‘9-1-1: Nashville’: Don & Blue Discover Each Other’s Secrets

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoiler for 9-1-1: Nashville Season 1 Episode 4 “Bad Case of the Blues.”]

Last week, it was 9-1-1 that made sure viewers know this franchise’s shows are connected when Cammie (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) helped Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Karen (Tracie Thoms) reach Athena (Angela Bassett) and Hen (Aisha Hinds) in space. This week, 9-1-1: Nashville gets that honor, with a mention of a Lone Star character.

The 113 responds when seniors, on a skip day, try to break the record for most people on a water slide and break the slide; there’s at least one death. Blue (Hunter McVey) goes viral as #HotTarzan — Firefox in Austin (a.k.a. Natacha Karam‘s Marjan from 9-1-1: Lone Star) shared it — when he leaps into action and climbs up the slide to save the lifeguard who got caught up in the chaos and danger before she, too, can fall into her death. Roxie (Juani Feliz) tells Don (Chris O’Donnell) his son has a flair for the dramatic, Ryan (Michael Provost) suggests it’s a death wish, and Don, continuing to just be so happy his other son is in his life, just remarks, “Either way, it runs in the family.”

Chief Foster (Gregory Alan Williams) sees the video … which is also the first time he’s ever seen Blue’s face, and he’s confused, since he’s never seen him before. When Don says he’s a field cadet in training, Foster points out that’s only for an extreme emergency, which is now over. Don refuses to cut him loose and finally admits who he is to him. He also takes advantage of their history — Don was Foster’s probie — to get the chief to agree to keep him, but there’s one condition: Blue has to master the entire academy curriculum, 26 weeks’ worth, in seven days. It’s impossible, Ryan argues. Don thinks Blue can handle it. Blue’s willing to give it a shot. “That’s my boy,” Don says, proud.

Disney/Jake Giles Netter

Meanwhile, Blythe (Jessica Capshaw) turns to her family’s PI Charlie (Jessejames Locorriere) to look into Dixie (LeAnn Rimes), Blue’s mother and Don’s ex. He confirms Dixie’s a threat to the family — for financial reasons as well as revenge. And yes, she’s shown signs of violence in the past. He also looked into Blue without her asking and found a few concerning things in his past, including grand larceny by extortion. The case is sealed. And so Blythe turns to her sister-in-law Cammie to use the tools at her disposal as a dispatcher, i.e., old 9-1-1 calls and police reports, to do some digging. She’s keeping it from Don for now because, as she aptly describes, “He’s walking on sunshine ever since Blue started at the firehouse. He wants this new family to work so bad. And honestly, I want it for him, too.” But because she knows who Blue’s mother is, she can’t just leave it alone.

While she doesn’t tell Don about it, she does remind him that he barely knows Blue when he insists his son’s born to be a firefighter. That’s not his fault, she knows, since it was Dixie who forced him to pretend he didn’t know about him, but she also hints at some things about Blue he may not know about.

Still, Don doesn’t exactly take that to heart when he and the rest of the 113 begin training Blue. Things are looking great at first, then they take a turn, and so he’s pretty down when he heads home and fills in his mom. There’s too much riding on him for him to lose his nerve now, she says, and she’s not worried about herself and the money for the surgery for her voice. It’s for him, she says — if he gets in with the Hart family, he’ll be set for life. And so she joins in on helping him prepare.

But Blue’s confidence is shot when he struggles during a call to find a pulse after an influencer is caught up in a Murphy bed and her leg is severely broken. (As Ryan notes, it’s because there isn’t a pulse, but fortunately, Roxie’s able to reset the bone to restore blood flow and the pulse.)

Cammie does find 9-1-1 calls that paint a full picture of Blue’s sealed file: His friend was seriously hurt when a street racer hit him, and the extortion was him trying to get the money for the medical bills from the driver. The file was redacted because the driver’s father declined to press charges once he found out the full story. That means Blue is just a lousy criminal and a stand-up kid, and Cammie wants to meet him since he’s family.

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Blythe then fills Don in when she finds him with “the Blue book,” filled with all the photos that Dixie sent over the years. Both now notice that his smiles never reach his eyes. Blythe points out that Ryan always knew he mattered more than whatever goal Don set for him, but Blue grew up differently. He needs to be told that. And so Don does just that when he finds Blue testing himself at the station. He makes sure his son knows he’s proud of him and lets him in on the fact that he knows about his past. He also extends Blythe’s invitation to Saturday brunch.

Blue goes into that brunch riding high, after a major catch during a call at a sorority house — he recognized the smell of the green fire, leading them to a leak in a lab for the university’s nuclear program. Blythe greets him when he arrives, he meets Cammie and learns she’s Blythe’s sister-in-law, and her husband (Blythe’s older brother) died, and then Don and Ryan sit him down to take a practice written exam.

While Ryan’s grading it, Blue steps out and ends up snooping around in Don’s study. At first, it’s fine, he just sees some family photos. But then he finds the “Blue book” and realizes, “He knew about me all along. My whole life, he knew.” And so while he may have a certain look on his face that means trouble when he looks out at everyone, when he joins them for brunch, he simply joins in on the “To family” toast. Uh-oh.

What did you think of the latest 9-1-1: Nashville episode? Let us know in the comments section below.

9-1-1: Nashville, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC