9-1-1 Review: Starting Over (Season 5 Episode 18)

Season finales with 9-1-1 are never really huge affairs; there are never any cliffhangers to speak of. Unfortunately, this means that the show can, and usually does, end it’s season with a whimper instead of a bang.

9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 18, “Starting Over,” ends up being as lackluster as the season overall. Which doesn’t really surprise viewers if they think about it long enough.

This season could have been great and filled with wonderful character developments, but unfortunately, only a couple of characters got that gold star treatment — and the finale glaringly shows that. 

Captain Bobby and His Guilt

I will give kudos to the writers for having Bobby start to fall off the wagon and then change his mind. However, there are so many other ways the writers could have explored Bobby falling down as a leader and a firefighter. 

Bobby Nash has always been a character who shoulders all the blame and guilt when things go terribly wrong with his house, but he fails to really take credit when things go extremely well. It’s great that his struggle with that is seen by Eddie because it allows the two characters to bond and strengthen their relationship.

Unfortunately, there is still lost potential with this story overall. The writers set it up as being some great big mental health crisis and honestly breaking a glass in your hand is, but then nothing.

This is an issue I have had with 9-1-1 since the beginning. It sets up stories to be these big dramatic, drawn out, detailed things and then manages to drop the ball by tidying things up within an episode or sometimes even less. 

Bobby’s mental health deserves to be addressed more seriously. At the end of last season he was fighting with Athena about their relationship and then it’s just dropped like that never happened — no resolution.

His mental health has been suffering all season with hints dropped here and there and then we get to this episode and nothing. If the show is going to address Eddie’s mental health they need to address Bobby’s as well — he too suffers from PTSD, but it always gets swept under the rug or minimized. ,

Buck and Taylor

Poor Taylor; this character never had a chance did she? While it is terrible that she broke Buck’s confidence and ran the story without talking to him first, he’s been lying to her all season about his own missteps. 

The writers could have created so many opportunities for Taylor to grow and evolve this season, but instead it’s a case of sticking with what the writers think works. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t.

When introducing the story about her father and creating the conversation between them where they choose full honesty with one another, 9-1-1 could’ve grown her character into a better, more balanced journalist. Instead, within an episode or two she and Buck are right back where they started with hiding things.

Once again, the writers feel it’s necessary for these characters to have conversations with each other off-screen — which is what I am assuming happened with the whole Lucy reveal — instead of face to face as part of the story. It’s disappointing that the show continues to diminish all the work Buck has put into becoming a better, more honest person, all for the sake of relationship drama.

Point blank, Buck and Lucy should have never been an issue this season. Buck and Taylor should have been growing forward instead of backwards.

So it’s no surprise that they call it quits in this finale. Moving forward, can we please just have Buck find someone who continues to grow with him instead of holding him back?

Karen and Hen: Marital Bliss

The one big highlight of this episode is that Hen and Karen get to renew their vows, this time with Hen’s mom present. It’s a beautiful moment that shows 9-1-1 can get things right from time to time regarding character development and growth. 

These two rarely get to have domestic bliss play out onscreen. This season has fortunately been kinder to them and allowed them to really grow as a couple. 

Having Hen’s mom move in with them has been a blessing in that regard because the show has been paralleling their love with that of Toni’s. So, it comes as no surprise that Toni forsakes her own wedding ideals in the hopes of making things right with Hen and Karen about her absence at their first wedding. 

The whole moment overall is beautiful and filled with the love they deserve. Hen has been through so much over the years because of her job and through it all Karen has been by her side.

To see them renew that vow to love and honor and cherish in front of their found family is just something 9-1-1 manages to get perfectly right. Add in an Indigo Girls song to round it out and *chefs kiss*.

Minor Emergencies:

• May deserves so much better than just a passing comment about her going back to college. This has been a HUGE decision for her all season.
• Eddie, on that note, also deserves more fanfare with his return to the 118. He’s been through so much to make it back there to have it only be in the final sequence is a huge disservice to him and his growth.
• While I am glad Bobby is taking Athena on a cruise, again needed to be better executed in the moment. 

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 returns in the Fall for Season 6 on FOX.

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