Well this episode of 9-1-1 was emotional. And also a little creepy? Watching Buck fight for his life while his friends struggle with their feelings was rough, but watching Buck’s alternate life was also difficult especially since of the people we’re used to seeing were very different. We get what the writers were trying to do with “In Another Life”, but it wasn’t our favorite episode. We review.
Buck’s Coma
No matter how strange the characters in Buck’s alternate life were, in the real world, everyone on 118 were all very worried and upset. Seeing Maddie react to the knock on her door knowing that either Buck or Chimney was injured and asking “Which one?” was brutal. Also seeing everyone carry Buck into the hospital made us cry. Eddie was especially emotional. When the doctors said they would do their best, and he said “Do more!” we felt how much pain he was in. He couldn’t comprehend losing his best friend.
We’re glad that Chimney and Maddie had each other to lean on in “In Another Life.” These two have been solid and reuniting them is one of the best things the show has done recently. We understand Chim’s pain because he realizes he would have been on the ladder if Buck hadn’t insisted he go up. And that’s hard for Chim. He thinks he should have been the one injured.
Bobby struggled in the episode, too. He’s the Captain and when anyone gets hurt under his watch, he takes it personally. He’s really been put through the ringer this season. But he has an incredible support team with Athena and Maddie. They love him so much and would do anything for him.
Alternate Reality
While the rest of the 118 sits and waits for Buck to wake up, Buck’s stuck in another world while in his coma. He sees what life would have been like if Daniel had lived. We wish Daniel would have lived, too, but we definitely didn’t need to see Doug again. And we don’t want to think about Bobby dying. The longer this alternate life went on, the creepier it got. The lighting, certain characters trying to stop Buck from returning to his real world… it was all just weird. Like we said at the beginning, we get what the show was trying to do, but we just wanted it to end.
The whole coma and alternate life was to show Buck what he means to everyone and how different the world would have been if he hadn’t joined the 118. It was 9-1-1‘s spin on It’s a Wonderful Life. We already know how much Buck means to everyone at the 118, and we kind of thought he already knew that, too. Did he really need a coma to teach him these lessons?
The other thing we didn’t like was that Eddie was missing from Buck’s alternate world. We would understand if the show wanted to focus on just his family since we all know his parents weren’t the greatest. But Bobby was a big focus in this world and Chimney and Hen both made appearances. Why was Eddie not there? Does the show not realize how much we need Eddie and Buck’s friendship? It feels like we haven’t had a scene with just the two of them in a long time. Maybe we’ll get a scene with them next week.
Also, how cute was Christopher? We love Chris, and he loves Buck so much. We’re glad that Chris doesn’t have to go through losing another person in his life.
9-1-1 airs Mondays at 8/7c on Fox.
