9-1-1 Review: Monsters (Season 3 Episode 6)

As far as Halloween episodes go, 9-1-1 Season 3 Episode 6, “Monsters,” definitely takes the cake when it comes to humans causing us to lose faith in humanity. However, on all other fronts, the episode is vastly underwhelming. 

Let it never be said that 9-1-1 doesn’t know how to pull out all the stops on the “humans are monsters” level. After all, this episode alone has a woman who hits a guy and drives around with him in her windshield for two days, parents who lock up and chain their children in the basement, and Maddie unintentionally becoming a stalker.

If the most important parts of “Monsters” are the emergencies, then this episode earns 5 stars. But that’s not the case, and so the emergencies serve to save the episode.

I have been very critical of the whole Buck situation from the word go, mostly because I am wary of the writers’ ability to handle it properly. In my review of 9-1-1 Season 3 Episode 5, “Rage,” I make a few points about how his actions seem to get brushed under the rug. 

In that review, the concern is raised about the show’s notorious habit of rushing through a great potential story just to get to the “happy ending.” However, I remained optimistic that 9-1-1 had finally figured their problems out and would serve this whole story its due diligence. 

Unfortunately, after “Monsters,” that hope and optimism can be thrown out the window. Buck has returned to the 118, and barring a couple of hiccups with Cap and Eddie, it’s as if he merely left on a vacation. 

Where is the disjointed, awkward feel to the 118 family? You can’t honestly tell me that everyone is totally okay with everything that Buck did. He went after all of their jobs in order to get his back!

That shouldn’t be totally fine overnight or made right because he throws a few “I’m sorry’s” their way. The writers should have taken Buck through the wringer even more than they did. 

Instead of just one shift of not leaving the firehouse, there should be weeks of this type of isolation and deliberately keeping him from his job. 

Instead, by the end of the episode, both Cap and Eddie are totally fine with Buck being back. It’s all, “bygones be bygones.”

Buck literally tells a group of lawyers every dirty little secret he knows about each and every one of his colleagues in order to get his own job back. Is it honestly supposed to be believed that the firehouse trusts him after that? Or that no one would try to exact revenge on him in some way?

It is really nice to see Eddie spend all of 9-1-1 Season 3 Episode 5, “Rage,” and most of 9-1-1 Season 3 Episode 6, “Monsters,” so angry at Buck he can barely speak to him. While it hurts to see the two friends broken in this way, it is nice to see at the same time because it’s a realistic reaction to what Buck did.

He acts without thinking of how it could affect everyone else. He is so hell-bent on getting his own job back that he is willing to put the jobs of everyone he claims to care about on the line. 

It would have been more fun to see Bobby make a decision like Hen suggested when they chat about it all.

Hen: He chose this job!

Bobby: So I should let him do it?

Hen: Or let him go somewhere that will.

What if Buck gets his job back and thinks he is going to the 118, but at the last minute Bobby decides he needs to be reassigned? That type of outcome wouldn’t be too far outside the parameters of what is realistic and acceptable. 

Maybe putting Buck in a different house would effectively see a change in his behavior. While I love the character, he has had the same character flaws for three seasons now: he lets his impulsivity run him. 

9-1-1 has done a great job so far in evolving major character flaws, but it’s been severely lacking with Buck. Sure, it evolved him into a more intentional dater instead of just having sex with whoever, but that’s not enough to sustain this character. 

Buck is definitely a lovable character that is easy to cheer on; however, he’s getting a bit tired and boring. The focus is on him this season, but I see no real reason to do so if the show refuses to show any type of real personal growth for him. 

9-1-1 should either grow him as a character and show him seeking advice or help with his impulsivity or focus on someone else more deserving. 

It can easily be said that the end scene with Bobby and Buck is an example of Buck learning and growing, but I disagree. It’s a sweet and pivotal moment, but it only proves that Bobby is over being mad at Bobby, not that Buck has realized or owned his own faults in the situation.

Bobby: Buck, you saved two lives without the uniform. It’s not a costume; it’s who you are.

Buck: Does this mean you’re ready to let me come back for real?

Bobby: It doesn’t matter if I am — you are.

It needs to be shown that Buck is learning from his mistakes and actively trying to make amends. As the saying goes, “talk is cheap.” 

Further Thoughts:

• Maddie should have been suspended at the very least for stalking that woman — even if she was acting out of the goodness of her heart.
• I can’t help thinking about the Schitt’s Creek Season 5 opener when all those crows were flying around at the start of the episode. “The Crows Have Eyes Part 3” anyone?
• Athena is a really great partner for Bobby, not just because she loves him for all that he is. But also because she knows just how to talk with him when he’s worried the most.

What did you think of this episode of 9-1-1? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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9-1-1 airs Mondays at 8/7c on FOX.

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