#811 abc

Recap

In typical 9-1-1 fashion, we begin with an emergency. A fire, to be more specific. I will admit, one of the things I found lacking about this show on my initial binge is the lack of actual fires being put out. Then an acquaintance of mine, a former first responder, explained to me that nowadays firefighters aren’t just fighting fires. They’re dealing with traffic accidents, rescues, medical emergencies, and hazardous chemical situations. Now that I understand that, it makes the moments where we do get an emergency involving a structure being on fire even more special. So, as I said, we have a fire. There’s a residential building on fire and we see the 118 working to both put out the fire and rescue occupants trapped inside. Hen tends to an elderly man named Anton (played by) who tells her he’s been experiencing nausea for several days. He tells her he’s been taking a lot of antacid. Hen believes Anton may have an excess of calcium in his blood, most likely due to an undiagnosed thyroid condition. Anton asks about someone named Gladys and Hen assures him she has her best boys looking for Gladys. Speaking of best boys, Buck and Eddie are looking for Gladys who is a deaf woman. They go up to the roof of a neighboring building and jump over to the building currently on fire. Buck repels down the side of the building and crashes through the window of her apartment. He gets her out of harm’s way and as they’re both repelling down the side of the building to safety, there’s an explosion. The explosion catches their line on fire and thankfully they land on the inflatable airbag below. Everyone is safe. Gladys and Anton are reunited. It’s such a sweet moment. Meanwhile, Hen and Chimney transport Anton to the hospital. A group of doctors and nurses on standby greet them at the door and Hen tells them about Anton’s potential thyroid condition.

Back at the station, Buck is in a celebratory mood and wants to go out. Unfortunately, the others all have an excuse not to join him. Buck is dejected but decided to go out anyway. He ends up at a local watering hole frequented by firefighters and strikes up a conversation with a retired firefighter named Red Delacroix (played by Jack McGee). Red reminiscences about the good ole’ days and says to Buck the only time he and his old unit get together is for funerals. Buck then learns Red never got around to starting a family because he was too consumed with the firehouse, being the best, and saving lives. Meanwhile, over at Bobby and Athena’s, the two enjoy a quiet, kid-free evening when Hen shows up unannounced. Hen tells Bobby she heard on the radio there was a fatality from the residential fire. She tells him the person who died was Anton. Bobby says he thought Anton was fine and Hen says he should have been. She tells Bobby that she gave the nurse at the hospital a full rundown on what was going on with Anton and suggested they do an EKG. Bobby tells her he will make a call. After making the call, Bobby says the official cause of Anton’s death was cardiac arrest. Hen is shocked by the news and tells Bobby she told the hospital staff that Anton might have hypercalcemia. Bobby suggests maybe they missed it because they were dealing with other patients from the fire. Hen is upset because she did her job, but the hospital didn’t do theirs.  

Buck, being an absolute gentleman, walks Red back to his apartment. Buck sees a photo of Red’s old house – the Fighting 134 – hanging on the wall. Buck also learns that Red is the man’s nickname, and it was given to him because he was a bit of a hothead – much like Buck. The similarities continue when Buck notices a photo of a young Red with a woman. When he asks Red about the lady in the picture, Red tells him that’s the one that got away. Red says they were going to get married but she got tired of competing with the job. Red asks Buck if he has anybody and he says no. Red provides Buck with some sage advice. He says, “You can be the hero, save lives, but don’t neglect having your own. Last thing you want is to be at the end holding nothing but regrets.” Red’s words hit Buck like a ton of bricks. The next day, at the station, Buck tells the others about meeting Red. He tells them that all the guys from Red’s unit don’t talk anymore. Hen says that life gets busy and it’s easy for people to lose touch. Buck wonders if that will happen to the 118 and the others assure him it won’t. Eddie asks Hen and Chimney if they keep in touch with the old 118. Chimney says he spoke to Tommy the previous year. Eddie, again, assures Buck that they won’t fall out of touch, even if they retire or move to another firehouse.

We get an emergency involving a father and son. The two are riding a motorized scooter when a drone crashes in front of them causing them to get thrown from the scooter. Thankfully they are okay although the dad may have a broken arm. Athena arrives on the scene and speaks with the owner of the drone. He tells Athena the drone got away from him. A woman asks the owner, whose name is Jeffrey Hudson (played by Noah Bean) why he was flying the drone over her house. Athena tells Jeffrey it is illegal for him to fly a drone over private property. He tells Athena he’s a realtor and he was only trying to get aerial views of the home he is trying to sell. The woman tells Athena she knows almost everyone in the neighborhood, and she hasn’t heard of anyone selling. Jeffrey says the home hasn’t gone up on the MLS (multiple listing service) yet. Athena tells him that if he is using the drone for his job, it should be registered with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). She asks Jeffrey to see his remote pilot’s license which he doesn’t have. Athena has Jeffrey arrested for operating a drone without a license, trespassing and destruction of private property.

Over at the LAPD, Athena escorts Jeffrey into custody and turns over the broken drone to an officer. Meanwhile, Buck shows up at Red’s apartment telling him he found Cindy, the one that got away. Buck says Cindy is widowed. Buck throws Red’s words about not having regrets back at him and convinces him to go see Cindy. Red agrees to go visit her. When they arrive at Cindy’s home, Buck gives Red two tickets to the Dodgers-Mets series. They go to the door and Cindy’s caretaker Doris (played by Loren Escandon) answers. Cindy also comes to the door and appears to recognize Red. She invites him and Buck inside. Doris serves tea while Red catches up with Cindy. As the conversation progresses, it becomes quite evident that Cindy has some sort of dementia which is crushing for Red. She panics and starts asking about her husband. Buck and Red make a hasty retreat and the latter tells Buck they never should have come. The one lasting memory he had is now ruined. He tells Buck to stay away because he’s not sure he can survive with his help anymore.

Back at LAPD, the officer who Athena handed the drone off to reports finding something disturbing. Apparently, Jeffrey is a Peeping Tom and was using the drone to spy on women. Athena then learns Jeffrey has been released from custody by the Feds. Meanwhile, Buck speaks with Maddie about Red. Maddie asks if the situation with Red is reminding Buck of his own romantic life – or lack thereof. Buck thinks she’s being ridiculous. He then asks Maddie if she thinks he’s lonely. She tells him he stopped trying after Abby. She tells him she understands but he’s quick to remind her it’s him who always gets left behind – not her. In fact, Maddie is the one who always leaves. Buck assures Maddie he’s not mad. He tells her she doesn’t know what it’s like when people walk away.

We have another emergency. We see two chefs competing in a reality TV cooking competition a la Chopped. Chef Maurice (played by Jeff Blim) shakes a can of nitrous whipped cream, and it explodes. The spout the whipped cream is dispensed through gets lodged in Chef Maurice’s chest splattering whipped cream and blood all over the kitchen set. The 118 arrive and Hen and Chimney tend to Chef Maurice. Chimney says the whipped cream spout is millimeters from the chef’s heart. Bobby radios to the hospital to have surgeons on standby. During transport, Hen performs a thoracotomy much to Chimney disapproval. She puts her finger in his chest and keeps it there all the way to the hospital. When the ambulance arrives, a doctor (played by Joe Gillette) scolds Hen for performing the procedure. Hen accompanies the doctor and nurses into the operating room. Another doctor, Dr. Imelda Royce (played by Jessica Tuck) commends Hen for breaking the rules to save the chef’s life. The surgery is a success.

Meanwhile, Buck gets a call from Red who is in the hospital. Buck learns that Red has cancer. Buck, learning from his earlier mistake, simply asks if there’s anything he can do. Red asks if Buck can sit with him. Buck takes a seat and asks Red to tell him a story about his old house. The next day at the station, Hen sees a doctor’s coat hanging over her turnout gear. The others commend her for saving the life of the chef. Bobby congratulates her too and tells her never to do that again. Back at the hospital, Buck arranges for several firefighters to help him escort Red out of the hospital after he is discharged. It’s such a touching scene watching Buck help Red into the firetruck. Red is deeply touched by the gesture. As the firetruck drives off, Red salutes Buck. We then learn from Buck that Red dies. Maddie tells her brother he was a good friend to Red. She then says that Buck is nothing like Red. His life is not Buck’s life. His life is not Buck’s future. Maddie tells Buck the difference between he and Red is that Red didn’t have a sister. She says that she knows she left him behind twice but she came back. She pinky promises to never leave him behind.

In the final scene of the episode, Athena and Detective Lou Ransone (played by Sasha Roiz) go to Jeffrey Hudson’s home. Jeffrey has flown the coop but has left a lot of evidence behind. An officer finds a video of Jeffrey attacking a woman in her woman in her home. Turns out, Jeffrey Hudson isn’t just a Peeping Tom. He’s a serial rapist.

Observations

After the apartment fire, Buck wants to go out and celebrate. Everyone has an excuse as to why they cannot hangout; however, Eddie tells Buck he can come over and help him chaperone Christopher’s sleepover. I know I always have my foot on the neck of Buddie shippers, but I find this moment funny because at times it seems that Buck is only useful to Eddie when it comes to helping him raise his son.

The whole point of this episode is that Buck’s life doesn’t have to end up like Red’s. However, the two share a LOT of similarities. They both go by their nicknames (Buck and Red) instead of their actual names (Evan and John). They’re both adventurous and love being firefighters. They can fly off the handle at times. They both fell in love with red heads.

Speaking of Red Delacroix, this is not the first time I’ve seen his actor Jack McGee play a firefighter. I remember him from the FX show Rescue Me starring Denis Leary.  

Buck is a great active listener.

I love any time Athena and Bobby dance.

Chimney mentions that he keeps in touch with Tommy, further proof that Tommy Kinard has always been around. Also, there’s no malice in the mentioning of his name which tells me that even though Hen and Chimney don’t check in with Tommy regularly, they have no ill-will towards him.

Bobby using the chainsaw made me so nervous especially since we can’t see the dad’s head.

Whenever Buck is really having a hard time, he typically goes to the women in his life. I love how candid he is with Maddie. It was important that he let her know that her abandoning him really affected him. I love their pinkie promise at the end of the episode. It’s not the last time we will see it.

Chef Maurice looks an awful lot like Chef Marcel Vigneron on Bravo’s hit cooking competition show Top Chef

The scene where Buck wheels Red out of the hospital always makes me cry. Seeing all those first responders, past and present, standing at attention is so beautiful. Buck is a good guy. Period. You can never make me hate him. Also, I love how the 118 showed up for Buck as well.

911 Lore

This episode marks the first appearance of Detective Lou Ransone played by Sasha Roiz.

This episode marks the first appearance of Jeffrey Hudson played by Noah Bean.

Hen’s medical intervention could’ve resulted in her being fired. Instead, it inspires a new career path.

Maddie left Buck twice – she left him when she left home for the first time and she left him again when she married Doug.