9-1-1’s season 3 premiere brings car chases, stolen babies, and one gigantic cliffhanger

The FOX procedural 9-1-1 is back for season 3, and the season premiere brought all of the action and drama that fans have come to expect.

The challenge of any procedural is keeping things fresh and new while maintaining the excitement and drama that fans want to see. 9-1-1 brought all of that and more in the show’s season 3 premiere as the team of Los Angeles first responders were put to the test.

It’s not difficult to imagine the talented showrunning trio of Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear sitting around a table with the 9-1-1 writers trying to decide how to work the best-plucked headlines from the news into stories set in Los Angeles. From natural gas explosions across entire neighborhoods to an earthquake-ravaged hotel, even the most outlandish stories have some tie to a real-life story somewhere in the world.

(Okay, maybe not the season 2 shark story…)

This time around, 9-1-1 kicked off season 3 with no less than a car chase, a stolen baby and a missing mama, Buck’s recovery and a massive wave heading for the Santa Monica shore.

Though car chases are a daily occurence in Los Angeles, this one was slightly different as a teenager “borrowed” his father’s classic car and the accelerator got stuck, leading to a 105 miles-per-hour chase down the 710.

The case of the mother locked in a trunk after having her baby cut from her womb, though extreme, is something that has happened more than once. And while tsunami waves haven’t hit the West Coast, they have hit other parts of the world. And in the next episode, Los Angeles will be hit with one of its biggest challenges yet.

As we kick off season 3, Maddie and Chimney have finally coupled up and they seem to be truly happy together after everything they went through last season. Hen and her wife are going through fertility treatments, Eddie is spending quality time with his sons, Chris and Bobby, and Athena got married in a small ceremony, much to the chagrin of their friends who didn’t get to throw them a big bash.

Everyone seems happy except for Buck. Just as he’s about to return to work, he suffers a blood clot that will keep him at a desk job moving forward and he’s devastated to the point that he quits. Eddie sends him off for a day of fun with Chris, and it’s while they’re at the Santa Monica Pier that Buck sees the tsunami wave heading for the beach town.

9-1-1 is really at its best when it never lets up, giving the talented cast an opportunity to shine. First responders never know what to expect in a day, and though some of the stories might seem to be a bit on the extreme side, most of the show’s stories have a link to real-life events.

By now, it’s clear that everything Murphy and his team touch turns to gold, and 9-1-1 is no exception. With a spinoff set in Texas on the way, there is a lot of room to grow the show this season. On the other hand, with a wave that big heading for LA, there’s also a good chance that not everyone will make it out alive.

9-1-1 airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on FOX.