9-1-1: Nashville Is Sidelining Three of Its Most Interesting Characters

9-1-1: Nashville has plenty of drama, a talented ensemble, and enough family secrets to keep a soap opera running for years. But as Season 2 continues, the ABC series has a problem that is becoming harder to ignore: some of its most interesting characters are getting lost in the shuffle.

Blue Bennings, Taylor Thompson, and Roxie Alba deserve better. Instead, the series continues to devote considerable attention to Don and Blythe Hart's marital troubles, the family's complicated history, and now Detective Rogue Kelly (Ryan Phillippe), whose arrival has brought yet another major storyline into an already crowded show.

Blue and Taylor Have More Stories to Tell

Blue (Hunter McVey) was one of the more intriguing additions to the 9-1-1 universe. His complicated relationship with his father, Don, gave the first season an emotional hook, but his journey from outsider to firefighter is arguably even more interesting. Now that Blue has found his footing at the 113, why aren't we spending more time watching him grow professionally and personally? There's an opportunity to explore his confidence, his relationships with his fellow firefighters, and who he is outside the Hart family drama.

Then there's Taylor (Hailey Kilgore), who has the potential to be one of the show's strongest characters. She's a firefighter with musical ambitions, a romantic relationship with Blue, and enough personality to carry storylines that don't revolve around somebody else's family problems.

Blue and Taylor shouldn't have to wait for the next Hart family crisis to become important. Their relationship deserves room to develop, but so do their individual identities, careers, and friendships.

Roxie Might Be the Show's Most Underused Character

And can we talk about Roxie (Juani Feliz)? A former trauma surgeon who became a firefighter and paramedic is practically a gold mine for storytelling, yet the series hasn't consistently taken full advantage of her background.

Season 2's emergency heart transplant storyline gave Roxie a welcome opportunity to demonstrate exactly why she's such a valuable member of the 113. That's the kind of material she needs more often, particularly when there's still so much to explore about her past, her relationships, and the circumstances that shaped her career.

Feliz brings a natural confidence to the character, and Roxie has the kind of professional experience that could create fascinating conflicts during emergencies. She shouldn't need an extraordinary medical crisis to finally get some meaningful attention.

Does Everything Have to Revolve Around Don and Blythe?

Look, Chris O'Donnell and Jessica Capshaw are established performers, and their characters are an important part of the series. But how much more mileage are we going to get out of Don and Blythe's marital problems before the show starts giving the rest of its ensemble equal attention?

Then there's Rogue Kelly. Ryan Phillippe is a welcome addition, and the biblical-plague mystery has certainly given Season 2 a different energy, but the detective's investigation is consuming an enormous amount of narrative attention.

The problem isn't Rogue. It's the balance. Between his investigation, his mysterious past, Don's personal troubles, and the ongoing Hart family drama, there seems to be increasingly little space for the characters who should be helping establish the show's identity.

The original 9-1-1 franchise has always understood the importance of making audiences care about the people responding to emergencies, not simply the disasters themselves. The personal relationships, friendships, and individual struggles are what make those spectacular rescues matter.

The 113 Deserves to Be More Than a Backdrop

9-1-1: Nashville doesn't need to abandon its family saga or its new mystery to make room for Blue, Taylor, and Roxie. It simply needs to remember that an ensemble drama works best when the ensemble actually gets to participate.

Give Blue more opportunities to prove himself. Let Taylor have storylines that explore her ambitions and personal growth, and allow Roxie to become more than the exceptionally capable paramedic who steps forward whenever there's a medical emergency.

There's a good show here, and the younger cast could help make it even better. But if 9-1-1: Nashville keeps giving the same characters the lion's share of the attention, it's going to waste some of its greatest potential.

We don't need less talent on screen. We need better use of the talent already there.