9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 17 Finds Hen at a Crossroads, While Buck and Eddie Collide
Another week without Bobby Nash has come and gone on 9-1-1, and it’s still taking some getting used to.
Bobby’s death is a big deal, and the show must treat it that way, which it has to this point, even if they could also be doing more.
9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 17 served as another hour dealing directly with the grief being felt by those left to shoulder the pain of losing an integral part of their lives and finding a way to deal with the sudden chasm his absence leaves in their lives.
While 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 16 abandoned the “typical” 9-1-1 and was more character-driven with Athena’s case mixed in, and only one emergency, this hour returned to basics with multiple emergencies and a tight focus on the continued fallout from Bobby’s death through character stories.
For Athena, she returned to work, which was not surprising considering who we know Athena to be. She’s a person who loves her job, and she’s also a person who puts everything into anything she does.
She would never be the type of person to sit around and sit in her pain, and that’s okay.
While Athena finds herself reunited with cart cop Graham in a weird case involving missing undergarments, her continued struggles with Chimney are at the forefront of her journey through living with the reality that Bobby is gone.
As I’ve said before, there is no grief manual that everyone must follow. Athena is trying her best to figure out her new normal, and she’s self-aware enough to understand that she’s not ready to pretend she’s not angry with Chimney.
If you want to debate whether or not Athena’s anger was justified, feel free, but she was hurting, and whether or not she had a “right” to be upset with Chimney or not, her feelings were rooted in the sadness that she lost her husband in such a cruel and unfair manner.
Everyone knows about the five stages of grief, and anger is a big part of that.
You can be mad at yourself or at someone else, or even the person who died. It may not be rational or justified, but it’s real. And it can be hard to manage.
One of the best scenes in an hour full of powerful scenes was the conversation between Athena and Karen, and I loved that they gave Karen the moment with Athena as someone who was a little further removed from the perceived conflict than Hen.
They are a 9-1-1 duo I would love to see more of!
Chimney is Hen’s best friend, and Athena is one of her closest friends, putting her into an odd tug of war. Neither person wanted her to choose a side or anything like that, but she would still be feeling tugged back and forth.
Karen’s also friends with both, but not as close, and she didn’t push Athena or tell her what she felt was wrong. Instead, she listened, responded appropriately, and gave her a different perspective.
Athena was very aware that she was angry and wasn’t trying to hide it, but her desire to keep Chimney at arm’s length felt like something she wanted to be more than temporary.
There’s taking time to work through difficult emotions, and then there’s just cutting all ties, and she sounded more interested in the latter than the former.
Athena and Karen’s conversation put into perspective that Athena and Chimney have a relationship, but it was always through other people. With one of those people gone, what do the two of them have?
There was no resolution to that in the hour, but considering where the hour left off with the building collapse in the wake of an earthquake, it feels like we’ll be headed toward the two of them working together in some way and working through their grief together.
Chimney wants to be an anchor for Athena, the way that he knows Bobby would have been an anchor for Maddie, but Athena needs space, and another wonderfully beautiful conversation was had between Chimney and Maddie discussing just that.
Maddie’s looking at her husband, whom she always lost, and feeling so grateful that she could touch his hand because of Bobby’s sacrifice, while Chimney’s still in the throes of survivor’s guilt and the loss of a good friend.
Grief is so incredibly all-consuming because it twists you up, and it can feel like you’ll never be able to free yourself from its grip.
I hoped we would see the continued grief journeys of the others affected by Bobby’s death, and this hour did not disappoint in that regard, which was a welcome surprise.
Bobby’s death marks the first major death of a main character, and we needed to see Athena and the 118’s raw, unfiltered reactions, which they slowly revealed over the last two hours.
We saw some of Hen’s pain in the previous hour, and here she was struggling with the idea of being captain, replacing Bobby, and what that would mean for her future.
After the shock of Bobby’s death subsided, and I started to think long-term, Hen becoming the new captain was the only viable option.
Hen put in the work, she had the experience through her various stints as interim captain, and perhaps more than anything, she had the respect and admiration of her colleagues in a way an outsider probably never would.
At least not right away.
It didn’t dawn on me that she may not want the job until I thought back to 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5, where Hen and Karen talked about Hen missing big moments with the family due to her career.
It was the kind of conversation that you return to, and it came back to me as I watched Hen debate whether or not she wanted the promotion.
It seemed obvious that she didn’t want it, but it was hard to tell whether that was because of how she would have gotten the job or because it wasn’t actually something she wanted to pursue.
Not many people turn down a promotion, but not everyone is Henrietta Wilson. If she’s content with her current life and does not necessarily want to add the stress or the added hours of being captain at this particular moment, who am I to say that’s wrong?
Hen’s passion has always been in the field of helping people, something we’ve seen time and time again on the show. And it’s not as if becoming captain means you no longer help, but your job is to make sure everyone else is doing their job more than it is stepping in to get your hands dirty.
Hen has never wanted to sit back idly, and I think she learned that while serving as interim captain.
So, she weighed her options and made the best decision for herself when she presented the facts.
Think about the last time she was interim captain and everything that happened with the councilwoman? The politics and the pain may have soured her, and that’s OKAY.
I support Hen’s choices!
Maybe she will feel differently in the future, and we can explore that later. But her decision made sense given where she currently is and how she views the status of her life.
I may hate the idea of Hen not being captain, but I can understand where she was coming from.
Speaking of being captain, there has been much talk about Buck potentially stepping into that role, and that seems highly unlikely right now because they aren’t setting that up at all.
This hour was more about showing why Buck wasn’t emotionally ready for something like that right now. At least through the eyes of his family.
Unpacking Buck’s feelings about Bobby’s death was a must because even though I hated how the show picked and chose when to highlight the fatherly bond between Bobby and Buck, it was a bond that existed and was important to both.
It was why Buck was one of the two people we got to see Bobby say goodbye to on-screen, and it’s why Buck struggled so much in the aftermath, considering what Bobby told him.
To Buck, everything was slipping away, including the wonderful life and family he’d made in Los Angeles.
Bobby’s death changed the ecosystem, disrupting the flow and leaving Buck unable to make things right.
Going to confession was such a Buck thing because he would try anything he could to reach Bobby and feel a semblance of normalcy again. Religion was important to Bobby, a cornerstone of his life, and Buck meeting with Father Brian was him trying to connect with Bobby in the most personable way possible.
Oliver Stark did some great work in this hour, displaying that quiet rage that burrows under the surface alongside grief. His breakdown in the confessional booth was him expressing all his fears, and you could feel every single amount of Buck’s pain in his sad eyes and broken voice.
Buck was on his game at work, stepping in and doing his job, but his life wasn’t balanced outside of it, and maybe he doesn’t process that the way other people would, which again is okay.
None of these people are getting a medal for handling grief in the best way. No such medal exists.
The fact that everyone could see Buck wasn’t okay and that they were basically placating him by going along with his psychoanalysis and trying their best not to upset him meant that there was probably a lot more he was doing that we just weren’t seeing.
But Eddie, ever the Buck seer, wasn’t going to let Buck keep on keeping on without telling him about himself one way or the other.
Buck may have been more outwardly struggling than others, but that doesn’t mean other people weren’t struggling either.
Just because a person isn’t crying or is still going on with their lives does not mean they aren’t still in pain.
Eddie had his own burden to bear about Bobby’s death, and the role he felt he played in it by not being there with his team when he died, and also feeling like his relationship with Bobby could have been better before he died.
That kind of guilt will eat at you, and you could see that when he and Buck had it out in their kitchen.
Eddie’s not wanting to tell Buck about the job in El Paso was valid based on past reactions and Buck’s current fragile nature.
If you want to say Eddie shouldn’t have assumed how Buck would react, then sure, you could say that, but in not telling Buck, Eddie felt he was protecting his peace and feelings as much as he was protecting Buck’s.
Eddie’s speech to Buck about his penchant for making things about himself was very reminiscent of their argument during 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 9; it’s just that this time, Eddie had a quip at the ready.
Listen, Buck does make things about himself. He always has, and he’s cognizant of that.
He tends to catastrophize and think about how he’s being affected first, and everyone else second. But again, he was hurting, and the pain of a loss doesn’t always lend itself to emotionally mature decisions.
Buck didn’t seem to consider how Eddie was feeling or why Eddie may not have wanted to tell Buck his news, considering the things that had happened in the past. Instead, he immediately jumped to judgment, and Eddie had a right to push back on that.
I wrote about Eddie not always getting his proper due as a character and what a missed opportunity it was not to see his reaction to Bobby’s death on-screen, and the 9-1-1 gods apparently heard my plea.
Hearing Eddie speak about what it was like to receive a phone call hundreds of miles away from the people he adores and to have to keep his emotions in check so as not to scare his son was heartbreaking.
And seeing it through his eyes? I am tearing up just reliving it.
There were two broken men in that kitchen trying to put one foot in front of the other, and in that moment, they lashed out and took the pain they were carrying to lay at the other’s feet.
I don’t blame Eddie for his reaction because he was also hurting and didn’t feel supported.
When Buck apologized to Eddie and said he knew Bobby was important to Eddie, it was as if it was the first time he actually realized that throughout everything.
But Buck’s also in pain, and hurt people hurt people.
There will be much discourse surrounding this scene and their reactions to one another, but it really boiled down to two people with tremendous love for one another amid an enormous loss, lashing out at the person closest to them.
They are both grieving and that’s really just it. Full stop.
Eddie leaving the next morning was like a dagger to Buck’s heart, and the sick part of me that loves a little angst appreciated that Eddie left a cryptic note instead of texting Buck to say he was going to the airport to pick up Chris.
The note just made Buck (and us) think he left for Texas for good, making his return with Christoper and Pepa in tow a much more meaningful moment.
Eddie also acknowledged that he wasn’t the kindest to Buck, which was also a nice touch, even if I thought his frustration was justified.
If someone had told me that Buck and Pepa would have one of my favorite conversations of the whole season, I would have been very confused because we haven’t even seen Pepa in a minute.
But her inclusion here was perfect, as someone Buck could confide in and someone on the outside looking in who could give more practical guidance but also have an emotional tie.
Change is inevitable, and you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. It takes time, and you won’t magically be okay just because you understand those things.
There may be no embracing Bobby’s departure, but there can be moving forward. There can be acceptance, as painful as it may be, and there may be understanding.
It was important for Buck to hear that from someone like Pepa, who went through her illness and came out with a deeper appreciation for life. He will be able to pick himself up and get through this one step at a time. And Pepa is family! She certainly let Buck know that during their chat.
The emotions were heavy during this one, and change was the pervading theme.
From Athena and Graham to Hen’s decision and the rift between Buck and Eddie, there’s an acknowledgment that change must happen, but how you deal with that change matters.
Only one more hour left this season, and another big emergency to get through to see how this sad season ends.
9-1-1 doesn’t ever go out too sad, so I’m expecting a finale that pushes the characters forward, while hoping it still honors the legacy of Bobby Nash and what he meant to the characters and this show.
Loose Ends
- We will have to get more clarity in the finale about whether Eddie is staying in Texas or returning to Los Angeles, but his bringing Christopher there to see Buck felt like Eddie declaring he knows where home is.
- If they are going to start every episode with flashbacks of Bobby, I will accept it, but it’s also going to break my heart.
- The emergencies were really strong during this hour, especially the one with various departments connecting the hoses. I also loved Buck busting through the skylight to save the woman in the bathroom.
- The cart cop coming back, and the Smurf were nice little nods to the past. 9-1-1 has never missed an opportunity to bring someone back!
- “Our Eddie.”
- Buck and Eddie dancing around each other in their kitchen, while not at all the point, was very domestic.
- May and Harry are going to end up moving into the house with Athena, right?
- When will we be free of Gerrard?
Lots of questions to be answered as we head straight to the end!
You made it to the end — and that means a lot.
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You can watch 9-1-1 on ABC at 8/7c on Thursdays.
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