9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 6 Review: ‘Confessions’

 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 6 ‘Confessions’ is the best episode of the season so far, a strong hour that gives Eddie a light at the end of the tunnel, proves that there is a next step for Madney, and charts a step forward for Buck, one that doesn’t include Tommy. Moreover, the hour cements 9-1-1 as one of the strongest acted shows out there, in general, and that’s in an hour that was very light on the two acting powerhouses: Angela Bassett and Peter Krause.

But the rest of this cast can more than hold up their end of the bargain, acting-wise. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Kenneth Choi are outstanding as a Maddie and Chim who stand half between joy and fear, but who cannot help but want to take this next step. Oliver Stark does a great job of going through the rollercoaster of emotions Buck goes through, pre and post-breakup. And Ryan Guzman, in particular, shines in an hour that reminds us that you can’t be there for others until you learn to be there for yourself.

It’s 9-1-1 at its best, and it’s also a great setup for what can and should come next. So let us break down 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 6 ‘Confessions’:

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. And 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 5.

I’M NOT YOUR LAST, I’M YOUR FIRST

Tommy’s last scene with Buck is one of their best scenes ever. In it, Tommy reaffirms the thing we always knew about him, he wasn’t really meant to last, but he was an important part of Buck’s journey and he will, indeed, always be Buck’s first. The show might have mishandled the character a bit, not because it didn’t give him depth—that part was always intentional—but because it didn’t make some things clear that would have made it easier for fans to fully empathize with him.

But the Tommy we see on screen has always been a good guy, and in this case, he’s the guy who has to tell Buck the hard truth. And sure, this is Tommy protecting himself, putting himself first. But when he says “I know how this ends,” there’s a clear undercurrent of “not well for me.” Why Tommy thinks the relationship, if it progressed, wouldn’t end well for him remains unsaid, but it’s clear he has a reason.

Particularly because he goes even further and tells Buck “I’m not your last, I’m your first.” It sounds like a throwaway line, but since this is TV, it probably isn’t. If we want to read into it, let’s say it probably means that just as the show gave us Buck’s first, it intends to give us his last.

As Tommy says farewell, he finally utters the one word he hasn’t let himself say in this relationship, he calls Buck “Buck” instead of Evan. For him, that’s it. It’s final. If this wasn’t meant to be the end of Buck and Tommy’s story, he wouldn’t have called him Buck. If there was any hope for the future, he would still be calling him Evan. But as Tommy says goodbye to Evan, the man he is dating becomes Buck. Buck doesn’t belong to Tommy. And perhaps, in a way, Tommy has always known that.

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.

I DON’T DESERVE FORGIVENESS

The journey of Eddie in this episode is less about catholic guilt and more about the weird relationship with the Catholic Church people who have been indoctrinated, I have grown up in it, have. I’m talking about one of them. Like Eddie, it’s been a long time since I went to confession, and like Eddie, I would probably feel silly going back. But I can understand the need to try when you feel like you’re not getting anywhere. What do you have to lose?

Just as I understand Eddie taking the priest’s words to heart. It’s less about Eddie’s connection to the church itself and more about the ingrained idea that this man is an authority somehow. You don’t even have to be religious anymore for that part of your brain to still exist and for it to be engaged, fully against your will. So when the “hot priest” comes with his words of wisdom, a part of Eddie doesn’t want to believe them. He wants to still feel like a failure.

But a part of him was just waiting for someone to forgive him, or to tell him that he could forgive himself. “Hot Priest” was just there to tell him what he needed to hear right when he needed to hear it. And though I think the episode didn’t give us nearly enough for the switch, I think Eddie forgiving himself is just a small part of his journey. I think he’s heard these words enough already; from people he trusts. He wanted to believe them. So perhaps it means something that they came from someone he didn’t trust, someone who didn’t know him.

The rest of the journey, though—the one about those parents who are indeed “a little too willing,” to take his son, the one about a man who grew a mustache to hide who he really was because he couldn’t look at himself in the mirror anymore, that is still ongoing. If the show is serious about Eddie, this is just the beginning.

MORE: Well, we called it. Buck and Tommy aren’t endgame.

I’M STRAIGHT

I want to start by saying that even though the show gives Eddie a good reason to state this during 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 6 ‘Confessions’, on such an intentional medium as television, with the baggage Eddie’s character has, the weight of fans’ expectations and the previously stated knowledge of those two things by the people behind the scenes, this feels like a declaration. Straight is, after all, considered the default. There’s no reason for Eddie to tell us he’s straight, no reason for the show to make a point that he is unless there’s a gotcha coming. Unless he isn’t straight. Literally none whatsoever.

Plus, there’s also the way the scene plays out. Why is he telling “hot priest” he’s straight after a rather innocuous conversation? There’s nothing about what “hot priest” says that screams “hitting on someone,” but Eddie clocks him right away and decides the guy must be hitting on him. And then, instead of brushing him off in one of the multiple ways he could have, he has to make a point to tell him he’s straight. It’s …interesting, to say the least.

That this comes in an episode with a Glee reference also feels like a sign, considering Glee is the show for characters saying they’re straight only to then turn out not to be. Again, this isn’t an obvious sign, but it does feel like it could be the beginning of something, particularly on a show that has indeed made Eddie queer-coded for a while.

Am I saying Buddie is coming? Is the show? No, not as clearly as that, but it’s hard to discount the fact that we got a Buck and Tommy breakup with Tommy saying things like “I know how this ends,” and “I’m not your last, I’m your first,” coupled with Eddie randomly telling someone he’s straight, and like a cherry on top of the sundae, we got that final scene with Buck and Eddie that’s just about being there for each other, without the need for words. The camera even takes a beat, then another, and focuses on them at the end. Which, I guess, could mean nothing. But at this point, it probably means something.

MORE: How are we doing on the list of things we wanted for 9-1-1 Season 8? Check it out here!

YOU’RE ALREADY PREGNANT

Maddie goes through a rollercoaster of emotions in this episode. So does Chim, but for very different reasons. Maddie is more excited about the pregnancy, and Chim is more scared. And in a way, both things are understandable when they’re still talking in hypotheticals. Once the baby is a reality, Chim gets on the excited train very quickly, but there’s still fear. Of course, there is. Maddie is probably feeling it too, she’s just choosing to be excited more than scared for now.

But the way 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 6 ‘Confessions’ explores not just Chimney’s fear but Maddie’s excitement feels like the right balance because what they’re going through is a reality for many couples. Post-partum depression is more common than people realize, and women go through that and get pregnant again. It happens literally every day. And yes, Maddie is a medical professional, she understands the risks. But she also knows herself and knows what she wants.

And this time she’s going into it with full knowledge of what might come and a partner who also understands what to look out for. That’s very different than the first time when they just weren’t expecting it and didn’t have the best tools to handle it. The important part is that the show isn’t handwaving it away or pretending it’s going to be easy now when it wasn’t before. Instead, the show has the characters say hey, this time, we’ll do it together. Whatever comes. And that matters.

MORE: What questions do we want answered from Season 7 of 9-1-1? Here’s a list!

Things I think I think:

• Oh, so this is …Season 7 footage. Gotcha.
• I watched a cut of this where Eddie had no mustache in the first scene, sooo…
• How many times I gotta say ‘oh, Buck and Eddie are so in sync’?
• Athena as a marriage counselor was kinda cool.
• HA, that’s what that guy deserves.
• It’s fine, Eddie, 23 years sounds about right.
• “Couldn’t protect him from me.” I’M GONNA CRY.
• Why is your order of importance: my son, my best friend and my girlfriend. In like, that order?
• “I don’t deserve forgiveness.” Someone HUG him.
• Maddie is such a strong, brave woman.
• Okay, six months established for Buck and Tommy. Not that long, but not so little either.
• Why are you joking about him taking Eddie, Tommy?
• “I’m a Kinsey 6.” THE KINSEY SCALE ON THIS SHOW?
• “Himbo half her age?” Buck isn’t a himbo!
• OMG MADDIE WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW MANY MEN SHE TURNED GAY!?
• “I didn’t think he was capable of being this dishonest and cruel.” No, no. You stop there, Buck. He was scared. We don’t judge people who had a hard time coming out of the closet here.
• If you can’t answer the question, Buck, then you don’t love him.
• This pre-Glee/post-Glee world analogy is genius. Also, Ryan Murphy reference!
• “You don’t judge the people who came before you.”
• Absolutely. Yes. But there’s also accountability for hurting others as you were trying to protect yourself.
• I get Chim being scared, I do. But they have to talk about it.
• “No offense, I’m straight.”? He was literally just talking to you! He said like three lines! Even if he was hitting on you, that would be clocking it real fast.
• “A little too willingly.” I’M GLAD YOU REALIZE.
• I would have killed for Eddie with a beard. WHO NEEDS ACCURACY?
• Look, I get the train of thought that leads to Eddie thinking he’s a failure. But what he needs right now is therapy, not a priest.
• “So, earn it. But in the meantime, stop punishing yourself.”
• “We can’t take care of others if we don’t first take care of ourselves.” OKAY BUT THE PRIEST IS ACTUALLY HELPFUL.
• “I don’t know if you’re gonna fit this time, Eddie.” LOL
• Please people, himbo doesn’t mean what you think it means.
• Buck always, always overcorrects.
• “I know how this ends.” Ouch. Though, fair.
• “What you’re feeling right now is new and exciting and it feels like forever, but you’re still figuring yourself out. And that’s good.”
• “No matter how bad I wanted to be, I’m not your last. I’m your first.”
• This doesn’t necessarily have to be so, Tommy is making it so. He could fight. He just decided it wasn’t worth the risk.
• Who had Tommy breaking up with Buck in their bingo card?
• “I’ll see you around, Buck.” HA AND NOW YOU CALL HIM BUCK.
• That means he’s never coming back.
• Did I tear up a bit at Maddie being pregnant? Yes, I did.
• But aren’t you a little young to go full Risky Business, Eddie? I mean, it is a classic.
• Also, how much fun did Ryan have filming this scene in tighty whities?
• Put on some pants before you go open the door, Eddie!
• I love the final scene, even if they don’t say a word. I love that it’s the two of them, after everything. I love the intentionality. I love the little beat the camera takes at the end.

Agree? Disagree? What did you think of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 6 ‘Confessions’? Share with us in the comments below!

9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.