If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: In the Season 1 finale, Ben reaches a new milestone as a rookie and, as is tradition, receives something from the crew. Chief Ripley holds final interviews for the role of captain but is interrupted when the team is called to a massive skyscraper fire, causing several lives to hang in the balance. (TVGuide)
Writer: Stacy McKee
Director: Paris Barclay
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 43mins
Airs: Thursdays at 9pm on CTV (Canada)/ABC (United States)
“Not Your Hero”starts off with Andy and Jack staring at a fire and she decides to jump through it, despite Jack’s concerns. Cue the jump back in time to show everything leading up to the teased intensity of the episode. Andy is waking up on Maya’s couch when her friend stumbles out of her bedroom with Charlotte, one of the other captain applicants. Apparently it’s Wednesday so Maya goes through her weekly one night stand routine. Totally healthy!
At the station, the crew seems uneasy about the other applicants interviewing at the station with Chief Ripley. Grant and Travis deliver breakfast for the crew and it comes up that some of the other crewmembers are inviting Grant to yoga. Travis freaks out and confronts Grant about him befriending everyone so fast. He wants something real and isn’t sure if Travis is ready for that. Bailey and Ben arrive to the station late because Ben went on a wild goose chase for breakfast burritos. Bailey doesn’t like how they are treating her man and storms upstairs with Ben quickly behind her. They enter the mess hall to reveal the crew standing there ready for his arrival. He receives the keys to the aid car and is officially no longer a rookie because he hit the benchmark of 50 fires. The crew sit down to eat when Bailey reminds Pruitt to come by for a check up later.
After breakfast, Pruitt confronts Andy about her avoiding him. She cannot believe that he threw both her and Gibson under the bus leaving them open to an outsider taking over the station. She hoped he had faith in her. As Andy sits down with Gibson outside the room where the interviews are being held, the other applicants and superiors rush out receiving a call to a skyscraper fire. Andy and Gibson follow behind, but not until after Gibson tells her that he requested a transfer because he won’t be comfortable working with her anymore. As the crew prepares for their call to the fire, Dean confronts Gibson about feeling like he is no longer his guy. Gibson has been so self-absorbed that Dean hasn’t been about to open up to him. They are interrupted when Andy brings everyone to the garage to prepare their hoses and run over procedure in a skyscraper fire. Cut to later where the station is still waiting to be called to the fire as the girls of the station discuss Gibson’s transfer request.
Ben sits down in the driver’s seat of the aid car and excitedly talks to Montgomery about bringing people to Bailey to save. He wishes he had someone to share things with like that and it’s hard for him to open up to Grant, but Ben convinces him to just do. As they discuss how great a day this will be, the call comes in and the team races off to their fire. At the base of operations in the skyscraper, they run into Ryan who has come down to help with evacuation. Chief Ripley pulls them aside to discussion their plan of attack for the fire. Ben and Montgomery are put in triage, Maya and Victoria work civilians and the rest of the crew head up to contain the fire along with an exhausted, but chipper Charlotte.
Andy, Gibson, Dean and Charlotte arrive at the fire and relieve the other team. Charlotte gets a bright idea to close a fire door and reroute the current blaze away from them. Without consulting with the rest of them, she jumps through a wall of fire when a loud bang is heard from the other side and she is unresponsive on her walkie. As Dean goes to hook up their hoses, Andy decides to jump through the fire after Charlotte and find her. On the other side, she finds Charlotte pinned underneath a large vent that fell. She needs more hands though and with the fire getting closer she throws an extinguisher sphere filled with CO2 to put out the fire between them and the rest of the crew. Dean and Gibson come over and help her out, but she’s too injured to continue and Andy brings her downstairs.
Catching up with the rest of the team, Maya and Victoria find Molly, the civilian coordinator for their evacuation, who ends up being a mini Andy. They tell her to watch the stairwell so they can take over. Victoria opens up about feeling like she’ll have to leave the station if she cannot conquer her fear of fire and Maya is fearful that the family is breaking apart. Ben treats an injured patient while he and Montgomery continue to optimistically tell them all that it’s a good day. And Dean opens up to Gibson about entering the wrong numbers on the last call almost killing Gibson, Andy and everyone else trapped in the garage. He did not get enough sleep and couldn’t live with himself. Their important conversation is interrupted when they stumble upon a huge cache of combustible containers as the fire inches closer. They need to evacuate.
Ripley instructs Ben and Montgomery to get to the civilians and help evacuate them. As they grab their gear, Ryan receives a call from Pruitt who asks him to come by the station and take him to the hospital because his breathing is getting progressively worse. He asks if he should get Andy, but Pruitt shuts down and says he’s fine. The chief commends Andy for her actions and on her way back up she’s stopped by Ryan as they share a moment about staying safe. Andy arrives at the civilian floor where she finds one of the people trying to force their way onto the stairs. Molly stands up to her boss and puts him in his place to the approval of the female crew.
Andy instructs the civilians to divide into groups of ten, but as they escort the groups out Victoria starts to hear some loud rumbling. She asks Maya if she can hear it too, but her hearing is impaired by the blast from last episode. The rest of the crew hear the same noise as the fire rises up the outside of the building and blows out the windows of the next two floors. Ben, Montgomery, Maya and Victoria dive to the floor and while the latter seem to be alright, Ben discovers Montgomery has been impaled by a piece of glass to the chest. The civilians rush out the door causing panic. Maya tries to coral them while Victoria stares at the fire. Maya asks if she’s alright and she jumps into action. She’ll hose down the fire while Maya diverts the civilians and gets them out. Victoria has conquered her fear! Ben tries to call for backup, but the walkies are dark. He starts to drag Montgomery to the stairwell, but upon opening the door finds the panicked civilians charging down it.
Ripley opens up to Andy about learning a lot of good things about her that night showing she might be the front runner for the captain’s position. Meanwhile, Bailey arrives at the station looking for Pruitt when Ryan arrives. They search the station and find he’s fallen on the catwalk. Bailey checks for a pulse and starts CPR. Dean and Gibson continue to extinguish the fire around the combustible containers when they find a civilian who has taken in a lot of smoke. They request an elevator to bring them down, but Ripley refuses the request as it could compromise the integrity of the building. Andy disapproves of Ripley’s decision and sends the elevator up regardless of the consequences.
Ben drags Montgomery down the stairs talking about being excited about tomorrow and reminding him to stay awake. On the way down they run into Molly who had fallen and was trampled by everyone. Ben needs to make a choice and Montgomery says to save the life that can be saved. Victoria tries to ask Maya about not hearing the sound, but she continues to have a deafening ring in her ear. She starts to help Victoria use the hose. Gibson, Dean and the civilian enter the elevator, but Gibson closes it on them so he can finish closing the fire doors on that level. Bailey says they need to get to the hospital as soon as they can so Ryan grabs his cruiser.
Ripley demands the key back from Andy as he heads up the stairs. She receives a call from Gibson on the walkie that he’s staying up there to close all the fire doors. She wants a face-to-face talk. They pry open the elevators and talk through the shaft. She wants him to find a way out, but he won’t leave without making sure the rest of the team gets out. The episode ends as each of the crewmembers of Station 19 are seen in their life-threatening situations, dealing with the choices they will have to make. Gibson takes back his previous remarks about regrets and goes back to securing the floor leaving Andy devastated and alone. As they talk on the walkies, his eventually cuts out and an explosion occurs on the floor above.
Captain’s Log
- Who will survive the skyscraper fire?
- Will Maya continue to hide her hearing problem?
- Will Gibson and Dean be able to reconcile?
- What will Ben decide to do?
- Will Bailey save Pruitt?
- Will Andy’s actions have cost her the captain position?
- Who will end up becoming Captain of Station 19?
Overall, this was a phenomenal finale. The episode took its time at first, but once the firefighters were on their call it was nonstop intensity as the story slowly rose to what could be one of the best cliffhangers of this television season. While many storylines are left open for a confirmed season two, so is the fate of most of the crew as everyone finds themselves in a perilous situation by the time the credits roll. Whoever makes it out of this alive will deal with the repercussions of this call and what it means for the future of Station 19.
Score: 9.5/10
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