9-1-1: Season 6/ Episode 6 – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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As Hen comes upon the decision whether to officially hand in her resignation papers, Karen is fighting for her life and that of her staff.

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Recap

Back In The Day When Things Weren’t Cool – Hen, Karen, Howie, Denny

To add to the reasons why Howie and Hen are so close, we learn he is the one who hooked up Karen and Hen. Hen was his co-worker, Karen his neighbor, both were single, miserable, and needed a change, so he set them up. Karen didn’t make the best impression since she clearly would rather work than date. As for Hen? She barely was past Eva and her shenanigans, but something clicked.

Then, as time went by, Eva had to give up Denny, and Hen accepted, which caused issues for Karen. She even, despite her and Hen moving in together at that point, was ready to break up and potentially seek out her astronaut dreams in Houston. However, Howie, once again, brings them back together when he presents the idea of Hen potentially dying after an accident. With that, Karen reneges and gets on board with co-parenting Denny.

Time For A New Dream – Hen, Karen

Just as Karen set her dream aside, ultimately, Hen does as well. Being a doctor means leaving the 118, and Karen has also taken them off from being emergency foster parents. That is too much to sacrifice for her, and with almost losing Denny and Karen in one day? Hen decides to focus on what makes her happy now, than go through multiple years of stress to pursue something she thinks she wants.

For lest we forget, Hen has tried to be on autopilot and pursue things she thought would make her happy, and it didn’t. So why ruin what comes naturally for a maybe that has been anything but easy so far?

Things To Note

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Have we met Karen’s mother? Considering how she makes it seem learning about Denny would have led to her swooping in and never leaving, not seeing her yet seems odd.
2. Where has Denny’s dad been?

What Could Happen Next

1. Either later this season, or the next, Hen seeing someone she was in class with who became a resident. Maybe Vanessa Morano’s character.

Review

Highlights

Background On How Karen and Hen Met

We’re six seasons in, and did anyone else not realize we didn’t get Karen and Hen’s backstory? Was learning the full story of Hen and Eva the reason why Karen was forgotten? Either way, it was nice to see Karen in her element, see how married she is to her job, and why she takes her marriage to Hen so seriously. She is a reformed workaholic, trying to have fulfillment at home and work, and with Hen, she has had that. Heck, she even got a child and fostered one as well, showing her that the love she didn’t think would be possible at one time could be real.

Then with Hen, as established, her relationship with Eva has long been toxic and barely beneficial to Hen. So for her to find someone deserving of her, who appreciates her, and wants to grow with her, rather than siphon energy off her? It was wonderful to see. Add in they are queer Black women, who aren’t racially ambiguous, are fully adults, and raising a Black child? Do we ever get to see people like them on network television?

On The Fence

The Karen Dying Fakeout

When it comes to members of the 118, a building can fall on top of them, and I’d expect it’ll seem like nothing ever happened to them by the next season, like Chim and Buck. However, writing off characters who are love interests, never mind those seen on an inconsistent basis like Karen? They seem up for grabs to shake things up a bit. So when I saw that gash, and it was looking rough, I was able to suspend my disbelief for a moment and damn, am I mad I got faked out.

Now, is this to say I wanted Karen dead? No. Karen and Hen are the only believable couple on this show since Bobby and Athena look more like a companionship type of marriage and a consolidation for the sake of the show. So losing Karen would have been major, and I can’t imagine Hen healing anytime soon. But, with “9-1-1” still being rather bloated and still having a few characters for the 118 benched, for now, it’s bursting at the seams and something has to give.

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