Dancing With Our Hands Tied is the third episode of the sixth season and the 80th overall episode of Station 19.
Short Summary[]
The Station 19 crew responds to the scene of a car accident where two teenagers are trapped inside of an electric car. The scene grows increasingly tense when the teen's father shows up furious at his son for taking his beloved car without permission. Ben and Maya find themselves caught in the middle of a domestic dispute involving a couple that they detest.
Full Summary[]
Maya works out in the gym.
Eva and Jack are asleep in bed when someone knocks on the door. Eva makes Jack get up to answer it. The branch from the tornado is still sticking through the roof.
Jack opens the door to find Andy, who has muffins and smoothies. She says he looks awful. She wants him to leave Eva's and come home. Eva comes up behind him, offended that Andy insulted her home. Andy reminds her that she has a large hole in her roof that no one has repaired. Jack claims he's been too busy to answer Andy's calls. He's been getting ready to fix the roof. Andy says once that's done, he can come back to work. He says he won't. Eva says firefighting ends lives and asks if that's what Andy wants for Jack. Jack refuses to go with Andy, even when she says she won't leave without him. She says they're still his family. She wants him to save the career he fought so hard for. Jack says he can't. He has to fix the roof. Andy takes the muffins and smoothies and leaves. Jack goes back inside after telling Andy he loves her.
Carina and Ben to inventory for the clinic. Carina offers to take over the clipboard, but he likes it because it makes him feel like the Chief of the clinic. Maya comes in and opens boxes until she finds ibuprofen, which she takes. Ben warns her to go easy on those because they're hard on the stomach, but Carina says Maya's not good at doing what's healthy for her. Maya says she doesn't need to hear it and leaves. Ben asks Carina if she wants to talk about it and Carina says marriage is hard. Ben knows because his wife threw poop-covered sheets at him that morning. Pru had an accident and Bailey was changing the sheets, but Ben ended up grabbing them. Carina repeats that marriage is hard.
Theo tells Maya about a call from 1976 that he found in the log books. Travis and Vic come in arguing about the questionnaire he has to complete to try to get the fire union's endorsement. Travis is shocked that Dixon is still somehow winning. He has a hold on both the police and fire unions. Theo says union guys are old-school. Vic coaches Travis, saying he can do it. Crisis One gets called out to a domestic. Maya says those are her favorite. Vic is jealous because she's on desk duty. Maya already served hers. Vic thanks Maya for standing up to Beckett for Andy.
Andy finds Beckett in the gym. She offers him the muffins and asks him to use his rank to force Jack to end his leave of absence and come back to work, even though his leaving made room for her to come back to 19. Beckett says that Jack didn't ask for a leave of absence. He just left without a word to anyone about it. Beckett doesn't want a firefighter he can't count on.
Ben and Maya both think the area they're in is familiar. Maya hopes it's the drunk guy who got stuck in the doggy door. That's her favorite call. Whatever it is will beat dealing with Beckett. Maya tells Ben she can handle whatever he dishes out, but Ben says they're there for her if it's too much. She stood up to him to get Andy's job back, so they're on her side. Maya says maybe they shouldn't be, but claims she's just overworked when he asks. Ben says when he and Bailey work too hard, it strains their marriage. Maya interjects that her marriage is fine. Ben realizes she doesn't want to talk about it.
Sullivan is smiling over his phone when Andy approaches him. He's enjoying dating app banter. Andy confides her worry about Jack, though Sullivan reminds her that Jack lied to her for months. That upset her, but Jack's struggling in a toxic situation. Sullivan says he might need to hit rock bottom before he can ask for help. Sullivan gets another message, delighting him.
Maya and Ben arrive at the house and Clarke tells them that a neighbor called 911 after hearing the fighting and then glass breaking. Clarke hasn't heard anything since he arrived. That's all he has except their names: Kitty and Michael Dixon.
Ben says Travis went to dinner at the Dixons' once and said it was like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Maya doesn't get the reference so Ben explains that's it's a movie about drunk people who hate each other. Ben knocks and doesn't hear anything. Then Kitty opens the door holding a drink. Maya explains that they're responding to a 911 call from her concerned neighbors. Kitty allows them to come in and offers them drinks. They decline and say their neighbors hear yelling and broken glass. She says she doesn't know anything about that and says her husband went out. Clarke goes to stand guard in case he comes back. Maya asks if she's hurt and she says only in the sense that her favorite liquor store doesn't deliver anymore. Ben says everything seems fine, so they'll leave, but Maya notices a window nearby is broken. Kitty laughs about it.
Travis is overwhelmed by the questionnaire, so Vic tells him to focus on the goal, to get the endorsement. This is his chance to show the union he's different in a good way. She has him read the first question, which is about his campaign plan. Vic helps him answer it. The next question is about political experience. He was high school vice president, but was impeached. Next is about his campaign manager's experience. Vic thinks it'll be fine, but he's worried about his lack of experience being used against him. Engine 19 gets called out and Vic begs Travis to take him with her. As the team leaves, Carina comes through carrying a tub. Vic notices she seems upset and asks her about it. She says she's fine and goes upstairs.
Eva sits in bed eating while Jack tries to get the branch out of the ceiling. Jack asks if she has more tools. She says those are all the tools Rigo had. Jack feels weird using Rigo's tools. Eva takes one of Jack's painkillers over his objection. She says she's in pain, too, not that they talk about it. He tries to talk to her about Rigo, but she says she doesn't want to talk about him. She questions if Jack even knows what he's doing. He says he does. He just needs extra supplies. Eva tells him if he wants to go back to work, he should go back. Jack says he just wants to go to the hardware store. He offers to take her, but she doesn't want to go.
Maya quietly tells Ben that it looks like Dixon is an abusive husband. Ben says they don't know that. This isn't the situation like with Maya's family. They have to stay neutral. Kitty tells them it was just a little quarrel, but Maya doesn't think so based on what she sees. Kitty asks Maya if she's married and she says she is. So she should know. Kitty's sure Maya and her husband are no strangers to a martial spat. Ben says he's been married for over ten years and points out that there's broken glass in her house and a neighbor called the police. This wasn't a spat. Maya says Kitty doesn't deserve this. She saw it happen to her own mother and knows it's hard to see from the inside. Maya didn't even see it at first. Kitty denies that being the case, but Maya says if he flew into a rage and broke a window ... Kitty then says she was the one who broke it. She shows Maya her cut hand. She mashed the window because her husband is a pathetic little man.
At the car fire scene, they realize it's an electric vehicle. They put on their masks because the smoke is toxic. Andy tells Travis to get a line while Sullivan and Theo get the passengers out. Andy goes to disconnect the battery to disable the airbags. The passengers, two teens, can't open the doors and Matt says nothing on the car is working. Maddy tells them she can't breathe and Sullivan notes she's losing consciousness. They need to get the kids out right away.
Theo tells Matt to use the manual release, but he can't find it, so they have to break the windows to get the kids out. Matt is worried his dad will kill him. Andy tells Sullivan that someone had to have hacked the battery. Because of that, it'll will keep reigniting. It bursts into flames and Andy has Travis hit it with water.
Kitty says Dixon called her embarrassing. But what's really embarrassing is wearing denim to dinner. Maya talks to her about the other kinds of abuse she might be enduring, including financial. Kitty laughs at that, because she is the one who brought money into the marriage. He was her rebellious fling. Now she's arm candy while her money funds his campaign. He has no other funders. Ben comes back in and wants to look at Kitty's hand. Maya tries again to offer Kitty help leaving, but she says she's nobody's victim. Kitty hears Dixon coming back. He comes in and questions what's happening.
Vic's on the phone with someone who needs a raccoon removed from their pool and she tells them to call animal control because that's outside their purview. When she sees Carina coming downstairs with another box, she offers her help because she's really bored. Carina puts the box on the counter and Vic asks if she wants to talk about it. Carina says she might be pregnant, but maybe not. And she doesn't know what she's rooting for because she and Maya aren't in a good place. Vic is confused, because she's been trying so hard to get pregnant for so long. Carina says that's true and it's cost money and heartbreak. She doesn't like the feeling. Vic suggests she take a test. Carina objects to taking a test without Maya in case it's positive. Vic asks how she'd feel if it was. Carina doesn't know. And it's probably too early to tell anyway. Vic says Carina's feeling out of control. Maybe a test would help her feel like she's doing something. Carina tells Vic to mark one less pregnancy test on the inventory as she takes one out of the box.
As Theo treats him, Matt says that he didn't know there was another way to open the door. His dad's car was just sitting in the driveway. He asks if Maddy's going to be okay. Theo says she's breathing better. He asks if Maddy has any medical issues. Matt doesn't know, because this was their first date. She said she'd go out with him, but he was worried about his old, beat-up car, so he stole his dad's car to impress her because his dad told him fancy cars impressed women. Theo tells him his dad is wrong.
Jack walks around at the hardware store. He stops in front of a shelf and checks out his options. He gets a text from Marsha asking why he won't text her back. He tries to reply, but erases it twice. Then he hears someone get hit with a pipe nearby. He steps him to tell the bystanders not to move him. He checks his symptoms and tells him to stay still. The man Steve, asks if he's a doctor and he says he's not anything anymore. An employee brings a doctor and Jack quietly steps away and lets her take over.
Travis has put out the car, but Andy is suspicious that it went out so quickly. She goes to check if there's still heat coming off the battery. Andy says they need to get the car towed quickly. Sullivan tells Matt he needs to call his dad, but Matt is scared to, fearing that his dad will disown him. He fell off his bike when he was ten and his dad made fun of him for it for five years. Maddy hears this and comes over to Matt, who is embarrassed to be crying. Maddy says she doesn't care about flashy cars and his father sounds awful. People have feelings and toxic masculinity is so over. Matt asks what he should do. Theo says it's time to call his dad.
Dixon asks why they're in his house and Maya says there was a report of domestic violence. Kitty told them it was nothing, which Dixon backs up. Maya says it was enough for a neighbor to be concerned. Ben says men can be victims of abuse, too. He offers Dixon the same services he offered to Kitty, which he also refuses. He tells them to get out, saying what happens in their home is private. When he dismisses Kitty's comments as her being drunk, Maya tells him not to talk to her like that. Dixon says to take her daddy issues out on someone else. He and Kitty start arguing. This escalates to Kitty throwing things, but not at her husband. Dixon does as well, then Kitty throws a vase at him while Maya, Ben, and Clarke try and fail to de-escalate.
Kitty says she just meant to scare him, not hurt him as Maya bandages her hand and Ben works on Dixon's forehead, which is bleeding. Maya says they both need counseling, but Kitty says fighting is normal. Ben says what they did isn't normal. His wife threw sheets at him that happened to be covered in toddler poop, but she apologized and explained that she was aiming at the hamper. That's normal. No one got injured or even raised their voice. Kitty says his life sounds boring. Dixon agrees. They laugh about it and Kitty apologizes. Ben says Dixon doesn't need stitches and asks if he feels safe staying there. He doesn't even answer. He asks what Clarke is writing and Clarke says it's an incident report. Dixon says seeing Crisis One up close will make it easier for him to shut down.
A tow truck arrives with Matt's dad. He examines the car and Andy explains that him hacking it caused a problem with the battery, making it overheat. He tells Ted, the tow truck driver, to load the car up. Andy says he can't because it's still hot, but Matt's dad feels it and says it's fine. Andy tries to explain why it's a bad idea, but he won't listen. He says it's his car and he'll do what he wants with it.
Maya asks the Dixons if they're sure it's okay for them to leave. Kitty says she has book club and needs to get ready for it. Maya tells Dixon that emotional abuse is still abuse. He says he doesn't abuse women. He loves his wife, so much that he'll take a vase to the head for her. Kitty's his best asset. They make a great team. Kitty says his charm will be what makes him a great mayor. Dixon walks them to a door and says he'll need an NDA, one stronger than HIPAA and his lawyer will be in touch.
Matt's dad finds him and starts berating him for stealing the car. He's angry that his car is messed up. Sullivan tells the dad not to talk to his kid like that, because it's just a car. He should be relieved his son isn't hurt. The car is loaded and ready to be moved, but it erupts into flames again. Travis hits it with water as they tell Ted to get out. They tell him to move away as the smoke is toxic. Ted says it's fine, but then there's a small explosion, which throws him into a railing.
Vic and Carina wait for the pregnancy test to be ready to read. Vic asks if what they're doing is weird. Seven months ago, Carina gave Vic an abortion. Vic asks again what Carina's hoping for. Carina says Maya has mental health issues. She's lived a lot of her life with people with mental health issues, so she's used to it, but she knows that when you're in a relationship with someone with mental health issues, you don't matter. And she wants to matter. Vic says mental health issues don't make you inherently selfish, but it is selfish if Maya is refusing to get help. Carina says that's how it is right now. She could get help, though. And that's why Carina is staying. She's in love with Maya and she wants Maya and them as a couple to be like they were. So she's waiting, but it's hard because she wants to matter. The timer goes off and Carina goes to read the test, but Vic picks it up and stops her. She asks Carina to say what she wants. Carina says she wants a positive. She wants to be a mom, but she wants her wife to be present and involved with it. She doesn't want to do it alone. Vic throws the test away. She reminds Carina that it was probably too early to tell anyway, but now she knows what she wants. What she wants is for her wife to be standing next to her the moment they find out they're going to have a baby. So they're not going to look. Vic tells Carina to go fight for what she wants.
Ben says they just prevented the Dixons from killing each other and Dixon is still going to cut Crisis One. Maya asks if he's surprised. Ben asks if he thinks they'll be okay. She says no, they both need serious help. Ben says he knows it's hard to leave personal stuff at the door. Maya says she dealt with her past. He's asking about her present, because she interjected her personal stuff onto Kitty, which isn't okay. It seems like she's navigating tricky marital issues. It's their job to leave their personal stuff at home. Maya denies having marriage issues. Then she says it's under control, that she's dealing with it in her own way. Ben says that's what Dixon just said.
Andy gives orders at the scene and asks for two additional engines. Beckett arrives and when she tells him what's happened, he orders her to let it burn, because even the manufacturer says that's how to deal with it. Continuing to hit it with water is just a waste of resources. They're going to contain the scene and reduce exposure. Andy questions that call. She says they were a family before he came in. They helped when one of them was in trouble. They don't do that anymore. They're just sitting back while Jack implodes. If he can't lead them through it, she will.
Ben and Maya get back to the station. Carina tries to greet Maya, but Maya just walks past her, which Ben notices.
Theo, Sullivan, Andy, and Travis talk about stealing their parents' cars. Theo did it. Travis did it twice and got in a lot of trouble both times, but it was worth it. Ben's surprised they spend so much time on a car fire, but understand when he hears it was an electric car. Travis shows them a clip of Dixon from a campaign event and says he's getting worse. Travis knows he doesn't really believe what he's saying. He's a boring hypocrite with no emotion. Maya says he wasn't when she saw him. Ben tries to stop her, but she tells Travis that the call they went on, the domestic, was Dixon and Kitty. There's probably something there if Travis is looking for a scandal for his campaign. Ben quickly tells Travis that he can't use that. Travis says he won't, but Vic says they might.
Jack is still working on the ceiling. He asks Eva for help, but she's late for work and he said he could do it. She asks what kind of man he is. He let Andy smack-talk her house. Then he brought up Rigo and said it was weird to use his tools even though he's having sex with Rigo's wife in his house. Rigo would have fixed the roof on day one with a smile on his face. She doesn't believe in God anymore because he always takes the wrong ones. Jack struggles and then throws the drill he's using through a window.
As they walk into the beanery. Ben talks to Travis and Vic about what happened at the Dixons' house. He reminds them they can't use it. Travis asks why they can't, because it would be a little bad thing that prevents a much larger bad thing from happening. Vic asks what if someone accidentally shares it with the wrong person. Sullivan comes in and says Maya's coming. When she comes in, Andy calls everyone's attention to her and asks if they're ready to be a family again. When they say they are, she calls them all into a huddle. Everyone but Maya joins.
Maya works out in the gym. She hurts her toe, but just tapes it and keeps working out.
Jack looks out the window when he hears noise. He looks out to see the team bringing up supplies and fixing the roof while cleaning up the mess from the branch. He sees Andy through the window and nods at her.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Jaina Lee Ortiz as Lieutenant Andy Herrera
- Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren
- Boris Kodjoe as Lieutenant Robert Sullivan
- Grey Damon as Jack Gibson
- Barrett Doss as Victoria Hughes
- Jay Hayden as Travis Montgomery
- Danielle Savre as Lieutenant Maya Bishop
- Stefania Spampinato as Dr. Carina DeLuca
- Carlos Miranda as Lieutenant Theo Ruiz
- Josh Randall as Captain Sean Beckett
- Merle Dandridge as Fire Chief Natasha Ross (credit only)
- Pat Healy as Michael Dixon
Guest Stars[]
- Tricia O'Kelley as Kitty Dixon
- Ritesh Rajan as Clarke Wright
- Kelly Thiebaud as Eva Vasquez
- James Hyde as Matt's Dad
- Timothy Brundidge as Matt
- Thalia Tran as Maddy
Co-Starring[]
- Will Leong as Steve
- Joey Anaya as Tow Truck Driver
- Erika L. Holmes as Doctor
- Manny Spero as Employee
Rescues[]
Kitty and Michael Dixon[]
Crisis One was called out to Garrett and 72nd for a domestic call. They arrived to find it was the Dixons' house. Kitty was inside and she told them her husband had left. When she said she was fine and denied any incident, they were prepare to leave until Maya spotted a broken window and assumed Dixon was abusing Kitty. Ben cautioned her against making that assumption and told them they needed to remain neutral. Despite this, Maya approached Kitty as if she were being abused, comparing the situation with her own parents. Kitty told them she'd broken the window and showed them the cut on her hand from it.
When Dixon arrived home while Ben was treating Kitty's hand, he also assured them that nothing had happened and tried to order them to leave. Ben offered to let him talk to someone if he was the victim. Dixon and Kitty then ended up arguing and throwing things, first at the floor, but then she threw a vase at him, cutting his forehead. Ben bandaged his forehead and told him he didn't need stitches. They both said they were okay for Crisis One to leave.
Car Fire[]
Engine 19 was called out to a car fire at Binder Avenue and Maple Street. They arrived to find Matt and Maddy trapped in their car, which was on fire. Because they were in an electric vehicle, the firefighters put on their masks. Andy sent Travis to get a hose line and Sullivan and Theo to get the teens out while she disconnected the battery. Andy opened the hood to find the vehicle had been modified. They couldn't open the doors because of that, forcing them to break the windows to free them. With them freed, Andy ordered Travis to hit the car with water, knowing it would continuously ignite. Both kids were treated on-site. Andy was surprised when the car fire was put out quickly and decided to watch it closely. Matt called his father and he arrived soon after with a tow truck. He had the driver load the car up over Andy's objection that it wasn't safe. Before the driver could pull away, the car reignited, so they hit it with water again. Beckett arrived soon afterward and said she needed to let the fire burn because they wouldn't be able to put it out. He ordered Andy to let it burn.
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Kiki Riggs" | Laxtyo |
|
| "What Do I Believe In" | Steelfeather feat. Ashby |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song Dancing With Our Hands Tied, originally sung by Taylor Swift.
- This episode scored 3.90 million viewers.[1]
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Quotes[]
See Also[]
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A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
| Station 19 Season 6 | ||||||
| #01 | "Twist and Shout" | #07 | "We Build Then We Break" | #13 | "It's All Gonna Break" | |
| #02 | "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" | #08 | "I Know A Place" | #14 | "Get It All Out" | |
| #03 | "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" | #09 | "Come As You Are" | #15 | "What Are You Willing to Lose" | |
| #04 | "Demons" | #10 | "Even Better Than the Real Thing" | #16 | "Dirty Laundry" | |
| #05 | "Pick Up The Pieces" | #11 | "Could I Leave You?" | #17 | "All These Things That I've Done" | |
| #06 | "Everybody Says Don't" | #12 | "Never Gonna Give You Up" | #18 | "Glamorous Life" | |
| << Season 5 | Season 7 >> | |||||