After 7 seasons, the time has finally come to say goodbye to Seattle’s hardest-working firefighters on ABC’s Station 19. As they say, all good things must come to an end. But, thanks to some gifts left behind in the finale by showrunners Peter Paige and Zoanne Clack and the writers, fans can expand on the firefighters’ stories well beyond tonight.
The episode titled “One Last Time” continues the story from last week’s episode as Station 19 is battling a raging wildfire targeting Seattle. Everyone is in danger but they’re keeping cool heads and working together to protect anyone else from getting hurt. In a particularly intense scene, the team has to take cover when a firestorm threatens everyone’s lives quickly. They get under aluminum fire shelters that they pull over themselves like a blanket. The foil made them look like TV dinners, which is the best way I can describe it.
While they were tucked into their foil like baked potatoes, many of the team focused on the beautiful futures they could have if they just hold on a little longer. Although handled in a totally different way, those moments felt similar to how Six Feet Under famously ended its run with a look at how everyone’s lives turned out.
They were all extremely special but we have to call out Vic’s (Barrett Doss) flash forward. In her vision, she is speaking to a crowd while on stage with a huge smile on her face as she thanked her audience for attending. Earlier in the episode, she revealed she was moving to Washington D.C. to head up Crisis One on a national level.
Crisis One was developed by Dean Miller (Okieriete Onaodowan) in response to the growing number of incidents involving police that was funded by a lawsuit he won against the police for wrongful arrest. Miller sadly died while on duty in Season 5, taking the secret that he was in love with Vic, his friend who helped raise his daughter Pru.
Back to Vic’s fast forward, she is on stage speaking about the program and there’s a poster in the back that reads: Crisis One Founder, Dean Miller, with a large photo of him. To Vic’s surprise, Dean walks out of the poster—yes, it’s really Onaodowan making a cameo appearance!—and tells Vic, “You did it, Hughes. Proud of you.” They share a sweet smile and side-by-side as they look at the audience, filled with many of their friends, and quietly celebrate their moment in the spotlight together…if only for a brief moment in time. Crisis One is their baby.
In another touching moment, Sullivan (Boris Kodjoe) sees himself opening up a center to help veterans become firefighters he named Sankofa, a word that means go back and get what you forgot in the Akan language of Ghana.
As they return to the present time, everything has mostly cleared and they are finally safe. However, Captain Andy Herrera (Jaina Lee Ortiz) is missing. Without a second thought, Beckett (Josh Randall) tells the team he is the only one who has no family and has nobody waiting at home as he runs off as fast as he can to locate Andy. I’d like to give a big shout-out to Beckett who had a rocky path to the top. Since committing to his sobriety, he allowed himself to be loved and welcomed properly into the 19 family. Anyone can call fall, but it takes hard work to get back up and stay there.
In his fast forward, he’s full of joy, playing tennis with a love interest, Ross’ sister, Jinny (Yunkin Kim). Sullivan and Ross, their opponents, are peeved that the love birds can’t focus on the game. Back in reality, Beckett finds Herrera as she’s walking back with help. The Native community they connected with in the penultimate episode brought their local fire department to assist with the fire.
Beckett quickly realizes his team hadn’t left him to face danger alone. They had his back. The fire is finally under control but then Herrera collapses. Her efforts exposed her to all sorts of things including severe smoke inhalation. She is rushed to the hospital.
While in the fire truck, the team looks worn out and solemn. Vic looks at her best friend Travis (Jay Hayden) and tells him how much she’s going to miss this place. He says he will miss her but won’t be joining her in D.C., “I can’t. I just can’t. My life is here,” he tells her with tears in his eyes.
Upon arrival at Grey Sloan, Maya (Danielle Savre) is reunited with her wife Carina who reveals she’s pregnant. A happier couple could certainly not be found for miles.
Andy has her flash-forward moment while unconscious at the hospital and what you’ll see is a huge shocker! Andy and Jack (Grey Damon), the OG couple of the series, reunite. Jack enters her fantasy and asks, “We really messed it up, didn’t we?” They embrace and share a passionate kiss as if no time had passed at all. He was always the one.
When Andy finally wakes up in the real world, Jack is right next to her bedside holding her hand. The rest of the team was also there and they had so many questions for her, and yes, she survived.
The show skips three months ahead to Vic’s going away party. Everyone spoils her and brings her all of her favorites, including her ex Theo (Carlos Miranda) who is still recovering from his accident and is on crutches. He wishes her well on her big move and they end as friends. In an earlier flashback, Theo was healthy and happy and embracing a new partner AND their child. Sometimes, people are only meant to be in our lives for a season.
Later, Andy has a private tete-a-tete with Ben already knowing what to expect. He announces he is going back to finish his residency and follow his path back to medicine. They exchange compliments and in a particularly touching moment, dad of the firehouse Ben tells Andy she is her father’s wildest dream. It’s true, Andy always dreamed of becoming Captain of Station 19 just like her father Pruitt and she exceeded everyone’s expectations.
In the final beats of the show, Vic is at the airport and is grabbing snacks before sitting in the terminal to take flight on her new adventure. While she sips her coffee, she’s interrupted by someone behind her who says, “You know, they’re going to make you check that bag?” She looks back to find her person, Travis, who is there with his own suitcase ready to be the Louise to her Thelma.
“As it turns out, my life is wherever you are,” he tells her.
When she asks about all that he’s leaving behind in Seattle, he says casually, “We’ll figure it out.”
In the actual future, Maya is Captain again and her team is full of new faces who line up to be introduced to the new fire chief, Andy Herrera. Andy shares some words of wisdom about what it means to be part of Station 19’s legacy and properly welcome them to the family. Among the new faces at attention is a very special person, someone already intimately connected to the legacy of the station since birth. Pruitt Arike Miller— daughter of Dean Miller, namesake of Pruitt Herrera, and adopted daughter of Ben Warren—who embraces her destiny at a place she always found love and family. The City of Seattle is in great hands.
The show fades to black while Ingrid Michaelson’s song “It Never Ends” plays.
…Fin.
