A woman from Paul’s past visits the fire station regarding a past rescue, which causes a dilemma for Marjan.
Tropes:
- Continuity Nod:
- Owen, Tommy and Judd remember Pearce Risher and their encounters with him with barely-concealed distaste when Asha brings up how Risher referred to the 126’s camaraderie as a “cowboy culture” in “Everyone and their Brother”.
- The first and last events of “Impulse Control” are retold by Judd, Nancy, Mateo, Paul, Marjan, Owen, and TK. Since they don’t remember Al’s name, Mateo and Nancy refer to him as “lard-ass.”
- Owen, Tommy, Paul, and TK add the context of the husband’s domestic violence when discussing the car accident call in “Spring Cleaning”.
- Marjan recalls how Owen built up both fire stations he worked at from the ground up.
- Paul cites Marjan’s drive out to Hill Country to convince Owen to sign Billy’s apology letter when trying to convince her to at least tag the Geralds’ video.
- Crying Wolf: When a little boy named Linus starts calling 9-1-1 a little more frequently for minor situations such as help on his math homework or cleaning a burnt casserole dish, Grace immediately has a bad feeling when his mother slurs her words while scolding him. The worry that she could be wrong about there being something bad in Linus’ living situation, or Linus could be wrong, makes her hesitant at first until Judd decides to accompany her to his house.
- Hypocritical Humor: Owen advises Marjan not to be sassy to the Geralds before their HR meeting… until he sees that Mitch got off his charges with a relative slap on the wrist. He then proceeds to dumbfoundedly snark at their simpering, much to Marjan’s discomfort.
- Interrogation Montage: How Asha’s interviews of each 126 member go.
- Not Listening to Me, Are You?: Judd talks about Marjan’s situation to Grace, but realizes that she seemed too lost in thought to pay attention.
- Not Me This Time: Owen, TK, Marjan and Paul assume that the former has another incident to answer for… until Asha singles out Marjan herself.
- Not So Similar: Paul points out that Marjan made Owen relent to Billy’s terms to get his position as Fire Captain back without really needing to be sincere about being sorry for punching the guy. However, Marjan points out that in her case, she would be endorsing money solicitation to the Geralds under unreasonable terms and setting a bad example as a social media influencer even though she actually is sorry for what she said during their rescue.
- Not So Stoic: When Grace hears Linus’ mother Sharon collapse and finds her in a bedroom, there’s clear panic in her voice when she calls Tommy for help.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Playing the Victim Card: The Geralds play up the loss of their mobile home as a so-called “tragedy” that the AFD failed to save them from on their GoFundMe video, and during their HR meeting with Asha, Marjan and Owen.
- Put on a Bus: Marjan ultimately decides to (at least temporarily) resign from AFD, posting an apology/ call-out video to her followers and the Geralds. She then decides to buy Owen’s motorcycle, and takes it with her on a road trip after saying goodbye to her team.
- Recurring Extra: One of the doctors who treated TK during the ice storm arc, Dr. Patel, makes an appearance to assure Grace and Tommy that Sharon is out of surgery and recovering well.
- Sadistic Choice:
- Social Media Before Reason:
- Wham Line: Asha delivers one to Marjan during their interrogation, which catches her off guard.Asha: This is not an inquiry into your captain.Marjan: No? So, who’s it about then?Asha: It’s about you, firefighter.
- Wham Shot: At the beginning of the episode, an unknown man conducts a bomb test on a school bus and a bunch of dummies. When he gets caught by a hiker who went to investigate, a gunshot goes off when the scene cuts, with it then cutting back to find the hiker shot in the head and killed.
-
You Look Familiar: At the fire station, Asha recognizes Paul from somewhere, much to Paul’s confusion. After Paul stops by her office to advocate for Marjan’s behalf, they both remember that they used to be junior high classmates.
