Watch “9-1-1”'s Hen face off with Councilwoman Ortiz in tense confrontation (exclusive preview)

"Mara needs her family back," Aisha Hinds' Hen tells Councilwoman Ortiz (Verónica Falcón) in a sneak peek of season 8, episode 4, "No Place Like Home."

It pains to have enemies in high places.

Season 7 of 9-1-1 ended with Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Karen (Tracie Thoms) losing their foster license and having to relinquish guardianship of their foster daughter Mara (Askyler Bell) — all because of a vendetta. Councilwoman Ortiz (Verónica Falcón) blames Hen for the death of her son, Kyle, who died in season 7 after injuries sustained while driving drunk.

In a season 8, episode 4 preview clip exclusive to Entertainment Weekly, Hen confronts Councilwoman Ortiz, pleading with her to allow Mara to come home.

Related: No, the 9-1-1 team didn't use real bees for the 'bee-nado' — but still got stung by dead ones!

"Please don't punish her because you can't forgive me," Hen begs the councilwoman after showing her video of Mara, who has been in the custody of Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) in the interim. "Mara needs her family back. We're all she has."

"Kyle was all I had," Councilwoman Ortiz replies, "and I'm expected to go on without him. Maybe young Mara will have to learn to do the same."

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And as if having a councilwoman against you wasn't enough, 9-1-1 co-creator Tim Minear previously told EW that Ortiz, whom he refers to as "Cruella," is aiming for an even higher position: "She's running for mayor," he teased before ominously adding, "and things will happen."

Well, clearly, not getting Mara back quickly is one of those things. Another is the family — and tension — building as Chimney and Maddie care for Mara in Hen and Karen's absence. "One thing that I started doing last year is really showing the Buckley-Hans and Hen and Karen as an extended family out of the fire station," Minear told EW ahead of the season 8 premiere. "I put Maddie more into Hen's world and Hen into Maddie's world, so it's not like Mara is that far away for Hen and Karen. I imagine that they're going over there every day and spending a lot of time as a mingled family. So that's great for them...until it's not."

9-1-1 season 8, episode 4, "No Place Like Home," airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.