Buck goes to confession, encountering Father Brian (Gavin Stenhouse). The priest, who has had run-ins with Bobby and Eddie, doesn’t really factor into the episode much. But it’s funny to hear Buck clarify that he’s not Catholic, learning the steps of confession on his phone. The scene exists for two reasons. The first is to remind viewers why, other than Athena and possibly Howard, Buck will have the toughest time moving on from Bobby’s death.
Whereas his cohorts have enough going on in their lives and the emotional maturity to accept the fact that they may well drift apart, Buck has always struggled with the concept. He’s struggling right then with how the 118 is drifting after their shared loss, no longer speaking or sharing a meal. Father Brian leaves him alone to talk to the loved one he’s missing, not realizing it’s Bobby Nash, and Buck wonders aloud if the 118 even needs him.
His sadness is interrupted by a tiny tremor of an earthquake, which contaminates most of the water supply in Los Angeles. As always, with these 9-1-1 emergencies, the specifics don’t matter. What does matter is that, for the first time in several weeks, the central emergency is fun. There’s a montage that runs through Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and the other dispatchers responding to the procedural’s classic zany distress calls. Highlights include a man burping fire and Josh (Bryan Safi) advising a caller to start running away from bodies of water. The show also brings back former one-off guests like Lorna (Phoebe Neidhart). After she starts breathing fire during an already stressful dentist’s appointment, Buck recognizes her as the woman who turned blue from toothache medicine in season 3.
Athena runs into a familiar face of her own, responding to a call that involves Greame Quay (Sam Roach). Athena bonded with the Cart Cop back in the season 8 episode “Wannabes.” Still not on speaking terms with his parents, Greame has moved on from punishing those who abandon their shopping carts in the parking lot to messing with people who leave their laundry in the washing machine beyond the allowed time.
It all works, including a scene where Maddie advises a caller to essentially snorkel toilet water to keep from suffocating in her burning bathroom. It proves that the series doesn’t have to imitate a somber feature film on a network budget when trying to do these big two-part events. It’s enough to be a little inventive, a little light-footed, and to bring in guest stars capable of making the audience care about their fates even a little bit.
Buck & Eddie Have Another Electric Scene. They’re Different From Any Other Pairing On The Show. About halfway through “Don’t Drink the Water”, Buck has a confrontation with Eddie. There’s some tension between the two roommates. Buck is upset that Eddie didn’t tell him that he’s eying a job with the El Paso Fire Department. Eddie, for his part, is upset that Buck has been spiraling since the funeral and would have made Eddie’s new job all about his own feelings of abandonment. I love that Eddie thinks enough of Buck to pick a fight with him, even if he’s hurtful in the process.
Eddie’s line is cutting, which is kind of funny because it’s so undeniably true. But what I appreciate about it, what I like about Eddie getting in Buck’s face and pointing his finger a moment later, is that it highlights what makes Buddie different than other 9-1-1 pairings — they actually fight. It’s personal, a little hurtful, and nothing like what you’d ever see from Maddie/Howard and Hen/Karen. The former have been through too much hell to hurt each other, while Karen and Hen have, for at least the past few seasons, been the picture of domestic stability. That’s similarly true of Bobby and Athena.
I love that Eddie thinks enough of Buck to pick a fight with him,, even if he’s hurtful in the process. Buck complains that everyone is tiptoeing around him, afraid to tell him the truth. When push comes to shove, though, Eddie sees Buck as an equal and someone who can handle brutal honesty. He trusts the relationship they’ve built to know that they’ll survive it.
