The “beenado” arc comes to a close on 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 3, “Final Approach.” While this arc presented much fewer bees than initially promised, it finishes out as a love letter to two of its stars: Angela Bassett and Peter Krause.
Let’s back up just a little: Athena (Angela Bassett) is transporting Dennis Jenkins (Glenn Plummer), the infamous killer of her fiance Emmett, to LA so he can testify against well-known pedophile Maxwell Fulton (Larry Poindexter) in exchange for a reduced sentence. Enter: the bees! The plane Athena and Dennis are on crashes into another plane unexpectedly, parts are ripped off, and passengers are minutes from death; Athena must land this plane.
9-1-1 reminds itself it’s a dramedy, by starting the episode lighter with Buck (Oliver Stark), Bobby (Peter Krause), and Brad (Callum Blue) in the stolen firetruck on their way to LAX. Buck, played by Brit Oliver Stark, commends Brad on his accent and is in awe when Brad explains that he puts on the American accent because he’s simply an actor. Iconic and legendary on Stark’s part.
Then we jump right into it: while Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) helps Bobby search for an available passenger’s phone to connect him to Athena, the plane loses the rudder. If you asked me to explain that, I absolutely couldn’t, but I could tell you that this is very bad news.
Because of this, LAX is no longer an option for landing, and as they search for a backup plan, they realize that no airport is an option because they’ll either run out of fuel or make a North-facing landing on an east-west runway.
For reference, here’s what I found during my in-depth research (Google): in the State of California, there are roughly 250 airports and five commercial airports in Los Angeles, not including four military airfields. That’s nearly 260 options that are wiped out in seconds. It’s very fun, very sexy, and not at all a living nightmare.
Amid the chaos of a plane trying to land, Bobby stealing a firetruck, and Gerrard (Brian Thompson) maybe being dead (more on that later), Bobby and Athena share a moment that stops time. Bobby reaches her through a passenger’s phone, and they’re finally hearing each other’s voices, bringing at least some calm, even if it doesn’t resolve the situation.
Athena is not-so-subtly saying her goodbyes to Bobby when he comes up with a plan: close the 110 for at least a mile so the highway can become a runway for Athena. It’s just a crazy enough plan that it might work.
While Bobby enters Grand Theft Auto Mode™️, Buck commandeers a motorcycle to drive the mile down the road to stop traffic there. Buck, as per usual, puts way too much faith in humanity, lights his flares, and runs into the highway, where cars are barely dodging him, going roughly 75MPH (120KPH for the Brits). When everyone finally stops, he’s lucky to be alive and cleared what needs to be removed so that Athena can land (primarily) cleanly.
Athena, speaking to both Bobby and Air Traffic Control, tells Gem (Carter Young) they’ve got to land the plane, and Gem reveals something he’s been keeping very close to his chest until now: he’s never actually landed a plane in the simulator – he always crashes when he gets to this part. Athena, please send this child back to his seat to die with his father.
As he’s not ready to take charge of this plane because he’s a literal child, he freezes (who wouldn’t?), and it’s all up to Athena now. The descent begins, and the score places you at the moment – on the ground with Bobby and Buck, in the air with Athena, in the call center with Maddie – with an eeriness that sounds almost Lost-like.
Then we kick into high gear: Gem comes back to it and is helping Athena. The plane flies beautifully over Buck and lands feet away from Bobby, who quips into his phone, “Welcome to Los Angeles.”
Gem hugs Athena after she tells him his mother would be proud of him, and we fade into a beautiful sequence backed by Come Away With Me by Norah Jones. Buck, Bobby, and Brad (the three Bees, if you will) are helping passengers off the plane and into a triage space when part of the plane explodes.
I need you guys to be so serious with how you treat Athena Grant-Nash.
Athena breathes in a truly insane amount of smoke for someone who was just in a house fire and already breathed in enough smoke to fall unconscious, but the 118 are there this time to save her. Hen (Aisha Hinds) gets to her first, and Chim (Kenneth Choi) and Bobby follow close behind in a scene that shows just how much of a family these guys have become.
Once Athena is finally off the plane, she still can’t catch a break, as Assistant US Attorneys immediately come looking for Dennis. As she’s still sensing that something isn’t right, Bobby tells them that she’s on her way to the hospital when she’s not. We love a sexy lying, liar.
Then Athena and Bobby take Dennis to find Maxwell’s black book – literally, it turns out. In the book, what anyone could’ve predicted is wealthy business owners, trusted politicians, government members, and, you guessed it, one of the agents working on Maxwell’s case.
As they’re leaving, AUSA Spencer (Sean Hemeon) stops them and threatens to kill all three of them if they don’t hand over the black book. Quite dramatic and unnecessary, in my very humble opinion, but what do I know about doing illegal activity and having it almost be caught by a hot cop and her hot husband? Very much nothing.
At the end of this standoff, Spencer takes a shot at Bobby, and Dennis jumps in front of him and takes the bullet himself. As he reveals his big, bad, evil plan that all villains do in every show or movie ever to exist, Dennis puts his toothbrush shank to good use and stabs Spencer in the penis. No, I am not joking. This fully happened.
As Dennis is recovering – which I’m shocked about because it would’ve been easy enough for the show to kill him and call it a day – Athena stands in his hospital room. She explains that while he doesn’t necessarily deserve her forgiveness or blessing, she’s giving it to him anyway because she knows it will be better for herself in the long run.
She delivers a powerful monologue to Dennis about why she invited his family to his bedside despite him still technically being in custody and how everything she’s done for him thus far is because it allows her to finally be freed of the anger that’s driven her since finding out Emmett was killed, thirty years ago.
She and Bobby stand outside Dennis’s hospital room and revel in each other. The writers seem too greedy and mean to even let them kiss. She just landed a plane, and you’re telling me her husband wouldn’t be all over her? Wrong! Try again, Tim Minear!
I know what you’re thinking at this point: Laura, there was a man who was in cardiac arrest for upwards of 20 minutes; surely you’ll mention him! And you’re right, and you’re wrong! Logically, I know why the airplane staff fought so hard for this man (thanks, Succession), but come on, that man is dead. I’m so sorry for all the work that was done, but Chim did not find a pulse right before they left for the hospital. That’s nonsense.
While we didn’t have time to let Athena and Bobby smooch a little, we’re granted a closing scene where Gerrard (who is not dead) is back in the firehouse berating Chim, Hen, and Eddie (Ryan Guzman), only for him to stop in front of Buck, and hug him. He thanks Buck for saving his life and says he’s taking Buck under his wing, which should be interesting as they are opposites.
Overall, “beenado”/Athena-Flies-A-Plane is undoubtedly one of the best openings 9-1-1 has had in several seasons. For that, I thank ABC for allowing this ridiculous, unhinged show to have as big a budget that allows CGI to create a bee tornado and blow aggressive wind in Angela Bassett’s face for a few hours.
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