Nashville Can Move On From Its Annoying Love Triangle!

When you’ve had the same complaint from the beginning, it’s gone on too long. And I’ve had the same complaint about 9-1-1: Nashville from the beginning.

The show is spending way too much time on Don, with his messy relationships and secrets, and it’s forgetting about the other characters.

It’s time to move on from the Don/Blythe/Dixie love triangle, but waiting for that to happen is a lesson in frustration.

The Love Triangle Is Taking Over 9-1-1: Nashville

I love a good love triangle as much as the next person.

I read Twilight long before it became a movie franchise and fell in love with the Bella/Edward/Jacob debate. I adored the Elena/Stefan/Damon love triangle both in The Vampire Diaries books and the show.

Love triangles can add drama and excitement. They get people talking and debating.

What they don’t do is take over completely. Other characters still get time to develop, or at least, they should.

Let’s take Twilight, for example. Who didn’t fall in love with Alice and Jasper’s story — and yes, I was Team Jasper more than anything else! — or even Rosalie and Emmett’s story?

Looking at The Vampire Diaries TV series, we got to know Caroline, Bonnie, and even Matt.

We got fully fleshed out supporting characters that would end up becoming integral to the main story.

The problem with 9-1-1: Nashville is that the love triangle has so much time devoted to it that everything else suffers.

There are other characters out there who haven’t had much development.

At first, I thought the problem was focusing too much on Blue, but in the end, it all came back to Dixie and her hold on Don.

I had hoped that by the time Dixie got the money she needed for her surgery, she would take a step back.

I guess I underestimated what she really wanted: Don in her life, choosing her instead of Blythe.

It’s clear 9-1-1: Nashville isn’t done with this love triangle, but it really should be. It’s not adding anything extra to the story at this point.

9-1-1: Nashville Season 1 Episode 11 ended with Dixie making it clear that she wasn’t letting go of her hold on Don.

And as she and Blythe watched the Firefighter Games during 9-1-1: Nashville Season 1 Episode 12, there was plenty of tension, as both women clearly felt like they were each other’s competition.

Don isn’t ready to give up either woman in his life. While he says he’s chosen Blythe, parts of him pull back to Dixie.

She was there for him during some of his darkest moments when he was younger, creating a kindred spirit arc between them. Trauma bonds people, and it certainly did so for Dixie and Don.

The one thing that Blythe had that Dixie didn’t back then was stability.

Blythe wasn’t constantly on the road, and she and Don weren’t like two ships passing in the night due to their chosen careers.

However, with Dixie’s health problems, things have started to change, and Dixie is around more.

Steering clear of each other can help to reduce the sparks, but as they’re in each other’s orbits quite a lot in recent episodes, those sparks can reignite.

Blythe views Dixie as a threat, and for good reason.

There Are Other Characters and Relationships I Want to See

So yes, allow me to repeat myself: 9-1-1: Nashville Season 1 has focused too much on Don, which has led to the sidelining of so many other potentially great characters.

At first, it was about Ryan and Blue meeting, and then the focus shifted to Blue becoming a firefighter.

While we had a little bit about Ryan and his wife, it’s been a fleeting storyline, as things then moved to the hacker storyline. Then we got more focus on Don and his past.

As much as we need to build stories for the lead characters, it shouldn’t come at the expense of the supporting ones, and unfortunately, that’s what is happening here.

I wanted to see more of Ryan and his wife, Sam, as they navigated getting back together after a separation.

We were thrown into the middle of a divorce that didn’t happen, but we haven’t really gotten to know why they chose each other.

Reuniting isn’t as simple as just choosing to live together again. There are many feelings that arise from the past, and the 9-1-1 spinoff needs to honor that reality.

We’ve gotten a glimpse of that when Sam wanted a cat, and Ryan wanted a dog. Rather than compromise or discuss it, they both surprised each other with what they wanted.

Sure, that was cute, but this means they’re not discussing their problems, and that’s going to lead to bigger issues.

Of course, with so little time spent on them, either those problems will be swept under the rug, or the show will forget that they even considered separating in the first place.

We can look back at 9-1-1 to see how that could have been handled. Remember when Karen and Hen weren’t on good terms during the first season due to Hen’s infidelity?

There was a whole season-long arc dedicated to the infidelity, the bond they shared, and the emotions that came in the aftermath of the revelation.

None of this has been forgotten in more recent storylines, but we’ve been able to look back at how their relationship started and why they keep fighting for each other.

But we didn’t even need those flashback moments. The storytelling and the actors’ presentation worked in their favor.

The chemistry between Aisha Hinds and Tracie Thoms reignited that spark, and even in their arguments, you could see the love they shared.

We rooted for them because their marriage felt genuine and passionate, but the same can’t be said for Ryan and Sam, not because they deserve less, but because we haven’t spent enough time with them as a couple.

Then there are Roxie and Taylor. What do we even know about them? Hardly anything.

Their lives are a bit messy, especially when it comes to Taylor’s living situation and Roxie’s past.

Honestly, I thought Roxie and Taylor lived together, and then another episode threw in a male roommate. Who saw that coming?

And what do we know about Roxie other than that she was once a surgeon and had a rough past? Do we know anything about who she is as a person? Not at all!

9-1-1: Nashville knows that there are backstories to explain, but it’s done a weak job of it. Much of that comes down to the long-suffering focus on Don and his messy relationships.

By focusing more on Roxie, we could get a sense of what drove her to become a paramedic rather than a surgeon. Why would she give up such a lucrative career?

I go back to Hen on 9-1-1. She’s had multiple career changes, but they’ve been fully explained.

When she realized that she wanted to do more to help people, she went to med school. Ultimately, she realized it was consuming her. Being a paramedic was where she wanted to be.

We all go through these back-and-forths in our careers, and that’s perfectly human. So, giving us more backstory on Roxie and her career switch, instead of just mentioning it, would help us relate to her better.

We know Taylor writes music. The pilot included a phone call with Cammie, who used to be a music manager, offering pointers on the new song.

That opened the door for a bigger conversation about Taylor’s dreams. Is firefighting her number one priority? What does she want to get out of her career?

She’s the least developed of all the characters, which makes her forgettable. Nobody wants to be forgettable, and if a character is important enough to be included, they deserve the attention.

Taking time away from Don’s life will allow time to examine Taylor’s, revealing what drives her, why she became a paramedic/firefighter, and why saving lives is so important to her.

This series is doing everything the way that 9-1-1: Lone Star did by the end, which so many of us hated.

The only way to fix this is to move on from the love triangle completely. The best way to do that is for one of the women to walk away from Don for good.

So, if 9-1-1: Nashville really wants to keep the love triangle, it needs to be put on the back burner. In fact, Don needs to be put on the back burner. Give him a break.

It’s time to focus on Taylor and Roxie, so we have a reason to care about them, just like we need to know more about Sam to give us a reason to care about her marriage to Ryan.

If they have another argument or if a serious incident threatens them, the threat should feel devastating to us. Right now, we couldn’t care less.

We need the stakes on Nashville to feel similar to our fear what 9-1-1 would look like without Bobby, or how Hen’s medical diagnosis could affect her.

Right now, it feels like the series could be better off without Don at the firehouse, since it would allow the story some air to focus on the underserved and forgotten characters.

With so little time spent on supporting characters, storylines have already become repetitive.

Every episode begins with us wondering how Don will be injured this time or what new way Dixie and Blythe will find to antagonize each other again.

Just 12 episodes in, the repetitive storytelling has sucked the life out of 9-1-1: Nashville. The easiest way to bring some excitement back is to bring other characters into focus.

After a second-season renewal, 9-1-1: Nashville has time now to get itself back on track. Will they do that?

Possibly — if the writers listen to feedback and remember that there are more people than Don, Dixie, and Blythe, they just might.

So tell us, what do you think of the 9-1-1: Nashville love triangle? Is it time for it to end? Will that save the show? Or do you think it’s fine as it is? Share your thoughts in the comments below!