Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / 9-1-1 S3E8 "Malfunction"

Go To

The team learns something surprising about Bobby’s past. Athena faces consequences at work due to her actions in arresting her former fiancé's murderer. Maddie’s actions to help have consequences. After nearly killing someone at his fight club, Eddie starts to evaluate his life choices and decides to talk to someone. Meanwhile, Hen and Karen’s relationship struggles due to the loss of their embryos.

As the episode opens, an ice show goes horribly wrong, calling the 118 in to tend to the wounded, including one skater that lost four finger on one hand, and another getting his girlfriend he was arguing with skate lodged in his chest and almost hitting his heart. It turns out she was going to leave him to join "Disney on Ice", but after this little accident, they renew their relationship and love before he's taken to the hospital with the other wounded skater. Bobby finds the sequin that caused the accident in the first place, explaining that wardrobe malfunctions are the most dangerous part of ice skating, revealing he used to skate himself when he was younger.

An underground kickboxing match is underway, and once it is over, the winner is paid his dues, and is offered another match. Accepting, he leaves. Elsewhere, Buck is impressed by Eddie's new GMC pickup before they head into the station, showing off a cardboard cutout of Bobby's younger self that they picked up to tease him, only to get payback when Athena shows up to make the meal for them, especially since she's on leave from duty due to what happened with arresting Emmet's killer, suspending her for the time being.

The 118 is soon called when a driver in a self-driving car crashes into the hospital due to having a heart attack, but managing to assign the car to take him there before he passed out. He's loaded onto a gurney and taken up to be treated, while the 118 aid a doctor who couldn't get out of the way in time and suffered several broken ribs, and hand her over to the medical staff to be treated as well.

Hen comes home to check on Karen, who is still in mourning over losing their embryos. When Denny tries to help and spills some tea on the bed, Karen is livid, but quickly recovers to apologize for overreacting and assure him it was an accident and sends him back to bed, allowing Hen to assure Karen she's mourning for the embryos as well.

Buck discusses what's going on with Eddie and Hen with Maddie and Chimney, but they have no idea what could be wrong. Maddie then confesses that she's been accused of stalking someone.

Back at the underground ring, the one fighter is in another match, and once more comes out on top, only to find that his opponent is choking on his own blood due to a blocked airway from a broken nose during the fight. Despite the MC not wanting 911 to be notified and discovering his little illegal action, the winner uses one witness' cellphone to do just that to get help for his opponent. As LAFD arrive, everyone else clears out beforehand, but the winner, Eddie, is discovered to still be there by Bosko of the arriving Station 136, who offers to hide him from the LAPD before he can be arrested for what happened. Nevertheless, she makes it clear to Eddie that what happened is not going to stay a secret if she has anything to say about it and reveals it to the rest of the department, especially the 118.

Athena and Hen talk about what's happening lately, and Hen confesses about the embryos she and Karen lost. Hen starts to break down over telling Athena the truth, but Athena assures her she has every reason to be upset, but she's still got Athena to turn to for help.

Eddie arrives at the station, and is immediately called up to speak to Nash, thanks to Bosko squealing on him for what happened. Bobby confronts Eddie over his secret means to vent his frustrations, and tries to comfort him regarding Shannon's death, her saying she wanted a divorce, and him being left with the responsibility to look after Christopher.

At a warehouse, the foreman denies the workers any more bathroom breaks until they get their acts together. As a result, one worker gets antsy because he needs to use the restroom, but with the foreman watching the facilities, he decides to go to the bathroom on one of the warehouse's robots. Unfortunately, this causes the robot to malfunction, and the guy to get crushed by several shelves worth of boxes that the robot knocks over due to its malfunction. The 118 are called in to help the guy, and when the foreman is accused of causing this because of his decision, Nash warns him that OSHA is going to have a field day with him over what he did. Hen and Chimney treat the guy, get his wounds patched up, and then attempt to resuscitate him when they lose his pulse, which they do successfully.

As Hen and Chimney are transporting him to Cedars-Sinai with Hen driving, at each light, Hen uses the ambulance's switch to override the traffic lights to give her a green to go through safely, but at one light, despite her throwing the switch, the light remains unchanged on a red, indicating a short in the signal's circuit, and despite taking evasive maneuvers, she crashes Ambulance 118 into a blue Prius, right in the driver's side, with the driver barely seeing them before impact, having not heard their siren or seen their lights.

Cut back to earlier as the driver of said Prius, Evelyn, is on her way to a cello practice after saying goodbye to her grandmother and demonstrating her latest rehearsal for her, and calling her mom before picking up her dress for the practice. However, as she approaches the same light Ambulance 118 is approaching, she doesn't hear the ambulance's siren, or see its lights, and when the traffic light malfunctions and stays green for her, she tries to go through, and is broadsided by Ambulance 118, despite Hen trying to take evasive maneuvers, slamming into the driver's side of the Prius, with Evelyn barely seeing the emergency vehicle before impact. When Hen and Chimney recover and radio for assistance, Hen is horrified to see what happened and rushes out to try and help Evelyn, but it is clear that the impact must have been lethal to Evelyn. Bobby and the 118 get the call for assistance from Ambulance 118 and head to the scene with Engine 118 and Truck 118, while Bobby calls Athena for assistance as well.

Hen has to be taken aside while other members tend to Evelyn, but despite their best efforts, it looks as if Evelyn's wounds were fatal, having lost a major amount of blood, and internal organ damage. As Athena arrives to comfort Hen, Hen collapses in guilt and grief, even as Athena assures her the LAPD and LAFD will investigate what happened and prove Hen was not at fault for it. With Evelyn confirmed DOA (Dead On Arrival), Bobby calls for the M.E. as the Chief of the Department and other units arrive to investigate the accident as Hen weeps in grief as Athena comforts her.

Tropes featured in the episode:

  • Heroic BSoD: Hen has one after a malfunctioning traffic light causes her to T-bone a Prius being driven by a young girl on her way to her recital at the end of the episode.
  • Heroic RRoD: Hen has one after the crash when she realizes that the woman she hit by accident, Evelyn, did not make it, having suffered fatal injuries from the collision. She collapses into heartbroken weeping as Athena comforts her.
  • Hidden Depths: Turns out Bobby used to figure skate when he was younger.

Top