9-1-1: Nashville Boss Teases Emotional Fallout From The Hacking Crisis — Plus, Who's Hooking Up At The 113?

The hacking crisis continued on Thursday's midseason premiere of "9-1-1: Nashville," revealing that the root of the problem might be closer to home than anyone wants to believe.

During a private meeting with city officials, Don and Cammie were among those who voted to pay the hackers' ransom, while a vocal majority — led by Edward, of course — opted not to negotiate with terrorists. The plot thickened when several of those officials collapsed during a live televised press conference, the result of the hackers taking control of their pacemakers and various other medical implants.

This led Cammie, who was previously interrogated about potentially giving the dispatch center's administrative password to the wrong person, to deduce that whoever hacked the officials' medical devices knew exactly which individuals voted against paying the ransom — which means the true culprit is someone who works there, possibly even someone Cammie considers a friend.

The truth will come out in next Thursday's episode, which showrunner Rashad Raisani confirms will mark the "conclusion" of this harrowing arc. "We wanted this to have a beginning, middle, and end, with the end being the most heightened part of the crisis, especially from a character standpoint," Raisani tells TVLine. "A lot of emotional arcs will hit their first resolutions as we're hitting the middle of the season, so we wanted to turn the corner with some of these characters' relationships, open up some new opportunities, and open some new doors, particularly with Cammie."

As for the identity of the hacker, Raisani teases that "it's not going to be someone random," admitting that he fully expects that "some people will figure it out" before the truth is revealed. "Judging by my history with the internet, the internet always wins," he says. "So yes, there are clues, and I'm sure some people will be able to figure it out."

After being thrown from her panicked horse and ensnared in barbed wire, Blythe fought to get herself to safety in the midseason premiere, hitting countless obstacles along the way. Not only did her horse ditch her, but she also discovered that she busted her ankle in the fall, making it impossible to walk without getting dizzy and falling down — which is just what she did, rolling down a hill and passing out.

When Blythe's horse returned to the ranch covered in blood (yikes!), Don noticed the barbed wire stuck to its saddle, clueing him in to her whereabouts. He was able to save her with an on-site blood transfusion and successfully bring her to the hospital, but she isn't out of the woods just yet. After all, that hospital is full of machines that could potentially be hacked, and Raisani assures us: "There's plenty more for her to do [in the next episode], let's put it that way."

"The origin of the hacker thing altogether was that my dad is a doctor and his hospital was shut down by hackers," Raisani tells TVLine. "They couldn't open their drug machines, they couldn't access patient files, they had lost everything. I won't go into too many details, because we do some of them in the next episode, but it all came from that."

While there are certainly more pressing matters at hand for her to deal with, Cammie mentioned to the FBI that she couldn't have shared the call center's admin password with anyone, not even a boyfriend, because she hasn't dated anyone since her late husband. This led us to wonder if dating might ever be in the cards for the grieving dispatcher — and much to our delight, the answer is yes!

"Part of what we wanted to do with the spectacle of this hacker thing was to also put a spotlight on Cammie as a character," Raisani tells TVLine. "We're going to learn about just how isolated she's been. In Episode 6, we heard the details of her deceased husband, and in Episodes 7 and 8 we learn how much he meant to her and what her life has looked like since he died."

Raisani continues, "It's been a few years and she hasn't really moved on, so this is going to start the journey that will head in that direction. Whether it gets there or not, we'll see, but that's definitely one of our intents. Episode 10 is called 'Letting Go,' and, she's the star of it, so you can probably do the math on some of that."

On a lighter note, Blue was put on tool-sharpening duty this week, giving Taylor an opportunity to show him what he was doing wrong — and get a little flirty in the process. Roxie immediately clocked their chemistry from across the firehouse, even if the couple in question isn't yet aware of what's brewing between them.

"My feeling is that Blue is kind of oblivious because he's a bit of a puppy," Raisani tells TVLine. "And Taylor's opinion of Blue is, 'Well, of course he's cute, but who cares? Yes, he's objectively cute, but he's a co-worker, and I can't do that.' I think that's where her headspace is right now. She's putting up an internal wall, so she'd probably say that she's not [interested], but maybe there is something there."

With things heating up between Blue and Taylor, we also couldn't help but wonder how Dixie is going to react to her son pursuing a new relationship, particularly with an aspiring musician. Will she have any strong opinions?

"She will very soon," Raisani tells TVLine. "But they may not be the exact opinions that you think. In many ways, Dixie is a clinical narcissist, but at the same time, she also has some generosity in her spirit and some goodness in her, which is what makes her such a complex character. She's not always evil, and she's not always good, but I think you'll be surprised at how generous she is with young talent."

Speaking of music, Raisani says we'll get the show's first real performance, which he calls "quite lovely," in Episode 9. "We're also trying to close a deal right now for another person [to perform], and I can't say any more because we're in the middle of it," he teases. "I'll let the viewers find out who that is."

OK, let's talk: Who do you think is behind the hack? Were you, like Roxie, feeling the sparks between Blue and Taylor? And what are your hopes for the rest of the season? Grade the midseason premiere below, then drop a comment with more of your thoughts.