9-1-1 – Season 7 Episode 1 “Abandon Ships” Recap & Review

Abandon Ships

Episode 1 of 9-1-1 season 7 starts with Athena lying to her therapist. Athena doesn’t want to go on a cruise ship with Bobby to celebrate her belated marriage anniversary. She says it is because she was traumatised as a kid from watching The Poseidon Adventure, but her therapist doesn’t buy it.

Finally, she comes clean and explains she is scared to spend time with Bobby away from their daily chaos. She is concerned that they have nothing if you take away the chaos from their marriage. This is deeply concerning for us, too! Anyway, her therapist says she should take some relaxers and try to enjoy herself on the trip. ” You will be fine,” he says, but based on the next scene, things on the cruise were anything but fine!

We circle back to a the team in Los Angeles. We start with Maddy, who receives a call from a jet-fight pilot. He says he lost control of his plane while he was on a training exercise. He was forced to abandon the aircraft and worried it would land soon. According to protocol, once the pilot ejects, the aircraft is set to assume it is in enemy territory, and it stops transmitting. It then is supposed to descend to the ground gradually.

Well, the plane descends on an old couple’s house who hate each other. The wife is fine, but the husband is caught under a part of the aircraft. The team, led by the interim Captain, Hen, tries to free the husband from his beloved chair and the dummy bomb from the aircraft. Hen calls the pilot, and he offers to explain how to diffuse the bomb.

The pilot initially tells the team to cut the red wire, then remembers he forgot the first step, disconnecting the voltage fuse. Thankfully, Eddie hadn’t cut the red wire just yet. After disconnecting the voltage fuse, the pilot says they should cut the green wire, causing more confusion. Thankfully, Chimney realises the chair is a recliner and saves the day.

After saving the man, his wife is more grateful to see the sofa out of her house than the fact her husband will be okay. He is no saint either, as he wished to die to escape her! Seeing this couple makes Chimney worry about his relationship with Maddy. Hen advises him to keep his relationships from getting to such a point. In turn, Chimney talks to Maddy and introduces date nights to avoid the calcification of their relationship. However, date nights become too tedious for them.

Also, a different call where the man suffers severe hypertension and gets stuck in his girlfriend’s vagina while having sex in a hot tub to spice their relationship changes Chimney’s perspective on the calcification of relationships. Chimney and Maddie opt to focus on their wedding planning instead.

On the other hand, Eddie tells Buck that Christopher is having a date later that weekend. Eddie thinks it would be great if Buck joined them with his date. This is when we learn that Buck broke up with the death doula he was dating, and Marisol and Eddie are growing strong.

Meanwhile, Bobby and Athena are settling on the cruise ship. Athena is feeling much more relaxed, but this quickly changes. Guess who their table mates are? It turns out Norman and his wife are now living the cruise life. If you don’t remember Norman and Lola, you might want to watch episode 8 of season 2, when Lola stopped traffic by stripping to protest her husband’s negligence. It is an iconic episode!

Anyway, they are in a better place now, or so they say. Given how Lola blushed when one of the male servers approached their table, Athena thinks otherwise. She, however, is happy to use them as a buffer to avoid spending time with Bobby.

On the second day, she claims to feel off and asks Bobby to join Norman and Lola as she rests. Bobby chooses to remain on the boat and attends an AAA meeting. He already feels Athena is avoiding him and thinks it is because she is nervous about the cruise. Bobby tries to talk to her, but Athena is distracted by the scratches on Norman’s neck.

Norman lies about how he fell during a bike ride outside the ship. When Athena asks where Lola is, he says she is resting. However, Athena finds out that Lola and Norman didn’t sleep in their room, and the maid found bloody towels in the room. She calls Hen and starts explaining her theory on how Norman killed his wife. Exasperated, Bobby texts Chimney, asking him to tell Hen not to encourage his wife’s theory. Bobby thinks Athena is reaching and is using this as another excuse to avoid him.

Back at home, Eddie confides in Buck that he is worried about Christopher. Unfortunately, our little man is a player who hurt one of his girlfriends’ feelings last weekend. Eddie asks Buck to talk to Christopher since, as a former player, he might have some advice. Buck talks to Christopher, and we learn that the latter fears being left behind. He is angry about his mom’s death; he feels abandoned by her. Hearing this breaks Eddie’s heart, and he gives his son a letter from his mom. She wrote it when he was very little. The letter and the talk from Buck overwhelm Christopher more.

Meanwhile, on the cruise ship, Bobby starts to suspect Norman of killing his wife after seeing him interact with another woman. He thought Norman was with his wife after confirming she had returned to the cruise ship and made a transaction. Bobby and Athena inform the cruise security and question Norman about his wife’s whereabouts.

In a surprising twist of events, Norman says that Lola was kidnapped by some guys off the ship. The woman Bobby saw him with is one of the kidnappers sent to keep him in line. The Captain believes the kidnappers mistook Norman and Lola for an international smuggler couple and want access to their Bitcoin account.

The Captain was already reversing the ship’s course to Los Angeles due to an incoming storm, and Athena and Bobby promised to help Norman. The Captain asks the security guard to arrest the woman, but it is too late. The mysterious woman is already destroying the communication centre of the ship. The episode ends with the ship being attacked by armed men.

The Episode Review

Christopher was hurt when his mom left the first time before the accident took her away. It changed his perspective on relationships, and he believes every woman leaves. He is hurting, and it will take some patience, understanding, and love from Eddie and those close to him to help him change. It is a good thing that Eddie can rely on Buck to help him with Christopher. They are one big family in 118 and will help Eddie with this.

As expected, this season started well, but we are concerned about Athena and Bobby. Their relationship has always been strong, and this sudden issue is baffling. Since when did Athena think they needed chaos to thrive? I hope they don’t mess with this couple; this is not the kind of drama we need from their relationship.

We are happy for the other characters because they are in happier places. For one, Buck’s break-up with the death doula feels like a blessing in disguise. Hen is thriving as an interim Captain, and Maddie and Chimney are happily in love.

Lastly, we expect to see some changes as the show moved from FOX to ABC, but we hope they won’t destroy our beloved characters. This is only the first instalment of the three-episode cruise ship saga, and we can’t wait to see if Athena and Bobby make it out in one piece. Let us know what you were excited to see this season.