As 911 season 10, episode 3 opens, we pick up right where things left off in episode 2 with Athena, Mathew, and Harvey trapped underground and trying to find a way out after the lava burst through and blocked their exit path. Matthew gets an idea and tries to play floor is lava as he works to make his way across the lava to safety. Unfortunately, things don’t work out for him, and it looks like he might be a goner.
Up on the surface, the volcano shows no signs of slowing down as the 911 dispatchers work to help impacted individuals and the 118 works to evacuate individuals from a building. Volcanic fog has formed, forcing the team to kill their hoses, as the volcanic fog is causing chemical burns. After saving as many inside as possible, the team has to move on and leave the building behind.
At the hospital, more patients are on their way in, and May and her fellow doctor are working to keep their heads above water. That’s when the 118 drops in to bring in a group of new patients, and May quickly dispatches orders for where to send the incoming patients, impressing Ravi, Buck, and her brother Harry.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, the hospital is now in the line of the lava flow and needs to be evacuated immediately. Maddie and the 911 dispatchers work to try to find a place to send the patients, but options are becoming more limited with each passing minute.
Chimney calls Maddie to ask about the evacuation plan, and their conversation sparks a plan for her. If they can move the people, they can try to move the lava. Maddie gathers her people and goes over the plan to divert the lava to a metro station deep underground that is empty and where they can send the lava back to where it came from: underground. There’s just one problem: that just so happens to be where Athena has found herself trapped.
Speaking of Athena, back down in the tunnels, we find that Matthew hasn’t perished in the lava but instead fallen on a piece of debris. After Athena wakes him, he’s able to climb up to safety and tells Harvey and Athena to wait for him as he begins searching for something to help them across.
He finds a ladder that is long enough to bridge the gaps and manages to create a makeshift bridge. Athena goes across first to show Harvey it’s doable before signaling for him to follow. Harvey begins to make his way across the lava on the ladder, but then his memory lapses as he forgets where he is and freezes in panic. With Matthew’s help, Athena uses Harvey’s late wife to incentivize him to push through and make his way safely across just in time.
They reach the emergency landline, but it’s dead. As they look around, Athena notices an opening above, but that’s when things take a turn as Matthew collapses. It turns out his earlier stunt led to a severe injury, which is causing internal bleeding. Their time is more limited than they know, as Maddie’s plan is to send the lava right their way, making time of the essence.
Harvey works to fix the phone as Athena works to keep Matthew company. He apologizes for his actions and the mistakes he made on the job as he asks her to tell the woman he shot he’s sorry and never stopped thinking about her. Athena refuses, though, assuring him that he’ll be doing that himself.
At the 911 dispatch, Maddie walks everyone through the plan to divert the lava field to avoid it reaching the hospital as we watch the 118 working to enact the plan. Meanwhile at the hospital, they work to take patients to the upper floor in case the plan doesn’t work and hits the hospital.
The lava hits the first checkpoint, and the rails placed hold, sending the lava on track to the second leg of their plan. When the lava reaches Chimney and his team, they take cover as the bomb squad sets off a detonation that sends the lava down Sixth Street to the metro station. Maddie’s plan actually worked; the hospital is in the clear. There’s only one problem, now that the lava is coming right for Athena, Matthew, and Harvey.
At the hospital, one of May’s patients comes to and informs her that Athena climbed down into the hole underground as Athena comes through to Maddie. Athena explains to Maddie that she’s trapped underground by lava as she informs Maddie that she’s at the station where the lava has just been diverted to. The only way to get to Athena is creating their own way down via the garnet district to a car dealership that used to be a speakeasy. The 118 works to get to Athena and the others before the lava arrives. Thankfully, they get to them in time and are able to pull them to safety.
With the volcano madness behind them, things begin to settle back into place, though there is one major change that comes in the fallout of the chaos. While Maddie held her own as the head of the 911 dispatch, the city wanted a scapegoat and pushed for her to be fired. Only Sue wasn't about to let that happen. She saves Maddie's job and offers to be partners, but Maddie declines as she suggests Josh for the job as she returns to her dispatcher position.
As the episode comes to an end, Athena comes to see Matthew, who pulled through his surgery. She heads out as Martha, the woman he shot, arrives to visit him and give him the chance to apologize for his actions.
Meanwhile, Eddie drops in on Buck, who is making a volcano with Theo, to help him work through his fear of everything that happened. Eddie pulls Buck aside and offers up some harsh words: it's time for Buck to stop making everything a joke and letting Theo get away with things; he needs to set some boundaries. Buck lashes out as he points out how he's been there for Eddie through his parenting mistakes and never looked down on him as Eddie notes he's only coming to him from a place of support. Eddie maintains his stance that Theo needs a parent and boundaries, not a friend, as he shows Eddie the door.
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