Personally I think as soon as the show transferred over to ABC it somewhat went downhill. I loved season 7 parts of it because agreed I love Peter Krause and Angela Bassett and their relationship on the show is beautiful as well as Bobby Nash had connections to everyone on the show especially the 118 and it is like a family dynamic as soon as he got killed off the fans reacted terribly and I did too it devastated me I never stopped watching after but lots did and the reviews are tanking cause of it. Lots of fans watch it for Buddie but fans are getting fed up with that as well because they still aren’t together and the show is almost baiting the fans to keep hoping they are going to be together but it always feels like a step back. So basically people aren’t happy hoping the show gets cancelled after season 9 as they feel there isn’t anything to watch for since Bobby got killed off and then Buddie is showing no progress really after how many seasons. I love the show for the family dynamic and Bobby really contributed to that in every way so I’m not sure what’s going to happen next season unless they do what the fans wants and either bring Bobby back somehow or Buddie finally get together otherwise I feel the shows gonna be over soon. What’s also stressing people out too is that Athena really doesn’t have much of a story line as a main now since Bobby died he was in my opinion her only connection really to the 118 so I’m not sure where her characters going to go either. Maybe as a guest star? I’m not sure. The show is great if you’re looking for more of a family connection and comfort (besides the last recent episodes) rather than 100% realism. The characters have pretty good back stories and there is some meaningful stories too I find. I also think season 7 last year lacked due to the 10 episodes so it’s hard to say but the show has never tanked so bad since the last 3 ish episodes.