# '9-1-1' opens Season 10 on ABC with a downtown Los Angeles sinkhole that turns into a volcano The firefighter drama's 10th-season premiere, "That Sinking Feeling," aired Thursday night on ABC, with Athena Grant working her first case as a detective and Buck adjusting to life as a father. By The Signal Edition | Entertainment / Television Published: 2026-10-16T02:01:26.000Z Updated: 2026-10-16T02:01:26.000Z Canonical: https://www.thesignaledition.com/article/9-1-1-season-10-premiere-volcano-abc-fcbq4y Image: https://www.thesignaledition.com/media/bdd2906d6489083f48307b8bd204975b.jpg (Angela Bassett, who plays Athena Grant on 9-1-1, photographed at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival; credit: Gabriel Hutchinson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0) ## Summary - ABC aired the Season 10 premiere of 9-1-1, titled "That Sinking Feeling," on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 8 p.m. ET. - The episode builds from a massive sinkhole in Los Angeles to a lava eruption in its final moments. - Angela Bassett's Athena Grant works a case as a newly promoted detective, and Buck struggles as a parent to young son Theo. - New episodes air Thursdays on ABC and stream on Hulu the following day, according to TheWrap. ## A sinkhole, then a volcano ABC's 9-1-1 returned for its 10th season on Thursday, Oct. 15, with a premiere titled "That Sinking Feeling" that puts a volcano in the middle of Los Angeles. The episode aired at 8 p.m. ET, ahead of the Season 2 premiere of 9-1-1: Nashville and the Season 23 premiere of Grey's Anatomy, according to TVLine and TechRadar. [3](https://www.tvline.com/2275123/911-season-10-trailer-volcano-abc/) [4](https://www.techradar.com/how-to-watch/tv-shows/how-to-watch-9-1-1-season-10) According to recaps by TheWrap and Hidden Remote, the 118 firefighters respond as a huge sinkhole opens in the city during a multi-vehicle emergency. TheWrap reported that the crew, led by Chimney, got everyone out without major casualties. The hole keeps growing, tremors follow, and lava shoots out of it at the end of the hour. TheWrap quoted Hen's closing line: "That's not a sink hole. That's a volcano!" [1](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/911-season-10-episode-1-volcano-emergency-explained/) [2](https://hiddenremote.com/911-season-10-episode-1-recap) Both recaps describe Maddie spotting an increase in emergency calls from the area around the sinkhole in the days before it opened, and being assigned to review those calls for a pattern. [1](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/911-season-10-episode-1-volcano-emergency-explained/) [2](https://hiddenremote.com/911-season-10-episode-1-recap) ## Athena's first detective case Athena Grant, played by Angela Bassett, starts the season as a detective. TheWrap and Hidden Remote both report that her case begins with an injured man left outside a hospital and leads to a jewelry store where robbers had dug a tunnel. The episode ends with Athena underground in that tunnel as the ground shakes. [1](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/911-season-10-episode-1-volcano-emergency-explained/) [2](https://hiddenremote.com/911-season-10-episode-1-recap) ## Buck as a parent Oliver Stark's Buck is raising his toddler son Theo. In the premiere he ends up in the emergency room with a facial injury, which TheWrap described as his fourth non-work ER visit in three months. At a dinner at Eddie's house, Theo knocks Eddie's son Christopher down, and both recaps say the incident leaves Eddie unhappy with Buck's parenting. [1](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/911-season-10-episode-1-volcano-emergency-explained/) [2](https://hiddenremote.com/911-season-10-episode-1-recap) ## What the season is setting up Showrunner Tim Minear previewed the season in TVLine's trailer coverage as "Volcanoes, sinkholes, fatherhood, love, death, humor, laughter" and plenty of food. He told TVLine that a real sinkhole opened on Sunset Boulevard while the production was preparing the episode. [3](https://www.tvline.com/2275123/911-season-10-trailer-volcano-abc/) TechRadar listed the next episodes as "Fire in the Hole," "Streets of Fire," "Imposter Syndrome" and "Who's Your Daddy." The returning cast includes Bassett, Stark, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ryan Guzman, according to TVLine. [4](https://www.techradar.com/how-to-watch/tv-shows/how-to-watch-9-1-1-season-10) [3](https://www.tvline.com/2275123/911-season-10-trailer-volcano-abc/) ## Background 9-1-1 was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear and premiered on Fox in January 2018. Fox dropped the series in 2023 and ABC picked it up, starting with Season 7 in March 2024. The franchise has also produced 9-1-1: Lone Star and 9-1-1: Nashville. [5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9-1-1_(TV_series)) New episodes air Thursdays on ABC and stream on Hulu the next day, according to TheWrap. Reports differ on how many episodes Season 10 will run, and ABC had not published a final count in the sources reviewed. [1](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/911-season-10-episode-1-volcano-emergency-explained/) [4](https://www.techradar.com/how-to-watch/tv-shows/how-to-watch-9-1-1-season-10) [5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9-1-1_(TV_series)) ## Reporting sources 1. [TheWrap: '9-1-1' Season 10 Premiere: How Did Downtown LA Get a Volcano?](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/911-season-10-episode-1-volcano-emergency-explained/) (2026-10-16) 2. [Hidden Remote: 911 season 10 episode 1 recap: The 118 gets their welcome to Lava Land](https://hiddenremote.com/911-season-10-episode-1-recap) (2026-10-16) 3. [TVLine: 9-1-1 Season 10 Trailer: ABC Drama Returns With Volcano Emergency](https://www.tvline.com/2275123/911-season-10-trailer-volcano-abc/) (2026-10-01) 4. [TechRadar: How to watch 9-1-1 season 10 online from anywhere](https://www.techradar.com/how-to-watch/tv-shows/how-to-watch-9-1-1-season-10) (2026-10-14) 5. [Wikipedia: 9-1-1 (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9-1-1_(TV_series)) (2026-10-16)