Stream It Or Skip It?
The 9-1-1 franchise isn’t afraid to let its freak flag fly, putting its first responders in increasingly ridiculous situations. With the premiere of 9-1-1: Nashville, creators Ryan Murphy, Tim Minear and Rashad Raisani are starting big, with a tornado bearing down on Music City.
Opening Shot: An outdoor concert in Nashville, with thousands of people enjoying the music of Kane Brown.
🎬 Get Free Netflix Logins
Claim your free working Netflix accounts for streaming in HD! Limited slots available for active users only.
- No subscription required
- Works on mobile, PC & smart TV
- Updated login details daily
The Gist: Pretty suddenly, the wind picks up, and with a tornado bearing down on the city, the stage scaffolding collapses and people scatter.
Two nights earlier, Don Hart (Chris O’Donnell) and his son Ryan (Michael Provost) are participating the rodeo at the Bridgestone Arena; they set an arena record in team roping, but Ryan can sense something is on his dad’s mind, especially after his horse throws him off. When they get back home, Don tells his wife (and Ryan’s mom) Blythe (Jessica Capshaw) that the horse had a saddle sore, which wasn’t true.
Don is the captain of Fire Station 113, and Ryan is his lieutenant. The next day, Don is about to tell his son some big news when he gets pulled by the squad’s paramedic and station physician, Dr. Roxie Alba (Juani Feliz), to show him the weather report, indicating a huge storm with possible tornadoes heading towards the city.
911 dispatcher Cammie Raleigh (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) — who also coaches 113 squad member Taylor Thompson (Hailey Kilgore), who is looking to land a record contract — gets a call about a “pedal pub” filled with people in a bachelorette party that crashed. On the scene first, though, is Blue Bennings (Hunter McVey), a stripper that happens to be dressed as a firefighter, under the stage name “Captain Smokeshow.” He manages to help tie off the bride-to-be’s bleeding leg and calm her down. For his part, Don can’t believe he came upon a scene where the son he never got to know is there and helping out.
Back at the station, Don explains the situation to an angry Ryan; when Ryan was a kid, Don and Blythe briefly separated, and Don ended up hooking up with an ex, singer Dixie Bennings (LeAnn Rimes), who got pregnant with Blue. Blue then shows up, telling his newly-found father and brother that he wants to be a firefighter. Don invokes a little-known provision that will allow Blue to skip the academy and train on the job as a probie, much to Ryan’s annoyance.
When Ryan tells his mother about it, she tells him that Don told her about it at the time it happened, and Dixie never wanted Don to be in Blue’s life. What we then see is that Dixie has a plan, encouraging Blue to contact Don for a lot of reasons.
In another rescue, Cammie talks a woman through saving her niece, who is flying around when the increasing winds pick up the kite she was flying. Then we get back to the Kane Brown concert, with the 113 squad trying to rescue people pinned under the scaffolding before the impending tornado hits.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? 9-1-1: Nashville is the third series in the 9-1-1 franchise, created by Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear (Rashad Raisani is the showrunner and co-creator of Nashville), with the other two being the still-running original and the just-canceled 9-1-1: Lone Star.
Our Take: 9-1-1: Nashville is set up as part crazy rescue show and part soap opera. Sure, there has been plenty of relationship and family drama in the other two franchise series, but Nashville feels much more blatantly soapy right from the start. Most of that has to do with the storyline with Blue and his mother Dixie, somehow scheming to get Don and Blythe to pay for Dixie’s vocal surgery. Blue seems to be reluctant to keep the ruse going now that he’s doing what might be his true calling, but Dixie insists that Don owes them that money, anyway.
It’s all really silly, but then again, the whole franchise is silly. Over on the original series, Angela Bassett’s character is being shot into space, so the idea that Don and Ryan will be working with their long lost son/brother at the same big city fire station where they’re first and second-in-command doesn’t feel all that far-fetched by comparison.
At this point in the franchise’s history, it makes no sense to start small and sensible and then get more ridiculous. Regular rescues don’t cut it anymore, which is why the series starts with a three-part tornado-related saga. Somehow, the city seems unprepared for the prospect of tornadoes, which is how the Kane Brown concert can happen despite the fact that in real life, there would be sirens, tornado warnings, and people running for shelter.
So, sure, have what looks like an EF4 bearing down on an unsuspecting big city. Have the dispatcher coaching the firefighter/singer on the song she’s writing. Have Blue be an untrained probie in the same station as his father and brother. When your parent show is shooting cops in space, nothing is really off-limits, is it?
Sex and Skin: None in the first episode.
Parting Shot: Don and Blue are climbing up a scaffolding, trying to rescue the concert’s pyrotechnics guy, when the tornado hits.
Sleeper Star: Not sure why, but we liked seeing LeAnn Rimes playing a complete bitch who’s bitter about her time in the music business.
Most Pilot-y Line: “911, what’s your emergency?” “Bachelorettes are bleeding all over Broadway!”
Our Call: STREAM IT. Why the hell not? The 9-1-1 franchise wears its ridiculousness like a badge of honor, and that gives them the freedom to put their first responders into pretty much any situation, which is why 9-1-1: Nashville might be silly, but at least it’s entertainingly silly.
How To Watch 9-1-1- Nashville
New episodes of 9-1-1 Nashville premiere on Thursday nights on ABC, and are available to stream on Hulu the following day.
If you’re new to Hulu, you can get started with a 30-day free trial on the streamer’s basic (with ads) plan. After the trial period, you’ll pay $9.99/month. If you want to upgrade to Hulu ad-free, it costs $18.99/month.
If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the Disney+ Bundles, all of which include Hulu. These bundles start at $10.99/month for ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu and goes up to $29.99/month for Disney+, Hulu, and Max, all ad-free.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
Let’s be honest—no matter how stressful the day gets, a good viral video can instantly lift your mood. Whether it’s a funny pet doing something silly, a heartwarming moment between strangers, or a wild dance challenge, viral videos are what keep the internet fun and alive.