9-1-1 Season 6 Episode 17 Review: Love Is In The Air

On 9-1-1 Season 6 Episode 17, “Love Is In The Air,” the 118 is surrounded by love.

In true 9-1-1 fashion, this love is not all happy and cheerful. On the happy side of things, Maddie and Chimney finally get engaged. On the less happy side, things between Natalia and Buck might be over.

Meanwhile, it’s difficult to tell if things are looking up for Eddie, but the warning signs are already flashing when it comes to his potential love. 

After being together on and off since Season 2, Maddie and Chimney finally take the next step in their relationship. It has been a wild ride for them to get here, but they celebrate the milestone with a simple yet beautiful family moment. 

While Chimney is still anxious and debates making a move, the show lets the audience finally see into Maddie’s head about it all. By doing this, the show also allows her to open up about how she’s felt since returning from Boston. 

Maddie’s story is one of the most important stories of the show. However, another layer of that story and trauma is revealed by mentioning that she’s been isolating herself since Boston.

The struggle that she continues to go through is highlighted and shows that healing isn’t simple. It takes time.

In the end, Maddie proposes to Chimney. Between both of their pasts, it’s the way things needed to go. It gives Maddie the power to do what’s best for her and lets Chimney be chosen. Chimney faces so much insecurity with this choice, and in the end, all he needs is to know that Maddie loves him. 

Overall, it is the beautiful proposal that the two deserve. It’s been a challenging and rocky journey for them, but happiness is here. 

Meanwhile, Eddie’s relationship with dating has always been an interesting one.

It is confirmed that Eddie met Shannon when he was a teenager, and she’s genuinely the only real love he’s had. The lack of experience has always been apparent, but this episode solidifies it. It also explains why it’s so hard for him even to consider dating again. 

To Eddie, what he had with Shannon was special, and he’s held onto it because it’s all he’s ever known. He fell for her immediately but continued to love the idea of her. They were always in different places and never on the same page, even when she died.

All these feelings have given him the excuse to hide from future romances with someone else. So it is lovely to see he’s finally trying to get out there again.

Two characters that are very alike in 9-1-1 are Bobby and Eddie. Their parallels are clear in the arcs about lost love and moving on.

Eddie has always leaned on Bobby because he sees Bobby and Athena as the poster for what he could have — if he ever takes Bobby’s advice properly, that is. 

At the end of the episode, he runs into Marisol, who he helped on a call earlier in the season, and the two share a moment. Then, Eddie makes a literal comment about the scene and connects to the pair. The line is about something being “exactly what he’s looking for.”

It all directly contradicts what he discussed with Bobby earlier in the episode.

Additionally, just two episodes before this, Eddie told Buck that dating people they meet on calls never works. It’s a sharp line that seems to be coming back to bite Eddie with this potential romance.

It all loudly implies that while this next step for Eddie might look good, it probably won’t work out in the end. She’s the wrong answer.

Buck is once again in hot water with one of his love interests. After running into Lucy at a bar and seeing Taylor on TV, he has to explain his past to Natalia, who tries to take it well.

The tip of the iceberg is when Kameron shows up, and Buck has to explain that he donated sperm to create the child she is carrying. 

Natalia’s reactions solidify how much she truly does not “see” Buck like he thought she did. The Death Doula seemed shocked that Buck was a man full of life. The two were incompatible, but this episode put the nail in the coffin.

Ultimately, she tells Buck she needs a minute only to walk out. As she leaves, she tells him to “take care of himself,” a line that’s well acquainted with Buck’s breakups.

It’s no surprise that Buck has some abandonment issues and struggles with being left. Buck’s chaotic life and past become too much for her to handle, says it all. 

This is a mostly fun episode that tackles some heavier topics. The heaviness could be balanced a little better with the call about death feeling a little sudden, but overall it works. 

9-1-1 shines when the actors lean into the show’s comedy. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Chelsea Kane are hilarious and play those moments well on this episode.

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

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