9-1-1 Review: 9-1-1, What’s Your Grievance? (Season 4 Episode 4)

After numerous missteps in recent history, 9-1-1 Season 4 Episode 4, “9-1-1, What’s Your Grievance?” allows fans the chance to breathe a sigh of relief and cheer for the characters as they make major strides forward.

Most notably, this episode is all about the Buckley family drama and how it is affecting the lives of those around them — mostly Chim. Ever since Maddie moved to LA, viewers have known that the relationship between the Buckley siblings and their parents is strained. 

Now that the Buckley matriarch and patriarch have finally made an appearance, everything starts to click into place. It makes sense why Maddie and Buck don’t speak to them.

I’m not even their child and five minutes with them has me feeling 2 inches tall. Their way of speaking is definitely a window into Buck’s conflicted viewpoint on himself.

The props have to go to Buck in this situation because it’s clear that his therapy is helping him. In the past, a confrontation with his parents would have been more explosive and much faster. 

Growth is what we look for in the characters we love and Buck is showing that off in spades during, “9-1-1, What’s Your Grievance?” He knows that this meeting is going to be hard on him so he asks his therapist for an extra session.

And while he goes about it the wrong way, Buck does manage to stick up for himself. This is a moment that has been a long time coming for him and he doesn’t hold back any of his thoughts.

Buck: You wanna know why I’m really in therapy? It is because I have spent my entire life feeling like a constant disappointment. And — and you wanna talk about jobs? You think my job is dangerous? I have walked through fire every single day of my life because of you! That is why I’m in therapy! Because nothing I ever did was good enough!

Oliver Stark nails every single emotion from the confrontation with Buck’s parents to the look in his eyes as he tries his best to hold back. Stark’s performance honestly makes the scene as powerful as it is.

Without his delivery of each punctuated word, Buck’s explosion and airing of grievances wouldn’t have the same emotional impact that they do. Stark has honestly been the actor to watch since day one and he is finally hitting his stride in all the right ways. 

While Buck’s words and emotions are very important, they shouldn’t overshadow the role of Chimney in this whole situation. Chim is told this huge secret that could hurt Buck and he is sworn to secrecy — against his friends and family. 

Chim isn’t normally a character who holds things inside once he knows them. As his friend Hen says, he is growing right before our very eyes. 

Instead of breaking down and confiding in everyone at the firehouse, he tells a potential bomber and manages to de-escalate that situation. Chim also could’ve gone ahead and told Buck, but he’s learning to put his relationships into perspective and see which ones are the most important. 

Season 1 Chim would always put his interests first and his romantic relationships second. After all, he dated girls who loved the idea of him being a firefighter. 

He might tease Buck about needing to grow up still, but Chim truly has grown up. He is now more concerned with providing a safe and loving environment for his daughter than he is about getting the glory on a call — even though he most definitely deserves it.

9-1-1 is finally showing us that character growth is where it’s at, and they aren’t playing around with showing it. 

It’s even present ever so subtly with Athena’s latest murder case. Athena Grant who doesn’t play well with others accepts the help of a homicide detective without hesitation or pushback.

Her trauma last season may have actually softened her up a bit on the job, in the areas where it counts. Athena isn’t the type to usually let just about anyone direct her. 

By showing her giving the reigns over to her partner the show is saying that she’s still Athena, but small elements of her character are changing to fit better with her new reality. 

It may seem minor but for Athena it is huge. 

These characters all take a moment to show off their growth during this episode. It’s a breath of fresh air after being without for so long. 

Minor Emergencies:

• So there is a third Buckley sibling who died a long time ago. Long enough ago that Buck doesn’t remember him. 
• This family secret could play into why their mom made the comment about seeing your child in the hospital. My money is on Daniel having been a sick child.
• May and Chim are definitely the heroes of that bomb call! Way to go underdogs!
• Is it bad that I don’t feel sorry Delia is dead? That woman sounds like the worst of the worst when it comes to neighbors. 

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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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