‘9-1-1’ Season 9 Episode 6 Review: A Lackluster Mid-Season Finale Proves the ABC Procedural Doesn’t Know What It’s Doing Anymore

This week’s episode of 9-1-1, “Family History,” marks the mid-season finale for 9-1-1 Season 9. After opening the season with a space-themed emergency, 9-1-1 has been giving focus to storylines like Harry (

“Family History” sees Athena (Angela Bassett) investigating a cyberbullying case that reminds her of what May (Corinne Massiah) went through at the start of Season 1. All the while, Buck (

I hoped that after Chimney and Eddie’s (Ryan Guzman) heart-to-heart in the Season 9 premiere that Chimney would decide to become Captain of the 118. Instead, this week’s episode shows him preparing to pass that title onto someone else. After some encouragement from Maddie (

Oddly, though, the episode doesn’t show Chimney actually changing his mind. It tries to juggle four storylines, and in doing so, sidelines Chimney’s and Hen’s plots. After dragging this decision out all season, Chimney changes his mind off-screen, and then he becomes Captain of the 118. Most of the entire first half of this season has felt transitional, so now that Chimney is Captain of the 118, hopefully, 

Athena, May, and Harry all have to revisit difficult moments from their past this episode. Athena is shaken up when tending to a teenage girl who attempted suicide due to cyberbullying, and she then tries to figure out the identity of the bully. This whole storyline felt predictable to me because it has the same twist reveal as the Netflix documentary, 

Meanwhile, Harry asks Buck to help him train to get into the firefighting academy, and this leads to some hilarious scenes, including a montage of Buck doing bizarre training exercises with Harry. It goes very well, until Harry’s Season 7 storyline of getting arrested resurfaces. For those who need a refresher: in “Buck, Bothered, and Bewildered,” Harry was unfairly arrested for defending himself against a racist shop owner, and he ended up coming to live with Athena for a while. Harry wants to give up after it comes out that he has a record, but 

In theory, Bobby’s death last season should’ve heightened the stakes of 9-1-1, because it proved that nobody was safe. Instead, it’s obvious that 

This was ultimately a lackluster mid-season finale, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this wasn’t supposed to be the mid-season finale at all, and maybe the four-episode opening emergency pushed everything back by a week. As it stands, the first half of the season ends with Harry and Chimney’s big storylines this season finally getting wrapped up, so that it feels like 

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When The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 6 cast boarded motor yacht Katina for a crossover charter with the Below Deck Down Under Season 4 crew, they had no idea Britani Bateman had secretly brought a stowaway. Britani later revealed her stuffed unicorn that contained a voice recording from her on-and-off-again boyfriend, Jared Osmond—and the ‘Wives had some strong feelings as they sat down for recent Bravo HQ interviews.

“I think that Jared’s intentions were to send her with something to remind her of him. Quite literally his voice,” Whitney Rose noted, while Bronwyn Newport added, “I don’t know why two grown-ups are giving each other Build-A-Bears.” 

Mary Cosby also chimed in: “He’s goofy. You know? That’s goofy. No one wants a Build-A-Bear with their voice in it. Like we’re adults. We have children. We’re moms.”

Angie Katsanevas complained that the ‘Wives were stuck with the unwelcome passenger for the entire charter. “We were forced to listen to it. For him to send that—us to have to hear this little romantic love message—it was just like, ‘Oh, God,’” she said. “Like, we can’t escape the guy, you know? I love the little unicorn, but then to hear his voice, it was like Jared is just everywhere. Or he wants to be everywhere.”

But Britani defended Jared’s gift, which “meant something” to her. “Have you heard of the hot, crazy matrix? It’s this graph, this funny graph, of like if you’re super hot, then you have to be equally crazy,” she said. “Jared calls me his unicorn because if you meet someone that’s hot that isn’t crazy, then you’ve found yourself a unicorn.”

Why the RHOSLC cast questioned the message in Jared Osmond’s unicorn gift
 

The RHOSLC cast shared they had a particular issue with the phrasing of Jared’s voice recording for the unicorn, which said: “Goodnight, baby. You are loved.” 

“Why didn’t he say, ‘I love you?’ Who is she loved by?” Mary posed. “Clearly, it’s not him.”

Angie added, “Britani, I just want you to know how much you are loved—not by him.’”

Lisa Barlow believed the message revealed more about the status of Jared and Britani’s relationship. “I think it was like him calling her a friend,” she said. “No one wants to be in the friend zone when you’ve been in a relationship for over a year.”

RELATED: Britani Bateman Drops a Bombshell About Engagement to Jared Osmond: “Is This Real?”

Even Britani admitted that the unicorn’s message was off. “I thought that was not the best,” she said. “But, I don’t know. With Jared, I’ll take what I can get, you know what I mean? Or maybe to him, that does mean ‘I love you.’”

It comes as Britani also shared an update on her relationship status with Jared during the Bravo HQ sit-down. “We’re friends. That’s our official title, and the title is made by me,” she said. “I typed it out and printed it out, and labeled it, ‘Friends.’ We’re best friends… and I don’t want any more than that. And it will never be any more than that.”

Bronwyn Newport reveals if she regrets throwing Britani Bateman’s unicorn overboard
 

After a series of clashes with Britani during the charter, Meredith Marks and Bronwyn decided to take their frustrations out on Jared’s gift, and “free uni” by throwing him overboard during Season 6, Episode 9. Although Britani was upset by it, Bronwyn seemingly had no regrets—and claimed she did it for Britani’s own good.

RELATED: Bronwyn Newport Makes a Shocking Accusation About Britani Bateman & Captain Jason (VIDEO)

“I think it’s worse that he says ‘you are loved’ when she’s desperate for him to say ‘I love you,’” Bronwyn shared during her Bravo HQ interview. “I was trying to free her from that toxicity, honestly.”

“I probably wouldn’t have destroyed the unicorn if he said ‘I love you,’” Bronwyn added. “If I thought we had Jared on tape saying ‘I love you,’ actually admitting it, we probably would have preserved that stuffed animal.”

Don’t miss Daisy Kelliher revealing unseen moments from the RHOSLC and BDDU crossover charter—including who brought that cucumber on board in her luggage—during Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.