9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 14 - Dumb Luck

Hey Angels and Biscuits! Today’s Tea:

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Hey Angels and Biscuits! Today’s Tea: 〰️

9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 14 – Dumb Luck Review

This was another episode of season five that I went into with high expectations but unlike Fear-o-phobia this one delivered better results. Not perfect but definitely much more engaging and entertaining.

Dumb Luck finds our 9-1-1 crew with two main plots. The first is miraculous save that has an interesting domino effect later on. Lucy gets an epic save that seemed impossible and later the crew finds out that the woman she saved with what seemed like dumb luck was a trauma surgeon. By saving her who knows how many lives will be saved as a result.

The second finds Eddie struggling with his PTSD and survivors’ guilt. Eddie has been questioning whether their job is worth everything that comes with it. If everything is just random, what good does it really do. Buck has been there for Eddie this whole episode and is determined to help show him that what they do is worth it. That they help.

So, let’s get right into the stuff that didn’t work for me in this episode.

And it’s mostly just Lucy. Her character came in as a negative catalyst for Buck and Taylor, I still think this is going to blow up in Buck’s face as he hasn’t told Taylor the whole truth yet, but they continue to make her character not that likable. She gets an epic save that was objectively pretty cool and she is unhappy about it because by all statistics the woman should have died. She obsessed over how to be better prepared for next time instead of just enjoying the win. It’s not until she sees the woman she saved is the trauma surgeon does she change her attitude on the whole situation, and that’s pretty far into the episode. This actress has so much potential with her acting ability but they are giving her a character that ultimately doesn't fit within the show they’ve written. She’s right that she’s not special but not because she’s not immediately part of the team or inner circle. Jonah could have been special and part of the team if he had been the one to stay because he isn’t trying to prove he’s the best. He’s just trying to prove he can do the job. Ravi isn’t anything to write home about as a firefighter but he’s one of the team. I think her character might honestly have been better off as a cop who came from a family of firefighters. Pair her with Athena. Don’t make her a romantic catalyst.

If the intention with Lucy was for her to be unlikable than I think they are doing great. If they meant for her to be a cool new character they really missed the mark. You can have a character with unlikable traits but be a likable character. AJ Cook’s character, Kira, from episode 12 I think is a prime example. She wasn’t a romantic catalyst, she was flawed, had a bit of an abrasive personality but she was rather likable. I would have loved to see her again, to know if she did follow through with rehab and get to see her son. I would have loved if she came with Maddie and she and Bobby helped Kira get clean and supported her through that. And then we would see the reunion with Kira and her son. Better story than trying to recreate Buck and Eddie’s early days with a way more abrasive character which is what feels like is happening with Lucy.

The other part that didn’t work for me was Taylor. Now, Taylor as a character I like overall. I don't like her relationship with Buck and I would have loved for them to have a friendship not a romantic relationship. She’s had some good scenes throughout the seasons but her scene in Dumb Luck was not one of them. Taylor was only there to further Buck’s storyline with Eddie. It felt thrown in. At best we can say that Buck plays down how much he went out of his way for Eddie, in an effort I think to keep him from feeling guilty. But he’s still lying to Taylor about Lucy. We see him encourage Taylor not to talk to her.  

The good tea.

The calls. The calls have been getting more and more reminiscent of the early seasons. They give you high intensity but not quite over the top. Someone falling over a railing on a balcony is definitely something plausible to happen. Now being impaled by a stolen stop sign is a little more on the rare occasion and less plausibility side of things but they did it in such a good way. I was aptly waiting to know if the woman impaled was going to be ok or if they would lose her. And the way they had Athena shaken up over the whole ordeal at the end when she’s about to engage with the stop sign thieves and one of the kids is hit by a car, because they stole the stop sign, was gold. Athena scenes usually are. But as they were just dumb kids it hit Athena pretty hard. She has a son, who’s a good kid, but even good kids make dumb choices and it shook her a bit. She and Bobby got to have a nice moment and I always love those sweet supporting each other couples goals moments.

 Next up is Chimney and Maddie. I was glad nothing was seriously wrong with Jee, I might have been upset if there had been. Maddie, Chim, and Jee have been through enough for the time being. But Maddie and Chim got to be together, support each other as parents, talk. They still are broken up but we see the pieces mending. Chim shares a story with Maddie. A story where he accidently hurt Jee’s hand in the car door. She’s fine but Chim still feels the guilt and I think that is something Maddie needed to hear. That she isn’t alone in feeling those kinds of things in their parenting dynamic. Overall, I was happy to see the start of Maddie and Chim mending and getting to know each other as the people they are now.

 Let’s follow that up with poker night. Hen, Karen, Bobby, and Athena. It was fun, sweet, and gave us some time with Karen which I think they should do more often. We don’t get a lot of screen time with her and when we do it’s usually about Hen. We don’t get many just Karen moments. Her backstory, her as a separate character. I am not surprised she is good at poker and I would love to see her and Hen’s mother playing a game or two. It was a wholesome scene that I just really enjoyed. Plus, Karen is really smart and I’d love to see more of that, please and thank you.

 Now moving into my top moments, the Eddie-centric parts of the episode. Eddie has been my favorite character probably since his addition in season two so I love episodes that center around him. And I have to say Ryan Guzman has had some great performances this season.

First another wholesome moment but this time between Eddie and Bobby. Bobby has become the father figure to probably everyone on the team. And that fatherly attitude came out in their scene. Buck had called Bobby so Eddie wouldn’t wake up alone and also it seemed to talk to him about loss and trauma. They have a nice little heart to heart after Eddie wakes up from his nightmare. We also learn Buck had let himself into Eddie’s house, got Chris ready for school, took him to school, and called Bobby all so Eddie could get some extra sleep. It’s the start of seeing Buck really being there for Eddie.

Jumping back to some great performances by Ryan, Eddie’s nightmare was one of them. I knew something was up when Eddie was genuinely happy as his character is anything but at the moment but it was nice getting to see that Eddie. The Eddie he’s trying to get to. And then of course it all goes south and he’s reliving all his worst traumatic injuries, being shot deployed, being shot in front of Buck, almost drowning, and Chris commenting about him always dying. Ryan and Gavin acted that sequence beautifully. It was painful to see Eddie in pain but it was a good scene.

 There is also a nice moment between Eddie and Chris where they have a nice little heart to heart. Chris can tell Eddie is still sad and/or tired. He tells Chris that sometimes talking about what’s wrong or what makes him sad is hard but he knows it will help so he keeps doing it. Chris asks him if he’s something that makes him sad and of course Eddie hugs him and says never. More wholesome content. Plus, it reinforces things about Eddie’s character, that talking about himself, his feelings, is exhausting to him. Being emotionally vulnerable with other people isn’t easy for him. These aren’t new things about his character but we are seeing play out much more now.

 We see him pushing through that emotional exhaustion and talk to Frank. I found it interesting that both Frank and Buck end up asking Eddie the same question of, “do you regret saving someone.” Eddie left Franks tired and still not sure of the costs and rewards of the job. He comes home to Buck cleaning up from some art time with Chris, based on Chris’s drawing it could have been homework? More wholesome. I love the family dynamic that was going on with Buck, Eddie, and Chris this episode. Buck asks Eddie a question about how things went with Frank and Eddie willing shares with Buck. We see his progress more here. While he has always been more open with Buck than most he’s been letting Buck see that more vulnerable side of him. Letting Buck in, letting him help.

And then we see the artwork. I thought the smiley heart was Chris’s until I realized that Eddie’s surprise was at the smiley more cartoon heart and not the more anatomically right one. Buck claims to have misunderstood the assignment but I feel like he just wanted to make something cute, maybe make Eddie laugh or smile. Seriously, Eddie’s tone when he said, “Chris drew this?” had real “my son draws better than this” implications. It was both a cute and funny moment between Buck and Eddie.

 As Eddie was questioning if the job was worth all the pain this episode we end with a very heartwarming scene where Buck shows Eddie that it is. He takes Eddie and Chris to an equestrian therapy ranch, this is where he downplays Taylor’s involvement and how much he deliberately set this up. He made a deal with Taylor to find this information out, to find Charlie, where he tells Eddie something much more vague. He said he was doing research with Taylor. Likely to not make Eddie feel like Buck is doing too much for him. Chris gets to learn how to earn a horse’s trust to one day maybe get to ride the horse and Buck and Eddie talk. This was another well-acted scene. Though, I was hoping they would talk about how Eddie being shot affected them both but what we got was still fantastic. Here is where Buck asks Eddie if he regrets being there that day, regrets saving Charlie. Of course, he says no and Eddie can then see how far Charlie has come. How much better he is. Buck tells him that all started because Eddie gave him a second chance and he was able to get the help he needed. Their conversation was meaningful to Eddie, it got through to him. We can see it on the expression on his face before the episode ends.

I love they aren’t downplaying or just glossing over Eddie’s PTSD and survivor’s guilt, that we are getting development with it. We see him struggle and struggle and break but we see him now getting help. It’s not being shown as a quick fix or quick process.

And obviously, I love how much Buck has been stepping up for Eddie. He doesn’t have to by any means but he wants to. He wasn’t there for Eddie and Chris when he was filing his lawsuit and I don't think he’s ever truly let himself off the hook for that. And now we see him being there trying to find the best way to help and support Eddie. That’s come as just talking, taking some of his parenting load, getting Bobby to talk with him, and showing him that what he does isn’t random and why it is they do what they do. And that’s just so far. Ryan and Oliver do so well on screen together, it isn’t a surprise that episodes where they share the screen a good amount go over well in ratings. And I’m always here for it.

8/10 Biscuits

And That’s The Tea.