‘9-1-1’ Is Finally Giving This Forgotten Character the Best Storyline of the Season With Buck

9-1-1 still has one episode left in its three-part Season 9 premiere, so a significant chunk of the season so far has been focused on the big opening disaster. Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Athena (Angela Bassett) were only supposed to go to space for a quick orbit, but they instead end up getting stuck in the middle of a geomagnetic storm. Just when they manage to get their spacecraft in the right mode to start the trip home, it catches on fire. As such, the season’s second episode is mostly about this trip, but it does take time to give focus to a character who doesn’t usually get a lot of screentime.

Harry Grant (Marcanthonee Jon Reis) was a significant part of 9-1-1‘s early seasons, until he left to go live in Florida with Michael (Rockmond Dunbar) and David (

La Monde Byrd). It was exciting when he was recast with Elijah M. Cooper in Season 7, because Harry’s return promised some interesting potential storylines while he would be living with Athena and Bobby (Peter Krause). Instead, though, Harry quickly disappeared again soon after, but he’s finally getting some more substantial storylines in Season 9.

In ‘9-1-1’ Season 9, Episode 2, Buck Acts as a Mentor to Harry

In the first episode of 9-1-1 Season 9, Athena discovered that Harry had dropped out of high school and was now working at a coffee shop. While this change does feel a bit sudden, it is clear from both of these episodes that Bobby’s death has really impacted Harry. Harry was present to mourn Bobby’s death and support Athena at the end of last season, but 

this is the first time that his grief has been explored. Harry is both angry and afraid after learning that Athena is going to space, because she’s already been distant from her children since Bobby died, and now she will be putting herself in an incredibly dangerous position. Harry just told Athena how distant he feels from her in the previous episode, but instead of properly addressing it and working on this with her kids, Athena has just left for her trip to space with Hen. Seeing how scared and angry Harry is, Buck (Oliver Stark) decides to step in and look out for him.

Harry, at the start of Season 9, is very similar to Buck when he first started working at the 118. Harry is lost, lacks a real purpose, and feels abandoned by all of his parents. Buck was on a self-destructive path for a long time because of his own upbringing, and it took finding a place at the 118 where he felt important and accepted for Buck to finally grow up. Here, Buck sees Harry struggling, and he reassures him that Athena will be alright, not knowing that there would be a geomagnetic storm while she’s up in space for what was supposed to be a routine orbit. Buck then invites Harry to join the 118 on their calls, and while he says it is to keep Harry’s bad mood away from the kids, it seems like 

Buck understands that exactly what Harry needs in that moment is a distraction and a sense of purpose. It works better than Buck could have anticipated, and Harry is very engaged with and interested in the calls.

‘9-1-1’ Is Right to Set Harry Up to Join the 118 in Season 9

While riding around in the fire engine with the 118, Harry expresses an interest in helping them with the calls. He proposes an idea that they successfully use, and later, he brings equipment to the team when Chimney (

Kenneth Choi) asks him to help them. It seems like 9-1-1 is getting read to officially make Harry a member of the 118, and this feels like the right path for his character. Making Harry a firefighter is the perfect way to bring him into the main storylines, and to give Athena another tie to the 118 in the wake of Bobby’s death. This will also give Buck the opportunity to continue to serve as a mentor to Harry in the way that Bobby did for him, showing just how much Buck has grown during his time with the 118.

Athena is already a first responder, and May (Corinne Massiah) will be again too if she returns to dispatch after she graduates early, so it makes sense for Harry to become one as well. Harry’s arc of joining the 118 also serves as an interesting parallel to Bobby’s character arc before the start of the show. When Bobby’s family died in the building fire, he was at his lowest point due to the grief and guilt, but he fought his way through it. He became sober, moved to LA, and got a job with the 118.

 Like Bobby, Harry is coming out of his grief with the goal of helping others as a firefighter, and that feels like a fitting way to honor Bobby’s memory through his impact on his stepson.

It makes sense to add another person to the 118 right now, but a new character would be too tough to introduce right now, so Harry is a good choice. Even in 

9-1-1‘s early seasons, Harry really looked up to Bobby and admired his job as a firefighter, so his joining the 118 is the right move for the show. It’s just a disappointment that Bobby isn’t here to see it, because he’d be very proud of and honored by what looks to be Harry’s next step.

New episodes of 9-1-1 air Thursdays at 8:00 P.M. EST on ABC.