Explore the high-pressure experiences of police officers, paramedics and firefighters who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping situations. These emergency responders must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in their own lives.
This tv show contains 95 potentially triggering events.
- Doug Kendall stalks Chimney Han before stabbing him & leaving him for dead then kidnapping Maddie in the season 2 Christmas episode & Chimney Begins until Buck finds him on his sister's doorstep;
- Maddie Buckley stalks a woman & her husband who made 3 9-1-1 calls in season 3. Multiple people question her motives. Maddie doesn't stop "trying to save the woman" until she realises that even after a nearly fatal altercation that she phoned for, the woman doesn't want to leave her husband. She deals with this in therapy.
- Maddie goes through an abuse storyline at the hands of her ex-husband throughout season 2. She kills him in self-defense in the Christmas episode of that season. She actively seeks therapy in season 3 & moves on around the Christmas episode of that season;
- Josh becomes a victim of a brutal robbery in what he thought to be a date in the season 3 Halloween episode. He has a lot of visible bruises. He is very traumatised from the whole incident. Later in the season he is confronted with the man again when they hold the 9-1-1 operation centre hostage to commit a heist in an art museum nearby. He still saves the man's life after he almost dies. He contemplates not testifying in his court case but eventually does. The man gets sentenced to jail;
- Athena gets into an altercation with the serial rapist she's investigating until he shoots her in the penultimate episode of season 3. She sustains facial injuries such as a swollen eye & her arm is encasted. The man is arrested, revealed to have been shot in the groin with severely damaged testicles beyond salvaging by her & ultimately shot to death by Athena
Reggie Franklin Junior gaslit the entire neightbourhood for 45 years that Tanya Kingston's dissapearance was just a dissapearance until repair works at the Carter home - Athena's parents & Bobby's parents-in-law - uncovered Tanya's remains in the foundations.
This further leads for a good day that a comatose Mr. Carter being the primary suspect. All while Reggie Junior & Senior pretend nothing happened, until Reggie Senior's demeanor cracks in front of Athena's mother.
Eventually Reggie Junior unveils a ploy to put the murder in her older sister Joanne's shoes whilst holding her at gunpoint. Planning to kill her
Reggie Senior was also gaslit that Tanya's murder was an accident rather than attempted rape & murder. However then it's revealed by Athena & the local police juristdiction that Reggie Junior ended up raping & killing 6 other underaged girls roughly Tanya's age. There are theories that Athena was a planned target as well but there is no evidence for this beyond speculation
- From the season 4 premiere until season 4 episode 4, it is revealed that Evan Buckley experienced emotional negligence from Maddie & his parents. In the 4th episode, he yells at them for not loving him enough. It is then revealed he had a brother called Daniel Buckley & was conceived for his bone marrow. It ended up not saving him. Buck did not know of this until then;
- Maddie Buckley is also a victim of this as she had to pretend for 29 years (Buck was 29 at the time this information was shared with him) that she didn't have a brother prior to Buck. This resulted in some of her mental health problems surfacing as young as age 9 (roughly the time Daniel Buckley died) as well as her running away from problems most of her life until late season 5;
- In season 6 episode 3 it is revealed Reggie Franklin Junior killed Tanya Kingston & went on to rape & kill 6 more girls between the years 1977 & 2022 (the years of the other girls were not defined properly so I cannot provide much more). He kept his victims' shoes as mementos
Bobby is revealed to be a recovering drug addict at the start of the show. He relapses by accident when he, Buck, Eddie & Hen eat LCD-laced brownies. In a delirious state he reveals to Athena - his fiancée at the time - that he "wants this feeling to be real". She talks him through the trip & tells him "they can be real together". He doesn't relapse after that incident again.
Bobby is revealed in the pilot to also be a recovering alcoholic. In flashbacks pre-pilot his alcohol abuse is shown. He almost relapses in the season 6 finale until Eddie's speech about his gratitude to Bobby & reminding him mistakes can happen (Jonah's direct contribution to Claudette's death & Bobby not noting the signs were off from the start), where he drains the entire bottle in the sink
Reggie Franklin Jr. is convicted of raping & murdering 6 underage girls following his initial murder of Tanya Kingston, who he was also planning to rape until she ran off (he was 17, she was 8)
- In season 3 & 4, Jeffrey Hudson plays a part in Athena's storyline, where there is videotaped evidence of him raping several women. He later assaults Athena, beats her severely & shoots her;
- In season 6 episode 3 towards the end of the episode, it is shown in a flashback at the party that Reggie Franklin Jr. made unwanted sexual advances towards Tanya Kingston. He was 17, she was 8;
- In the same episode, the local juristdiction & Athena reveal to Reggie Franklin Sr. that the initial cover-up aided his son into raping & killing 6 more girls between 1977 & 2022 (depending when the final one was). The evidence shown was 6 pairs of shoes, all kept as mementos. It is implied the girls were roughly Tanya's age but not outright confirmed
In season 1, a main character goes to see a therapist while recovering from sex addiction and a recent trauma of seeing someone fall to their death. He has sex with his therapist during the session, which is legally sexual assault due to the power dynamic and the character not being in the right headspace to consent. The show does not portray this as SA and plays it for laughs a couple times in the show.
Buck's sleeping with his therapist is played for laughs, despite the fact he was in the wrong headspace to sleep with her & she comitted a violation of her work by sleeping with a client
She also drops him, doesn't refer to a new therapist & is said to have been fired following multiple incidents of a similar sort to Buck's
One could count Buck sleeping with his therapist as rape, given he was in the wrong headspace & she violated a lot of work laws & client laws (droppin him immediately & not referring him to a different therapist). Which results in her getting fired later
Eddie gets buried alive in Eddie Begins - a Season 3 episode - by extreme weather condition, a crane & mud collapsing.
SPOILER: he makes it out alive by swimming through a body of water to the surface just before drowning.
Probably more in the series:
Victims Manolo, Manolo's friend & an undisclosed victim respectively lose a hand, a finger & a thumb in a "firework fight"
Jeffrey Hudson reveals in season 5 that in the episode listed above that Athena shot him in his genitals. The damage was so severe that there was no chance to salvage it
- In a freak accident caused by a small sequin from a costume laying on the ice mid-performance, a figure skater loses their finger in season 3;
- Victims at the start of the episode Manolo, his friend & an unidentified person respectively blow off their hand, a finger & a thumb in a "firework fight" in season 6 episode 9
In season 4 episode 4, Maddie Buckley reveals to her brother Evan that they had an older brother called Daniel who died sometime in 1988. That was before Buck was born as he's confirmed to be 29 in that episode
In season 6 episode 3, it is revealed Tanya Kingston & 6 other girls died at the hands of Reggie Franklin Jr.
Reggie Franklin Jr. makes the classic "you're mature for your age"-remark to Tanya Kingston before he makes unwanted sexual advances to her
While he is also underage at the time - 17, Tanya was only 8
After he murders her, he rapes & murders 6 more girls roughly her age between 1977 & 2022
- Maddie Buckley gets kidnapped by her ex-husband Doug Kendall in the season 2 Christmas episode. She kills him in self-defense 2 episodes later;
- Harry Grant gets kidnapped by his mother's shooter Jeffrey Hudson in season 5. Athena shoots him dead a few episodes later
- Hen Wilson's father dies in season 2, she's the one who has to decide on putting him off life support;
- Christopher Diaz' mother Sharon dies in Eddie's arms at the end of season 2;
- There's an episode in season 3 where several people discuss the death of women who were mothers such as: 2 brothers who nearly lose their mother in a car hanging from a cliff, Chimney Han about his mother's death after rescuing the oldest brother, 2 sisters who argue about a ring that belonged to their late mother & Eddie about Sharon Diaz - Christopher's mom.
- Bobby's 1st wife & 2 children die in 2014, 4 years pre-pilot in an appartment complex fire likely caused by Bobby by accident. This is a major plotpoint throughout season 1 & brought up a few times across the entire show;
- Athena's 1st fiancée dies via a gunshot in a store due to walking in on a robbery sometime in the 1980's (Athena was a university student), the case is solved as of "Athena Begins". Who grieves again in the arms of her 2nd husband Bobby;
- Abbie's mother dies in season 1;
- Christopher's mother & Eddie's - estranged - wife Sharon Diaz dies in a car crash in season 2;
- Dough Kendall gets stabbed to death by his (ex?)-wife Maddie in season 2;
- Hen's father dies in season 3, she was in charge of putting him off life support;
- Abbie's fiancé dies in season 3 following the season finale train crash;
- Maddie's other brother Daniel died sometime after Buck was born. It was probably in between 1991 & 1993 given Buck was too young to remember him;
- Minor character Joanne Kingston's sister, mother & father all died in quick succession following her sister Tanya's dissapearance. Revealed in season 6 Tanya died & that she was killed;
Towards the beginning of the episode a young woman is shown standing at the edge of a very tall building while a fire fighter tries to talk her out of jumping. A large body of water can be seen behind her for some of the scene.
in season 2 episode 5 around the 14 minute mark a racist man vomits on his own waste. then in episode 6 season 2 there was a bug eating contest and a man starts chocking on a clump of crickets. the firefighters pull it out but then a little girl starts to cough up bugs. season 2 episode 12 about 20:10 minutes in a man vomits all over Chimney. visual seen and audio heard. again in episode 12 season 2 at the very end (about 43 minutes) a man vomits into a bag. season 3 episode 1 about 13 minutes in starts coughing up blood, he coughs up quite a bit and it never speed out but he does cough a lot. it bothered me a bit. season 3 episode 3 a man suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning vomits on the ground. no visual, only audio. also in episode 3 of season 3 a little boy starts to cough a lot, then he starts to choke. he coughs up a lot of water and seaweed. then they take him away. (not technically vomit, but it did bother me.) season 3 episode 12 the first case they are on the guy seems like he might puke but he doesn’t, nothing even close i promise. just wanted to let people know.
In the 2nd half of season 3 Michael Grant is dealing with a brain tumour. There is good news in the season finale regarding it but I don't remember what it was.
Maddie Buckley reveals in season 5 as young as age 9 she has had depressive episodes in her life. She also deals with postpartum after giving birth to her & Chimney's child & PTSD from Doug's abuse which is highlighted in some 9-1-1 calls with her as operator in season 6
After finding out everyone he saved in war has died, Eddie has a massive meltdown in which he destroys one of the rooms' furniture.
Chris tries to help but cannot open the door so he phones Buck for help. Who upon arrival forces his way into said room & finds a heartbroken Eddie on the floor
S1EP8 -- Bobby talks about how he "killed" 148 in a fire he accidentally caused and he says; "If I just save 148 people, then I'd be done." Chimney says; "Bobby, you're not talking about killing yourself, are you?" and Bobby responds; "Yeah. Yeah I am."
- Multiple minor characters throughout the course of the show die via suicide including a woman in season 4 episode 4 who in a freak accident accidentally shoots herself in the stomach
- May Grant purposely overdoses with the intent to commit suicide in season 1 episode 3 after being bullied in school for a boy she liked. It is mentioned again exactly 3 seasons later when she reveals Sue has her go to monthly therapy sessions she agreed to out of precaution due to her job as a 9-1-1 operator
- Maddie Buckley tries to drown herself in season 5 episode 11 due to postpartum depression, depression & PTSD
A person calls in that he has heard a baby crying in his wall. A premature baby is born and flushed down a toilet by a very young mother. The baby can be heard crying briefly in the scene where the firefighters are in the bathroom after being called out.
Towards the end of the episode there is a home invasion of a home where a young girl is present. Towards the end of the scene she is caught by the home invaders and she screams a lot during the scene. The situation is dealt with and she is unharmed.
In the mids of the earthquakes in season 2, a woman delivers a baby in the hall of a hotel. She loses conciousness but survives
Maddie Buckley gives birth in season 4
A pregnant woman does end up unconcious & bleeding from her abdomen in a car trunk & her baby being removed before actually going into labour. They however both survive as the case gets solved in the same episode in season 3.
There is however a storyline with Josh in season 3 where he gets ready to go on a date with a guy he met online. Only for when they go somewhere a bit more secluded to get jumped, assaulted & robbed off his items.
This is later used in the heist storyline, but this does bring parallels to real life incidents were gay men go on a date with someone they meet online only to be beaten up for the fact that they are gay
In an episode in season 2 (I don't remember which one), a patient refuses treatment of:
- Hen - 118's paramedic - because she's a black lesbian woman;
- Chimney - 118's paramedic - because he is an Asian man;
- Eddie - 118's firefighter - almost treats the patient, until he reveals his last name to be "Diaz" which is Hispanic/Latino. The patient also rejects being treated by him because of this.
Eventually Buck - 118's firefighter - treats the man as he's white, male, his sexuality is assumed to be straight (5 years later this is proven to be incorrect) & says his last name's "Buckley". The man deems him "a true American" (this bit is ironic in real life given Buck's actor Oliver Stark being the only main cast member not from the United-States, he is from the United Kingdom) & allows him to treat him.
Everyone of the 118 - including Bobby & Buck - are irritated about this incident.
- There's also an episode in season 3 that has racial profiling towards Michael, May & Harry Grant where a cop almost kills Harry when he sees him move to a sitting position. May makes her paper about Athena being an enemy as she is a cop. Michael struggles with accepting the fact he has to give Harry the talk about what he as a black boy should do if he's stopped by the police. Athena deals with the fallout her family has & how thanks to her a lot has changed already but that there is still work to be done;
- In season 6 episode 8, one of Darius' - May's boyfriend - roommates is a raging misogynist
A child with cerebral palsy deals with an absent mother and a teacher (that later turns into his dad's girlfriend) that doesn't try to adapt to his limitations ("There's a lot to be said for getting back on the horse, but there's also some value in learning that you don't like horses.") and calls him "sensitive."
Relationship in season 1 between a 26-year-old and a person in their mid-40s. The older person ghosts the younger person without ever breaking up with them.
Sexual content doesn't occur often, it is never explicit when it gets shown. If there is nudity in such a scene, it only shows their shoulders or their lower backs at best.
One major plot point through multiple episodes of season 3 is one character having a brain tumor. There are also other mentions of characters with cancer, though these are not main characters and most of them are dead by the time they are mentioned.
Buck has an arc that he goes through an existential crisis of a few episodes following the death of his & Hen's patient & his break-up with Taylor Kelly
Might have other instances of car crashes too:
- Shannon - Christopher's mother, Eddie's ex-wife - gets hit by a car while crossing the road in Season 2, she dies in Eddie's arms;
- A car crashes into the back of the 118's firetruck after it's revealed he couldn't slow down no matter how he tried in Season 3. The character gets out of the car with minor injuries;
- A woman & her 2 sons almost plummet from a ravine ledge in Season 3. The 118 saves manages to save all 3 occupants of the car;
- In the Season 3 Halloween Episode a woman collides with another person. Due to the bump on her head & disillusionment coming from the head injury, she doesn't notice & isn't stopped until the very end of the episode by Buck who is lucky enough to spot her at a gas station;
- Hen commits accidental vehicular manslaughter in Season 3.
Might have forgotten a few:
- Shannon - Chris' mom, Eddie's ex-wife - dies in Season 2 after being hit by a car;
- In the Season 3 Halloween episode a woman hits a man with her car & sustains a head-injury that leaves her severely disillusioned with her surroundings that she doesn't register the man is stuck in her windshield. This goes on for the entire episode until Buck spots her at the gas station at the very end.
Karen Wilson's workplace - something to do with space science - has an explosion happen due to a machine malfunction. One of her colleagues dies & Karen suffers cardiac arrest due to a punctured spleen but survived (the spleen was removed in operation)
It used to be somewhat tame in seasons 1 & 2 but blood/gore becomes a lot more commonplace from season 3 onwards.
If it triggers you, I'd suggest to watch the season very carefully because it is in about every episode.
In the first 3 episodes of season 3, the story deals with a tsunami.
Buck spots several floating corpses, he shields Christopher - Eddie's child - from seeing them as well.
Eddie almost drowns in Eddie Begins but makes it out by swimming through a body of water to the surface.
- Athena Grant gets shot in the middle of the altercation with the serial rapist she was investigating & tracking down in the penultimate episode of season 3. She survives.
Her assaulter reveals in season 5 Athena shot him in his groin, which resulted in severly damaged genitals to the point it wasn't salvagable;
- Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz gets sniped whilst wrapping up paramedic care for his patient. He was targeted solely because he was working for the LAFD. The shooter was planning to shoot Buck immediately after - who was out of uniform - but someone tackled him in time & pushed him under the firetruck
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