'9-1-1: Nashville' Officially Finds Its Footing With Ryan Phillippe in Season 2 | Review

Published Oct 16, 2026, 6:42 PM EDT

Jennie Richardson is a TV Features and Lists Writer for Collider, and a graduate student pursuing an MFA in Fiction Writing. In other words, she really loves stories. 

9-1-1: Nashville is officially back for its sophomore season, with the Season 2 premiere kicking off this year's opening emergency. The teaser suggested something involving hornets, but the reality is even more exciting – and horrifying. Whereas Season 1 of 9-1-1: Nashville was split between a focus on the first responders and the Hart-Bennings family dynamics, Season 2 adds a third component through its opening emergency and the introduction of its newest character.

Ryan Phillippe's Rogue Kelly is a brilliant detective who abruptly and mysteriously left New York City to work in Nashville, and already, his presence is allowing 9-1-1: Nashville to take on an additional crime procedural element. 9-1-1: Nashville Season 2's opening emergency is unconventional and clever, in that instead of a natural disaster, the city is dealing with a calculated serial killer. This twist quickly brings Rogue into the fold, as he crosses paths with the 113 on multiple calls in just this episode. 9-1-1: Nashville's Season 2 premiere is a strong and suspenseful opener, and it adds some promising additions to the series.

'9-1-1: Nashville's Season 2 Premiere Sees the 113 Tend to Calls Orchestrated by a Mysterious Killer

Season 2 of 9-1-1: Nashville opens with an event at a museum in Nashville where an architect is being honored after winning a prestigious award. When the architect goes onstage to unveil his new structure, though, a swarm of murder hornets flies out of the structure and attacks everyone in the room, starting with him. The museum's security doors are then set off, locking everyone inside with the murder hornets. The 113 shows up to help out, and they cleverly use loud noise to coax the murder hornets into a suction machine. They save a number of lives, but three people die from their injuries, including the architect. Just as the 113 is getting ready to leave the area, Detective Rogue Kelly (Phillippe) of the Metro PD shows up and declares the area to be a crime scene. Rogue points out details like the increased temperature of the museum and the unusual triggering of the security doors, proving that this was an orchestrated attack.

There's still a hornet in Don's (Chris O'Donnell) clothes, but Rogue notices when Don gets stung, and Roxie (Juani Feliz) saves him. Don is fine, but Ryan (Michael Provost) and Sam (MacKenzie Porter) team up to give him a surprise checkup, where they express concern over his high blood sugar. Separately, Rogue and another officer find pages from a Bible inside the hive at the scene, which turns out to be a message from the serial killer. The killer seems to be more interested in the method of killing than in choosing particular victims. Their next attempted murder involves filling an apartment building's laundry room with blood and nearly drowning a young woman. She lives, thanks to the 113 and Cammie (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), but these crimes are far from over. This killer is going after people with murders inspired by plagues from the Bible, and they don't seem to be anywhere near done yet.

In '9-1-1: Nashville's Season 2 Premiere, Blythe Confronts Don About His Betrayal

Image via ABC

Last we saw Blythe (Jessica Capshaw) and Dixie (LeAnn Rimes), they were in the throes of a violent physical altercation. When this season picks up, the two of them are attending a court-mandated anger management group together, complete with matching ankle monitors. The leader of the group helps Blythe and Dixie figure out that they aren't really angry with each other; they are projecting by attacking each other when they are both actually angry with Don. Blythe, in particular, has been in denial since she found out that Don almost cheated on her with Dixie. She's been trying to bury her anger and just move on, but this group makes her realize that she isn't ready to forgive Don just yet.

When Blythe gets home that night, she tells Don that she's initiating a "bed divorce," as suggested by the therapist who leads the anger management group. They will still be married, but they'll just be sleeping in different bedrooms until they can repair their marriage. Don is initially against the idea, but when Blythe tells him that she's doing it to try to save their marriage, he agrees. The next day, the Harts have their family over for brunch. Ryan wants to tell everyone about the pregnancy, but Sam is hesitant – both because it's a high-risk pregnancy and because she found out that the abnormality her doctor noticed on her ovary is cancer. They hold off on saying anything, but a different secret gets out at brunch. Ryan, for some reason, invited Rogue over for brunch. He credits him with saving Don's life, even though Roxie is the one who actually did it, and she didn't get a brunch invite.

At brunch, Rogue shows off his observational skills by pointing out to the rest of the attendees that Don and Blythe are obviously separated. Rogue pretends like it was an accident, but Don sees right through him. Later, Don asks everyone to leave the room so that he can talk to Rogue. Don then waits for Rogue to take a too-big bite of steak, and once Rogue starts choking, he threatens him not to mess with his family. Once Rogue makes it clear that he will back off, Don saves his life. It's an alarming thing to see from Don, considering that his brother-in-law died from choking, and that he's a fire captain. That said, it's not out of character for him based on what we know of his past anger issues, and it's an interesting choice for his character. Don and Rogue put their differences aside by the end of the episode to work together, but this is likely not the last we will see of Don's anger issues this season. As for Rogue, it's not clear yet whether he can be trusted, but either way, he is a compelling character and a fantastic addition to 9-1-1: Nashville.

9-1-1: Nashville airs Thursdays at 9:00 P.M. EST on ABC.

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  Captain Don Sharpe

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  Jessica Capshaw

  Blythe Ward

Pros & Cons

• '9-1-1: Nashville's Season 2 premiere ups the physical and emotional stakes of the season with bold choices.
• Ryan Phillippe's Rogue Kelly is an excellent addition to the series.

• Some of the character motivations are unclear in moments that seemed geared more towards moving the plot forwards.
• Some of the dialogue is still clunky in places.