Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for Station 19’s Season 6 episode “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” which aired March 16.
Another week on Station 19, another disaster for the firefighters at the hand of Sean Beckett. Viewers have seen the fire captain retreat to his office, draw the blinds and pull out his hidden bottle of booze multiple times this season, and while his team may not actually see him taking his nips, their suspicions are pretty high. I would ask who has to die before Beckett is held accountable for his substance abuse on the job, but we unfortunately got our answer to that question in “Even Better Than the Real Thing.”
Station 19 held a training day with the firefighters from Station 88, whose lieutenant Cooper (Johnny Wactor) turned out to be Beckett’s former probie. During the final drill of the day, an explosion went off in what was supposed to be a controlled environment, and Cooper died from his injuries. Suspicions immediately turned to Beckett (Josh Randall) — especially for Theo Ruiz (Carlos Miranda), who has been vocally critical of his captain. Will Cooper’s death be the event that finally forces the Seattle Fire Department to realize Beckett is unfit?
I really hope the answer to that question is yes, because Station 19 has been kicking this can down the road since last season, when Robert Sullivan (Boris Kodjoe) tried to convince fire chief Natasha Ross (Merle Dandridge) that Beckett was drinking on the job. Nothing was ever able to be proven, though, and Season 6 so far has been a series of near misses.
This wasn’t a miss, though, and a Station 88 firefighter is dead. Nobody seemed more affected by that than Theo, a former captain himself who once made a mistake that cost his best friend and Travis Montgomery’s husband Michael his life. Theo’s will to keep any more firefighters from dying prompted him to confront Beckett, demanding that he either take a Breathalyzer test or give them his water bottle to see what liquid was in it. (Beckett obviously refused.)
Theo and Vic Hughes (Barrett Doss) may have been the most obviously angry with Beckett after Cooper’s death, but Andy Herrera (Jaina Lee Ortiz) and Sullivan also expressed concerns, and it looks like in next week’s episode, Andy takes matters into her own hands. Check out the preview below:
Josh Randall was promoted to a series regular ahead of Season 6, so regardless of what happens to Beckett in the aftermath of Cooper’s death, the character likely isn’t going anywhere.
We’ll have to see what exactly goes down and if this is (finally) the end of Beckett’s captaincy when Station 19 returns at 8 p.m. ET Thursday, March 23, on ABC. In the meantime, check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what other shows are premiering soon.
