9-1-1 is almost back for season 10 and the official trailer is raising concern about Angela Bassett‘s Athena amid yet another extreme natural disaster.
In Us‘ exclusive debut of the season 10 trailer, Athena tries to help someone who is stuck underground, but she then becomes trapped herself.
“My mom crawled through some hole in the ground and I have been trying to call her and she’s not picking up,” May (Corinne Massiah) says as viewers see Athena struggle to find a way out of her predicament.
The situation is only made worse when Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) receives a call about a “river of lava.” She tells her team that the unprecedented event means Los Angeles has “no protocol for a volcano.” Later in the sneak peek, Maddie gets more concerned about how to assist when “we cannot stop a volcano.”
Throughout the trailer, first responders Buck (Oliver Stark), Eddie (Ryan Guzman), Hen (Aisha Hinds), Chimney (Kenneth Choi) and Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) are seen out in the field trying to assist civilians who are trapped or injured, which proves difficult when they can’t step on the ground.
Eddie, for his part, has a sweet rescue moment when he carries a dog to safety.
While some members of the LAFD appear to make it out unscathed, the same can’t be said for Athena. Fans were previously worried that season 9 would conclude with Bassett’s character leaving the show.
During the penultimate episode of the season, which aired in May, Detective Hooks (Josh Stamberg) convinced Athena to accompany him to make arrests in a trafficking case. The situation took a turn, however, when he fired a shot at her.
“It remains to be seen,” Bassett, 68, told Good Morning America about whether her character will survive. “I wish I could say. But Athena is strong.”
Showrunner Tim Minear, meanwhile, hinted at a surprise conclusion.
“I’m excited for all the characters, actually. I can’t really spoil where we’re going in the last three episodes, but I’m also excited and scared about what’s going to happen to Athena,” he told Decider. “I think it’s going to be a really thrilling story.”
Minear went on to tease season 10, adding, “I’m going to start a story here at the end of this season that’s going to carry over into next season. I’m pretty excited about it!”
Concerns about Athena’s survival came after the ABC series shocked fans with the death of her husband, Bobby (Peter Krause).
“I don’t think it’s going to be, you know, that real sad, sad grieving process that we’re used to seeing,” Bassett exclusively told Us in August 2025 while teasing what was coming next. “[She’ll be] throwing herself back into work. You can’t catch her. She won’t land somewhere. She keeps moving. Keeps distracting herself.”
Bassett noted Athena would break free from people trying to “hold her still,” adding “It’s like, ‘Put me out there, [Captain]. Put me on the field.’”
Season 10 of 9-1-1 premieres on ABC Thursday, October 15, at 8 p.m. ET.
