When the Levee Breaks (4x01: The New Abnormal)

Update: 2025-12-04

Description

“When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move”

Keep your feet on solid ground as Han, Cil, and Rachel slide right into Season 4 Episode 1 of 9-1-1, “The New Abnormal.”

We dive into how the real world changes at that time affected filming and the story including some overarching and recurring themes, then roll right into character analysis.

Athena and Chimney are paralleling each other and we discuss how the people they’re saving help teach them the lesson of pushing through their fears.

Buck and May are also paralleling each other: Buck is worried about Bobby and May is worried about Athena. We explore how the bus explosion marks the beginning of Buck’s season-long arc of being “the guy who stood there and couldn’t do anything.”

Going up? The parallels between Buddie and established couples sure are! We start the season off right, talking about how Buck and Eddie not only have each other’s backs, but are a stabilizing force for each other especially on shaky ground.

“Don't it make you feel bad

When you're trying to find your way home?

You don't know which way to go”

Episode title inspired by “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin

📔 Articles & References

📰 Peter Krause Says His ‘9-1-1’ Character Has ‘Migrated Toward’ Parenthood’s Adam Braverman (Exclusive), Us Weekly

📰 ‘9-1-1’ Showrunner on Athena’s Literal Cliffhanger, Maddie and Chimney’s COVID Pregnancy Problems, The Wrap

📰 ‘9-1-1’ Promotes John Kim to Series Regular for Season 4 (EXCLUSIVE), Variety

📰 ‘9-1-1’ Season 4 Consultant Has a ‘Scary’ Similarity to Angela Bassett’s LAPD Sergeant, The Wrap

📰 9-1-1 Boss Explains How Coronavirus Will Be Incorporated Into Season 4, TV Line

📰 Ryan Murphy’s ‘9-1-1’, ‘Lone Star’, ‘Impeachment: ACS’ & ‘Pose’ Set Tentative Production Start Dates, Deadline

📰 Fox Sets January Drama Series Return, Pairs ‘9-1-1’ & ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ On Monday, Moves ‘Prodigal Son’ To Tuesday, Deadline

📰 The song that never ends: Why Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September' sustains, NPR

📰 9-1-1 Boss: ‘There’s More to Buck’s COVID Crush Than Meets the Eye’, TV Line

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Music by DIV!NITY

Chapters

(00:00:00 ) Intro

(00:00:52 ) Welcome to Dispatch

(00:03:54 ) General Thoughts

(00:15:07 ) Jaws of Life – Deep Dive

(00:28:16 ) Production During the COVID Era

(00:33:11 ) Music Analysis Needle Drop & Buckapedia

(00:36:39 ) Parallels & Foreshadowing

(00:43:07 ) Flashover – Themes

(00:51:06 ) Who’s Cookin’? – Character Arcs