Wednesday, November 10, 2021

TV Review: 9-1-1 S5 ep 7: Ghost Stories

Monday's episode of 9-1-1 is reported as being an all time low in ratings for the series and it's not hard to see why. The episode Ghost Stories wasn't one of the best, it wasn't awful but it wasn't that good either. And that's because it feels like the writers are trying to turn the show into something it's not. Viewers watch and love 9-1-1 because the show has the perfect blend of comedy, drama and action but the Ghost Stories episode had too much weird editing, writing and acting. The episode barely focused on the firefighters going on emergency calls instead it mainly focused on TV Reporter Taylor Kelly trying to solve a mystery which had her going up against Police Detective Lou Ransone.


It's also how heavily edited the episode was because all of the ghostly roommate and ghostly discussion points of the story were taken out which was what was shown in the trailer and in the episode description (which I included below). But when you watch the episode it was something completely different that mostly focused on the mystery of Edgar Hill, the guy who was buried alive. Perhaps they should have aired the episode as it originally was instead of editing out all the ghostly/Halloween story lines. Or at least they could put together all the Halloween scenes and release it as a special episode, I'm sure it would go over really well with fans because so many of us were really looking forward to seeing those scenes. Although, we didn't get to see the ghostly roommate/phone call storyline but the episode did include "ghosts" of the metaphorical variety (i.e. old friends, old loves and old traumas).

Episode Description:

The members of the 118 race to rescue a man who claims he was carjacked, shot and buried alive. Then, they arrive at a home where the owner thinks her roommate is a ghost, Hen receives a visit from the past and Athena and family are concerned that Harry is still haunted by visions of Jeffrey.


The episode featured Eva Mathis who is also not a fan favorite character because whenever she appears on the show it's always to bring trouble to Henrietta "Hen" and Karen Wilson's relationship. I do like that Eva's appearance this time felt like closure with her being clean, sober and planning to move away. Hopefully, that means she will not appear again because her appearance gave Hen and Karen the closure they need so they can finally put all of that trouble and insecurity behind them.


I like that Harry Grant, who has been struggling for episodes dealing with the trauma of being kidnapped by Jeffrey Hudson, was finally on the road to healing. I also like that he was able to connect with Detective Ransone about what he went through, since Lou had his own terrible experience with Jeffrey. Harry also realized the truth about his mom Sergeant Athena Grant and that he means more to her than her job because he had been sort of brainwashed into believing by Jeffrey that he wasn't. I love that the Grant-Nash family are finally starting to heal together.


I was so happy to see Howard "Chimney" Han because I feel like he's the heart of the show and it's really showing just how much he's missed when he's not on screen. In this episode, Chimney was still on his continuous search for his girlfriend Maddie Buckley, who has been struggling with Postpartum Depression. She had left California thinking she was a danger to their daughter Jee-Yun. While he was in Boston, he met Eli Cobb, an old friend and former Los Angeles paramedic/firefighter. I think Eli gave Chimney some much needed advice so that he can finally start to heal himself because he's been suffering and struggling as well. And at the present Chimney's not in a good state of mind to help Maddie and hopefully once they do reunite, he will be in a better position to be able to really help her.


I would love to know why the writers are trying so hard to showcase Taylor when she's not a fan favorite character. Is it in hopes that fans will finally like her? However, forcing her into so many episodes and giving her more screen time doesn't seem like the best approach. Unfortunately, it appears the show will continue to focus on Taylor in upcoming episodes. I'm starting to think there is something really disturbing about her constantly overstepping other peoples boundaries. I could understand if she was an investigative reporter but she's a roving reporter and it makes no sense for her to constantly be a pest to everyone she interacts with. And I'm really surprised she didn't get arrested for trying to question Edgar Hill the victim/suspect who had been buried alive.

It's also hard not to notice how unhinged she seemed when she snapped at her boyfriend Evan "Buck" Buckley and then was immediately eerily and calmly back to normal. That was totally creepy and she's giving off a lot of red flags which I'm sure her backstory which it seems the show is set on exploring will explain in upcoming episodes. To me, Taylor feels like the Cousin Oliver (from The Brady Bunch) of 9-1-1, she's not a fan favorite character and only seems to bring the show down the more she's shown.


I thought this episode felt like a back door pilot for either 9-1-1: Investigations starring Detective Lou Ransone and TV Reporter Taylor Kelly or 9-1-1: Boston starring Eli Cobbs. As for the ratings, it's been up and down throughout the first half of the fifth season but it's never been this low before in the entire series. It doesn't help that fans are not happy with the direction 9-1-1 seems to be going in. I think it would be better if the show went back to focusing on the main characters instead of so many supporting characters taking up a lot of screen time. If the ratings continue to drop maybe the showrunners and writers need to have a meeting during the upcoming hiatus and figure out how to fix all the issues the show has been having during the first half of the fifth season so that the second half will be better.

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