9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 13 Review: Mother’s Boy

Just when you think you’ve seen it all on 9-1-1, and episode like “Mother’s Boy” comes along and surprises you. From start to finish, 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 13, “Mother’s Boy,” gives fans of Buck and Eddie everything they could ever possibly want from a non-canon couple.

The great thing about this episode is that it proves the fans of Buck and Eddie as a couple haven’t been delusional and that other people within the universe see it too. “Mother’s Boy,” marks the start of what is hopefully a move toward these two figuring things out and getting together after years of moments.

With Buck and Eddie as the sole focus of the episode, viewers were able to see their insanely close and connected dynamic on full blast. And oh what fun that is to watch.

Road Trip Rage

From the start, Buck and Eddie find themselves scrambling to get back to LA in time for Hen’s birthday. It’s funny that is given as a reason to rush home when by the end of the episode it feels like the birthday was never important anyway.

I never thought I would get to experience the two of them stuck in a car together for hours on end. However, 9-1-1 has given us this gift and while it was good, it was really good.

We get to see them jam out to a classic rock song made extremely famous by Supernatural, please my fandom heart can hardly take it, and list off favorite movies. All before they inevitably start getting frustrated with each other because they are two stubborn individuals with different ways of handling stress.

Watching their gentle calm devolve into heated chaos is almost as fun as the softer moments we’ve seen from them in the past. Honestly, we know they can really turn heads when they fight. Season 3 grocery store squabble anyone?

So, to see them start arguing with each other in the car, carry on through walking into a diner, and then continuing it even further as they sit there to eat is iconic. What makes this fight even better isn’t the ridiculous things Buck is screaming at Eddie to get him to respond, it’s that the blue collar guys around them are all paying attention and thinking they are a couple.

One man even goes so far as to call Eddie a princess and imply they don’t get much of, “their kind” around here. Watching Eddie immediately go on the defensive with those comments is very entertaining. 

Eddie is Worried About Buck

Within the first 20 minutes of this episode we get not one relationship implication, but two. When Eddie wakes up in the hospital and discovers that Buck isn’t there with him he goes into panic mode.

Naturally, he’s going to be worried because the Sheriff at his bedside sure doesn’t seem to think there is any cause for concern. That is until the guy is suddenly thinking Eddie has killed Buck (not even the most outrageous thing about this episode). 

As a fan who has endured many different fandoms for a variety of shows I can tell you that when the cop scoffs at Eddie’s assertion that Buck’s name is actually Buck, I was reminded of another similar scene on the show Teen Wolf. The sheriff on 9-1-1 explains that his wife calls him Woody which immediately made me think of the Coach on Teen Wolf telling Stiles’ dad he wishes to be called cupcake.

Honestly, if I hadn’t been so gagged by the sheriff’s comment I would’ve been pissed at him much much earlier. As such, the first few moments with this sheriff kept us in shock because he, too, is implying that he thinks Buck and Eddie are a couple.

If everyone in this little town think the two of them are together, why can’t we have that for real? Answer me that Tim Minear.

Anyways, watching Eddie take charge of the situation and get himself away from the hospital is some of the hottest work he’s ever done. He’s willing to put his own damaged and battered body through hell if it means finding Buck.

Even more wild is that the people in LA, Chim, Maddie, and Athena, are aware of his injuries and are encouraging him because he is their “person on the ground.” We love insanity in the name of saving the person we love’s life.

What I hadn’t expected was for Eddie to hitch a ride on a horse to get back to the diner. And then for him to full on BUY a car in order to get to where the waitress lives. Eddie might not be admitting he loves Buck, but he sure is doing the most.

Buck Outsmarts His Captors

On the flipside of things, Buck against his captors — the waitress and the cook at the diner — is just as exciting as his boyfriend’s, I mean friend’s, attempts at finding him. At first he isn’t playing things smart, but I will give him some grace he did wake up extremely injured and in a place he doesn’t recognize.

However, once he settles in a bit more he’s all about using his wits to get himself out of the situation he’s in. Unfortunately, it becomes harder for him because the house is locked up like a damn fortress. 

He tries to reason with Bonnie by pretending to be her son Derek. It’s just unfortunate that Bonnie is so far gone in her delusion that she’s treating a person she thinks is her son in the most horrendous fashion.

Luckily, Buck has never been one to give up. Even when they tie him up in one of their storage buildings, he doesn’t lose his will to fight.

Because he can’t use his body as a chance at survival, he uses his words and his compassion. Honestly, the most heart wrenching part of this episode is when he’s pleading with them to spare Eddie because Eddie is a single father to a 15-year-old son. 

It’s one of those moments where we see just how connected these two men are. Buck knows so much about Eddie and his life, and feels a level of love for him and his son that comes out in the way he offers himself up in exchange. Buck is willing to die if it means Eddie will be okay.

Then, to see them work together to finally get free of the insanity these two people have as a result of their grief is something to behold for sure. So much so, that by the time the sheriff does show up even he doesn’t know who to arrest or what to think of the mess before him.

Luckily, the reunion seen between Buck and Eddie is every shippers dream. Eddie hovering over Buck as Buck comments on how bad he looks. Then, Eddie telling him “you should see the other guy,” and Buck smiling as he says, “I am the other guy.”

Be still my heart. Honestly, the episode could’ve ended there and I would be happy. But, of course we have to bring things back to “Hen’s Birthday” or lest we forget why the guys took this road trip in the first place.

Either way, this episode feeds the fans to the extreme and everyone is happier for it.

 

 

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9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.

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