“Home” means many things in Episode 4 of Season 8 of 9-1-1. Front and center is the Wilson family, who are fighting the courts and Councilman Ortiz to bring Mara home to them. For Eddie (Ryan Guzman), home is now a place without Christopher. For Athena (Angela Bassett) and Bobby (Peter Krause), home means rebuilding. And for 118, home means sticking together. “There’s No Place Like Home” brings us back to the regularly scheduled thematic rescues that made this episode one of the best of the season.
After saving Captain Gerrard’s (Brian Thompson) life, Buck (Oliver Stark) lives a golfing life (is that how you say golf?). Gerrard is happy to be alive and it’s all thanks to Buck, so Buck now gets to join Gerrard on his high-profile golf outings and listen to him lament the lack of discipline at 118. Buck is also recruited to help Gerrard fire someone, which Buck doesn’t agree with.
There’s a lot of setup going on in this scene, especially the budget cuts that the L.A. Fire Department suddenly needs to make. Considering this is the first scene of the episode that sets up the end of Gerrard’s story, Buck’s role in the rest of the episode ends up feeling undercut. This isn’t the first time someone has asked him to provide damaging information about his colleagues.
Buck did that during the litigation period in Season 3. Obviously he doesn’t do that here, but the golf scene seems to set up a larger role for Buck that doesn’t really play out throughout the episode. He complains to Bobby about Gerrard, which eventually leads to the end of the episode, but given all the anxiety Buck and Gerrard had in the first two episodes, the ending is arguably underwhelming.
Supposedly, because is that Gerrard’s ending? He helps save the day, but only for his own personal gain. He gets Bobby’s job because he just wants someone to make him coffee. But is his return worth it? While this episode wins in many ways, the conclusion about Gerrard as captain of the 118 seems a little too simplistic. But hey, Bobby eventually returns to the 118, so I’ll take it.
Speaking of Bobby, his other housing situation might be better. The houses they’ve toured so far don’t speak to Athena. But when Athena brings up the idea of rebuilding the same house in the same location as Michael’s blueprint, it sounds like a good idea in theory. But for Bobby, he wants to build a house for both of them. It’s a great sentiment, especially when talking about how the definition of home can change.
What people consider “home” can change; Bobby is proof of that. It’s great to see Athena and Bobby actually starting over, but Athena’s desire for the familiarity of her old home underlies Eddie’s storyline in this episode, which involves reconciling a father and son who don’t speak. A high school cheerleader named Weston contorts his entire body after being knocked into the bench by football players. Chimney (Kenneth Choi), Hen, and Eddie make a great team on this call, with Eddie performing a dangerous medical procedure in the back of an ambulance. It’s great to be back on calls like this.
But Eddie is worried that Weston’s dad won’t be there for his son. He stops by the auto shop where Weston’s dad works and sits down to talk to him. Eddie has struggled with not having Chris around, but this scene is a great sign that Eddie has accepted and hastened Chris’ passing, which is his fault. And no matter what your kids choose, you have to love them through it.
This is a great episode for Eddie, and I love how you can follow his story through multiple scenes, even with just a facial expression. Eddie follows Weston’s first comment about his dad, but very subtly, before it’s time to move on to the urgent situation at hand. Eddie then briefly talks to Bobby about it. Then he shows up at the auto shop, making everything feel like a complete arc.
