A title card reveals that while the pandemic isn't over in real life, the show is presenting a look at the future that the show hopes for. We've jumped a year, and Herrera and Sullivan are on the rocks. Flashbacks show the fallout at the Carina/Maya wedding, as the two of them (and Andy) left the wedding to confront the chief about his decision to relieve Maya of her position as captain. He threatens to transfer every other member of Station 19 if she persists in fighting his decision. She relents, but he still says Andy will be transferred to Station 23. They return to the wedding dejected, but determined to have a good time. In the present, the team is helping with an event at a park where a bunch of extremely intoxicated people are lighting off fireworks. One manages to blow half of his face off, but the chaos of the whole situation makes it so nothing goes easily for the team. The new captain leaves the engine open and one of the drunk partiers steals it and immediately wrecks it. It eventually catches fire, and Andy (having responded with her new 23 team, where she is the only woman) has to watch her father's memorial on the engine burn. The new captain shows a fairly callous attitude towards the sentimentality that 19 has for the engine.

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This episode begins a crossover event that concludes on Grey's Anatomy season 18 episode 1.^[3]

The team is called to a house fire that turns out to be a basement drug lab fire. Several members of 19 are rendered unconscious by the fumes. Sullivan wakes up and shakes it off and is able to carry people out. Some teens are shown to be filming the scene where the down firefighters are being revived, and Sullivan--now shirtless--berates the kids and smashes one's phone in the process. The other kid's video goes viral, and people start calling Sullivan "Fire Zaddy." As the whole team goes day-drinking to celebrate and Sullivan learns of his viral status soon after being served (at work) with divorce papers by Herrera, he orders himself a scotch but ultimately decides not to drink it. Outside of the bar, Herrera runs into Beckett, the new captain, and entreats him to go home with her.

It is exceptionally hot in Seattle, leading to all sorts of complications for its citizens and its firefighters. Andy's sex hangover from going home with newly minted Captain Sean Beckett plagues her, as she feels guilt about recent interactions with Sullivan, who is going viral in the "Fire Zaddy" video. An attempted PR stunt led by new department PR director, consisting of pushing the new engine into the garage, would have gone great if the engine wasn't burning the hands of those who showed up to help. Ben's adopted son Joey rides along with Ben and Jack in the aid car, and the first call is to a homeless encampment. The man experiencing heart failure is someone Joey knows, and Joey argues against life-saving measures because he knows his friend is a DNR. Ben can't stop because he doesn't have official confirmation and as a doctor and first responder he might be willing to bend the rules to save a life, but not to end one. Bishop and Carina continue to fight about Maya not wanting children. Sullivan is still reeling from the divorce papers. Ben surprises Joey by getting his foster siblings to the make-up event to push the engine into the station, which is complete with a water fight to cool everyone down.

Therapist Dr. Diane Lewis is back in the building to assist in Miller's new initiative by teaching crisis intervention training (CIT) to Stations 19 & 23. The firefighters joke their way through the training while fielding various calls. Sullivan and Bishop respond to a house call where an on-the-rocks married couple foreshadows many things relevant to Sullivan's and Bishop's own marriages. Jack goes on a mental health call with the crisis team and finds he has an aptitude for the work while working with a young autistic man. Dr. Lewis tells Miller that his program is going to help a lot of people. Miller is still frustrated by Vic and Theo being together and finds them making out in the station. Sullivan gives Herrera the signed divorce papers.

Miller plans to start another Crisis One program in Oakland and asks Vic to join him, but she declines. Jack plans to open a free clinic at the station with Carina's help. The firefighters are called to a neighborhood gas line explosion. As Vic fights the fire from a ladder, a live wire strikes her, rendering her unconscious. Miller resuscitates Vic and brings her to the ground, and she is transported to the hospital. Because the fire is spreading along an underground pipeline, a nearby house suddenly explodes, impaling the captain of Station 23 and severely injuring Miller. Ben tries to resuscitate Miller as he is rushed to Grey Sloan Memorial.

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This episode begins a crossover event that concludes on Grey's Anatomy season 18 episode 5.

As Thanksgiving arrives, the firefighters are coping with the death of Dean Miller. Vic is wearing a heart monitor due to her electrocution and talks with Dr. Diane Lewis to process Miller's death. Travis confronts his father and forces him to confess that he is gay. Bishop decides that she is ready to have a baby with Carina. Jack decides to make Thanksgiving dinner at the station, but when it is ruined, Jack has a breakdown. At Station 23, Andy and Theo are making dinner for their injured captain, and Andy is comparing her situation with Pru's. They argue about Miller being in love with Vic, but they come to an understanding. Dean's father arrives and announces that he and his wife will be fighting Ben and Miranda for custody of Pru.

Dean's parents propose that Pru would be better off with them since they were wealthy. Miranda considers accepting, but Warren argues that Dean wanted them to raise her. Later, Dean's parents call Miranda because Pru was crying out for her. Travis' mother is leaving his father and apologizes for not standing up for Travis when he was growing up. Maya wants Carina to carry the baby since she wants it more. Andy is made interim captain of Station 23 and has trouble getting the team to obey her on a call. Sullivan is substituting for the day, and he and Theo discuss how being in a relationship with another firefighter is not a good idea. Andy later admits to Sullivan that she slept with Beckett. Dean's parents evict Jack from Dean's boathouse, and he and Vic end up destroying her bathroom to cope with Dean's death. They kiss before Jack breaks it off.

Vic is cleared by her doctor to go to work, but is assigned desk duty by Captain Beckett. Beckett announces that a new fire chief has been appointed and that it is a woman, but it is unknown who it is. Warren, Bishop, Sullivan, Ruiz, and Montgomery go save a man who is stuck wedged between two cars. His rescue requires the use of PRT, which, after some deliberation, is approved by the new fire chief. Vic is saved from desk duty by a Crisis One call, where she, Emmett, and Gibson find a distraught woman with a panic attack, which turns out to be a result of domestic abuse. Vic compromises the situation with the woman, for which she gets benched by Jack. She tells Theo that she kissed Jack. Andy and Carina stay at the station to prepare toys for Toys for Tots. In the end, everyone is at the station for a Christmas evening, when Maya and Carina announce they are going to have a baby.

Both station 19 and 23 are preparing for the arrival of the new chief, who is revealed to be Natasha Ross, Sullivan's former colleague in the Marines. Ross announces funding for Dean Miller's health initiative program. Both stations get a call to a car that rolled off a cliff and just before leaving, Warren receives a call that Owen Hunt from Grey Sloan Memorial is in the car. Carina, Jack, and Vic think of more ways to get funding for the program, when they have a walk-in - a girl who gets her first period and her brother. Warren goes against Herrera's orders and scales the cliff, finding one dead civilian and Hunt trapped in the car with an open wound. After the team successfully opens the car, Hunt is aerially transported to the top of the cliff using the ladder. Warren hitches a ride, which gets him reprimanded by both Captain Beckett And acting Captain Herrera in front of Chief Ross. After they return to the station, Ross compliments 19 on a good job and promotes Sullivan to lieutenant. Hughes find out she's pregnant.

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This episode begins a crossover event that concludes on Grey's Anatomy season 18 episode 9.

The team organizes a 10K fundraiser. Diane sees Ben at the event and reminds him, that he needs to attend sessions with her to get cleared for future calls. Vic wants to get a surgical abortion, but Carina tells her she needs to wait at least one more week. Ruiz is unsure about his relationship with Hughes and asks Herrera to keep an eye on her. The team gets called to a house that is haunted, which two people walked into but haven't come out. Jack tells Carina and Ben he thinks the health initiative program should not have doctors, when they get a walk-in family. Montgomery and Ruiz fall down a trap door in the haunted house. Bishop and Sullivan stumble upon a man covered by a part of collapsed ceiling. They rescue him and find out that Captain Beckett has no idea where Montgomery and Ruiz are. Hughes and Herrera visit Miller's houseboat, which is now empty and up for sale. After rescuing both people from the house, Sullivan gives negative feedback to Captain Beckett about his orders. At the station, Sullivan goes to visit Beckett, who is asleep, so Sullivan looks through his documents and finds a hidden bottle of alcohol. Hughes decides to take a pill for the abortion instead of waiting for the surgery.

Sullivan and Ross go out for dinner and meet Beckett on the street. Carina and Maya are deciding who the donor of the sperm will be. Hughes visits Dr. DeLuca to get the pill for her abortion. She then goes home with Theo and they fight about their relationship, after which they stay together for the rest of the day. Montgomery and Herrera receive a call and come to a man that spills gasoline on himself, threatening to burn himself. During the call, Montgomery voices his feelings about his own relationship, which Dixon hears. Herrera and Gibson agree to keep each other out of messy relationships. Maya tells Carina she wants the sperm donor to be someone they know.

Station 19 sets up the walk-in health check-up, the Dean Miller Memorial Clinic, for the first time. Warren is watched by a guardian ad litem for the day. Emmett is not returning Travis' calls. Herrera and her team is called to a woman, apparently a parachutist, stuck in a tree. Ross informs Bishop she wants to talk about her temporary demotion. Bishop asks Sullivan for help with her promotion. Ross compliments Gibson on handling the Memorial Clinic on the first day. Emmett comes to the station and breaks up with Travis. Herrera talks to Ross in hopes of starting up PRT again and Ross decides to shut down station 23 due to budget issues.

Ross informs Station 23 of its closing. Travis, Vic, and Emmett receive a Crisis One call to evict a tenant, which makes things awkward when Travis and Emmett finally meet again. Ross informs Bishop she is not reinstating her as a captain. The Millers decide that Warren and Bailey should get full exclusive guardianshipp of Pru with some rules, which Bailey does not agree with. Both station 19 and 23 get called to a burning factory. Sullivan informs Ross of Beckett's drinking problem. The Millers want Warren to stop firefighting.

Station 23 is officially closed, so the team goes for a drink. Emmett takes Travis to his parents for his father's birthday, but doesn't tell Travis. Beckett gets tested for potential alcohol consumption while on the job. Station 19's team gets called to a fire. Dixon's wife reveals Dixon is running for mayor. She also reveals Dixon plans to cancel Crisis One and fights about it with Montgomery. Upon returning from the call, Warren announces that he and Bailey got full custody of Pru. Beckett tells the team he was accused of drinking on the job and that the test came clean. He punishes the team for the intervention, after which Sullivan admits he told Chief Ross about the potential drinking problem. Andy reveals to the rest of the team of station 23 that she asked Chief Ross for a transfer to station 19, which eventually led to the station 23 closing and the rest of the team leaves her alone in the bar. The only person to stay is Maddox's friend Jeremy, who makes a connection with Andy and attempts to sexually assault her.

Montgomery joins the team from station 23 in the bar. Bishop and DeLuca ask Gibson to be the sperm donor. Herrera runs into them, they take her in to check and talk. She tells them to check on Jeremy, who Hughes, Bishop, and Sullivan find unresponsive. Meanwhile, Herrera talks to police officers and Warren request a physical examination for her. Andy has flashbacks to her childhood, where she was tripped by a boy and remembers her mother trying to protect her. Jeremy is transported to Grey Sloan Memorial, but does not make it. Hughes calls Ruiz to tell him. Two detectives come to station 19 to talk to Andy. Gibson agrees to be the sperm donor. Herrera is taken away to the police station.

Herrera is on a trial for murder. Andy's mom visits the fire station. Ruiz is assigned to station 19 and the team is called to a fire in a sweatshop. Dixon appears and talks to the owner of the sweatshop. Upon arrival of Chief Ross to the fire, Montgomery tries to inform her of the situation and yells at Dixon. Gibson learns he has a brother. Herrera is suspended from work until the trial is over and when she arrives home, her mother is waiting for her. She tells her she was assaulted while at the Fire Academy. Ruiz suggests Montgomery should run for mayor, opposing Dixon.

The station holds another Memorial Clinic day. Herrera and Gibson take a road trip to meet Gibson's brother. DeLuca's green card interview is coming up. Crisis One gets a call to a possible kidnapping within a family. Gibson learns his brother grew up with his parents as well as other siblings. Montgomery decides to run for mayor.

Gibson and Herrera decide to track down other victims of Jeremy's assaults. DeLuca has her green card interview. Station 19 is called to a crash between a school bus and a truck transporting radioactive cesium. Herrera ambushes one of Jeremy's victims at work. The truck driver decides to so that the children in the school bus can be rescued. Montgomery decides to run for the mayor and asks for support from Chief Ross, who agrees to endorse him. Beckett decides to get sober and tells Sullivan. Jeremy's other victim decides to testify against him, which results in dropping charges against Herrera. The station has a party for little Pru. Bishop threatens to report Chief Ross for sleeping with Sullivan unless she gets her job back. Ross reveals to Herrera that a lieutenant spot is open, which was freed by Gibson.