Well, this is shaping up to be one deadly season.

First Ryan, now Rigo, and possibly Pruitt. The death count just keeps on climbing as the final moments of Station 19 Season 3 Episode 9 revealed.

This is not the same Station 19 as the first two seasons, and while the body count is excessive, even by Grey's Anatomy standards, it somehow works.

A lot of positive changes have been made throughout Station 19 Season 3, but one of the better ones is showing the life and death stakes of the job.

Being a first responder can be dangerous, and in real life, not everyone makes it out alive.

Since this is TV, the incidents Station 19 responds to are frequently more dangerous than most emergency personnel see on a regular basis.

Given that fact, it'd make sense for there to be a higher death rate, but that rarely happens.

However, Station 19 isn't pulling any more punches.

Though Rigo was about to get released from Grey Sloan, he, unfortunately, succumbed to injuries he suffered on Station 19 Season 3 Episode 7.

Andy: Can we call in sick?
Sullivan: Uh-huh.
Andy: I mean, I don’t want to pretend to hate you.
Sullivan: You can just pretend the respect me.
Andy: I do respect you.
Sullivan: Mostly.
Andy: I do think you promoted the wrong captain, but other than that.

• Permalink: I do think you promoted the wrong captain, but other than that.

While viewers hardly knew or even cared about him, his death will have ramifications for the Station 19, namely Jack.

Jack has been wracked by guilt since Rigo ended up in the hospital and even tried to seek absolution from Rigo's wife, Eva, on Station 19 Season 3 Episode 8.

This news will most likely send Jack over the edge, as he'll feel responsible for Rigo's death.

Other members of Station 19 might partially blame Jack as well, but in reality, it was no one person's fault.

Jack and Rigo should have been adult about the situation and admitted they couldn't work together, and Maya should have forseen conflicts arising from their interactions and put a stop to it before things, well, ended up here.

However, there was no way anyone could have predicted a rocket would explode, fatally injuring Rigo. It's no one's fault, and at the same time everyone's fault, if that makes any sense.

What'll be interesting is to see if Jack has to deal with any professional consequences for his role.

Right now, Sullivan doesn't know about Jack's affair with Eva and the resulting fallout, but it might be something he will either become aware or be informed of by Maya.

It seems unlikely Jack will be fired outright, but a demotion could be in his future.

Jack: Am I getting fired?
Andy: Jack, Vasquez is fine. He’s going home today.
Jack: It doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to be fired. Dean hates me. You hate Bishop. I hate myself. If they don’t fire me, I think I should put in for a transfer.
Andy: No, no, no. We’re gonna get through this. We’re gonna get through it as a family, OK. No one’s going anywhere.

• Permalink: No one’s going anywhere.

This is such a delicate and tricky situation, so it's unclear what will happen next, other than viewers watching Jack act self-destructively.

Hopefully, he still has that number for his therapist on speed dial because his other option of numbing the pain -- also known as hooking up with Andy -- isn't going to work anymore as it seems his roommate is officially off the market.

Though Sullivan and Andy have yet to implode, they still have a tough road ahead.

The good news for Sullivandy 'shippers is that Sullivan was honest with Andy about his chronic pain and addiction, something I didn't expect so quickly.

I would have thought it would be a wedge to drive them apart if Andy finally found from someone other than Sullivan, but the battalion chief laid it all on the line.

Granted, he was trying to talk down a veteran from detonating a live grenade, but he was the truth.

And Andy, for her part, didn't run away or get mad.

She just decided to be there for and support Sullivan, which was all he could really ask.

Sullivan: So you’re afraid she’ll leave you if you tell her the truth?
Kyle: She’s all I have left, man.
Sullivan: I get it. I’m scared too. I’m scared of all the stuff no one else can see. You see that woman right there? That’s the woman I love, but I haven’t been honest with her. I have this chronic nerve condition, searing pain, comes out of nowhere and knocks me off my feet. I’ve been self-medicating to deal with the pain. And I’ve kept it from her because I don’t know what’s gonna happen if I come clean.
Andy: Don’t keep it bottled up, Kyle. Tell Ashley the truth.
Kyle: What if she leaves me?
Andy: What is she doesn’t? What is stays by your side, loves and supports you, and helps you? And what if you come out of it stronger together?
Kyle: OK.

• Permalink: And what if you come out of it stronger together?

There are still plenty of reasons why they should wait before starting a relationship, but they are being surprisingly honest, at least with each other, and adult about it.

That is something in their favor.

However, right now, the two exist in their own bubble.

The true test will be hold they handle things when the colleagues learn about them.

If viewers learned anything from Vic and Ripley, dating your boss comes with a whole host of complications.

Speaking of Vic, the flashbacks centered on her.

So far, flashbacks have been a decent addition as they are both engaging to watch and provide some insight into the main characters.

Dean: Fire chief?
Vic: Ixnay on the ire-fay.
Dean: What the what?
Vic: It’s pig Latin.
Dean: That’s not a real language.
Vic: OK, Dean he doesn’t even know his own name. He clearly has dementia, maybe Alzheimer’s. He’s lost; we have to help him find his way home.
Dean: How?
Vic: We play along. Try to help him remember his name and where he’s from. It’s easier for us to be in his reality than try to drag him into ours. OK, so just roll with me on this, please. You owe me.
Dean: Are you going to pull the baby card every time you need something?
Vic: Oh yeah. I thought that was our deal.

• Permalink: Oh yeah. I thought that was our deal.

However, the flashbacks involving Vic fell flat.

Sure, it was heartbreaking to see her dealing with her grandma having dementia, but nothing terrible came of it.

I was somewhat expecting Vic's grandmother's house to catch on fire while Vic and her parents were at her performance, with her grandmother possibly dying as a result.

That scenario is more in line with the other flashbacks.

Plus, that situation could have served as Vic's motivation to become a firefighter, similarly to Dean's own experience on Station 19 Season 3 Episode 8.

Instead, the flashbacks provided insight into why Vic was so accomodating to an old man with Alzheimer's named Earl who seemingly wandered in off the street.

Having had first-hand experience in dealing with a loved one battling dementia, Vic was willing to go the extra mile and wasn't even angry when Earl's daughter admitted she left her father at Station 19 so the firefighters could babysit him while she took a much-needed break.

Earl: Hey, how’d you do it?
Dean: What, what’s that Earl?
Earl: Get the top job?
Dean: Oh, you know, you put in work, and pay your dues.
Earl: A colored chief? Boy, times have changed.
Dean: Yeah, yeah Earl they have.
Earl: I, uh, marched with Dr. King, you know?
Dean: Oh yeah?
Earl: I got hit in the head a couple of times, but hey, you’re the chief, so I guess it worked.
Dean: It did Earl.

• Permalink: It did Earl.

Heck, Vic even offered to watch Earl in the future if the woman should ever need another moment to herself.

That, right there, is some quality human decency but not so much of a compelling subplot.

Elsewhere, Pruitt is coming to terms with his impending death, but he still wants to go out on his own terms.

Still stubborn as ever, he refused Ben's advice to look into palliative care, though the former captain was, once again, open about his impending death.

While it's nice to see Pruitt having those conversations, the person he really should be talking to about it is his daughter.

However, Andy isn't ready to accept her father's prognosis, and Pruitt doesn't have the energy to constantly fight her on it.

It's a lose/lose situation.

Yet, with Pruitt having limited time left, the father and daughter should make more of an effort to communicate, something he seems to have no problem doing with Dixon.

Ben: You OK, sir?
Pruitt: No, I’m dying.
Ben: Sir, you can’t…
Pruitt: I got to name it Warren. I got to say it, and I need you not to pretend it’s not true.
Ben: OK.
Pruitt: It’s not something we say out loud in our culture. We don’t say it out loud, we don’t own. We pretend that death is this quiet lurking shadow, and it’s not; it’s a big lie. It’s loud and obnoxious and it comes at guns blazing, and I don’t understand why we can’t just name it, call it what it is.
Ben: Chad.
Pruitt: What?
Ben: When I was a kid, there was this neighbor, you know, Chad. He was loud and obnoxious, mean, intentionally hurtful. If I was going to give death a name, it would be Chad.
Pruitt: To hell with you Chad.
Ben: To hell with Chad.

• Permalink: To hell with Chad.

Putting all the firefighter boots on the steps of City Hall to commemorate the firefighters who lost their lives to cancer was both touching and deeply satisfying.

Pruitt is shining light on a real issue that Pruitt, and it deserves to be recognized for the serious tragedy that it is.

At the same time, it was great that Pruitt find a way to stick it to Dixon.

Especially given the media coverage, there's no way Dixon will be able to avoid a scandal, or at the very least, some negative press.

His carefully curated image will definitely take a hit in the public eye and could end up caving to Pruitt's request for worker's compensation -- which is still confusing since Pruitt technically retired -- to avoid more bad publicity.

Regardless, watching Dixon get knocked down a few pegs will be immensely enjoyable.

It might even knock some sense into his son.

Emmett, who was still a wildcard at the end of Station 19 Season 3 Episode 8, has officially been deemed an entitled brat.

Travis: You don't want to run toward explosives?
Emmett: No, that's not what I was...
Travis: Kind of a prerequisite of the job: to want to run toward explosives, and now daddy doesn't want to put you in danger, what the hell, probie?
Emmett: I was an art history major, Travis. The fire academy, that was my father’s idea, and I'm pretty sure it's because he wants to run for office on day.
Travis: People will die unnecessarily because you are doing the job you are not cut out for to try and please your daddy. Sleep on that. I know I couldn't.

• Permalink: Sleep on that. I know I couldn't.

It's one thing to be ignorant about some aspects of your job, but it's another to whine about not wanting to do them just because they are inconvenient or dangerous.

Being a firefighter comes with very real risks, and even if you studied art history, you should be smart enough to realize that.

Whether or not Emmett wanted to go into the fire services is irrelevant as it is the job he has now.

He can either grow up and do what's expected of him or quit.

What he cannot do is continue the whole 'woe is me' attitude. 

He needs to get off his entitled ass and make a decision.

Dixon, though, isn't helping things, especially when he low-key ordered Maya to get his son out of harm's way.

It's one thing to ask for special treatment, such as not having to do chores in the fire station, but it's another to make such a request in the middle of a volatile situation.

Dixon: Bishop, this is going on too long. Get my son off the scene, right now.
Maya: Sir, this my team.
Dixon: And that's my kid.
Maya: Who works for me. I understand you think you know what's best for your child, but making him watch from the sidelines is not it.
Jack: Sir, what are you doing?
Dixon: What I should have done already. Your time's up Capt. Bishop.
Travis: Hey, what's going on? We saw SWAT around back going up to the roof.
Maya: Chief Dixon, you are putting my team in danger.
Dixon: No, Capt. Bishop, you did that.

• Permalink: No, Capt. Bishop, you did that.

Thank goodness Maya told Dixon where to shove it.

It wasn't the smartest move, but it was fun to watch.

Maya is 100 percent more likeable when she's taking down the patriarchy.

She also had a come-to-Jesus moment, as teased in the promo, and tried to give her captaincy back, so to speak.

It was a noble gesture, and that, combined with her leadership on the scene, was enough to start the healing process with Andy.

Andy was on point when she said she didn't want to make captain just because her friend gave it to her. 

If she had accepted, it would have been no different than Maya "stealing" the position in the first place.

When Andy makes captain, she wants to earn it fair and square.

Andy: You can't quit. If you fail, we all fail, every one of us. You think if you step down, Dixon's gonna let another woman take your place?
Maya: Now I'm responsible for the future of all female firefighters?
Andy: Don't act like that's a surprise to you. It is what it is. You had a rough start but look at my dad. When he made captain, his team called him so many racial slurs, he should have walked out of these doors on day 1, but he didn't. He stuck it out, he changed people's minds, and he became legendary.
Maya: Everyone hates me.
Andy: Everyone's fighting some kind of battle. This is yours, and for the record, when I make captain, it's not gonna be because my friend gave me her job. I'm too proud for that, and you're too proud for that too.

• Permalink: If you fail, we all fail, every one of us.

Being given it would somehow tarnish all that she's worked for in her career, as she has spent most of the series trying to convince everyone she hasn't gotten where she is in life by being handed things.

It was also about time these two started mending fences.

It's not going to happen overnight, but the former besties are on the road to repairing their relationship, which is good because Andy is going need to tell someone about Sullivan.

Some stray thoughts:

• Dean is still dealing with JJ abandoning him, and Prue but is determined to keep his feelings bottled up. Listening to Jack about needing a good cry was sweet, as it also suggests their friendship is on the mend.

• I sympathized with Kyle and felt bad I couldn't do anything to help him. The whole situation was tragic and reinforces how underserved the veteran community is. They risk their lives to protect us but don't even receive human decency upon returning. It's a sad fact.

• Is every episode of Station 19 going to open with the firefighters' morning routines? If so, I'm on board, especially if it means more sexy time for our favorite couples.

So what did you think Station 19 Fanatics?

Will Jack face reprecussions now that Rigo's died?

Did Andy and Sullivan make a mistake starting something right now?

Did the Vic flashbacks bore you?

Hit the comments to let me know your thoughts. If you happened to miss the latest episode, remember you can watch Station 19 online at TV Fanatic.

Jessica Lerner was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in October 2021.