9-1-1 Ends on Explosive Cliffhanger Ahead of Season 8 Finale, With Major Changes in Store for the 118

Just one week after subjecting us to Bobby’s funeral, Thursday’s episode of 9-1-1 wastes no time punching us in the gut once more, this time with a look back at the 118 in happier times.

With Bobby carrying out his usual duties as head chef slash father figure, the 118 is seen gathered around the firehouse dinner table, fueling up before yet another hectic full moon. “Here at the 118, we work as a family, we support each other as a family and we eat together as a family,” Bobby says proudly…

…only for the episode to pull the rug out from under us, cutting to present-day Buck sitting all alone at that same table. No laughter. No family. No Bobby.

This is pretty much the vibe of the hour, as everyone in the 118 struggles to figure out how to move forward in the wake of Bobby’s heroic sacrifice. So let’s check in with each of them:

BUCK & EDDIE | Still in town since the funeral, Eddie is concerned about Buck, who has become a non-stop worrier since losing Bobby. That’s one of the reasons Eddie is too afraid to tell Buck that he finally got a job offer from the El Paso Fire Department — and that they want him to report in at the end of the week!

Because all roads on this show lead back to Father Brian, Buck visits 9-1-1′s resident hot priest in the hopes of connecting to Bobby. “Everything is falling apart and I don’t know how to fix it,” Buck says, adding that he hasn’t been able to feel Bobby’s presence since his death. Buck prays for a sign, mere seconds before a 2.8 earthquake hits. I’d like to think it’s Bobby’s doing, but the quake upsets a gas pocket in a local reservoir, turning water faucets into flamethrowers all over town. Call me crazy, but that just doesn’t feel like something Bobby would do from beyond the grave.

Buck is angry when he hears about Eddie’s new gig from Ravi, wondering why everyone treats him like he’s too fragile to accept the truth. Eddie says they’re right to tip-toe, and that he knows Buck wouldn’t have been happy for him. “You’d make it all about you,” Eddie says. “The Trials and Tribulations of Evan Buckley, a Tragedy in 97 Acts!” (That’s such a hilariously diva thing for Eddie to say, and I’m kind of living for it.)

That’s when things get real tense. “You’re not the only one who lost him!” Eddie says, getting in Buck’s face. “We all lost him, and we’re just trying to do our best to go through it.” He recalls getting the news in the middle of the night, sobbing quietly to not wake Christopher, then having to share the news with his son the next morning. Eddie says he’ll always wonder if he could have done something to save Bobby if he’d been there.

Buck thinks Eddie goes back to Texas after their fight, but he just goes to the airport to pick up Christopher — who, by the way, looks way more like Buck’s son than Eddie’s son, especially as he gets older. Just get a load of those matching curls!

Ultimately, it’s a heart-to-heart chat with Eddie’s Tía Pepa that helps give Buck the perspective he so desperately needs. “Recovering from anything is a bitch,” she says, speaking from experience. “Life is change. It’s unavoidable. You have to own it!” She’s mainly trying to help Buck navigate his grief, but her words will also bring comfort if Eddie really does go back to Texas. (Side note: Is Buck really just going to let him take that job in El Paso? “Home” is Los Angeles for Eddie, he says so this week!)

HEN | Chief Simpson clearly saw the results of TVLine’s latest poll, because he offers Hen a promotion to captain of the 118. (Well, technically the winner of our poll was “someone from 9-1-1: Lone Star,” so I’ll just pretend that Simpson asked all of them first.) Surprisingly, though, Hen isn’t interested in the position, despite having the explicit support of both the LAFD and Bobby’s widow. She doesn’t want to be the person telling everyone what to do. She wants to be a hands-on paramedic at work, then go home to be a hands-on wife and mother. She believes that Bobby would understand her decision, and I have to agree. The question is: If not Hen, who will become the 118’s new captain?

CHIMNEY | And then there’s Chimney, whose grief comes served with a generous helping of guilt on the side, free of charge. He blames himself for asking Bobby to take care of Maddie and the kids when he thought he was going to die, believing that Bobby made his fateful decision right then and there. Maddie tries to explain that it was still up to Bobby, and that she’ll forever be grateful to him for choosing to save Chimney. He just wishes he could be there for Athena the way Bobby would have been there for Maddie. There’s just one problem with that…

Athena still doesn’t want anything to do with Chimney! She knows it isn’t fair to blame him for losing Bobby, but she can’t help it. “Whenever I look at him, I see the man who isn’t here,” she tells Karen, adding that they’ll just have to be “professional” moving forward. But Karen has another thought on the matter. She gifts Athena a framed group photo from their wedding, leaving her to meditate on something: “When people come over to our house, they always ask about that picture, wanting to know who’s in it. I never say, ‘Hen’s co-workers.’ I always say, ‘That’s our family.'” (I thought it was a lot watching Athena yell at Chimney last week. But hearing her talk about them just being acquaintances is somehow worse!)

Speaking of family, Athena’s kids aren’t the least bit surprised when she decides to go back to work — but they can’t possibly predict the chaos she’s about to encounter. She’s called on two occasions to an apartment building, where her old buddy Graham (remember, the grocery store cart cop?) is twice accused of stealing his neighbors’ clothes from the laundry room. Only the second time, when Graham runs back inside to clear his name, the entire building explodes (!) and collapses (!!) in front of her.

As she surveys the incredible damage in front of her, Athena yells a command into her radio: “Send everybody!”

OK, let’s talk: Did you see that ending coming? Do you think Graham survived the blast? Do you really think that Eddie will go back to El Paso? And who should take over as captain of the 118, if not Hen? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.

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