One of the best aspects of9-1-1is, without a doubt, its thrilling disasters and emergencies scattered throughout its seven (soon to be eight) seasons and 106 episodes, with some standing out amongst the rest. The procedural drama, created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear, premiered in January 2018 on Fox, its home for six seasons before9-1-1moved to ABC for season 7(and season 8 in late 2024).9-1-1follows a group of emergency first responders,including police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and dispatchers, in LA, meaning the series features the characters responding to various natural and man-made disasters.
9-1-1season 8 premieres on Thursday, August 10, 2025, at 8 pm ET on ABC. The assumption is that9-1-1season 8 will contain around 18 episodes based on previous full-length seasons not affected by COVID-19 or the Hollywood strikes.
Of course,9-1-1has had its fair share of over-the-top or bizarre emergenciesthat the firefighters and paramedics have to attend to. Butsome of the TV show’s best episodes revolve around significant and devastating situations,like a catastrophic wave crashing into the Santa Monica Pier or a capsized cruise ship. As9-1-1heads into its eighth season, the upcoming episodes will, hopefully, contain disasters that can compete with the daunting precedent set by previous emergencies in the procedural drama series.
10Cruise Ship Disaster In “Abandon Ships,” “Rock The Boat,” & “Capsized”
9-1-1 Season 7, Episodes 1, 2, & 3
To kick off the show’s debut on ABC, Angela Bassett’s Athena and Peter Krause’s Bobby’s honeymoon on a cruise ship takes a turn for the worst when pirates hijack the vessel duringthe intense three-part9-1-1season 7 premiere. The pirates take everyone hostage as they search for a dongle that supposedly has a fortune in Bitcoin on it. By the second hour, the pirates retrieve the dongle and leave the ship, but not before setting off an explosion. To make matters worse,the cruise ship is headed straight towards a hurricane.
Why 9-1-1: Lone Star Is Ending After Season 5
Fox has canceled the procedural drama TV series 9-1-1: Lone Star after five seasons, which is not too surprising after the fate of 9-1-1.
Unfortunately, it takes untilthe end of9-1-1season 7, episode 2, for Hen to notice that Athena and Bobby’s cruise ship is no longer detectable on the radar. Episode 3, the final part of the season 7 premiere, is spent trying to find the missing boat. Meanwhile,Athena and Bobby attempt to survive and help others while the ship starts to sink.Thankfully, the fan-favorite couple eventually makes it out alive, but it was touch and go for a while, making the cruise ship hijacking and capsizing one of9-1-1’s most intense disasters.
9Bridge Collapse In “Pay It Forward”
9-1-1 Season 6, Episode 18
Most of the ABC procedural drama’s best and most thought-out emergencies come during premieres or finales, includingthe9-1-1season 6 finale. Season 6’s last episode begins with a dispatch call abouta bridge that collapsed while the firefighters and paramedics of Station 118 were on it,responding to multiple car accidents on the overpass. The episode then flashes back a few hours to explain the events leading up to the bridge collapse.
Everyone in the 118 survives, but many could have easily died throughout the heart-racing [9-1-1season 6 finale].
9-1-1’s first responders tend to those hurt on the overpass during the season 6 finale. However, whena truck driver falls asleep at the wheel, the semi crashes into a pillar supporting the bridge,causing it to collapse. Hen is knocked unconscious in the ambulance’s driver’s seat, a pipe impales Chimney in the abdomen in the back of said ambulance, and Eddie is injured and stuck in a van directly underneath the ambulance. Plus, Bobby is MIA as he is buried underneath debris. Thankfully, everyone in the 118 survives, but many could have easily died throughout the heart-racing hour.
8Blackout In “Panic,” “Desperate Times,” & “Desperate Measures”
9-1-1 Season 5, Episodes 1, 2, & 3
Not every9-1-1emergency can be flashy,like season 3’s tsunami or season 7’s cruise ship disaster, but they can still be intense, like the citywide blackout during the three-part premiere of season 5.A hacker group breaks into LA’s technology,causing chaos everywhere (including Jeffery Hudson’s escape). By the end of “Panic,” the entire city undergoes a blackout, andthe9-1-1charactersuse their expertise to help out at a hospital.
Gavin McHugh
Christopher Díaz
The blackout causes a helicopter crash, zoo animals to break loose, and more as a heatwave engulfs the city inthe9-1-1season 5 premiere. Perhaps the disaster isn’t as intense as others, butthe search for Jeffrey still makes it thrilling and worthwhile to watch.Plus, a blackout is much more dangerous than it appears to be on the outside, especially concerning the dire need for electricity at hospitals.
7Sniper Shooting In “Suspicion” & “Survivors”
9-1-1 Season 4, Episodes 13 & 14
9-1-1season 4’s ending is another man-made emergency as a sniper is on the loose in LA, shooting at the first responders from afar. While the penultimate hour isn’t particularly overly thrilling at the start, Eddie getting shot in the shoulder right in front of Buck and the chaos that ensues increasesthe9-1-1episode’sintensity by tenfold. Episode 13 ends withBuck crouched down on the ground, hiding from the sniper, and looking straight at Eddie as he bleeds out.It’s one of the procedural drama’s most haunting scenes and one that viewers will remember for seasons to come.
With scenes as memorable as the ones where Eddie is shot, Buck tells Christopher what happened to his dad, and Athena saves Bobby from the sniper, the9-1-1season 4 finale is among the show’s best.
At the beginning of the9-1-1season 4 finale, Buck drags Eddie to safety and rushes him to the hospital, where he spends the majority of the hour fighting for his life. Meanwhile, the others hunt down the scorned ex-firefighter behind the sniper attacks. Like most other episodes,the smart9-1-1charactersmake it out alive. But with scenes as memorable as the ones where Eddie is shot, Buck tells Christopher what happened to his dad, and Athena saves Bobby from the sniper,the9-1-1season 4 finale is among the show’s best.
6Dam Break & Landslide In “The New Abnormal” & “Alone Together”
9-1-1 Season 4, Episodes 1 & 2
9-1-1season 4 is bookended by two intense emergenciesas the season leads off with a dam break and subsequent landslide. At the beginning of episode 1, the Hollywood Reservoir Dam breaks due to seismic activity. Of course, the firefighters and paramedics of Station 118 respond to the disaster.The9-1-1characterwho is in the most danger during the hour is Athena. Angela Bassett’s character tries to persuade an agoraphobic woman to leave her Hollywood Hills house because of a possible landslide. However, the two get trapped when the house falls.
Joshua Jackson’s New Show Sounds Like The 9-1-1 Follow-Up I Didn’t Know I Needed
Joshua Jackson is set to star in an upcoming TV show on ABC, and its first teaser trailer shows scenes reminiscent of one of 9-1-1’s best storylines.
Of course, Athena and the woman, Sylvia,make it out alive by the end of9-1-1season 4, episode 2.However, the scenes featuring Athena and Sylvia fighting for their lives and waiting for help leave viewers on the edge of their seats.Athena is important to9-1-1, and her survival is integral to the procedural drama’s overarching story.
5Stuck In Sewage Pipe In “Eddie Begins”
9-1-1 Season 3, Episode 15
Even though only one9-1-1character’s life is in danger in season 3, episode 15, “Eddie Begins” is still one of the show’s most thrilling hours. The season 3 episode begins with Station 118 responding to an emergency where a child is stuck in a sewage pipe 50 feet underground. However, the situation worsens after Eddie saves the young boy. A lightning bolt causes an explosion,trapping Eddie underground in9-1-1when it was on Fox.
9-1-1season 3, episode 15, easily captures the attention of audiences, watching to learn more about Eddie and his past while rooting for him to survive.
As the title suggests, “Eddie Begins” is all aboutEddie and his past before joining the cast of9-1-1.Ryan Guzman’s character reminisces on his marriage, the birth of his son, and enlisting in the Armywhile struggling to survive stuck underground. Eddie eventually makes it out alive, but9-1-1season 3, episode 15, easily captures the attention of audiences, watching to learn more about Eddie and his past while rooting for him to survive.
4Tsunami In “Kids Today,” “Sink Or Swim,” & “The Searchers”
9-1-1 Season 3, Episodes 1, 2, & 3
The tsunami that hits Los Angeles duringthe9-1-1season 3 premiereis perhaps the show’s best disaster as it is thrilling from beginning to end.“Kids Today” ends with a massive wave hurdling towards Santa Monica Pier,where Buck has taken Christopher while Eddie is at work. “Sink or Swim” begins with the tsunami hitting the pier, flooding the streets of Los Angeles. The tide carries Buck and Christopher away, and while they reunite, they get separated when Buck leaves the young boy on top of a firetruck while he tends to others who need help. When Buck returns, Christopher is nowhere to be seen.
9-1-1season 8 will open with a catastrophic bee attack in Los Angeles when 22 million killer bees are accidentally released upon the city. The first trailer for9-1-1season 8 teased, “The average person cannot survive 500 bee stings,” suggesting many will die during the premiere.
Buck frantically searches for Eddie’s son during “The Searchers"to no avail. It’s not until he goes to the VA hospital that he reunites with Eddie and Christopher, giving a happy ending to that story. Elsewhere in the three-part9-1-1season 3 premiere, Maddie is significantly affected when she is forced to listen to a victim drown in his attic, Athena and May are involved in a multi-car crash, and Bobby, Eddie, and Lena rescue those stuck on the Santa Monica Pier’s Ferris wheel, which is half submerged in water.
3Bombing In “Careful What You Wish For” & “This Life We Choose”
9-1-1 Season 2, Episodes 17 & 18
9-1-1season 2 ends with a bang (literally) when a bomb placed underneath one of Station 118’s firetrucks explodes,trapping Buck’s leg underneath the vehicle. Throughout the episode prior, a serial bomber had been terrorizing the city, who then targets the firefighter in the finale. The bomber turns out to be a teenager named Freddy who wants revenge on Bobby for sending his father to prison. Freddy approaches the wrecked firetruck with a bomb strapped to his chest, asking for Bobby inRyan Murphy’s TV show.
Peter Krause’s character ultimately gets hold of the detonator, and the police take Freddy away towards the end of the9-1-1season 2 finale. However, Buck is still pinned underneath the firetruck, meaning the danger isn’t over yet. The first responders and civilian bystanders work together to get the vehicle off of Buck before he succumbs to his injuries. So,Buck survives the9-1-1season 2 finale disaster. However,Buck’s leg injury continues to haunt him the next seasonas the doctors warn him that he might not be able to be a firefighter anymore.
2Earthquake In “Under Pressure,” “7.1,” & “Help Is Not Coming”
9-1-1 Season 2, Episodes 1, 2, & 3
The catastrophic earthquake during the9-1-1season 2 premiereis also at the top of the TV show’s most well-crafted and entertaining disasters.9-1-1season 2 completely avoids the infamous sophomore slump by starting with a thrilling three-part premiere featuring the characters responding to a devastating earthquake. The procedural drama also needed a grand opening to make up forthe loss of Connie Britton’s Abby from9-1-1season1, and the writers produced one.
I’m Disappointed With 9-1-1 Season 8 Premiere’s Tragedy After Lukewarm Season 7
The 9-1-1 season 8 trailer teases what the premiere’s emergency will look like, and unfortunately, it’s quite lackluster and disappointing.
9-1-1’s three-part season 2 premiereis its first multi-episode disaster, and it set a daunting precedent for those that follow. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake ripples through Los Angeles, followed by various aftershocks. Station 118’s first responders (including Eddie, the crew’s new firefighter, and Maggie, Buck’s estranged sister and the new 911 dispatcher) tend to numerous emergencies throughout the city, including the collapse of a hotel and a collapsed overpass.The earthquake is one of9-1-1’s most memorable disasters,and the show has been trying to top it ever since (only succeeding with the tsunami).
1Plane Crash In “Worst Day Ever”
9-1-1 Season 1, Episode 4
One of9-1-1’s most thrilling emergency calls will always be the plane crashin season 1, episode 4. As many will recall, a plane catches on fire and crashes into the ocean during the hour. Consequently,most of the9-1-1charactersrespond to the incident, including Bobby, Hen, and Buck, as the aircraft slowly sinks into the water with people trapped inside.
“Worst Day Ever” is aptly named as it features one of the most horrifying situations one can imagine.
9-1-1season 1, episode 4 features many close callsas the first responders attempt to save as many people as they can before the plane fully sinks underwater. Bobby even gets into dire trouble at one point, but Buck is able to save him. Meanwhile, Athena is dealing with those panicked at the nearby airport, including an agitated passenger on a grounded plane. Ultimately, “Worst Day Ever” is aptly named as it features one of the most horrifying situations one can imagine. For that reason alone, season 1, episode 4 contains one of9-1-1’s most intense disasters.
9-1-1
Cast
9-1-1 is a television series that explores the intense experiences of police officers, paramedics, and firefighters. Premiered in 2018, it follows these emergency responders as they navigate high-pressure situations and attempt to balance their demanding work with personal challenges in their own lives.
