'9-1-1' Brings Back a Fan-Favorite To Find Bathena's Sinking Ship

The Big Picture

The 118 needs a pilot for an emergency rescue mission, and Lou Ferrigno Jr. returns as Tommy Kinnard, a former cast member and LAFD pilot.
9-1-1
will celebrate its 100th episode with a crossover with
The Bachelor
, featuring a special event and the 118 team reuniting.
9-1-1
Season 7, Episode 3 airs tonight on ABC.

The three-episode 9-1-1 Season 7 mega emergency concludes this Thursday. In the last episode, The 118 shows up for Bobby (Peter Krause) and Athena (Angela Bassett) as their ship starts sinking, and because of the distance between them, they must fly out there. Promo videos have shown the cast boarding a helicopter but no one has seen who will be flying said helicopter. New images courtesy of TV Line tease the return of a former cast member who is now a pilot. Lou Ferrigno Jr. will reprise his Season 2 character Tommy Kinnard and will be the pilot for this important trip. He appeared in a slew of “Begins” for Hen (Aisha Hinds), Chimney (Kenneth Choi), and Bobby’s second Begins, all in Season 2.

The 118 is quite capable on its own, but none of the members can claim the ability to fly a helicopter. 9-1-1’s showrunner Tim Minear knew he needed a pilot for the rescue. Originally, he thought of bringing back Arielle Kerber as Lucy. However, she was unavailable because she was cast in John Wells‘ (Shameless, Animal Kingdom) upcoming Fox drama, Hi-Surf. He then remembered that Tommy was also in the LAFD air support team. Tommy had come to the 118’s rescue once before, even though he wasn’t seen. In Episode 14 of Season 2, explosions rock a neighborhood, and when Chimney calls for water to be dropped, he calls Tommy, even if Tommy is not seen on screen. Minear needed someone with a connection to the show’s lore. He revealed that Tommy would be a recurring figure in the season.

“He’s going to be around for a little bit. He’s not going to be a member of the 118 again, but he is going to be involved in some stories.”

‘9-1-1’ Hits 100 Episodes and Will Celebrate That Milestone

After the emergency arc, 9-1-1 will celebrate having aired 100 episodes, a great feat for shows nowadays. The cast marked the special occasion by hosting a party with a lot of cake. In the upcoming 100th episode titled “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered,” there will be a special event as 9-1-1 crosses over with The Bachelor. The episode sees the 118 team back together after spending the last several weeks apart. An emergency involving Joey Graziadei gets the team face-to-face with Season 21’s bachelor.

An all-new episode of 9-1-1 airs today at 8 PM ET on ABC. Watch the entire series on Hulu. Check out the promo for the episode below: