‘9-1-1’ Season 7’s Finale Twist Is a Big Shakeup for the Show (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 7 finale.

Most seasons of 9-1-1 have consisted of somewhere between 14 and 18 episodes. That means there's generally plenty of room for a ton of action-packed scenes, which usually include whichever major natural disaster or crazy emergency the writers have come up with. But the writer and actor strikes that took place last year prevented the show from filming as many episodes this season. However, even with 10 episodes in the can, Season 7 of 9-1-1 still has lots of chaos and excitement for the viewers.

With everything from a capsized cruise ship that endangers the lives of Bobby (Peter Krause) and Athena (Angela Bassett) to an emotional wedding (congrats Maddie and Chimney!), fans still received everything they could ask for in this shortened season. A new love interest appears for Buck (Oliver Stark) when he spends time with Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.), and the connection inspires him to embrace his bisexuality. Eddie (Ryan Guzman) also has a new romance, but this one is a lot stranger. He meets a woman who is a doppelgänger for his dead wife, and his dalliance with her leads to Christopher (Gavin McHugh) asking to live with Eddie's parents for a while. Despite this upheaval in Eddie's life, it seems as though most of the 118 crew is united as a family once more as the season comes to an end. But the 9-1-1 writers decided to throw in one more huge twist in the finale episode.

9-1-1

TV-14

Drama

810

Explores the high-pressure experiences of the first responders who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking, and heart-stopping situations.

Release Date

January 3, 2018

Cast

Peter Krause , Angela Bassett , Kenneth Choi , Aisha Hinds , Jennifer Love Hewitt , Rockmond Dunbar

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

7

Network

ABC

The Season 7 Finale of '9-1-1' Is a Wild Ride

The penultimate episode of the season, "Ashes, Ashes," ends with a harrowing fire at Bobby and Athena's house. Bobby is able to carry Athena to safety, but after instructing the first responders on how to help her, he clutches his chest and collapses. Episode 10 picks up with Bobby in the hospital, having suffered a massive heart attack due to smoke inhalation. Athena initially suspects Amir (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) of the arson, but they eventually learn it was Herman (Tony Amendola) and his crew, who Bobby and Amir interacted with during their Mexico adventure. They kidnap Amir, but Athena is able to rescue him from their clutches (and make sure the bad guys are arrested). She then learns that Bobby is awake and is going to make a full recovery.

In Episode 9, Bobby quit his job as captain of the firehouse without telling any of his team. He is uncomfortable receiving an award for his rescues, since he still carries a lot of guilt regarding the fire he caused years ago. He basically says his goodbyes in his own way (such as making sure Buck knows how to make dinner for everyone), but now that he's survived the fire and the heart attack, Bobby has another change of heart. At the end of the final episode, Bobby shows up at the firehouse in his uniform, having been medically cleared for duty. He's more than ready to take back the reins for his crew. But there's just one problem: Captain Vincent Gerrard (Brian Thompson), who the audience knows as a bully from prior seasons, tells the shocked crew that he is now the captain of the 118, not Bobby. He says the higher-ups have noticed a problem with leadership at the fire station. To add insult to injury, he turns to Bobby and says, "You quit two weeks ago." This is news to the rest of the crew, who stare at each other in disbelief. Bobby was actually going to abandon them?

What Could This Twist Mean for Season 8 of '9-1-1'?

The 118 can't truly thrive without Bobby at the helm. It's bad enough that Bobby is being removed from his position, but the worst part is that Gerrard has an awful reputation already. Viewers first met Gerrard in Episode 9 of Season 2, when they got to follow Hen's (Aisha Hinds) origin story, and then again in Episode 12 for flashbacks to Chim's (Kenneth Choi) journey. Gerrard displays horribly misogynistic and racist behavior, introducing Hen to her colleagues for the first time as their 'diversity hire.' Hen and Chim are required to do grunt work, including preparing dinner and cleaning (which none of the other firefighters have to do). In one scene, Hen and Chim are forced to do dishes, but Gerrard tells them to 'stop messing around in home ec class,' a demeaning and dismissive comment to two firefighters who are only trying to do what is being asked of them. Complaints about Gerrard's behavior eventually led to him being transferred and an interim captain being brought in. But Gerrard did plenty to leave a bad impression on the 118 crew (as well as with viewers).

It is pretty shocking that Gerrard would be brought back to the 118 as captain since many of the complaints about him were connected to Chim and Hen. Why would the higher-ups think it would be a good idea to throw a problematic captain back into the mix of what they claim is an already troubled firehouse? Well, the 9-1-1writers are probably thinking this will present the 118 crew with some interesting dynamics to work through. Ryan Guzman notes, "From what we know of the Gerrard story, he's an oppressive force, and he's got an old-school mentality that has no open-mindedness about him at all. What that does to a very vulnerable and open 118 is going to be very tricky, and it's going to change the landscape for how the 118 navigates." He suspects that Eddie could switch off his emotions since Gerrard will remind him of his days in the military, which can often have a focus on masculinity and stoicism. Bobby will definitely have to ignore his feelings of guilt and remorse that colored Season 7 in order to fight to get his job (and the people he loves like family) back. And in upcoming episodes, Chim and Hen will have to push aside the memories of the disrespect and toxicity they received from Gerrard previously, so that they can focus on figuring out how to get him removed from the 118 permanently.

9-1-1 never shies away from presenting their characters with major obstacles. Typically, these barriers come in the form of earthquakes or tsunamis, but similarly to the real world, the biggest villain of all often comes in human form. We don't know Gerrard's exact motivations for taking the captain position. Perhaps he just likes having authority, or maybe he wants to get back at Chim and Hen if he blames them for his transfer all those years ago. It could be that he resents a firehouse that is dominated by diversity and acceptance, and he wants to ruin that collective spirit. No matter what, this twist means that the whole crew will need to do what they do best: band together and fight to save each other. The fate of the 118 is at stake.

9-1-1 is available to stream on Hulu.

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