Ah, it’s good to be back with the 118.

9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 11 kicks off the second half of an uneven 9-1-1 Season 5, and it’s a decent starting place. We’ve got a time jump, some new dynamics to explore, and overall this hour isn’t terrible by any stretch of the imagination.

But it does beg the question, with only seven episodes left, where exactly are we headed this season?

The basis of this whole hour revolves around everyone coming to grips with something. Maddie and Chim are still gone, and Eddie’s abrupt resignation at the end of 9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 10 leaves the 118 down two people.

It’s understandable why Bobby would hold out as long as he could to fill the two spots because Chimney and Eddie are irreplaceable. You can fill in for them, but you will never be them, and while everyone knows that, there still comes the point where you have to move forward.

But what does that really mean? Can you ever really move forward from something as profound as what the 118 had with each other?

Bobby, Hen, and Buck all struggle in their own way, with Hen particularly keeping anyone who steps in for Chimney at arm’s length. But at this point, Chim has been gone a long while, and the reality of the situation calls for acceptance rather than defiance.

The new guy seems nice enough, If not the exact opposite of Chimney. He’s a lot less goofy, and he lacks Chimney’s overall charisma, but he’s competent, and he and Hen work well together. Frankly, Hen could work well with anyone, but things will be better for everyone if she can at least accept Jonah.

They’ll never be the best of friends, but they could be reliable co-workers.

The 118 is a family, and families expand and change. That doesn’t mean it will be easy, but everyone has to give it at least a chance.

Eddie’s replacement comes in the form of Lucy, who we meet when she’s flying up through the air and effortlessly channeling her inner Keanu Reeves. She appears to have a bit of a daredevil spirit, and she’s obviously meant to be the female version of Buck from the get-go.

That would be all well and good if she were set up to be his work partner and meant to be a different kind of partner from Eddie. Where Buck is boisterous, Eddie is milder, but they’ve developed a partnership that allows them to exist without words. They work in tandem and are a true team, though their personalities aren’t exactly in sync.

Buck and Lucy could have been two sides of the same coin, who found a nice balance when forced to work alongside another version of themselves.

But no. We can’t get that. Why would we get that?

Buck doesn’t need a friend! Of course not! Buck needs another love interest!

Listen, I’ve been on the record as saying that Buck and Taylor are a horrible match. Not only is there no chemistry, but nothing about their relationship has felt earned because it was so neglected. Who are they as a couple? We don’t have a single clue.

They hit these relationship milestones, and the results are often so cringey because we have no idea how they got there.

But if the solution for breaking up the two was to have Buck cheat and jump into another relationship, then the series got it all wrong.

And while he still struggles at times with a host of different issues, one thing Buck isn’t is cruel. Yet here we get him kissing Lucy and then doubling down on his relationship with Taylor to assuage his guilt.

Really?

Nothing about this storyline is appealing, and I say that with no shipper goggles on my face. Because this isn’t about shipping, it’s about characterization.

Buck: Okay, you’re making me nauseous. I’m gonna need you to pick a side.
Hen: Honesty. Honesty is the best policy. Also, it’s the easiest to remember.

This notion that Buck may be settling for Taylor when his heart isn’t all the way in, I can buy. He cares about Taylor, but in no way, shape, or form does this feel like a couple meant for the long haul. And if they intended Lucy’s introduction to spur on that realization, then okay.

But that’s not what they do here.

Nothing about this feels right for Buck, and the last thing he needs is to be in a love triangle. Nor do we need him ending his relationship with Taylor just to jump into another one with someone exactly like him. It feels like they took all of Buck’s character development and threw it away for a love triangle exactly zero people wanted. 

And all this is to say nothing of the fact that Lucy is his new work partner, on top of being a romantic interest. Because we needed that added drama on top of everything else, right?

Can Eddie just come back already?

Buck, you need to move on. I have.

Eddie

Well, no. No, he can’t because Eddie is STRUGGLING. 

One thing 9-1-1 often does is gloss over trauma because they simply don’t allow themselves enough time to get into the nitty-gritty of trauma therapy. You may get a session or two on-screen, but that’s it.

Playing the ‘who’s had it worse’ game with the characters is silly because they’ve all been through it. But Eddie, in particular, is coming off some heavy-duty trauma after being shot, and Christopher is as well.

It’s perfectly normal for Christopher to be terrified that he may lose another parent because he already did! And Eddie choosing to step away from the 118, though a hasty decision, doesn’t feel like it’s wrong.

Sure, Eddie could get hit by a bus while out on a morning jog. But the chances of something happening to him go up exponentially every time he’s at his job, and that’s scary.

But clearly, this hour proves that Eddie has more going on than just missing the firehouse. Over time he becomes a shell of himself. He looks awful, and there’s a coldness in his eyes that I can’t remember seeing with Eddie, even after Shannon died.

When he goes to the bar and sees his friends laughing and carrying on after a hard day on the job, he looks lost. Firefighting isn’t his whole life, but it’s a big part. And being away from it and forced to sit in an office all day and battle the dreaded copy machine has taken his joy and allowed him time to think.

And whatever he’s thinking about that keeps him up at night is nothing good because Eddie is losing it.

Ever the astute captain, Bobby knows a cry for help when he sees one. And until Eddie gets some color back in those cheeks, he has no business being in a high-pressure job like firefighting.

What he said to Bobby was out of line and harsh and born from a place of anger at something else being out of his control, but he’s fortunate Bobby has a good heart and will forgive him because that’s the kind of man he is. At least I hope so, because he would be well within his rights to cut Eddie out. 

Eddie needs help in the worst way, and if he’s pushing Bobby away, maybe he’ll let someone else in. Hint, hint Buck! Because they’re supposed to be the best of friends, and we haven’t seen nearly enough of that relationship this season.

The man literally left Buck his son in case anything happens to him. And if we don’t get some kind of scene between the two of them confiding and helping one another, that will be a serious failure of epic proportions. 

I know that the beginning of this season suffered from an abundance of melodrama, and while there was all kinds of drama here, this installment felt more reminiscent of the old 9-1-1. The rescues were daring and the stories introduced here are intriguing, though I’m extremely dissappointed with where things seem to be going with Buck.

But is the 9-1-1 we all fell in love with back, guys? After one hour, the jury is still out.

Loose Ends

• 
  It’s been a minute since I’ve seen Speed, but they were playing the music from Speed during that bomb sequence, weren’t they?

• 
  The initial quinceanera rescue was nothing to write home about, but the bomb rescue was excellent, and those rescues are vintage 9-1-1. Though the neighbor hoarder being a pipe bomb expert came out of nowhere.

• 
  The montage of Eddie slowly losing his mind over the monotonous life that is the typical 9-5 was very well-done. You could feel Eddie slowly slipping away.

• 
  When will we get Chimney and Maddie back? It’s been 87 years.

• 
  I miss Buck and Eddie and Chimney and Hen together, but Buck and Hen together is a very underrated duo!

• 
  Eddie shouldn’t have hijacked a 911 call because he’s not a dispatcher. And if he’d been wrong, it could have caused significant problems. But Josh was kind of harsh with him. Granted, he doesn’t know Eddie is going through it, but still, it felt very harsh.

• 
  It’s a shame we didn’t get more of that dinner with Eddie, Buck, Taylor, and Christopher because I just know it was awkward.

Despite my continued misgivings, I missed 9-1-1 considerably! It was good to be back with the family again, and I’m excited to hear what you guys thought about the installment!

Drop all your comments down below, and make sure you watch 9-1-1 online so you can join in the conversation!

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