‘9-1-1’ Season 9 Finally Delivers a Near-Perfect Episode

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 9, Episode 12.The big event for 9-1-1 this week is, of course, the crossover episode with 9-1-1: Nashville. Season 9, Episode 12, “Dads and Cads” takes place solely in LA, and it focuses on some major storylines for the 9-1-1 characters while setting the stage for Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) to go compete at the Firefighter Games in Nashville. While I haven’t seen the 9-1-1: Nashville half of the crossover yet, “Dads and Cads” is such a good episode that it bodes very well for both the back-half of the crossover and the rest of this season of 9-1-1.

Most of Season 9 has been defined by Bobby Nash’s (Peter Krause) death last season, but two episodes, in particular, have handled the ongoing effects of this loss very well. The first was the Athena-centric “Reentry,” and the second is this week’s “Dads and Cads.” This episode starts with the 118 and Athena (Angela Bassett) responding to a call where a good first date turns into a watergun-armed robbery and then a subsequent car crash. The rest of the episode ties the upcoming Firefighter Games together with a major announcement from the Buckley parents to touch on Buck’s lingering grief over Bobby, and the result is a genuinely excellent episode that balances its humor and heart very well.

In ‘9-1-1’ Season 9, Episode 12, Buck and Eddie Prepare for the Firefighting Games in Nashville

The 9-1-1: Nashville crossover kicks off in a very fun way. Buck gets a gift basket full of Nashville merch, letting him know that he’s been accepted to compete in the 51st Annual American Firefighting Games. Competitors have to be submitted by their captain, and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) didn’t do it, so Buck realizes that Bobby submitted his name a year ago. Not only did Bobby have faith in Buck, but he actually submitted Eddie as well to compete alongside him, which Buck finds out the next day. Mentions of Bobby’s death usually make me very sad, but I couldn’t help but grin at the thought of Bobby playing matchmaker for Buddie from beyond the grave.

Even better, Eddie mentions at one point that he didn’t even know he’d ever be moving back to Los Angeles a year ago, and Buck realizes that Bobby foresaw Eddie’s return before even Eddie did. While I haven’t seen the Nashville half of the crossover yet, I loved how 9-1-1 used the Firefighting Games as more than just a silly subplot in “Dads and Cads,” and instead tied this into the overarching storyline of grieving Bobby. It was so lovely to know that Bobby never lost faith in Eddie and that he was always working to keep the 118 family together, which is a lesson that Buck enforces throughout this episode.

In ‘9-1-1’ Season 9, Episode 12, Buck and Maddie Get Shocking News From Their Parents

At the start of the episode, Buck and Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) get ready to welcome their parents, Margaret (Dee Wallace) and Phillip (Gregory Harrison), for a visit. Their parents have come to see them as part of a cross-country road trip in their RV. Like always, the Buckley parents are critical of Buck and Maddie, but the two don’t realize that something’s up until later that night. At a fancy family dinner out, Margaret and Phillip tell their kids that they’re selling their RV. When Buck pries, they admit that this is because they’re getting a divorce. Maddie takes this very hard, which makes sense considering how different her childhood with them was before Daniel died. Buck, on the other hand, accepts it pretty easily, which, again, makes a lot of sense, considering that he never got to see them at their most loving.

Sadly, Daniel never comes up in this episode, which felt like a missed opportunity – particularly because Margaret and Phillip handle their divorce in pretty much the same way. After the dinner, Buck and Maddie both go back to their families to debrief, in what feels like an intentional parallel. Maddie expresses her frustration to Chimney that her parents downplayed the divorce, while Buck is more interested in planning for the Nashville trip, with Eddie and Christopher (Gavin McHugh) are playing video games together. When Buck lets slip about the divorce, Eddie is immediately concerned for Buck and how he’s feeling, and Christopher empathizes with Buck based on his own experience with Eddie and Shannon’s (Devin Kelley) past separation. Buck really is as unbothered as he seems, though, because he made peace with the fact that the Buckleys aren’t his main family a long time ago.

The next day, Buck and Maddie talk things out in an excellent scene. Maddie feels like her one constant from the Buckleys has been taken away, and she’s upset that neither one seems to care about the divorce (which, again, would have been the perfect time to bring up Daniel). Buck is more focused on his 118 family than his own family, though. He tells her that Bobby knew Eddie would come home before Eddie even did, “Because that’s what families do. No matter how hard it is or how far apart they are, they find a way home. Even if they have to fight like hell to get there.” When Maddie says they never had that, Buck points out that they do have it with the 118. It’s a beautiful conclusion to the emotional core of this storyline, as 9-1-1 finally leans back into the best part of the show: the found family dynamic of the 118.

Later, Maddie takes a call at work where a woman believes her husband is going to kill himself. It’s a misunderstanding, and the couple only affirm their love for each other and their lives together in a beautiful moment that hits Maddie very hard. Later, Phillip goes to visit Buck while he’s packing for Nashville, even though Maddie needed a conversation more. Phillip apologizes to Buck then, not for the divorce, but for missing Bobby’s funeral. He reveals that they were in town but just chose not to go, but neither the apology nor the reveal lands like they’re supposed to, because this is the first time 9-1-1 has even suggested that Buck had reached out to his parents about Bobby’s funeral. It never would’ve even occurred to me that he would have wanted them there. This does end in a sweet moment where Phillip rightfully credits Bobby for raising Buck and asks Buck to tell him about Bobby, though, which brought a tear to my eye.

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In ‘9-1-1’ Season 9, Episode 12, Harry Struggles to Adjust to May and Ravi’s Romance

As it turns out, May (Corinne Massiah) and Ravi’s (Anirudh Pisharody) date last week after the firefighting auction went very well. At the start of this episode, Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) shows up at May’s place unexpectedly to go see her, and he catches Ravi there. After seeing a little too much of Ravi, Harry panics and runs off. Later, Harry doesn’t know how to act around Ravi at work. Finally, Harry snaps at Ravi out of nowhere and even tells Chimney about it. This all comes to a head later at a family dinner with Athena and May, where Harry and May make passive-aggressive comments to each other until they get into a fight that ends with May storming out.

I could understand why Harry would feel weird about May dating his coworker, but I wish this storyline had been played for laughs instead. It comes off as way too serious, and I couldn’t understand why Harry was so angry, considering that he and Ravi have barely ever had a real on-screen interaction. It would have made more sense if Harry and Ravi were friends, but even then, I would’ve preferred for this to be a silly subplot instead of a fight between Harry and May. We never get to see Harry have a change of heart on-screen, and instead, he simply apologizes to May the next day. She apologizes as well, and they are able to put the weirdness behind them and move forward. Later, Ravi suggests to Harry that he’s interested in a relationship with May, and Harry essentially gives his version of a blessing. The episode then ends with Buck and Eddie leaving for Nashville, setting up the second half of the crossover.

9-1-1 airs Thursdays on ABC at 8:00 P.M. EST.