‘9-1-1’ Hits 100 Episodes: See Viewers’ Picks for the Best So Far
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It’s the big 1-0-0 for 9-1-1. The first-responder drama is celebrating its 100th episode — did you see the cake the cast and crew enjoyed? — and that milestone episode will be a fun one for fans.
In “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered,” airing on ABC on April 4, our heroes report to Bachelor Mansion for an emergency involving one of Joey Graziadei’s hopefuls, i.e. a crossover with new network sibling The Bachelor.
“Reaching 100 episodes these days is a rarity,” star Peter Krause (Bobby Nash) told TV Insider recently. “I don’t know that much about The Bachelor, to be honest, but … it’s very interesting to see scripted and non-scripted shows collide on 9-1-1.”
Meanwhile, see viewers’ picks for the 10 best episodes yet — based on IMDb ratings — in the ranking below.
10. Season 5, Episode 16: “May Day”
As the 9-1-1 call center goes up in flames, Bobby risks his life to save May (Corinne Massiah) and Claudette (Vanessa Estelle Williams), and one of them doesn’t make it. An IMDb user calls this installment “well-staged and exciting,” adding that the “entire burning building sequence was both nerve-wracking and visually impressive.”
9. Season 4, Episode 14: “Survivors”
After Eddie (Ryan Guzman) is shot by an unknown assailant, Athena (Angela Bassett) and her colleagues scramble to find the sniper targeting the LAFD. “This episode was perfect,” a reviewer said. “Tim Minear, if you are out there and you can read this, man, you did a beautiful job.”
8. Season 2, Episode 11: “New Beginnings”
A highway accident leads to a shark attack in the middle of a road, but the bigger twist in this episode is that Maddie’s (Jennifer Love Hewitt) abusive ex Doug (Brian Hallisay) stabs Chimney (Kenneth Choi) multiple times and then knocks Maddie out. “The ending — hello?” one IMDb user wrote in all-caps. “You better not kill him off. I’m shaking. Doug, I’m going to beat you.”
7. Season 2, Episode 12: “Chimney Begins”
In the very next episode, viewers see flashbacks about Chimney’s early time with Station 118 — including a tragedy involving his brother figure. “Everything about this episode was spectacular,” a viewer raved. “Heart-warming, honest, and engrossing storytelling, great direction and editing, great acting, amazing dialogue. It just had everything.”
6. Season 3, Episode 7: “Athena Begins”
Athena gets her origin story the following season — with Pepi Sonuga playing a younger version of Bassett’s character — as a case from the 1990s resurfaces. “Without spoiling anything, the last few minutes of this episode were incredibly moving, raw, and powerful,” one fan wrote. “Ms. Bassett, without dialogue, brought Athena’s early story to a heart-wrenching, emotional close. Bravo, Ms. Bassett. Bravo.”
5. Season 2, Episode 2: “7.1”
After a massive earthquake rocks Los Angeles, Bobby and his team work the scene of a crumbling high-rise, while Athena helps out at a collapsed freeway. “I don’t usually give a 10, but this and the next episode shows that the writers can deal with drama when it is required,” an IMDb user enthused in a 10-star review.
4. Season 3, Episode 4: “The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1”
Armed men take the 9-1-1 call center hostage to cover up another crime — a multi-million-dollar art heist — but Maddie and Linda (Chiquita Fuller) have tricks up their sleeves. “What a sensational episode!” one viewer raved. “Even better than the L.A. tsunami episodes at the start of the season — which isn’t something I thought I would be typing! Absolutely top-notch storytelling.”
3. Season 2, Episode 13: “Fight or Flight”
As the aforementioned drama with Doug continues, the first responders search for an M.I.A. Maddie. Meanwhile, she literally swings into action in her fight for survival. “A well-written, thrilling and dark episode,” one reviewer wrote. “It was really intense and satisfying. Definitely in [the] top 10 episodes.”
2. Season 3, Episode 3: “The Searchers”
In the aftermath of the Santa Monica tsunami, Buck (Oliver Stark) grows desperate in his search for Eddie’s son, Christopher (Gavin McHugh). “Wow, what an emotional roller coaster Episodes 2 & 3 of Season 3 were, with amazing graphic effects worthy of a Hollywood disaster movie,” wrote one fan.
1. Season 3, Episode 2: “Sink or Swim”
In our pick for the most memorable of 9-1-1’s season premiere and season finale emergencies, a massive wave destroys the Santa Monica Pier just as Buck and Christopher are enjoying a fun outing there. “I don’t know how this was filmed, but the tsunami and its aftermath seemed so very real,” one IMDb user said. “Kudos to the entire cast and crew and the director of this episode.”
9-1-1, Wednesdays, 8/7c, Fox
