Spoilers ahead!
After a months-long hiatus, 9-1-1 is back with an explosive 2-part midseason premiere. And what a way to return to season 8! In Sob Stories, “the 118 responds to a fire at a local animal shelter and races to evacuate all the animals. Meanwhile, Maddie takes a 9-1-1 call that sets her on a quest for answers,” as the official synopsis tells us.
“Sob Stories” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Oliver Stark as Buck. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2024 Disney. All rights reserved.
The episode starts with Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) at dispatch answering a very weird call. There’s this person with a creepy weepy voice who is involved with a kidnapping — and while Maddie does her best to help the victim with Athena’s (Angela Bassett) help, the kidnapper finds a way to escape. Detective Amber Braeburn (Abigail Spencer) comes to help Maddie and Athena. Amber is introduced as someone with a high success rate in solving cases — it takes minutes for her to point a suspect to them. At first, it seems that Amber is right: Athena’s investigation leads her to the victim, Jayna (Chloe Csengery) who’s saved just after the kidnapper apparently killed himself (encouraged by Maddie in one wild scene!!) Maddie feels bad for what she had to do, but she’s ready to move on with her life — until the true kidnapper, who’s been Amber from the beginning, comes at night and takes Maddie with her.
The other big storyline here is Eddie (Ryan Guzman) preparing to move back to Texas because of Christopher (Gavin McHugh,) which as hinted by the fall finale last year leaves Buck (Oliver Stark) spinning because of his abandonment issues, because he really cares about his best friend. Buck probably doesn’t do it consciously, but he sabotages potential renters to close the deal with Eddie, which creates tension between both of them — tension that is amplified by something that Buck hears Eddie saying “no one’s keeping him in L.A.” Their fight gets more intense after Buck lets it slip to Bobby (Peter Krause), Hen (Aisha Hinds), and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) that Eddie is leaving; have I also told you about the dog rescued in a fire that Buck temporarily adopts, at least until a family appears to take him? This dog parallels Eddie in more than one way in this episode, creating a really interesting, cute dynamic that ends quickly but leaves a mark. In the end, Buck and Eddie make amends after Buck reveals that he decided to rent Eddie’s house. Now, Eddie is free to return to Texas.
“Sob Stories” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Ryan Guzman as Eddie. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2024 Disney. All rights reserved.
There’s something different about this episode. Technically, it’s better than the last few episodes released last year: the score is powerful and resonant, yes, with one sequence featuring a Billie Eilish song (it seems like ages ago since the last time a song was used this well by the show; I’d say the last time something like this happened, 9-1-1 aired on FOX.) But also the tone is so much better defined here when compared to last year — when Sob Stories wants to frighten us, it’s successful; when it wants us to laugh or to be emotional about the rom-com Buddie storyline, it’s also successful.
Some great camera work is done to guide the audience through these different roller coasters, and the thing is: it works! Athena’s role as a cop works, this time as a supporting figure in Maddie’s thriller storyline. The shelter incident leads to cute moments between the 118 firefighters (especially Buck) and the dogs, and it works too. And Eddie and Buck going through another “divorce” that leads them to consider why that departure is so painful… Well, I couldn’t believe I was watching some of that stuff onscreen. Their relationship has been beautiful from the start, and it’s going through fire during this episode (in a way that’s very surprising in a good way, and it also works.) Buck and Eddie say painful things to each other, not because they want to hurt the other, but because they are both already hurt. And the line about Eddie choosing Christopher over Buck, oh, that was peak couple's argument material. But in the end, when Buck finds a way through his misplaced feelings to give Eddie one final gift — a night with friends and good news about the house — you can see both of them (but especially Eddie) breaking, and it's beautiful.
9-1-1 returned with a banger of a midseason premiere. When it comes to Maddie, the tone is heavier; I’m still baffled that she basically tells a man — at work, as a dispatcher — to kill himself, with her boss near her. By baffled, I mean surprised in a positive way; this could have turned into a very absurd scene if not for Jennifer Love Hewitt’s powerful acting — did she do it because she felt threatened after Jee-Yun was mentioned? I can’t wait to watch what else she’s got in store for us along with Abigail Spencer. With Maddie kidnapped and probably having to fight for her life, I can only expect the most intense things from both of them acting-wise. Finally, Ryan Guzman and Oliver Stark also deliver most of the tender, subtle moments of this episode, and I can’t wait to watch what else is stored for them. And needless to say, I loved the dog, the cutest addition ever brought by this show.
Anyway, are you ready for season 8B? Should we be worried about Maddie? Feel free to leave a comment with your impressions and theories, and thanks for reading!
