9-1-1 Season 10 Episode 5 Review: Eddie Makes a Shocking Decision
Buck says goodbye to Theo on 9-1-1 Season 10 Episode 5, “Who’s Your Daddy?” but that doesn’t mean it’s the last he’ll see of him.
This episode, as the title suggests, is all about father figures and the question of what makes someone a father. It opens with Theo packing his things and Eddie questioning Buck’s handling of the situation.
Theo doesn’t seem to understand what’s happening, and really, neither does Buck.
OLIVER STARK
He assumes he can send all of Theo’s things, but Dierdre tells him there isn’t enough space in the group home Theo will be going to, and that no, there’s no permanent placement for him yet.
Oliver Stark plays the emotions of all of this incredibly well, showing the subtlety of holding back Buck’s sadness while also being steadfast in his decision.
Buck’s decision to let go of Theo wasn’t an easy one. It wasn’t simply that parenting Theo on his own was difficult. It’s that he’d made the realization that in Theo’s eyes, Buck was ultimately the person who took him away from his parents.
Still, Eddie is judgmental, and maybe he’s a little right to be. The situation isn’t presented as one where there’s a clear right or wrong answer for what Buck should do, which is part of the appeal of this storyline.
It’s also just such an interesting conflict between Buck and Eddie because they’re so close and so involved in one another’s lives. Eddie’s backstory with Christopher also comes into play, as does his overall experience as a father.
Then when Christopher expresses his feelings about Buck abandoning Theo, Eddie does something that’s absolutely shocking.
He takes in Theo.
Buck only learns this when he arrives at Eddie’s place with pizza, hoping for it to be a peace offering. (He’s also on crutches…) And Theo is there, playing in the other room with Christopher. It turns out Eddie was already certified as a foster parent, and now Theo is there as an emergency placement.
Buck accuses Eddie of trying to prove something, or worse, of trying to make up for walking out on his own kid a long time ago. It’s the kind of fight where words are said that will be hard to take back. Quite frankly, it’s hard to watch.
One thing is for sure: this is a unique storyline, and it’s one that leans very heavily into soap opera-style drama.
It also sets up the theme for the entire episode, including a powerful storyline for Chimney.
Chimney struggles with his role when it comes to his father figure, John, who was always more of a dad to him than his biological father.
After an intense premiere with an outlandish catastrophe, it’s nice to have another episode that focuses so deeply on character development.
Thankfully, there’s a happy ending with John, and it comes with an emotional moment from Chimney as he so openly tells John he loves him.
The 118 is called to an accident involving a father and son that also fits with the theme and is equally tearjerking. While a father is encouraging his son to help make mulch, a series of unfortunate events cause the father to be pulled into the wood chipper in a gruesome, horrifying scene.
It doesn’t look like the father will be able to survive, but he’s afforded the chance to speak with his son, and they’re both able to say exactly what they need to one another.
Meanwhile, Maddie managed a bit of magic, and a helicopter arrives with blood just in time to give the father a fighting chance after all.
It makes for a sweet scene, and it’s ultimately one of the moments that leads Eddie to the decision he makes later on.
What works less well about this episode is Athena’s case. Now, the case itself is intriguing enough, and it even winds up being emotionally satisfying.
The problem is that Athena is now so far disconnected from the rest of the cast that it feels like we’re watching a completely different show. There’s also a dramatic tonal shift in all of her scenes.
Athena deserves to be a detective, and it truly does make sense for her character. However, having her in this role isn’t working with the rest of the show, at least not at the moment.
Hopefully, that will change for future episodes.
What did you think of this episode of 9-1-1? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!
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9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
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Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.