Well, it looks like Station 118 has a good ol’ fashioned bank heist on its hands. No, seriously. I’m typically down for 9-1-1 trying out experimental episode formats, and although some of this stylized episode was fun, mostly, it felt tedious. The main problem was that most of the “suspects” were the main cast, and we knew none of them were going to up and rob a bank while on the job. The stakes were low…well, up until those few final minutes WHICH WE WILL GET TO. First, let’s set up this heist situation.
It’s Franklin Prentice’s last day as bank manager before his retirement. Calling it quits seems like a good idea, since maybe Franklin’s not built for a job where he’s interacting with so many people—the dude uses hand sanitizer like he has an unlimited supply. Before he can officially retire though, he has one last armored car delivery to get through. There’s a lot of protocol as the very nice delivery man, Billy, delivers bags and bags of money to the bank’s vault. Not in the protocol? Billy foaming at the mouth and seizing on his way out. Immediately followed by Franklin foaming at the mouth and seizing inside the bank vault. Apparently, Franklin’s retiring in a blaze of glory!
When Station 118 arrives, Eddie looks at the victims and thinks there’s a possibility it could be a nerve agent. Immediately, the place is put on lockdown and a hazmat team is called in to decontaminate everyone and everything. And just when you think things can’t possibly get any more chaotic, the bank vault, which is on a timer, begins to close with Franklin inside it. What does our fearless Hen do? Well, she runs inside the vault before it can close, so as not to leave the victim trapped alone, and ends up trapped herself. The rest of the team watches in horror on the vault security cam as Hen also begins to foam at the mouth and pass out after being in the enclosed vault with Franklin. So, you know, just your very typical work day all around.
Hen passing-out puts 118 into high gear (well, they’re always in high gear, so maybe we’ll call it the highest of gears). Their first priority is to get some more oxygen inside the vault. They shut the power off so that they can drill a small hole through the vault door without causing an explosion and then pump fresh oxygen through the hole. Great, at least one thing is going their way.
Next, the team needs to, well, they need to break into that bank vault. No one dons a Danny Ocean tuxedo to do this and that seems like a real missed opportunity. No, instead, Bobby calls a contractor he thinks might be able to help: Michael Grant. Thank goodness those two made up last week otherwise there’s no way Michael would agree to help. But they did makeup and Michael will, FOR HEN, help. In a very fortunate not at all contrived coincidence, Michael does in fact know the company who put the vault in that bank and can get some blueprints for Bobby as 118 figures out a way to get inside and get to Hen. He’s a little ticked that he has to agree to go on a date with Chuck, the dude who has the access to the blueprints, but honestly, a night at a Sondheim concert at the Hollywood Bowl sounds lovely. Quit complaining, Michael!
The blueprints prove helpful, and the guys figure out that they can knock down the wall from the outside and make a giant hole right in the side of the vault. It happens just in time, too, because over at the hospital, Billy the Money Delivery Guy succumbs to whatever “nerve agent” this could be. That’s going to be some tough news for Billy’s work partner, who is currently stuck in the armored car because protocol dictates he is not allowed to leave the truck — he is already freaking out watching the entire insane scene unfold. The news also makes 118 panic a little—they want to get to Hen ASAP. Well, they knock a huge hole in the wall…although much of the fun is taken out of that little adventure because at the same time, the vault company is able to disable the vault lock remotely. I mean, we should be focusing on the fact that we get to save both Hen and Franklin, but the boys do seem a little bummed that their thunder was stolen.
So everyone (except for poor, dear Billy) is fine and we move on to the next rescue, right? No! Because just as 118 is returning to the firehouse, the cops show up. They’ve been tipped off that there is $300,000 in bags inside the firetruck. And you guys, there is $300,000 in bags inside the firetruck. Our firefighters have some explaining to do!
And thus begins the interrogation montage where we learn so many things! There’s the fact that Maddie apparently took the bank 9-1-1 call, sent 118 out to answer it, and then immediately texted Buck saying something about their money problems going away. In reality, it’s because she got out of her apartment lease and her landlord is giving her back her security deposit, but you can see why it looks a little fishy to the detectives. We also learn that Hen’s wife lost her job and that Eddie is taking on extra shifts to pay for his son’s medical needs and life in general. Finally, the cops bring up the fact that Bobby’s only been in Los Angeles for a couple of years since relocating from Minnesota, and maybe he doesn’t know his team at all. That last thing seems weird, but it will be important later! Perhaps most importantly, we learn that the money found in the truck wasn’t actually from the vault, it was from the armored car. The cops think the stuff in the vault was just a distraction so that someone could rob the armored car. It’s all getting very confusing!
