Since 2018, 9-1-1 has blessed our screens with a vast assortment of tense cases and detailed plots. While it may not be as intense as other procedurals, it still manages to captivate audiences with its mix of fun and high stakes. Overall, I’m a fan of the series because it never takes itself too seriously and always manages to bring the audience back to reality after a mix of anxiety-inducing cases.

Yet over the past few seasons, I’ve become frustrated with a key arc. Hen and Karen Wilson are amazing women and I absolutely love watching their cutest moments. However, I can’t help but think that the pair is constantly dealt a bad hand, and it’s getting quite tiring.

Both women suffer from immense trauma that is often overlooked

What’s good about 9-1-1 is that he often looks beyond the fire station and delves into the personal lives of each firefighter. Hen and Karen are a great example of this technique as they are both deeply intelligent and passionate women. Hen is a firefighter-paramedic who joined the force after being shot at age 16 and wanted to replicate the lives of the people who saved her. Karen, on the other hand, is a rocket scientist and a fiercely devoted mother. Together they make a great team, but their storylines are very underdeveloped compared to those of their peers. These two women have interesting stories that the series explores in very small doses, only to be pushed aside when the next disaster begins.

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For example, in Season 6, Episode 18, “Pay It Forward”, Karen explains a little more about her childhood, particularly what it was like growing up with a lot of brothers. Granted, she doesn’t allude to the fact that she had an unhappy childhood, but she did mention that she thrives in chaos. This is a key confession because it suggests that Karen throws herself into difficult situations because she doesn’t know what else to do. This may also be why Karen married a woman with such a stressful job. However, Karen’s childhood is not mentioned much after this scene and life continues as normal. Although Karen could be considered a supporting character, I think fans deserve to know more about her. It sometimes feels like everyone has a story to tell, but because Dr. Wilson is so established and secure, the writers often forget to develop his story.

The same thing happens with Hen in relation to his father. In Season 2, Episode 7, “Haunted”, Hen mentions that her father abandoned her when he was only 9 years old. This is an important aspect of Hen’s story and one could argue that it is a huge motivator for her as a mother. However, this trauma isn’t mentioned very often, so fans still don’t know much about Hen’s early life. Compared to other characters like Bobby and Buck, Hen’s story seems very weak. I feel like Buck’s difficult upbringing is mentioned quite often and ties back to his struggles with commitment and even his sexuality. However, Hen and Karen’s trauma is somehow left in the audience’s lap, and they just sit there with no further explanation.

Their parenting struggles were a little too dark

Even as a firefighter and a scientist, these characters still have time to be exceptional mothers. Denny, the son of Hen’s ex-partner Eva, is an integral part of 9-1-1 because it acts as a glue between the two women. It also helps Hen feel like she has her own family, something incredibly sweet. The women wanted to expand their family, but after a series of failed IVF treatments, they decided to become adoptive parents in season 3. I think this is where the couple’s story starts to take a dark turn, which seems very unnecessary.

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In Season 4, Episode 9, “Blindside”, the couple is forced to abandon their adopted daughter Nia because her biological mother wanted to rebuild a relationship with her. As expected, Nia suffered from various emotional and cognitive issues, which posed many obstacles for the women to overcome. But as Nia began to feel comfortable, she was taken back to her original home. While I understand that this devastating blow was used to give the couple a hurdle, I think it would be more interesting to see how they would handle raising a complex child. Nia threw a spanner in the works and forced Hen and Karen to realize that being a foster parent is no walk in the park. Plus, introducing Nia only to have her removed a few episodes later seems like a lazy way to build tension on the writer’s part.

Even Denny is involved in a series of heartbreaking events, which once again makes the couple’s life a little too sad. In Season 8, Episode 5, “Masks”, Denny is involved in a horrific car accident and Karen is forced to donate blood to save him. 9-1-1 focuses a lot on children and how their firefighter parents struggle to meet their needs. Still, I can’t help but think that Hen and Karen’s children are the most affected. Granted, Athena’s children May and Harry experienced their share of traumatic events in previous seasons, but both were able to overcome their problems and get back on the right path. However, Denny hasn’t really done anything wrong and is still forced to deal with abandonment and heartbreak. Overall, it’s hard to ignore how much these women are suffering, and the series rarely shows them suffering from the everyday problems that other parents face. Everything needs to be improved, and they can’t really enjoy the ups and downs of normal parenting.

Hen and Karen have become the punching bags of the series

Now, it should be noted that I am not criticizing Hen and Karen. I think that 9-1-1 did a great job of pairing them up, and they seem to make a very adorable couple with their struggles, just like everyone else. But as the series looks to welcome the remainder of its eighth season, it seems that while all the other firefighters move on with their personal lives, Hen and Karen are quickly moving backwards. Take, for example, Bobby and Athena. After somehow landing, Athena ran straight into Bobby’s arms, and it seemed that no matter what, the two could deal with whatever life threw at them . In comparison, it still feels like Karen is having trouble accepting the demands of Hen’s job and is very resentful towards him. In “Masks”, Karen repeatedly gets upset because her wife can’t spend Halloween with the rest of the family. As such, while the rest of the couples are happy to support each other, Hen and Karen seem to be drifting apart. I think it’s a problem with the writing rather than the characters themselves. It seems that 9-1-1 is happy to highlight Hen and Karen’s struggles while the rest of the firefighters live happily ever after, and now it’s getting really boring.

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Overall, 9-1-1 must go back to basics when writing Hen and Karen. Like her peers, Karen is a modern-day superhero, but she still faces the same problems as everyone else. Instead of amplifying these problems and spreading them throughout his family unit, 9-1-1 should focus more on its humor and heart. Although she’s been in a ton of dramatic roles, Aisha Hinds has a quick wit that’s often underutilized on the show. So it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Hen to spend more time with Chimney so she can show more of her funny side. As for Karen, she is a spectacular mother, so I would love to see her adapt and grow as her children develop. While 9-1-1 handles each character equally, Karen and Hen deserve their time in the spotlight as the series continues to grow in popularity.

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Explore the high-pressure experiences of first responders who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heartbreaking situations.

Release date

January 3, 2018

Seasons

8

Streaming service(s)

Hulu