Flashbacks show how Bobby goes from his lowest point in his life to becoming the well loved Captain of the 118.
LAFD Station 118 Fire Captain Bobby Nash is going before an unseen tribunal of the LAFD brass in regards to an inquisition of his previous fire service with the St. Paul Fire Department in Minnesota.
2014, St. Paul, Minnesota
Bobby awakens on the roof of his apartment building to the sound of sirens and looks over the edge to find his department arriving on scene of his building being engulfed in flames. Horrified, he heads down into the fire-choked hallways to the apartment where his wife and two kids are located, but as he tries to break the door down, another badly-burned resident causes the floor to collapse right in front of the door. Bobby tries to climb back up to save his family, but his co-workers arrive and evac him and the burned victim out of there. Outside, as Bobby is treated for his own wounds, he sees his wife being taken out on a stretcher, severely burned, with all her hair burned off, and struggles to go join her in the ambulance. However, he refuses to get in until knowing about his kids, only to see their lifeless, smoke-choked bodies, being laid down to be prepped for being taken to the Medical Examiner. Heartbroken, Bobby is reminded of his wife before getting into the ambulance.
At the hospital, Bobby shares his final moments with his wife before she succumbs to her wounds and flatlines. As a result, he attempts suicide in a bar, finding his spirit with his family again in the afterlife, only to be resuscitated by his team, causing him to lash out at his Chief in a fit of anger over bringing him back from the dead when he was with his family again before his Chief angrily orders Bobby taken to the hospital and his name banned from being said on the radio. At the hospital, Bobby fears his attempted suicide has earned him immediate termination from the fire department, but his Chief assures him he was cleared of any wrongdoing into the fire that killed Bobby's family and 145 other lives because of numerous code violations with the sprinklers, fire alarms, electrical systems, and more, but Bobby fears he will never be free of his suffering from causing it in the first place because of his own irresponsibility. After he deals with his alcoholism, he speaks to his Chief to request a transfer away from St. Paul so he can still do his duty, but put this black mark behind him to serve as The Atoner.
2014, Los Angeles, California
Having resigned from the St. Paul Fire Department after what happened, Bobby transfers to the Los Angeles City Fire Department and is made the new Fire Captain of Station 118. He quickly attempts to prove himself to the rest of the staff, including paramedics Chimney and Hen, when they make a bet on how long he'll last as their new captain, due to having gone through several over the last few months or years.
Soon enough, Bobby finds himself responding to all sorts of calls with the 118, set to Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train", including a tree trimmer trapped in a palm tree's branches, a woman suffering an allergic reaction to hair dye stuck in a hair dryer, and a man scratched, slashed, and cut by his rooster that was in a cock-fight competition, where Bobby meets LAPD Sgt. Athena Grant when she arrives to investigate. Despite all that, Bobby visits the local church to explain to the pastor his plans to atone for his sins, avenge the 148 lives he took with saving 148 lives in Los Angeles, and then he can die to be with his wife and children again, but having broken his Alcoholics Anonymous pledge when he stopped by the bar that night after his first day on the job for a drink, he offers his AA coin to the priest, but he encourages Bobby to earn it back.
At a family-owned restaurant run by the Costas Family, Guillermo's, it appears their business is on the verge of bankruptcy and going out of business. A 9-1-1 call comes in reporting a fire at the restaurant, and both the son, Freddie, and the father, Victor, are trapped inside when Freddie runs back in to get his laptop before it is destroyed, and Victor, horrified, runs back in to retrieve him as the 118 arrive alongside Athena and backup. Before anyone can stop him, Firefighter Deluca, against Bobby's orders as Fire Captain, goes in the front door to save the victims, despite Bobby intending to go in another way. When the fire flashes over while Bobby is rescuing Victor, Bobby uses the skylight to ventilate and put the flames out before they overwhelmed him and Victor, while Deluca emerges with Freddie from the back shortly after Bobby and Victor come out. Nevertheless, back at the station, Bobby confronts Deluca for his disrespect and behavior on the Guillermo's fire, and when Deluca continues to disrespect him as Fire Captain, even telling him "Screw you" in a defiant showing of it, Bobby in full, but calm, Tranquil Fury fires him, ordering him to collect his things and Get Out! as he is no longer a part of the 118 or the LAFD, being relieved of duty, to the shock of the rest of the station at seeing Bobby giving Deluca the boot for defying his authority as Fire Captain.
However, Bobby reveals to Hen later that he had Deluca suspended for six weeks and transferred to Station 122 instead in a show of mercy after speaking with Chief of the Department Alonzo. Later, as Bobby, Hen, Chimney, and Buck are at a bar drinking, they show off their battle scars from various fires that they survived, but something on Bobby's mind suddenly has him cut the meet short as he leaves to return to Guillermo's to investigate the source of the fire, joined by Athena as they find the fire was deliberately set with an incendiary device, and the sprinkler system had been disabled as well, with all evidence pointing to Victor Costas as the arson. Bobby speaks to the priest again, revealing that his former Fire Chief whitewashed all knowledge of the St. Paul incident to ensure Bobby got his LAFD position, and he needs to accept it. However, Bobby and Athena later go to the hospital to arrest Victor for the arson of Guillermo's. When Victor confesses, Freddie and Ellie are horrified and furious, and Freddie vows Revenge on Athena and Bobby for locking up his father when he was only thinking of their well-being with his good, albeit poorly-planned, intentions.
Visiting the church again, the pastor encourages Bobby to trust in God as he has a plan for him. Taking that to heart, Bobby seems to be in a much better mood when he is on duty, and attends his Alcoholics Anonymous meetings more often, along with church. When he summons everyone upstairs to the kitchen of the station, he reveals he made dinner for everyone, as part of a tradition to have dinner together, like a family. As a result, things in the station improve greatly, especially with the arrival of new Probie Firefighter, Evan Buckley.
Present Day
Bobby is alone upstairs when the rest of the team shows up, and he confesses that he's been suspended pending investigation by the LAFD brass for the St. Paul incident, much to their shock, leading back into his inquisition as he prepares to tell the truth to the LAFD brass about St. Paul and see if he'll keep his job with the fire department, or be fired indefinitely.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- The Bet: When Bobby arrives, it’s revealed the firefighters are holding a betting pool for how long he’ll last as captain.
- Bookends: The episode begins and ends with Bobby in formal dress before an inquisition about his background in Minnesota.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Bobby.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Bobby was already drinking and taking painkillers. It was reading the incident report on the apartment fire that set him on such a bender that he needed life-saving intervention.
- "Eureka!" Moment: After Bobby shows off his scar and recounts his story, he realizes the restaurant fire wasn't an an accident and goes to investigate.
- Every Scar Has a Story: Hen, Tommy and Bobby show off the various scars they acquired on the job. Hen has a burn scar on on her right leg from a house fire in Venice. Tommy has an impalement scar from shrapnel hitting him at a factory explosion. Bobby has a burn scar on his shoulder from an electrical fire.
- Feathered Fiend: The team has to wrangle a cockfighting rooster named Maurice with a bladed spur wrapped around his foot.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: Bobby's first two cases in the 118 involves cutting a palm tree trimmer from the fronds, and freeing a woman whose head has swelled up from an allergic reaction to hair dye leaving her stuck in the hair dryer.
- High Turnover Rate: Ever since Captain Vincent was fired six years ago, the 118 has been unable to keep a long-term captain. Discussed by Hen that the 118 has become a place for retiring captains to go and would like one to stick around for a change.
- Insurance Fraud: Victor burns down Guillermo's, his own family restaurant, by starting electrical fire and turning off the sprinklers, hoping to get a big insurance check. He didn't count on his son Freddie running back in to get his laptop.
- It's All My Fault: Because of Bobby's alcoholism, he couldn't see his own apartment building wasn't up to safety code, which led to the death of 148 people, including his wife and children.
- My Brain Is Big: Julie gets stuck in the hair dryer due to having an allergic reaction to the PPD in the hair dye. When she gets out, her head has swollen in size.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: Athena has this reaction to finding out the stabbing assailant was a rooster, and she's left cradling it in her arms.
- Noodle Incident: Bobby asks why Chimney has that name. She tells him to ask Chimney about it.
- Once More, with Clarity: Bobby's family was shown to have died in the apartment fire. It's revealed his wife lived just long enough after being pulled out for Bobby to see her in the hospital before she died.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Bobby starts on a Last-Name Basis with the 118 until Hen tells him about the nicknames.
- Pie in the Face: Tommy's face is shoved into his own cake by Hen at his going away party.
- Tempting Fate: Chimney says he's the only one unscarred and prefers to stay that way. By the present day, he's had rebar through his head and been nearly stabbed to death by Doug.
- Time-Passes Montage: After Bobby starts up the family dinner tradition, a montage of events plays showing the team doing their job, Bobby going to AA meetings and Tommy being transferred to the 217, up to Buck's first meeting with the team.
