Post by Icefanatic on Jan 20, 2020 17:34:17 GMT -5
9-1-1: Lone Star - A Review
As a fan of the parent show, I thought I would give the new spinoff a shot. It debuted Sunday night with another new episode tonight.
I didn't have much idea of what to expect going into the first episode other than what I saw in the previews, so I was expecting something along the lines of the original 9-1-1, only set in Texas... What I got was both more and less than that.
The ridiculously convoluted setup involves seeking out Rob Lowe's character Owen to rebuild a decimated fire house in Austin, Texas; after a tragedy wiped out almost the whole crew. Lowe's character is the ONLY person in the country that has done that because of 9/11, and it's apparently required experience for the job, it's also something that gave Lowe's character just-diagnosed lung cancer.
In the episode, Austin is apparently part of a problem in Texas of an extreme lack of diversity in it's firehouses, so bad that the Department of Justice is involved. It's a rather dubious premise given that Austin, Texas is an extremely liberal bastion, with more in common with places like Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; or San Fransisco, California than the rest of a more conservative Texas. Indeed, a casual glimpse at the real Austin Fire Department's website sees just how big they are on diversity and inclusion along race/ethnic lines and LGBTQ status, and how proud they are that the number of female firefighters in their department is over twice the national average.
It's good to realize early on they aren't just going to strain believability to the breaking point with this show, they are going to throw it out the window entirely.
There is an expression in storytelling "To hang a lantern" (or “hang a lamp”) meaning to call attention to an inconsistency in the story by having a character notice the inconsistency. It's the writer's way of telling the reader or viewer “I did this on purpose; it's not a mistake.” There are a lot of lanterns hung on story-points in this episode.
Lowe gives voice to a big one when wondering "If you're gonna put diversity first, shouldn't you hire someone who's, you know, diverse?" Don't worry Rob, they hung a lantern on it, so it's all good, right?!
Rob isn't big on going until his character's son, a gay firefighter, proposes to his boyfriend... only to find out said boyfriend is cheating on him, which results in him falling of the wagon on his opioid addiction, overdosing and almost dying... something he swears was NOT a suicide attempt(not sure if we are supposed to believe him on that). His dad not only saves his life, he knows just what they both now need in their lives. Faster than you can sing the theme song to 'Green Acres', they are Texas bound.
What follows is Lowe combing the country for marginalized fire-fighting eccentrics that will also give him maximum woke-points toward his diversity mandate(don't worry, they hung a lantern on that, too). It manages to feel more like the setup for a heist film than how you would crew a fire house, an Oceans 911.
There's Marjan, a Muslim hailing from Miami, who alternates between taking extreme risks as a fire fighter and tracking how that affects her social media presence and relevance; Paul, a female-to-male trans fire fighter from Chicago who attacks someone in a crowd near a fire because his experiences as a trans-man allowed him to detect the arsonist hiding in the group; and Mateo, a detail-obsessed local labeled 'intellectually unqualified' to serve. He likes to shine the underside of door-handles. I can't tell if he's supposed to be autistic or suffering from OCD, but given this show's nature it's probably both.
Liv Tyler is already in place as an EMS team leader who regularly gets arrested for harassing the guy she believes killed her sister. Then there is Judd, played by Jim Parrack of True Blood, the only familiar face outside of the two leads(at least to me) and the only survivor of the original crew. He has PTSD(that's now a politically incorrect term, as the show noted, oh those lanterns. Instead PTS,or in the show PTSI, are now considered acceptable.) Judd isn't fit to serve in his condition but after some convincing by his wife and a touching scene in the firehouse, he's suited up and in the crew cab for the ladder on the truck as they ride off into the end credits.
There's plenty of action and thrills of the kind fans have come to expect from the original 9-1-1, including what appears to be a massive tornado in a preview for upcoming episodes. There's also comedic touches, much of them centered on Lowe's character's skincare regime. Almost everyone gets a carefully cultivated scene to establish them as likable, with the possible exception of Marjan. Maybe it's a sign of progress that people watching the show are far more likely to dislike Marjan for her social media fixation than for being a Muslim.
Ultimately, the show is so over-the-top with damn near everything that it often feels like a parody of something rather than something we are supposed to see as genuine, an affliction also affecting another Fox mid-season show, 'Deputy'. Still... with action, thrills, comedy of both the intentional and unintentional variety and buoyed by a likable cast and cast of characters, it is at least an entertaining way to spend an hour.
The 9-1-1 franchise now has it's CSI: Miami, you can make of that what you will...
I didn't have much idea of what to expect going into the first episode other than what I saw in the previews, so I was expecting something along the lines of the original 9-1-1, only set in Texas... What I got was both more and less than that.
The ridiculously convoluted setup involves seeking out Rob Lowe's character Owen to rebuild a decimated fire house in Austin, Texas; after a tragedy wiped out almost the whole crew. Lowe's character is the ONLY person in the country that has done that because of 9/11, and it's apparently required experience for the job, it's also something that gave Lowe's character just-diagnosed lung cancer.
In the episode, Austin is apparently part of a problem in Texas of an extreme lack of diversity in it's firehouses, so bad that the Department of Justice is involved. It's a rather dubious premise given that Austin, Texas is an extremely liberal bastion, with more in common with places like Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; or San Fransisco, California than the rest of a more conservative Texas. Indeed, a casual glimpse at the real Austin Fire Department's website sees just how big they are on diversity and inclusion along race/ethnic lines and LGBTQ status, and how proud they are that the number of female firefighters in their department is over twice the national average.
It's good to realize early on they aren't just going to strain believability to the breaking point with this show, they are going to throw it out the window entirely.
There is an expression in storytelling "To hang a lantern" (or “hang a lamp”) meaning to call attention to an inconsistency in the story by having a character notice the inconsistency. It's the writer's way of telling the reader or viewer “I did this on purpose; it's not a mistake.” There are a lot of lanterns hung on story-points in this episode.
Lowe gives voice to a big one when wondering "If you're gonna put diversity first, shouldn't you hire someone who's, you know, diverse?" Don't worry Rob, they hung a lantern on it, so it's all good, right?!
Rob isn't big on going until his character's son, a gay firefighter, proposes to his boyfriend... only to find out said boyfriend is cheating on him, which results in him falling of the wagon on his opioid addiction, overdosing and almost dying... something he swears was NOT a suicide attempt(not sure if we are supposed to believe him on that). His dad not only saves his life, he knows just what they both now need in their lives. Faster than you can sing the theme song to 'Green Acres', they are Texas bound.
What follows is Lowe combing the country for marginalized fire-fighting eccentrics that will also give him maximum woke-points toward his diversity mandate(don't worry, they hung a lantern on that, too). It manages to feel more like the setup for a heist film than how you would crew a fire house, an Oceans 911.
There's Marjan, a Muslim hailing from Miami, who alternates between taking extreme risks as a fire fighter and tracking how that affects her social media presence and relevance; Paul, a female-to-male trans fire fighter from Chicago who attacks someone in a crowd near a fire because his experiences as a trans-man allowed him to detect the arsonist hiding in the group; and Mateo, a detail-obsessed local labeled 'intellectually unqualified' to serve. He likes to shine the underside of door-handles. I can't tell if he's supposed to be autistic or suffering from OCD, but given this show's nature it's probably both.
Liv Tyler is already in place as an EMS team leader who regularly gets arrested for harassing the guy she believes killed her sister. Then there is Judd, played by Jim Parrack of True Blood, the only familiar face outside of the two leads(at least to me) and the only survivor of the original crew. He has PTSD(that's now a politically incorrect term, as the show noted, oh those lanterns. Instead PTS,or in the show PTSI, are now considered acceptable.) Judd isn't fit to serve in his condition but after some convincing by his wife and a touching scene in the firehouse, he's suited up and in the crew cab for the ladder on the truck as they ride off into the end credits.
There's plenty of action and thrills of the kind fans have come to expect from the original 9-1-1, including what appears to be a massive tornado in a preview for upcoming episodes. There's also comedic touches, much of them centered on Lowe's character's skincare regime. Almost everyone gets a carefully cultivated scene to establish them as likable, with the possible exception of Marjan. Maybe it's a sign of progress that people watching the show are far more likely to dislike Marjan for her social media fixation than for being a Muslim.
Ultimately, the show is so over-the-top with damn near everything that it often feels like a parody of something rather than something we are supposed to see as genuine, an affliction also affecting another Fox mid-season show, 'Deputy'. Still... with action, thrills, comedy of both the intentional and unintentional variety and buoyed by a likable cast and cast of characters, it is at least an entertaining way to spend an hour.
The 9-1-1 franchise now has it's CSI: Miami, you can make of that what you will...
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