Talk about a low-key finale.
With Ryan Murphy crafting some crazy (albeit sometimes unrealistic) stories about the first responders of Los Angeles, I certainly expected the season one finale to be a huge, Grey’s Anatomy-like event. Instead, we get a quiet hour packed with intriguing victims-of-the-week and one heck of an ending.
Let’s start with that date twist. Although I would much rather see Bobby start dating Abby (their chemistry a few episodes ago was too good), the reveal that Athena is his date at the end of A Whole New You is beyond exciting. It’s no secret that Angela Bassett has been the show’s MVP so far, and Peter Krause has grown on me a lot since the pilot, gradually adding a lot more depth and multiple layers to a fascinating character. With both of them moving on from previous attachments and the possibilities of how this might shake up some of the core dynamics, this is literally the 911 pairing I didn’t think I wanted. What a positively unexpected twist.
Less exciting is that Abby decides to move to Ireland (for good?) after her mother passes away. With Connie Britton’s contract ending (she only signed up for a one-year deal), there’s no telling if we’ll ever see Abby again. As much as I am neutral about Abby and Buck, I can’t say I won’t miss Britton’s on-screen presence, particularly her facial expressions that spoke a lot louder than her words. Plus, who’s going to take those 9-1-1 calls now?
Finally, I’d be remiss not to mention the finale’s memorable cases. From the woman who suddenly wakes up with a British accent to the harrowing thoughts of the very-much-alive man in the morgue, A Whole New You leaves us guessing until the very last moment of every case. Even more disturbing is the motorcycle accident that leaves a man’s body separated from the waist down. It seems that 911 was waiting all season long to show us all that gore because that was indeed Game of Thrones level of traumatizing.
Emergency Bits
– For once, Abby’s voiceovers are actually insightful and stunning this time (see the quotes section below).
– How awkward and hilarious is Bobby taking selfies in the bathroom?
– Hearing Lyle’s thoughts while everyone around him declared him dead reminded me of the amazing Jessica Alba movie Awake and that time McDreamy was in a similar, albeit a bit more tragic, situation.
– The gang giving Bobby a hard time about his dating profile on RomancingTheUniform.com is priceless.
– I love Carla and I sincerely hope the writers find a way to bring her back to some capacity next year (with or without Abby)!
– Absolutely gut-wrenching moment as Bobby breaks down and walks away from the motorcycle accident.
– Buck’s imposter subplot was tedious and predictable from the start. Can he become a little more interesting in season two, writers?
– Buck draining his bloated imposter is the nastiest thing I have seen all year.
9-1-One-Liners
Abby (opening voiceover): Who are you? Are you the same person you’ve always been? If you’d asked me a week ago, I would have had an easy answer. But a pulmonary embolism came in the middle of the night, taking my mother and my certainty. Before, I would have said that I’d been losing my mother for years, as an illness stripped away the person she once was, but maybe the truth is I’m the one who disappeared in slow motion. Her things tell the story of who she was, who she was proud to be: a wife, a mother, a grandmother. I see her so clearly. It’s my own reflection that’s become hazy.
David: She’s not British! Yeah, that’s not her voice. She was born in Brooklyn. The bobbies? The closest she’s ever been to England is binge-watching episodes of Downton Abbey.
Buck: You have an AOL email account still? It’s literally like you were frozen in ember in 1995!
Bobby: It’s “amber”, not “ember”, you idiot.
Psychic: Would you like a quick reading from me?
Hen: I’d like for you to keep breathing into this bag and mind your own business.
Psychic: I knew she was gonna say that.
Abby (closing voiceover): I read about a woman in Detroit who owns over a thousand wigs. Can you imagine? A thousand different possibilities. It’s actually impossible to become a different person. You can only be better, worse, or a variation of the person you already are. We are all pliable, constantly adjusting to our circumstances, throwing caution to the wind, becoming who we need to be in the moment. The only reward you get at the end of trying not to be who you were, or witnessing someone else change into a person you barely recognize, is being able to finally sit in front of another human being wearing every one of those thousand wigs and try again.
Must-Download Tune
Shake It Out by Florence + The Machine
Conclusion
A quiet finale from 911, but still entertaining enough to be optimistic about an explosive second season. Let the crucial, long wait begin!
Chris Rating
B+