Okay so, a couple things. First, I have finished The Magnus Archives, and I have things to say on it, but I’m still processing, I think. Though, I do still have some extra content I want to listen to before I comment on the show. Though, as a brief insight to how I’m doing having finished Episode: ‘MAG 200 – Last Words‘, I’ll give you that most of my thoughts regarding TMA include the phrase: “What The HELL, Jonathan!?”
Right now, though! TMA‘s completion aside and comments, I assure you, eventually to come. This week we’re circling back to two posts ago and commenting on 9-1-1.
A revisit means the details for 9-1-1 are already done, and can be found here, so let’s dive straight into this!
SPOILERS!
Brilliance in Importance
I am quite aware that ‘brilliant’ is a word I use to describe many of the pieces of media I detail on this blog, and, to be honest, I mean it every single time. This blog has been stated to be entirely subjective, and will continue to be so, which means that I can think every single one of them is brilliant if I want to.
I say this, because my first point on my notes is the simple statement that this show is brilliant. It is. I find that the variety, or else to say diversity, means that there is plenty for you to love, no matter what you love. As with any show with a fandom that loves it, some of it is fan created, but noticed by the writers if you pay close attention. They have created a show, and assembled a cast that allows them to explore so much, and in exploring so much they can write something for everyone. Something will draw you in, because all these characters are different, distinct and, yes, diverse. So many stories can be told on this show.
A lot of ensemble casts have focal points, it’s just what happens. Watch Criminal Minds; you’ll notice it, watch NCIS; you’ll notice it. They have a character or characters, they care about more, narratives and arcs they care about more. 9-1-1 never felt like that.
Unless for the instances of Maddie in the later seasons, but I have a feeling that was due to unavoidable real life circumstances, so I am not holding it against them, assuming it will be fixed in the forthcoming season (this March!!).
That aside, 9-1-1‘s ability to make every character feel just as important as the next, is something shows with ensemble casts, and especially in and around this genre, have lacked in the past years. Even the Criminal Minds reboot felt like it struggled to get out of it’s ‘David Rossi Era’ of seasons, and the reboot included many arcs for the varying characters. So I applaud 9-1-1 for it’s diverse cast that feel equally important and loved. Hell! Guest stars, and reoccurring stars felt equally as important and loved! Josh wasn’t in every episode but when he did appear he felt just as important as Maddie and Chimney. Just one simple point for why 9-1-1 is brilliant. I’m not going to defend why I think this show is brilliant. It can be brilliant without reasons, but this is one of it’s reasons to be brilliant.
A Worthy Conversation Done Well
I want to be hopeful for the people making the media we consume, and so I choose to believe that representation being something we must fight for is because of hesitance, a desire to do it right and reticence for the cases it is done poorly. This I realise is quite the hope, because I am sure we have less quite so hopeful reasons for why representation was rare and is now fought for.
I am going to put a content warning going forward, any of the topics covered in the show are likely to be mentioned here and that includes Maddie’s story and more. So, warnings for domestic abuse and addiction.
I am sure when I talk about TMA I will talk more about small productions giving good representation but for now we’re here and… 9-1-1 gives good representation. They have managed to encompass so many identities across their many seasons, and I am tempted to say that so many of them are done well and with the gentle care they deserve.
There are conversations had on 9-1-1 that are needed, and are done with perhaps a little sugarcoating because that is the nature of a TV Show, and one that is on a big network, but each of these conversations are had with the attention to detail that they, of course, not only need but deserve. From discussions on broad topics we come to expect on shows that do discuss things (see: sexism, racism, homophobia to a lesser extent depending on the show), to the less discussed things you don’t always expect. I hesitate to say smaller, because they’re not smaller topics, they’re… specific, more detailed topics (see: domestic abuse, childhood neglect, postpartum depression, addiction). They’re all very important discussions, that are done well on 9-1-1.
Now, I maintain my point that Season 1 felt too fast, but by Season 2 they figured out their format and everything ran smoothly for the rest of the series and they had laid the groundwork for all the discussions they were then able to have going forward, and introduced two new additions in Maddie and Eddie that brought with them more stories of such importance.
As well done as they all are, none of them make up the character in their entirety, which is what adds to them being so good. Maddie is a character, who is Buck’s sister, and kind and caring, who worries too much, who wants to move forward and build a life. Maddie also experienced domestic abuse, but Doug is not all she is, which is vitally important to her story and the discussions around it. More importantly, however, it is never forgotten. Too many shows will do a story like this, spend a few episodes on it, and then forget about it. It’s part of their history, but it will never be mentioned again. Some shows I truly love do this. With 9-1-1, though, Maddie may not only be her traumatic experiences, but it is never forgotten or ignored as part of her character. As with real people, something like that shaped her and her world view. She is not only her abuse, she gets arcs and narratives outside of it, but it is not forgotten as being a part of her story, and when it is relevant to the current arc she is going through it is brought back up again because it effects who she is as a person.
The same goes for Chimney. His frayed relationship with his father forms part of his character but not all. He gets to be a person outside of that, but it still effects him. It is not just a part of his character for one story, for the sake of backstory, but it is revisited when he, himself becomes a father, because it effects his world view, as it would for any person.
Bobby gets the same treatment. They may have ran head first into that arc in Season 1, but given the slightly slower pace that they are offered going forward, Bobby’s troubles with drinking and addiction are never forgotten. Bones excellently wrote a similar arc for Booth’s gambling addiction, it was always a part of his character. The same goes for Bobby, he’s not only his addiction, and his addiction is handled well and with the care that an arc like that deserves, but he gets to be everything outside of that as well, while never forgetting it. Lest we forget Spencer Reid had an arc regarding addiction that was a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment, and was brought up maybe twice more after her recovered seemingly in the background?
These arcs are done well, with care, with due diligence, and never forgotten. I’m not going to go into the specifics of every single one, but you get the picture.
I would attribute their ability to be able to do so many different stories so well to the foundation they have built themselves upon. Season 1 laid groundwork for all of this, as stated before, in a foundation of a diverse cast.
In a better world diversity wouldn’t be something we comment on, it would just be a given, but given that we are not yet at that world it is important to note that this cast is brilliantly diverse, and more so than what is just seen on the surface. I believe this diversity is part of the foundation that allowed them to tell so many of the stories that they do. That is a fact amongst many pieces of media, in fact. There is no point in limiting yourself to an array of stereotypes and typical selection of characters, because people aren’t like that. People are diverse. Having a diverse cast simply allows you to tell more stories. Arguably you limit yourself by limiting your cast. They did not limit their cast, and so had the basis on which to tell so many important stories.
As I say they are diverse on more than just a base level, there are different family structures going on, different identities (both in terms of love and, as I am told, in 9-1-1:Lone Star in terms of gender), there’s different ethnic identities, and cultural and class disparities. There is stories of divorce, and adoption and remarriage.
All in all this all brings me back to my first point, in all their well done stories and a diverse cast, in all this variety there is something for everyone to love. It is better for being different in as many ways as they could find and for having treated all of them with love, care and respect that they deserve. No one person, no one arc, is more important than the other.
More Than a Discussion
As a brief aside, 9-1-1, as well as all it’s stories are told, is more than just them. It has told many important stories, but it is not just that, as the characters are not just them.
9-1-1 is funny. It’s fast-paced and exciting. It’s nail biting. It’s all the things you expect a show about first responders to be, because as much as all these stories it tells alongside its setting are important, it’s fire and rescue. There are important stories and there is saving people from a fire, and a whole episode about a bank heist, and a tsunami, and earthquakes. There’s a blackout, an art heist and Athena faces her few murderers.
It’s not just it’s conversations. They’re needed, yes, but any show needs more than just that. If it was just those conversations, the characters may become just those arcs and they’re not.
So they save the day, they save people. They fall in love, get married and start families. They work hard, they have hobbies and passions and struggles. I love Maddie and Chimney, and Bobby and Athena. Their stories are fun to follow, sad troubles not withstanding. I hope that Buck and Eddie find happiness if not each other. There’s so much love going on. In all the forms. They’re a found family and, goddamn, do you know I am a sucker for a found family. They’re sweet. They all try to be there for one another, and they are.
The show is just good fun. Diversity and good discussions are nothing if you’re not fun, and 9-1-1 is fun first. Great foundations when they need them, but they’re a good show first. It’s a brilliant show, not to restate myself. Everything I’ve said before can be thrown out the window if it wasn’t a good show, but it is. If you haven’t watched it, go watch it. It’s good fun.
To Conclude
I am 100% going to watch 9-1-1 many times in the future. It’s fun, and I love the characters and the stories they tell. From time to time it may put me on the edge of my seat but it puts me on the edge of my seat with care. I’ll return to it.
So, thank you! I hope you enjoyed this post, and I shall see you for the next Fortnightly Fixations in two weeks time.
On to the next!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images, narratives or characters present or referenced in this post. All rights belong to Fox and all other relevant parties.