9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 17 Review: I Got You Babe

Once again, 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 17, “I Got You Babe,” puts us in the same place pretty much every penultimate episode has before it — a feeling of incompleteness. The pacing for this show has always been an issue, but Season 9 seems to be struggling with this even more than other seasons.

While the story ideas of this episode make sense and could be exciting on paper, they aren’t executed properly which leaves us wanting more. Unfortunately, 9-1-1 has a habit of doing this all the time: taking an idea and only giving half the effort.

So, in the end we are left with a final moment that should be hitting us where it hurts, instead we aren’t surprised by it in the slightest. The stakes just aren’t there and that’s a problem after 9 full seasons of this problem.

Buck’s Accidental Child Acquisition

Until “I Got You Babe,” I had frankly forgotten all about Buck’s donor sperm storyline. Heck, I had almost forgotten that the reason he donated was because the recipients were his friends.

So, for those who have also forgotten, during 9-1-1 Season 6 Episode 18, “Pay it Forward,” Buck is left scrambling when his friend, Kameron goes into labor at his apartment and he has to deliver her baby on his couch. The baby is a direct product of Buck’s sperm donation from earlier that season.

It was an interesting plotline, but after the exciting birth we never hear about it again. Which, during this episode, Buck talks about as being a result of him thinking being around the kid would be too messy. Completely understandable.

The problem with this plot being brought back around is the nature in which 9-1-1 is doing it. A kid escapes his daycare and gets into a severely dangerous situation and the 118 rescues him; only to find out he’s Buck’s son and now the kid’s parents are wondering where the kid gets his energy from.

All of this is sound, in theory, but it falls apart when you realize that their accusations seem extremely harsh on Buck when he did what he was supposed to before all of this happened. He got tested, he informed his friends of anything they questioned him about. 

But, now they have a four-year-old who’s a handful and they are looking for someone to blame; enter Buck. It just feels a bit harsh.

And then, to leave that conversation on a hopeful note where Buck might get to spend time with Theo in the future only to kill Kameron and Connor moments later? Completely unnecessary. Not sure why 9-1-1 can’t just let the child not be an orphan and still give Buck access to his own child.

The Problem with Buck’s Future Story

It’s going to be exciting to see Buck step into a father role, because we all know he’s not going to just let this little boy walk off into the sunset with all that trauma. I just wish this wasn’t coming at a steep cost to Theo and Buck as well. 

All season long, Buck has been a punching bag for grief. He’s been suffering about Bobby with seemingly no one there to help him, which turned into a half-baked storyline about drug addiction, and now he’s left in the ashes of his two dead friends and the traumatized child he provided the DNA for.

It’s honestly a storyline that needed to be adjusted in two very real ways for it to have a deeper impact. First, it needed to be something that was set up multiple episodes ago, giving the viewers and Buck more time to get reacquainted with his son and his friends after years of silence.

Second, for a romance trope — accidental baby acquisition — there is a distinct lack of romance in this story. We all know where Buck’s romantic life is headed, as long as the show actually follows through this time, but not having it as Buck is thrust back into the life of his 4-year-old son makes all of this fall a bit flat.

It’s a perfect parallel to Eddie’s own experiences with his son — from the deployment during Chris’ early years to losing Shannon in a car crash — which the show is highlighting, but could actually be capitalizing on.

Immigration Isn’t an Afterthought

Many fans of 9-1-1 are lauding the show for daring to be “woke” in a time when certain topics are volatile. Unfortunately, I have to disagree. Like I mentioned in my review of 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 16, “Where There’s Smoke,” the introduction of the migrants feels off somehow.

This episode further highlights the issues with this story. It’s being placed in the episode for the sake of drama, nothing else. If it were truly going to make a commentary on the way our country is currently operating certain members of the 118 wouldn’t still be working.

I’m talking of course about Eddie Diaz. If this were a true, thoughtful ICE storyline, when Eddie spoke up at the hospital the agents would’ve profiled him as illegal and carted him away as well. His uniform wouldn’t have protected him.

The other issue with this storyline is that while Eddie and Hen do seem invested in the problem their investment is still very surface-level. They are collecting donations and being there for these individuals while they are in the hospital, but their outrage overall is very mild.

Even when they’re talking to Athena’s lawyer friend the level of indignation doesn’t match the vibe that 9-1-1 is trying to convey. Eddie and Hen are very reserved in their reactions to the whole situation. And Eddie doesn’t truly lash out until the end of the episode when his anger is more centered on Theo being orphaned than on the migrants themselves.

They feel like an afterthought. 

It’s not a good look for the show and honestly, I would’ve much preferred if it had been eliminated from the narrative entirely. It’s better to not mention it than to only go in halfway on something as important as this.

While we are on the subject of the migrants I don’t appreciate it also being a story that is part of a bigger Russian plot that involves police corruption. Why can’t we have an immigration storyline that stands on its own, in its own level of awfulness? Why does there also need to be a Russian villain and his cop counterpart?

Maddie Learns Her Boss Style

On a lighter note, 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 17, “I Got You Babe,” did get one thing right. The focus on Maddie having to navigate the real-world issue of going from coworker to boss is a nice reprieve from all the other things happening.

Maddie has needed to have a moment where she is reminded that her work dynamic has irrevocably changed now that she’s the boss. While she means well by ordering lunch for the dispatchers, the fact that it literally explodes in her face is a perfect learning moment for her.

Bosses can, and should, show appreciation for the people who work for them. However, they can’t also be their colleagues’ friend. Maddie learns that the hard way, but in a way that also teaches her how to move forward.

It’s nice to see Josh being a good friend for once and gently remind Maddie that she doesn’t have to win them over because they already respect her. But, despite his insistence that she can still be friends with some of them I am glad she pulled back.

While it would be nice to have Maddie continue her friendships and gossip sessions at work, she’s right in saying that she’s a step-back kind of leader. And that is so true, she gets too emotionally invested in things and in order for her to properly lead she needs to have some distance between herself and the one’s she leads.

I am proud of her for standing up for herself and making a hard choice, despite her heart wanting something different.

Stray Thoughts

• The balance between funny and serious was really well done this episode. To go from throwing the word sperm around WAY too much to directly answering a devastating call is so well handled.
• Theo is the kind of kid I loved and dreaded when I was a daycare provider. So much heart, but my goodness is his energy a headache of paperwork waiting to happen.
• The moment Detective Hooks suggested Athena go on that call with him I knew he was either going to kill her or kill the Russian, not surprising he tried to do both.

 

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

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