911 is back with an episode that was (for the most part) a return to beloved s2-3 form after a lackluster, filler first half of the season and a messy season before that. The dream team that brought us the first of the tsunami episodes showed up in full force to bring interesting emergencies the likes of which we haven't seen in quite some time (handled again with care and gravitas instead of cheesy, quippy 911 call-ins), and a cliffhanger that will leave you breathless. There were a few glaring things that keep this from being a perfect episode and given what we ended up getting in 6x11 it's no surprise, but still disappointing. But first, lets talk about the good stuff!
There were 3 emergency calls this week and every one was riveting! The father on the beach, cut by glass from the lightning was SUCH an interesting event, and seeing Buck with those kids was a treat. He's so good with them, and it's always fun to see him helping the kids on calls. The pregnant woman call was another nail biter and I liked that it started with a little levity in the conversation between the woman and the driver. I laughed several times and then was left rooted to the TV waiting for the team to free everyone and save the baby. That Buck and Bobby scene was such a mirror to the pilot episode which was fun to see and I absolutely teared up a bit when the baby started to cry. You could feel all the people at the scene letting out a breath! Maybe the best part of these emergencies is that we didn't spend 10 minutes setting up the scene before the 118 arrives only to get a minute of them working the scene. These two emergencies felt far more balanced and had the energy we used to see in earlier seasons.
The final emergency was a masterpiece! Buck taking Chim's place on the ladder, Eddie hooking Buck to him with the equivalent to a red string of fate, the sound as Buck tumbles from the ladder as Eddie is thrown backwards, the team moving in slow motion until Eddie sees Buck's lifeless body twisting on the rope and screams for him, everything starting to move at a frantic pace again, Eddie screaming for Buck all the way up the ladder, Eddie trying to pull 200 something pounds of dead weight up to himself because it's BUCK, Eddie asking if Buck can hear him, Eddie lowering his best friend AWAY from himself and down to the team, Bobby reaching up and cradling Buck with an "I got you kid", Chim and Hen frantically working, Chim hopping up to perform CPR, Eddie shouting "talk to me!" and pushing Bobby out of the way to get to Buck, Bobby pulling Eddie back and making him drive so he has something to focus on, the last shot of Buck's helmet lying in the street in the rain, every last second of that call was amazing and I could not look away. After the first half of the season barely let Buck and Eddie speak to each other it was wonderful to see their close relationship (however you want to look at it) on full display and to see the team fighting for one of their own.
As far as personal stories, it was interesting to see what May and Athena were up to investigating for Bobby, and the Bobby/Buck scene about the chili was another great moment. We have been missing that relationship for awhile so it was great to see it again! Other good nuggets include Hen and Denny scenes, Hen getting Eddie to play catch so she can practice to play with Denny, Chim calling Buck "Evan" while Buck looks confused and calls him "Howie" back, The Buckley siblings + Chim as a united front against the impending parents, and Buck counting glasses, trying to figure out why Chim needed to go get more wine.
Unfortunately, that leaves the rest of the episode to talk about which is where we run into the bad and confusing. The timeline is confusing with the crew on shift multiple different times, interspersed with various scenes at home in between so there's no sense of how much time is happening. Speaking of personal scenes, everyone was shown at home with family except for Eddie and Chris. In fact, aside from a quick line in the opening emergency and the final emergency call, Eddie is barely seen at all and isn't even at the pregnant woman call. After barely seeing him in the first half this was disappointing and is starting to look shady given what the showrunner seems to think of his character having scenes with Buck.
The major thing this episode though was the push for an unearned redemption for two sets of toxic, emotionally neglectful parents without any of the care or apologies or ownership of their mistakes and how they hurt their kids. For the Buckley's, I think we all remember The Baby Box Incident, and the fact that Maddie, Buck, and Chim are all absolutely baffled at how Margret and Phillip are acting SHOWS the audience that they haven't made any progress over the past two seasons since they were last mentioned, even while the words we're being told say something different. And for Bobby and especially Eddie to brush it off and act like this relationship is the So Important to repair when Eddie was the one telling Buck in s4 that his emotions were valid if that's how his parents were making him feel. As for Mr. Han, he barely says a word until the whole sperm donor thing comes up (WHY is this storyline even still happening? What is the point if Buck isn't struggling with the decision at all? What is he learning?) as the catalyst for a fight between the parents vying for Worst Of Show. The scene was wholly uncomfortable and not in a good, tension building way but in a "why are we wasting time on this" way. Far too much time this episode was spent on these parents and the other characters guilting and gaslighting Buck, Maddie, and Chim about how THEY are the ones causing the problems because they don't want to just get along with Hen being the only one who gave good advice to Chim. I know where these plots are going and I am NOT here for it. The work and care put into Eddie and Hen's stories with their parents was one thing, but sometimes parents are just bad and that's okay. For a show about found family and putting in the work to be better, this push to simply ignore everything these parents have done wrong doesn't mesh.
No one asked for this and in was a grating flaw that took up too much time in an otherwise spectacular episode. It was nice to get an episode that FINALLY felt like the show I knew and loved, but seeing where these arcs are headed and knowing who is still for some reason running this show, I'm not holding my breath for the rest of the season.
Still not a single word or mention of Ravi and while Anirudh has been spotted on set, it's going to be odd for him to pop up later after zero mentions for nearly a year since s5 ended last May.
There were 3 emergency calls this week and every one was riveting! The father on the beach, cut by glass from the lightning was SUCH an interesting event, and seeing Buck with those kids was a treat. He's so good with them, and it's always fun to see him helping the kids on calls. The pregnant woman call was another nail biter and I liked that it started with a little levity in the conversation between the woman and the driver. I laughed several times and then was left rooted to the TV waiting for the team to free everyone and save the baby. That Buck and Bobby scene was such a mirror to the pilot episode which was fun to see and I absolutely teared up a bit when the baby started to cry. You could feel all the people at the scene letting out a breath! Maybe the best part of these emergencies is that we didn't spend 10 minutes setting up the scene before the 118 arrives only to get a minute of them working the scene. These two emergencies felt far more balanced and had the energy we used to see in earlier seasons.
The final emergency was a masterpiece! Buck taking Chim's place on the ladder, Eddie hooking Buck to him with the equivalent to a red string of fate, the sound as Buck tumbles from the ladder as Eddie is thrown backwards, the team moving in slow motion until Eddie sees Buck's lifeless body twisting on the rope and screams for him, everything starting to move at a frantic pace again, Eddie screaming for Buck all the way up the ladder, Eddie trying to pull 200 something pounds of dead weight up to himself because it's BUCK, Eddie asking if Buck can hear him, Eddie lowering his best friend AWAY from himself and down to the team, Bobby reaching up and cradling Buck with an "I got you kid", Chim and Hen frantically working, Chim hopping up to perform CPR, Eddie shouting "talk to me!" and pushing Bobby out of the way to get to Buck, Bobby pulling Eddie back and making him drive so he has something to focus on, the last shot of Buck's helmet lying in the street in the rain, every last second of that call was amazing and I could not look away. After the first half of the season barely let Buck and Eddie speak to each other it was wonderful to see their close relationship (however you want to look at it) on full display and to see the team fighting for one of their own.
As far as personal stories, it was interesting to see what May and Athena were up to investigating for Bobby, and the Bobby/Buck scene about the chili was another great moment. We have been missing that relationship for awhile so it was great to see it again! Other good nuggets include Hen and Denny scenes, Hen getting Eddie to play catch so she can practice to play with Denny, Chim calling Buck "Evan" while Buck looks confused and calls him "Howie" back, The Buckley siblings + Chim as a united front against the impending parents, and Buck counting glasses, trying to figure out why Chim needed to go get more wine.
Unfortunately, that leaves the rest of the episode to talk about which is where we run into the bad and confusing. The timeline is confusing with the crew on shift multiple different times, interspersed with various scenes at home in between so there's no sense of how much time is happening. Speaking of personal scenes, everyone was shown at home with family except for Eddie and Chris. In fact, aside from a quick line in the opening emergency and the final emergency call, Eddie is barely seen at all and isn't even at the pregnant woman call. After barely seeing him in the first half this was disappointing and is starting to look shady given what the showrunner seems to think of his character having scenes with Buck.
The major thing this episode though was the push for an unearned redemption for two sets of toxic, emotionally neglectful parents without any of the care or apologies or ownership of their mistakes and how they hurt their kids. For the Buckley's, I think we all remember The Baby Box Incident, and the fact that Maddie, Buck, and Chim are all absolutely baffled at how Margret and Phillip are acting SHOWS the audience that they haven't made any progress over the past two seasons since they were last mentioned, even while the words we're being told say something different. And for Bobby and especially Eddie to brush it off and act like this relationship is the So Important to repair when Eddie was the one telling Buck in s4 that his emotions were valid if that's how his parents were making him feel. As for Mr. Han, he barely says a word until the whole sperm donor thing comes up (WHY is this storyline even still happening? What is the point if Buck isn't struggling with the decision at all? What is he learning?) as the catalyst for a fight between the parents vying for Worst Of Show. The scene was wholly uncomfortable and not in a good, tension building way but in a "why are we wasting time on this" way. Far too much time this episode was spent on these parents and the other characters guilting and gaslighting Buck, Maddie, and Chim about how THEY are the ones causing the problems because they don't want to just get along with Hen being the only one who gave good advice to Chim. I know where these plots are going and I am NOT here for it. The work and care put into Eddie and Hen's stories with their parents was one thing, but sometimes parents are just bad and that's okay. For a show about found family and putting in the work to be better, this push to simply ignore everything these parents have done wrong doesn't mesh.
No one asked for this and in was a grating flaw that took up too much time in an otherwise spectacular episode. It was nice to get an episode that FINALLY felt like the show I knew and loved, but seeing where these arcs are headed and knowing who is still for some reason running this show, I'm not holding my breath for the rest of the season.
Still not a single word or mention of Ravi and while Anirudh has been spotted on set, it's going to be odd for him to pop up later after zero mentions for nearly a year since s5 ended last May.
