10 Worst Near-Death Experiences In 9-1-1, Ranked

9-1-1 is known for its high-octane civilian rescues, but the first-responder drama isn’t afraid to put its own characters in danger. Since its pilot season in 2018, the procedural following fire (LAFD), police (LAPD), and dispatch (LADC) has put nearly all of its main cast into peril. Due to the very nature of the series, it’s no surprise that so many of them have had more than their fair share of close calls over the years.

While a lucky few have gone relatively unscathed thus far, most characters have had at least one near-death experience, with some even having to endure multiple dire situations. Still, there’s no telling when or how disaster will strike; no character is totally safe. The potentially fatal situations in 9-1-1 are so iconic that 9-1-1’s second spinoff needs to think about the threats its characters will face as much as the characters themselves. However, there are certain near-death experiences in 9-1-1 that will never be topped, due to the emotional weight, the stomach-turning SFX, or the nightmare-inducing plots.

10

A Sinking Ship Nearly Drowns Bobby & Athena

“Abandon Ships,” “Rock the Boat,” “Capsized” (Season 7, Episodes 1-3)

9-1-1’s truncated season 7 has been criticized for storylines feeling rushed due to its shortened length, but one plot had a record three-episode run. Bobby (Peter Krause) and Athena (Angela Bassett) booked a cruise to relax and take a break from their stressful careers, but not even they could have a moment of peace. Aside from the ship being commandeered and a passenger being wounded, the ship itself suffers an explosion and capsizes.

The well-equipped couple took charge of the situation early on, but the plot seemed to drag for them as much as it did for viewers. By the time Bobby and Athena find themselves trapped in close quarters with water rising, their exhaustion is clear. In true 9-1-1 fashion, their indomitable spirit saves the day (with a little help from Aisha Hinds as Hen). The image of them clinging to each other as they almost run out of options is a sad, harrowing sight.

9

A Car Crash Pins Denny Against A House

“Masks” (Season 8, Episode 6)

Despite being one of the oldest members of the 118, Hen has somehow avoided danger— but that doesn’t mean she’s exempt from near-death scares. During season 8’s Halloween episode, her son Denny (Declan Pratt) ends up pinned to a house after a car crashes into a crowd of Trick or Treaters. The stakes only grew higher with reinforcement too far to reach the scene in time. The irony that he was dressed as a scarecrow and then propped up like one does nothing to cut the tension as Hen insists on administering care despite protocol.

Denny even flatlines for a moment, but after a risky field transfusion proves successful, he narrowly makes it out alive.

What makes it worse is Karen (Tracie Thoms) on the side, watching her child on the brink of death. Denny even flatlines for a moment, but after a risky field transfusion proves successful, he narrowly makes it out alive. A multitude of actors have left 9-1-1, but since Denny has been around since season 1, losing him would have been devastating for the characters and audience alike.

8

Jonah Stops Chimney’s Heart

“Hero Complex” (Season 5, Episode 17)

During Chimney’s (Kenneth Choi) absence in 9-1-1 season 5, the show introduced Bryce Durfee’s Jonah as a replacement paramedic. Hen instantly had a bad feeling about him, but the instinct was brushed off as her simply missing Chimney. Unbeknownst to everyone, Jonah was an Angel of Death killer who would incapacitate patients and then resurrect them. After being discovered, Jonah forces Hen to watch as he stops Chimney’s heart and shocks him with a defibrillator over and over again.

Looking back, Jonah was a TV villain hiding in plain sight. His eerie facial expressions and uncomfortable energy foreshadowed the darkness within him. Hen and Chimney’s quick thinking and perfect partnership took him down, but Jonah claimed many victims beforehand. If he hadn’t been assigned to the 118, there’s no telling how many more lives he would have taken in the name of being a “hero.”

7

A Bridge Collapse Threatens The 118

“Pay It Forward” (Season 6, Episode 18)

While most of 9-1-1’s intense disasters are semi-natural occurrences, like earthquakes or a bee tornado, the season 6 finale follows a human-induced catastrophe. The 118 and Athena respond to multiple collisions and car accidents, building up to the overpass itself crumbling under its own weight. The vast majority of the 118 are injured, but they’re also separated by the collapse.

The bridge collapse becomes even more severe when a wounded Chimney and Hen are forced to wait for help in a precariously dangling ambulance. Buck (Oliver Stark) leads the charge in saving his fellow firefighters, but Bobby is nowhere to be found. The constant state of uncertainty for every character involved made the episode chaotic and nerve-wracking. With enough small acts of teamwork, the 118 make it out with no casualties.

6

A Piece Of Rebar Pierces Chimney’s Skull

“Next of Kin” (Season 1, Episode 3)

Many might have forgotten how close Chimney came to dying a mere three episodes into 9-1-1‘s pilot season. His personality was quite different in the pilot season, and he often clashed with both Buck and Bobby to the point where he would storm out. The 118 finds him after a car accident with a piece of rebar gruesomely sticking out of his forehead.

Miraculously, Chimney recovers extremely quickly and begins growing into a better person. Still, the grisly sight was a jarring departure from the light tone the show had up to that point. There are many mysteries surrounding the character, like how Chimney got his name in 9-1-1, but the better question to ask is why the show never mentions Chimney’s first brush with death.

5

A Tsunami Separates Buck & Christopher

“Sink or Swim” (Season 3, Episode 2)

Undoubtedly one of the most memorable disasters in 9-1-1 history, the tsunami arc that opened season 3 nearly took out two fan-favorite characters at once. The emergency struck when Buck, no longer working at the LAFD, took Eddie’s (Ryan Guzman) son, Christopher (Gavin McHugh) to the Santa Monica pier for a day of fun. Buck tried to escape as soon as he saw the approaching wave, but they stood no chance against the gargantuan force of nature that promptly swept them away.

The two were in a tense situation trying to weather the water together, but it worsened tenfold when Buck accidentally got separated from Christopher.

He spent the rest of the day scouring far and wide for him, but it seriously looked like Christopher would die on 9-1-1. Buck reacted accordingly, breaking down multiple times and ignoring his own injuries. When Buck tries to tell Eddie he lost Christopher, a woman in the background approaches with the child— who, according to her, had been asking for Buck all day.

4

A Sniper Shoots Eddie

“Suspicion” (Season 4, Episode 13)

A single season later, Eddie gets his own chance to flirt with death when a sniper targets him as a firefighter and shoots him from a distance. The slow-motion reaction is one of the most cinematic moments in all of 9-1-1, and it ends the episode on a major cliffhanger. The fallout from the shot plays out in the following episode (“Survivors”), but the actual shooting is an instantly recognizable scene.

Ironically, Eddie having a brush with death is what convinced many that there would be a Buck and Eddie relationship in 9-1-1. When Eddie is shot, his blood splatters on Buck’s face. When he collapses, Buck drags his body to safety with a pained expression. After Eddie recovers, he drops the bombshell on Buck that he’s added him to his will as a legal guardian of Christopher. From a horrible tragedy, their bond was strengthened.

3

A Well Collapses On Eddie

“Eddie Begins” (Season 3, Episode 15)

Long before Christopher and Eddie’s relationship in 9-1-1 was estranged, Eddie’s connection to his son was explored in his backstory episode, “Eddie Begins.” When a rescue mission goes wrong and Eddie is trapped underground while attempting to save a child in a well, flashbacks fill in the gaps of his past. A special focus is set on his son and his tour in Afghanistan.

It was just as impactful in the world of 9-1-1, with season 8 including a call reminiscent of the well rescue that served to give Eddie another wake-up call.

The blend of past trauma with his present fight to survive made “Eddie Begins” one of the most dynamic, affecting episodes in the entire series. It was just as impactful in the world of 9-1-1, with season 8 including a call reminiscent of the well rescue that served to give Eddie another wake-up call. Both times, he managed to save himself and the vulnerable children. In both cases, it also led Eddie to reassess his relationship with his own child.

2

Lightning Strikes Buck

“In A Flash” (Season 6, Episode 10)

Although 9-1-1 avoids main character death, Buck being struck by lightning certainly came too close for comfort. The accident was foreshadowed over the course of the episode, with lightning striking two people beforehand that the 118 responded to. Of course, everything comes in threes. The third and final lightning strike hits while Buck is climbing an engine ladder, electrocuting him and leaving his body to hang limp from his harness.

What sets this near-death experience apart from nearly all others is the episode that follows (“In Another Life”). Rather than having immediate recovery, season 6, episode 11 takes place in the uncanny dream Buck experienced while in a coma. As he steadily approaches death, Buck explores an alternate universe where he never worked at the 118. Eddie lost custody of Christopher, Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) never escaped her abusive husband, and Bobby died of alcoholism. Though Buck fights back and survives, the entire world he created was harrowing and an emotional punch to the gut.

1

Doug Abducts Maddie

“Fight or Flight” (Season 2, Episode 13)

Without question, the worst near-death experience in 9-1-1 is Maddie struggling to fend off her abusive husband, Doug (Brian Hallisay). The combination of abduction and attempted murder comes after a dozen episodes of build-up, with Maddie initially going to LA to escape Doug. “Fight or Flight” comes as soon as Maddie lets her guard down, due to Buck continually assuring her Doug wouldn’t find her. Of course, Doug has been stalking her and Chimney for a while by the time he strikes.

The episode is downright disturbing to watch, from the domestic violence to the climax where Doug attacks her in the middle of the snowy woods until Maddie gains the upper hand and kills him in self-defense. The Doug saga is Maddie’s most intense storyline to date, but Jennifer Love Hewitt teased a worrying update for Maddie in 9-1-1 season 8 that she implies may rival it. Nonetheless, it’s difficult to imagine anything hitting as hard as Maddie, bloody and bruised, running to Buck in tears. 9-1-1 has a lot of levity, but it pulls no punches with near-death experiences.