While the TV shows are on a hiatus, it’s a good time to look back at what works and what doesn’t, and when it comes to 9-1-1: Nashville, there’s a lot that just isn’t working.
They already warned us this would be a soapier show than 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star, and it certainly is.
Despite this, it is following patterns from the previous shows, especially 9-1-1: Lone Star, and it’s taking a leaf from that spinoff’s book in a terrible way.
9-1-1: Nashville’s Family Focus
From the very beginning of the series, the focus has been on Don Hart and his sons.
Now, bringing in a “new” team member on a new show is normal, as it’s the best way to share the backstories of various characters and provide the exposition needed for world-building.
The 9-1-1 franchise is no stranger to doing this, with the main series starting with Buck as the new team member and 9-1-1: Lone Star bringing in a whole new team after Judd’s team is killed in the line of duty.
What the other two shows were able to do was give each team member airtime to get to know them. But 9-1-1: Nashville hasn’t done that.
We’ve had one episode that gave us a little bit of information about Roxie, but that was five episodes into the series, and it was just too little, too late after spending so much time developing the Hart family.
Even within the Hart family, there wasn’t the explanation of how they were all connected until we were a few episodes in — yet there were mentions of connections as if we already knew.
It very quickly created a lopsided dynamic in the series, making it clear that the main characters would often be sidelined, and it takes the fun out of what could be some soapy drama.
This also leads to the show rushing arcs.
9-1-1: Nashville Rushes Through Its Hart Family Drama
Let’s just consider how Ryan met his half-brother as he was learning about him. Wouldn’t it have been better to spread that out just a little?
Then, within an episode, we learned that Ryan had separated from his wife, and she walked in to hand him divorce papers.
We didn’t even get to know their backstory or who she was before she decided that she wanted to give their marriage another chance.
As for Blue, he learns about his dad and half-brother, only to find out that his dad knew about him all along, and it takes just an episode for him to decide to forgive his mom for all the lies she told.
We’ve had a season’s worth of storylines in just six episodes of 9-1-1: Nashville Season 1.
9-1-1: Lone Star’s Strand Problem
While 9-1-1: Lone Star initially gave us time to get to know various characters, there was a significant problem in later seasons, probably from around 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 3.
Suddenly, Owen Strand and his son, T.K., became the primary focus.
If there was a life-threatening or significant plot, it always involved one of them.
This led to some of the other characters feeling underdeveloped, especially Paul and Carlos, and the series as a whole suffered.
It seems like 9-1-1: Nashville hasn’t learned from this mistake, and nobody is listening to what the fans were saying about the Strand problem.
The best thing to do would have been to take the feedback that 9-1-1: Lone Star became “The Strand Show” and make sure the same didn’t happen with the Harts on 9-1-1: Nashville. Instead, it feels like the latest spinoff has doubled down on the problem.
This is going to set up the series for failure, as it’s more than just the Hart family drama.
There are two firefighters/paramedics that we know so little about. In fact, one of them, Taylor, we know nothing about at all.
9-1-1: Nashville is Already Shortchanging Secondary Characters
Then there’s Cammie, who started to get some screentime in the 9-1-1: Nashville Season 1 fall finale, but that was just too little too late.
While it’s clear Cammie cares, she doesn’t have the same attitude and personality as Maddie or Grace to bring excitement to the dispatch scenes, partly because there’s too much time spent on Don, Ryan, and Blue.
As 9-1-1: Nashville gears up for the next part of the season, the writers need to address the imbalance. Following the way 9-1-1: Lone Star did things is not a good idea.
You made it to the end — and that means a lot.
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The post 9-1-1: Nashville Is Making the Same Mistake as 9-1-1: Lone Star (And It’s Already Showing) appeared first on TV Fanatic.
