There is a large amount of procedural drama or crime shows on TV. You know, shows such as NCIS, S.W.A.T, FBI: Most Wanted, The Resident, or The Good Doctor. I don’t usually watch those since the genre is typically not my cup of tea. But… I may have made an exception for two; one of which is 9-1-1.
9-1-1 is a procedural drama TV series which focuses on a group of first responders; firefighters, paramedics, police officers, and 911 operators. Of course, much like other series of similar genre, it primarily deals about the cases and emergency situations they constantly stumble onto.
with a severe accident or natural disaster
So far, the series proves to be very entertaining, with most of the featured emergency situations ranged from thrilling, scary or dangerous, tragic, strange, and can even hilarious at times. In short, this show has a lot of emotions. Not sure how many other series of similar genre to have something like this, but this is different from me. From what I read, according to the writers, many of the 911 calls featured in this show are actually based on real life incidents, which probably says something about the living situations in Los Angeles. They also really care about their characters; periodically, each of them is given a heavy focus with their “Begins” episode. These episodes explore their backstory and how they came to be. Even outside of their own episodes, the series often goes far to ensure each character has substantial amount of screentime, though there are also times where some of them don’t appear at all in certain episodes. 9-1-1 proves to be popular enough (especially with the ladies) that it receives a spin-off; 9-1-1: Lone Star, which takes place in Texas and features a new and different crew. A few weeks ago, they just had their first crossover episode.
What I like about 9-1-1, besides the many excitement cases featured, is that they don’t really shy in depicting real-life issues. It’s probably strange considering people probably watch TV shows or films to escape reality. But somehow, this show kinda keeps me grounded, occasionally throwing their characters into dangerous, traumatic situations and forcing them to make tough decisions. Suffice to say that this show does not always have happy endings, because life is not all about cupcakes and rainbows. At the same time, the writers are also being kind to these characters and tell the audience that no matter how bad situation is, they (and us) can push through and everything is gonna be okay.
Edmundo “Eddie” Diaz (Ryan Guzman), and Henrietta “Hen” Wilson (Aisha Hinds)
I should also make a note about how inclusive and diverse this series can be in terms of people representation. Besides some of the big names such as Peter Krause and Angela Bassett who play Bobby Nash and Athena Grant respectively, the show also has Aisha Hinds who plays Henrietta Wilson, a black, lesbian paramedic/fighter, Kenneth Choi as Howard “Chimney” Han, a Korean-American firefighter/paramedic, Gavin McHugh plays Christopher Diaz, a jolly sweet kid who has cerebral palsy (the actor portraying him happens to actually have that condition), Bryan Safi as Josh Russo, a gay 9-1-1 operator, and many others. Each of them has had a certain amount of importance and is even the main character in some episodes with their own problems, both personal and interpersonal. In particular, in their backstory episodes, when they first joined Station 188, both Hen and Chimney were subjected to racism. In the case of Hen, she also had to deal with a former sexist captain.
To some people, or probably many, they may say this series has “political agenda” or is pandering too hard to diversity. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with that, because that’s just how the world is. Everyone is different, we see it everyday. Not to mention, what these characters have been through does and can happen in real life. The way I see it, they tell us that despite of the hardships, there’s always a way to work things out. Because the world is not always kind and fair to everyone, if there’s one thing we can do, is to help lessen the pain.
That fact that these guys know each other and are basically just one huge, extended family brings warmth to my heart. A picture of an ideal family I wish I could have. Sure, realistically, even a happy and diverse family must have their own problems, and they show that occasionally. But I think it is possible to live with each other. I’m pretty sure there are people who get along fine with each other just like the cast of 9-1-1, with different background, race, beliefs, personalities, and sexual orientations. Unfortunately, so far, they may have been minority.
Usually at the end of every episode, there’s always a snippet of song which seemingly captures and fits the scene. I usually end up looking for some of it on Spotify. It’s where I discovered “Bloom” by The Paper Kites. This song is heard just at the end of second episode of season 4, “Alone Together”. During the song sequence, Chimney is shown to return home to her pregnant girlfriend Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), after he temporarily moved away due the thought of being a father concerned him; Michael (Rockmund Dunbar) and David (La Monde Byrd) started to living together in order to strengthen their relationship (despite of the pandemic, though, and both are aware of how risky it was), as well as Christopher having a video call with his nanny Carla (Cocoa Brown) and assured him that despite of their current situation, they would still remain close. Interestingly, the music video of Bloom shows a couple connected through a string of tin can telephone before finding their way to each other, representing their effort to stay connected and get closer. I may be too reaching here, but… it kinda reflects those scenes, what with the pandemic and how everyone, despite being cooped up at home, still manages to keep in touch with their loved ones.
but those who respect and give joy to each other in everyday’s life…
It’s probably silly to say that we could and should learn something from a movie or TV shows, but I’m pretty sure we at least take some of their lessons to heart, somewhat. Especially when they say and experience something that unexpectedly resonate with our own living situation. Sure we watch them for a sense of escape from our own mundane and possibly unhappy lives, but if there’s anything we can learn from TV, like 9-1-1 for me, then we should probably take it and try to practice it. Of course, being a good person is difficult because these days everybody is too busy hating each other, but doesn’t mean we can’t try…
When everything seems difficult and feels like as if the world is against you, usually all you need is just the company of your loved and closest people to make you feel better. And maybe they can help you…
Catch 9-1-1 on FOX every Monday!
The Mind Report 
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