POV, you’re the 118: “My anxiety creeps inside of me, makes it hard to breathe, what’s come over me? Feels like I’m somebody else.”

This week, Han, Cil, and Rachel wade into the troubled waters of Season 3, Episode 4 of 9-1-1 “Triggers,” where trauma manifests in unexpected ways, especially in Maddie, Christopher, and Buck. Familial bonds are tested from father and son dynamics to past and future siblings, and not everyone comes out unscathed. 

We discuss how the 118 are acting more like co-workers than the found family we’ve grown to love. Bobby is digging himself a deeper hole (and not just metaphorically) as he tries to balance his duties as captain with his unofficial role as Buck’s father figure. 

Begging our girl to see a therapist, we explore how Maddie’s personal experience with domestic abuse leads her down a treacherous path with good intentions as she attempts to be the savior she wishes she had for a 9-1-1 ding-dong-ditcher in a similar position.

Unfortunately, Christopher takes after his dads in all things, even back-to-back trauma—which manifests for him as night terrors and deeply concerning crayon drawings, but he tells Eddie he’s fine (the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree).

Eddie takes advice from Buck’s stand-in who helps him realize the importance of communicating his own feelings, even if they’re negative, with Christopher. 

Buck is bereft and reeling with the sting of being replaced and continues to struggle with finding purpose outside of his role as a firefighter. We dive into Buck’s brain (it’s scary here) to break down his tangled web of self-doubt and anger when he discovers Bobby's decision to purposefully hold him back from coming home to the 118 in a masterclass in projection. 

A food fight would have been less messy than this dinner scene where Athena tries to smooth over explosive tension between Buck and Bobby with some delicious cornbread. The buddies grab our forks and dig into this brief, but dense meal with a giant serving of emotional constipation from Bobby.

While the Buck and Bobby family dynamic falls apart, Hen is ruminating on the pros and cons of changing the status quo of her own. We applaud Chimney as the GOAT of this exercise, channeling his familial triggers into emotional intelligence to strengthen his relationship with Maddie. 

Our favorite characters keep telling themselves it’s fine, but it’s all too much. They think they should be fine, but let’s be so for real, they’re not.

📔 Articles Mentioned

📰9-1-1 Sets Buck on a Troubling New Path — Whose Side Are You On?, TV Line

📰 Is Buck Making a Huge Mistake on ‘9-1-1’?, TV Insider

Episode Title inspired by “overwhelmed” by Royal & the Serpent

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Music by DIV!NITY 

Chapters

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:00:50) Welcome to Dispatch

(00:01:58) General Thoughts

(00:09:19) Jaws of Life - Deep Dive

(00:11:13) Needledrop - Music Analysis

(00:15:02) Red String Corner

(00:18:55) Eddie & Lena / Buck & Lucy Mirrors

(00:22:42) Flashover - Themes

(00:27:40) Who’s Cookin’? - Character Arcs

(00:27:49) Hen & Karen

(00:50:49) Eddie (That’s Pookiebear)

(01:06:01) Buck

(01:19:28) Where’s the Fire - Scene Dissection (Buck at Dinner with Bathena)

(01:45:17) Slowburn Bi Buck & Buddie Watch

(01:54:27) “It’s Not Nothing” Madney & Buddie Parallel

(01:56:58) Outro & Take a Buddie With You