t we see Eddie and Chris talking more about these huge decisions that impact both of their lives? Because there’s no time to do all of that. The Madney pregnancy storyline was completely forgotten and was just there so they could name their baby Robert. Buck’s bisexuality was never properly developed, and the thing he’s got going on with Eddie never explained (but probably just baiting at this point, we can all say that). By the way, it’s important to mention the Buck and Eddie thing because it’s implicit that, aside from obviously Bobby, Eddie’s departure is why Buck plans to leave the 118. Except that, just like Eddie quickly changes his mind, so does Buck, and things are never properly developed between either of them. Hen and Karen didn’t even get a proper adoption storyline in these final episodes, it was just a quick moment, 5 seconds or so. What we gained in place of these stories? Unplanned storylines for shock value and one of the most unsatisfying goodbye arcs I’ve watched in television. And unexplainable tragedy for no reason at all.

Sometimes, when a main character dies, especially when it’s an important one like Bobby was — we get to see this death being used to boost powerful, great storylines. Again, death in fiction is not uncommon, it happens all the time. It’s all about timing and execution — not only of the death itself, but also of what happens next. Here, I’m not confident if the ones piloting the plane know what they wanted to do after Bobby died, and I’m confident they have no idea what to do next season without Bobby. Also, can we talk about how cruel this season — especially the last few episodes — has been to Athena? Okay, I get it, some people can only write drama if their characters are going through hell every second of their lives, but the way Athena (as a solo character) and Bathena (as the main pairing of the show) have been treated is something else. The audience loves some angst when it leads to a satisfying payoff. The audience usually hates angst for the sake of it, or you know, when you just want to shock people to shake things up… So there’s that. Athena sells her new house she planned and built with Bobby and gets to watch a younger couple moving to it. Just brilliant.

“Seismic Shifts” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Kenneth Choi as Chimney. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.

By the way, I love the Chimney monologue at the end. Kenneth Choi is wonderful in embodying these powerful lines, and I always appreciate it when this show gives him a chance to shine. As I said, this episode has great moments, and this is one of them. Choi and Bassett are all great in their roles this episode as they have to find a way to work together. Have I mentioned that Chiquita Fuller is back as Linda? I love her, even when she appears just a little. Terri Hoyos’ return as Aunt Pepa was also great, I love her too. And I don’t hate the montage in the end using Joel Ansett’s Tragedy Is Not the End — it’s a beautiful scene, and I’d be feeling much more emotional watching it if not for, you know, the context of it all.

All in all, this season finale fails to wrap up everything satisfyingly, and it fails to set up a future for this show in a way that will make people even desire to tune in for the next 18 episodes. It tries its best to honor Bobby, but it never reaches a point that makes killing him justifiable. You know when you see the whole picture and go “oh, I didn’t get why they did what they did back then, but I get it now — after seeing the whole picture, of course that was the right move! Things will be so much more interesting now!?” Yeah, I don’t think anyone was saying this after watching this, which is a pity — Seismic Shifts scratches the surface of some interesting themes with Chimney and Athena at times, and as a whole offers a vision of the 118 as a family that’s beautiful and poignant… Just not enough to make the future look bright and engaging and fun so we get to be interested in coming back in the future.

And you know what’s funny? Lately, I’ve talked to some people who watch and love this show, and many of them were confident that something huge would happen to justify all of this. Maybe Bobby would be back, maybe he’d be trapped in a government lab being experimented on, maybe this would all end with a huge change that would turn this show into something else… You can call them delusional, but I think they’re just in denial that a show they love so bad would come up with such weird choices of storytelling without a proper story planned. Those theories were an act of hope and kindness, a leap of faith that allowed some people to continue watching this show they loved so much, even when it turned to cheap tricks for shock value. It’s a wild thing that happened — this show has a loyal fanbase, it’s peaking in viewership, everybody was already talking about it even before Bobby died, it has so many interesting characters with great storylines to be explored… And yet, even after a bold (stupid, but bold) move, they decide to do so little with the characters in their hands and the loyalty of their viewers. Peter Krause, you’re already missed so much — we all love and still mourn Bobby. And while this season ends with a song telling us that “this tragedy is not the end of the story”, it might as well be for many, many people. And in a way, for the show as a whole.

Feel free to leave a comment with your impressions and theories.

And thanks for reading me this season! For everyone who is reading weekly and leaving comments, it’s been a pleasure to share this space with you all. Even if I’m unsure there’s another season of 9-1-1 in me, I’m thankful for this time with you! Take care!