9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 5 ‘Masks’ is an episode about contrasts. On the one hand, there is your nuclear family, and then there are the people you’ve chosen to be part of your extended family. On the other hand, there’s your partner, the one you’ve known for years, the one who understands you better than anyone else …and your new boyfriend, who you want to be a part of your life.
For Hen, it’s about finding balance. For Buck, it’s about deciding if Tommy is just his boyfriend or if he can become part of this family that he’s built – the one that has a dedicated group chat that no one thinks Tommy should be part of, at least not yet. The answer to that question isn’t clear yet, but one thing is for sure: now that the question has been asked, it’s probably going to need to be addressed.
MORE: Here’s our review of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 1! And here’s our review of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 2.
THE BIG MOMENTS
9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 5 ‘Masks’ focuses on the things we miss out on, as Hen and Karen have an argument about the fact that Hen is always working on what Karen calls “the big moments.” For Hen, that’s just the way it is, that’s her job. For Karen, her family should come first. In the end, however, both have a point and there is a compromise that can and should be found.
Sure, the 118 is their family, as proven by Karen taking Jee trick-or-treating and everyone hanging out in the waiting room while they get news about how Denny is doing. But your wife, and your kids, should still take precedence. Hen has to stop putting the two things on the same level of importance, or she is indeed going to miss some very big moments with her family.
But Karen also has to understand that Hen is a first responder, so that means at times, sacrifices will have to be made. That’s the life Hen chose and the life Karen understood they were signing up for when she chose Hen. And it also means that, of course, when bad things happen, Hen has the knowledge to help save Denny, as she did in this hour.
Still, this feels like an ongoing conversation for both and a place where they will both need to understand that it’s not about compromise, it’s about balance.
MORE: Here’s our review of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 3! And here’s our review of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 4.
IS THIS A LOVE TRIANGLE?
Let’s address the elephant in the room here: is the Tommy/Buck/Eddie dynamic actually a love triangle, only no one in the dynamic realizes it yet? And if so, what are the odds that the first person to figure it out will be Tommy?
First, let’s talk about Tommy in this episode because there isn’t anything too obviously negative to say about him. Sure, he doesn’t believe Buck, but to be fair …Buck is talking about a curse. The fact that he doesn’t believe what Buck is saying, however, doesn’t mean he’s mean about it (a tad dismissive, in a way that can smart coming from someone you just started a relationship with, but not mean), and he does take care of Buck and is there for Buck when Buck needs him. Plus, their scene at the end is cute, even it’s more about Billy Boils than them. The problem with Tommy isn’t Tommy, it has never been Tommy. As I’ve stated before, I think 9-1-1 has gone out of its way to showcase Tommy as a good guy who truly cares about Buck. In another life, he could be perfect for Buck. It’s just that …in this one, Buck has already found his person.
9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 5 ‘Masks’ makes clear that Eddie is Buck’s person, and the person that, within the family he’s built and the dynamics already in place, is his perfect partner. Not because he always sees Buck, or because he always has the answer. He doesn’t even believe him about the curse either, which is very much on brand for Eddie. But because Buck trusts him above all others, because there’s years of baggage they carry together that makes it so, sometimes, Eddie is the only one who can get through to Buck.
In the end, Tommy tries, but Eddie gets Buck to listen. And what’s more important, though it’s hard to say that Tommy fully realizes the implication of this yet, Tommy does understand up to a point how true this is. He is, after all, the one who calls Eddie when Buck isn’t feeling well. He knows Buck will listen to Eddie even if he isn’t listening to Tommy. And that neither man pretends to believe Buck is actually a good thing, within the context of the narrative.
You don’t have to change who you are for your partner, that’s not what being there for someone means. Instead, 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 5 ‘Masks’ just shows that comfort isn’t about patronizing someone, it’s about still having their back, even when you think they’re being a bit silly.
And credit to Tommy, he does do that at the end of the episode. But it’s hard to escape the conclusion that, as good as things are between him and Buck right now, the narrative continues to paint him as a plot device – even if a nice one – in Buck’s journey. Even Tommy’s scenes in this episode, which once again, are mostly positive, are all about showcasing how he isn’t bad, by any stretch of the imagination. But he’s an outsider looking in on something Buck already built. And he is just not as good as someone else, someone who came first.
MORE: How are we doing on the list of things we wanted for 9-1-1 Season 8? Check it out here!
WHAT BUCKS NEEDS
Buck’s entire worldview was changed in 9-1-1 Season 7, Episode 4 ‘Buck, Bothered and Bewildered’ and he’s been adjusting ever since. And 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 5 ‘Masks’ feels like a callback to that episode because, once again, it frames Buck’s issues – as silly as they might seem this time – through the lens of his relationship with Eddie and Tommy.
To be clear, Eddie doesn’t need to be part of this framing. Every moment Eddie is there could be narratively resolved without him. That means it’s a writing choice to have Eddie there and to have him be centered in scenes that feature Buck and Tommy. It’s a writing choice to frame this episode’s message as “Yes, Tommy is good for Buck, BUT …sometimes what Buck needs is Eddie.” All narrative choices. You don’t even have to interpret them romantically if you don’t want. Doesn’t make Eddie’s place in Buck’s life any less important.
And the thing is, it almost feels like we’re coming full circle. Back when Buck came out, over a season ago at this point, the overwhelming feeling was that that whole storyline wasn’t about Tommy, it was about Eddie. Buck was just an unreliable narrator in his own life. Now, it feels like once again, the show is trying to center Eddie in Buck and Tommy’s relationship. Why would the show do this? Why aren’t they giving Tommy depth outside of his relationship with Buck or the moments Eddie spends with them? Why are they making such a point to remark that Tommy is an outsider to the dynamics Buck finds essential in his life? Why have we gotten only two scenes of just Buck and Tommy this season? I already spelled that out in my last review.
MORE: How are we doing on the list of things we wanted for 9-1-1 Season 8? Check it out here!
ONTO EDDIE
We have seen a mostly light version of Eddie in the first five episodes this season, but the voiceover at the end makes it clear Eddie is not okay. There’s no way he could be, after all. His son is not with him. And sure, a lot of the past few months for Eddie have clearly been about realizing that he can be a person without Christopher, that he can laugh and enjoy things …that he can exist without his son. But the most important thing about Eddie is that he’s not the type of dad that wants to.
So where does that leave us? What else does Eddie have to discover about himself before he can bring Christopher home? It would be very good if the answer had to do with his parents and his own upbringing. Eddie has been shown to be nothing but a good father, but parenthood is the kind of thing where you can’t help but put your own baggage into it. So, perhaps, the only way for Eddie to be a better father is to truly own the ways he thinks his parents failed him.
And if that requires taking off his “mask,” aka the mustache, well, so be it. We will accept the sacrifice.
MORE: What questions do we want answered from Season 7 of 9-1-1? Here’s a list!
Things I think I think:
- This Wizard of Oz family costume is the cutest thing ever.
- Sometimes the show is very on the nose: “It’s about family”?
- If Athena came to my school, I’d be paying attention. But teenagers are the worst.
- “No, I don’t speak stupid.” I think Athena forgot what having teenagers was like.
- The idea of having to clean afterward would make the entire haunted house a no for me.
- Of course, Christopher now thinks Halloween is cringe. Teenagers!
- What’s this whole You never know when a door is gonna close and when it does, it’s sealed thing? Because it feels like foreshadowing.
- Buck really looked at that and went, that’s not scary. Sweet summer child.
- Bobby is truly such a dad.
- Okay, but Hen’s second costume is actually the coolest. Meanwhile, Eddie isn’t even scary. He just looks dumb.
- But did you have to scream, Buck? Did you?
- “That was not my fault.” HA. I mean technically, it wasn’t, but good luck convincing anyone of that.
- Don’t you just love how seamlessly Eddie and Buck work together?
- Okay, but I love that Eddie just wants to know when Buck will be back to work.
- And that he’s just sitting there, an exasperated wife indeed.
- I’m just saying, Tommy’s visitor badge vs. Eddie just being there, no badge needed because he’s not a visitor, he’s permanent feels like A THING.
- Okay, Tommy, I would have laughed too, but the implication that you laughed at Buck with your buddies at work? No, no. If you’re gonna laugh, do it to his face.
- Tommy taking care of Buck was nice, but Tommy not letting him finish his story not so much. Buck just wants to be heard! And let me be clear, I don’t think there’s anything malicious about it, either. He just wants to go to sleep and Buck is just talking about a curse. But that doesn’t change the fact that …Buck wants to be heard, even if he’s talking about something Tommy doesn’t agree with or find that interesting. Sometimes, you just have to listen.
- Of course, Tommy called Eddie. He’s the elephant in the room even when he isn’t in the room.
- Why did they have to cut the handshake?!
- Okay, but as funny as it is that a) Buck believed Eddie, b) Eddie was wrong about the timing, c) Buck just wants to go rub that in his face, and d) Eddie just pulled the money out right away, I just want to know …what is actually on Buck’s face?
- Is Josh’s costume …just a mustache? Is he dressed like Eddie?
- The fact that Denny pushed Mara clear of the car, saved her life, got pinned, and is still more worried about Mara.
- Buck, are you, of all people, truly asking if Hen should be the one with Denny right now? Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
- This isn’t how I wanted my Karen and Eddie moment, but I’ll take it.
- I love the moment of everyone at the hospital, because where else would they be?
- The 118 group chat! Which, of course, includes Athena. Clearly Karen too. I’m not gonna say anything else about that.
- “It’s a beautiful thing having a crew like this behind you.” And honestly, it seems like that’s what Tommy wants. But the emphasis is very much on him being the outsider, looking in.
- “People are what make life worth living.” Ok, but how do we go from this to relationship issues? Inquiring minds want to know. Like, I know I just talked about narrative intention, but that’s general big-picture talk. In the short term, how?
- “I can’t imagine anything more painful than going through life alone.” OUCH, BUCK. OUCH.
- You’re supposed to say you’d love him even with the boils, Tommy! (jk, jk)
- Me: I don’t have many issues with Tommy this episode. Bullet points: Are you sure?
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 5 ‘Masks’? Share with us in the comments below!
9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
