Vehicular villainess Rachel Hawkerson
Rachel Hawkerson (Juliana Dever) is the main villainess from "Blindsided," episode 4.09 of 9-1-1 (airdate April 19, 2021).
Background[]
Rachel Hawkerson is the wife of Wyatt Hawkerson, though her backstory revealed that she had a severe drinking problem that nearly severed her marriage to Wyatt. At some point, Rachel and Wyatt welcomed a son, Jacob, with Wyatt figuring that Jacob would serve as a reason and inspiration to finally become sober. However, Rachel's alcoholism remained intact, unknown to her husband.
Tragic Accident[]
A drunk Rachel driving, mere moments before the crash she causes.
As the beginning of the episode showed, Rachel was out late at night driving drunk, with Jacob in the car calling 911 for help. Jacob informed dispatcher Maddie Buckley that his mother was "acting weird" and wouldn't talk to anyone, with his attempt to hand the phone to Rachel being ignored. The vehicular villainess' slurred speech was overheard by Maddie who tried to have her stop but was ignored too. Rachel struck and passed several cars before entering the freeway via the exit ramp, with a distressed and crying Jacob informing Maddie that his mother was entering the freeway going the wrong way. Multiple drivers called in the situation and preparations were made to stop her safely to ensure Jacob's safety.
After entering the freeway, a disoriented Rachel was ordered to pull over, all while Jacob continued pleading with his mother, only for the orders and pleas to fall on deaf ears before Rachel finally crashed her car into a shuttle bus and started a massive highway pile-up. Firefighter Captain Bobby Nash's unit was on the call, with Bobby revealing that Rachel's actions killed three people and injured at least a dozen others. As the episode later revealed, one of the injured drivers was Albert Han, the brother of paramedic Howie "Chimney" Han, who was hospitalized and barely survived after Chimney left to witness the birth of his daughter. As for Rachel and Jacob, both survived and pulled out the car but were left severely injured, with the villainous regaining consciousness to question the events and weakly calling for her injured and unconscious son. Sergeant Athena Grant, who was also on the call, took notice of her slurred speech and later discovered a bottle containing an alcoholic beverage, which officially revealed Rachel as a drunk driver. This earned her disdain from Athena who wondered how many people had to suffer because of her foolishness while paramedic Hen Wilson was disgusted too. Both Rachel and Jacob were taken away with Athena ordering that her alcohol count be taken, which was four times the limit.
Arrest[]
Rachel being arrested for her crimes.
It was during Wyatt's attempt to visit his wife and son that Athena appeared and informed him of Rachel's actions, as well as how she was in police custody. A devastated Wyatt realized that Rachel was the drunk driver from the news and revealed Rachel's past history as an alcoholic and breaking down at not noticing her habit lingering and what has happened. As Athena comforted Wyatt, the latter was shocked to hear Jacob reported his mother and lamented that he wouldn't know what to say to him. The next morning, Jacob awoke and was visited by his relieved father while the young boy inquired on his mother, but the distraught Wyatt had no answer.
At the end, the now remorseful villainess recovered in the hospital before she was visited by police and informed of her actions. Rachel said nothing, as she ended up arrested for drunk driving, triple vehicular manslaughter, massive injury, and child endangerment. The episode's final scenes showed the villainess crying as she was handcuffed to her hospital bed.
Sometime later, she was released on bail with an ankle bracelet. While awaiting trial, she decided to beat her alcoholism. Fire Captain Bobby Nash became her sponsor being able to relate, due to his own tragic past. In the first few months, Rachel was doing good but had a relapse resulting in Bobby having to take her to the hospital to be treated. Bobby's wife Athena suspected Bobby had a relapse and followed him only to discover him helping Rachel, who she recognized from the pile up and was upset by Bobby hiding this from her. Rachel was seen watching this clearly remembering Athena from the arrest.
Trivia[]
- Juliana Dever also appeared as the villainous Nina Munson in 2020's Stalked by My Husband's Ex.
- Juliana Dever's villainous characters shared some glaring similarities: both struggled with alcoholism, causing them to drive drunk and place their children in danger.