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callmebrycelee · 5 months

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9-1-1 REACTION

After last week’s 100th episode, I am back with a reaction to our latest episode. I do want to acknowledge my last reaction got a bit wordy so it’s my goal to keep things nice and tight. Like Lou Ferrigno Jr.'s body. Okay, focus! Ahem. This reaction is for the season 7, fifth episode “You Don’t Know Me” which originally aired April 11, 2024. The episode was written by Lyndsey Beaulieu and Taylor Wong and directed by Brenna Mallow. Spoilers ahead!

“I’m the boss of me.” – Terry and audience

We begin the episode in a hotel conference room where speaker Terry (played by John Milhiser) is talking to a small audience about the importance of having self-control. He tells his captive audience the secret to self-control is one simple thing; however, before he can reveal that simple thing, his right hand seizes up and starts going all Devon Sawa in Idle Hands on Terry. The audience is aghast as Terry starts beating the shit out of himself. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so horrifying.

Cue title card.

“Get it off!” – Eddie Diaz, to anyone who will listen

The 118 arrive on the scene and find Terry slapping himself. Hen reminds us that once upon a time she went to med school and suggests Terry is suffering from something called alien hand syndrome. Eddie doesn’t believe such a thing exists but Hen schools him by explaining that it’s a rare neurological condition that causes a person’s limbs to act out, seemingly of their own will. This condition usually indicates urgent brain danger. Bobby tells Buck and Eddie to restrain Terry while Hen and Chimney prepare to administer some lorazepam and lidocaine. Buck and Eddie struggle to restrain the guy which is funny considering they’re both big dudes and this guy doesn’t seem like he would be that strong. Hen asks Terry if he’s recently been treated for epilepsy or blood clots. He tells her no and Chimney asks if he’s been treated for an irregular heartbeat. Terry tells him he had an operation four weeks ago for his AFib. Hen thinks it’s possible his heart has grown a blood clot that went to his brain. Basically, Terry is having a stroke and it’s imperative they get him to the hospital immediately before there’s any brain damage.

Terry’s hand reaches for Buck’s throat and starts choking him. Bobby manages to pry his hand off Buck’s throat, but it immediately grabs Eddie’s (ahem) privates. Yup, you read that correctly. Terry’s hand gropes Eddie’s package. Eddie is basically S.A.-ed in a room full of people. Bobby pries his hand off, again, and Eddie collapses to the floor. The hand goes for Buck’s throat again and Chimney sneaks in to administer the lidocaine which numbs Terry’s arm and hand. At this point, Buck’s face is beet-red, and his eyes are bulging out. Terry goes to apologize to Buck and Eddie, but neither are very receptive to his apology.

“How perfect is this little face?” – Karen Wilson, to Maddie Buckley

We head over to the Buckley-Han residence where Maddie and Chimney are giving some of Jee-Yun’s baby clothes to Hen and Karen who are excited about the arrival of a new foster child. Karen gets a call from the social worker asking to meet with them. When they meet with Dierdra (played by Andi Chapman) she tells them the little girl they were planning on fostering is being taken in by her grandmother. What I like most about this scene, it shows how much Hen and Karen have grown since the whole Nia situation back in season 3. They’re disappointed about not being able to foster the little girl, but Hen says that at least the girl gets to stay with her family.

Dierdra tells them there’s another girl who needs a home but she’s older. Both the girl’s parents are deceased and she’s currently living in a group home which is not an ideal living situation for a 9-year-old. Dierdra tells Hen and Karen that this girl is very special, and she wants her to have a fighting chance at having a good life. She believes her best chance is with Hen and Karen. Hen looks at Karen who gives her a look that indicates her interest in giving this child a home. Hen asks Dierdra when she and Karen will get to meet her.

“I’m an ally. Every Pride Month, I put a rainbow on my Instagram.” – Evan Buckley, to Tommy Kinard

Meanwhile, Buck and Tommy (played by Lou Ferrigno Jr.) go out on their first date. While Tommy pays their bill, Buck asks him what time the movie starts. Tommy tells him the movie theater has 18 screens so they can pick a movie when they get there. Buck glances around the restaurant, nervously, and Tommy assures him that no one is looking at them. I love that Tommy is one of the only characters in the show who calls him Evan. Tommy reminds him that no one cares that they’re having dinner together. Buck, of course, plays coy, and Tommy tells him he’s a little tense. He tells Buck that he gets it. The two of them are in a pretty macho line of work,. He tells Buck that he’d be surprised by how accepting most people are.

Buck asks Tommy if he’s always been out at work. Tommy tells him ‘no’ and says that the 118 was a pretty regressive place back when it was under the leadership of Captain Gerrard. Tommy says that back then he was still figuring himself out. When he transferred to Harbor, he stopped lying about who he was. Buck says he’s not lying about who he is and Tommy says he didn’t say Buck was. He was talking about himself. Buck tells Tommy this is his first date with a guy but assures him he’s not weirded out. I cackled when Buck told Tommy he was an ally and that he posts a rainbow on his Instagram during Pride Month. Tommy says that it must be him that makes Buck nervous.

“Evan, I think you’re adorable.” – Tommy Kinard, to Evan Buckley

Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Eddie and his girlfriend, Marisol (played by Edy Ganem). Eddie greets them both, very loudly, and is excited to see his two friends hanging out. Tommy tells them they just had dinner and are on their way to see a movie. Buck says that afterwards they’re going to go pick up hot chicks because women like firefighters. Eddie, of course, is oblivious and makes a comment about Marisol being a hot chick and finding her firefighter. I don’t know who’s cringier in this scene – Buck or Eddie. Eddie tells Buck and Tommy that Marisol agreed to move in with him and they both tell him congratulations. Marisol makes a comment about moving her armoire into Eddie’s house and he says that you can never have too much closet space. Tommy says, ain’t that the truth – right, Evan? I hollered!!!! Buck looks like he wants to disappear. Eddie and Marisol leave, and Tommy asks if Buck’s ready to go. Buck says yes. Outside, Tommy orders a Lyft just for himself. He tells Buck he’s going to skip the movie. When Buck asks why, Tommy tells him that he doesn’t think Buck is ready. Before he gets in the car, he tells Buck he’ll see him around. I felt so bad for Buck in this scene, but I totally understand where Tommy is coming from.

“Can we go back to the pronoun?” – Maddie Buckley, to Evan Buckley

Dierdra introduces Hen, Karen, and Denny to a Mara Driskell (played by Askyler Bell). Mara is non-verbal and seems withdrawn. Hen tells her to make herself at home and Denny gives her his favorite teddy bear. Meanwhile, Buck goes to see Maddie and tells her about his date. He describes his date in vague terms which leads Maddie to believe he’s seeing a married woman. Buck says he’s not seeing a married woman and tells her he feels guilty for lying to Eddie. Maddie asks him why he did it and Buck says he doesn’t know. Buck tells her that his date left him standing outside the restaurant. Maddie picks up on the specific pronoun he used to describe his date and to Buck’s credit, he tells her he was on a date with a guy.

Maddie is so supportive in this scene which I knew she’d been. In fact, I don’t think anyone is going to have a problem with Buck being interested in men. Maddie asks him how long it’s been since he’s been leaning in the other direction. He tells her he hasn’t been leaning in that direction; however, he will, from time to time, check out a hot guy’s ass. Buck considers this normal behavior, and you know what, I agree with him. We should all, regardless of who were are attracted to, take the time to check out a hot guy’s ass. Buck tells his sister about Tommy. I thought it was so cute when Buck lists all the things he finds attractive about Tommy Kinard. He’s confident, interesting, and no one has a swell cleft in his chin like Gaston Tommy. Maddie asks if this is the same Tommy who is Eddie’s friend. Buck gets defensive and reminds her that Tommy is a recent friend that he and Eddie most definitely met at the same time. I love when Buck gets jealous. Maddie tells Buck that she doesn’t think he’s a fraud and she follows that up with some amazing, sisterly advice. She reminds him that he’s still processing these new feelings and when he’s ready to tell Eddie the truth, he will do it in his own time. We end the scene with Maddie asking Buck to tell her more about the hot pilot.

“You’re not gonna spank me with a ruler, are you?” – Eddie Diaz, to Marisol

We next head over to the Diaz residence where we see Eddie and Marisol in bed together presumably after sexytimes. I found this transition jarring because we haven’t seen this side of Eddie since season 2. It’s so funny to me that Ryan Guzman is one of this show’s sex symbols, but we rarely get intimate scenes with his character. In fact, all of the other characters have been shown to have very active and satisfying sex lives within the show. Even Bobby and Athena like to mix it up with some roleplay from time to time. Anywho, Marisol heads into the bathroom to take the world’s fastest shower while Eddie snoops through her things. He finds a crucifix and a photo of her in a nun’s habit. He asks her when she was a nun for Halloween. Marisol exits the bathroom wearing a towel and tells him the photo was taken when she was with the Sisters of the Holy Order. She passes off this information like it’s the most normal explanation in the world before heading back into the bathroom. He asks he if she was really a month and she lets him know she only made it to novice and never took her final vows. Eddie tells her he’s having flash backs to being back in middle school. He asks if he she plans on spanking him with a ruler and she jokes that she’ll only do that if he asks nicely. When Marisol leaves the bathroom this time, Eddie sees her dressed in a habit with a celestial glow around her. Yeah, Buck may be dealing with his sexuality, but our boy Eddie has some good old-fashioned Catholic guilt.

“Is something wrong?” – Karen Wilson, to Mara Driskell

Back over at the Wilsons, Karen helps Mara get ready for bed. As she goes to leave the room, she finds the bear that Denny gave Mara lying on the floor with its head ripped off. Karen is rightfully disturbed by this and quickly exits the room. Later on, Karen wakes up to find Mara standing at the end of her bed. She wakes Hen up and they ask if something is wrong. Mara just stands there and glares at them in the creepiest way. Hen gets up and tells Mara she will go back to her room with her. When she goes to put her hand on Mara’s shoulder, the child starts screaming bloody murder which wakes Denny up. Hen and Karen exchange horrified looks.

“So, she dropped out of nun school?” – Evan Buckley, to Eddie Diaz

The next day, Buck walks into work, looking nervous and trepidatious. He sees Eddie at the bench-press and heads over to talk to him. He starts things off by telling Eddie he’s there early. Eddie says he’s been there since 6:00 even though their shift doesn’t start till 9:00. Eddie tells Buck he left the house early to avoid having sex with Marisol. Eddie asks Buck if his family was very religious when he was growing up which, no offense to the writers, seems like a conversation they would’ve maybe had by now considering how close they are. Buck says they were Episcopalian so basically no. I laughed at this line because I’ve always thought of Episcopalian as diet Catholicism. Many of the same rituals without all the pomp and pageantry. Eddie says he comes from Latin Catholics which apparently is even more hardcore than regular Catholics. Rosary beads. Catholic schools. Confessions. Mass every Sunday. He tells Buck he went until he was old enough to let tell his parents it wasn’t for him. Eddie calls himself as a Manchurian Catholic with a reservoir of Catholic guilt lying dormant just waiting to be activated.

Eddie goes on to say that everything was going great with Marisol moving in until he found out she was a nun. Buck’s follow-up question to hearing all of this is asking if she wears the outfit meaning the nun’s habit. Eddie explains that she’s not a nun currently, but she was once upon a time. Buck asks if she dropped out or was expelled. Eddie says that Marisol left of her own volition. Buck asks him what the problem is. Eddie says the problem is that he can’t look at her without wanting to do the Sign of the Cross instead of … other things. Eddie says he hasn’t been able to get a boner since she told him which explains why he’s so pent up. Buck tells him that Episcopalians don’t have guilt which is something he doesn’t exactly feel great about and suggests that Eddie appeal to a higher power. Eddie asks Buck if he thinks he should go to confession. Buck tells him ‘no’ and says he thinks he should go talk to Bobby since he’s a practicing Catholic. Eddie thinks this is a good idea since Bobby has never made him feel judged. He tells Buck that’s good advice. He goes to leave but pauses. He turns to Buck and says that it looked like he wanted to tell him something when he walked in. Buck lies and says he was just going to see if needed someone to spot him.

“One minute, Denny’s setting the table and the next, he’s bleeding.” – Karen Wilson, to Hen Wilson

Upstairs, Bobby brings Hen coffee. She tells him she need a handful of ibuprofen. He asks her if she has a headache, she tells him she has an everything ache. He asks her how thing are going with Mara, and she tells him that something happened to her. Before she got to Hen and Karen. Hen tells him that Mara had an episode the previous night. A night terror. She tells Bobby that she’s been with a day and a night but so far hasn’t spoken a single word. Bobby tells her that once Mara feels safe, she will eventually open up. Hen gets a text from Karen with a photo of Denny. Denny had a bruise over his right eye and the two of them are at the emergency room. Hen gets up and tells Bobby she needs to call Karen.

She learns that during breakfast, Mara chucked a coffee mug at Denny’s head. Hen asks if Denny is okay, and Karen says that he swears he’s fine. Denny tells Karen and Hen that Mara didn’t mean to hurt him which is awfully mature of him to say. Hen starts freaking out and asking about x-rays and stitches and checking for a concussion. Karen lets her know she is handling things. Hen apologizes and says she wishes she was there. Hen asks how all of this happened and Karen tells her she thinks it’s because Denny moved her blanket. Hen tells Karen that she’ll be home soon and when she gets there they have a lot to talk about. Karen agrees. When Hen gets home, the two of them make a phone call to Dierdra.

“I’m not gonna tell you how you feel about Marisol, Eddie. Only you know that.” – Bobby Nash, to Eddie Diaz

Meanwhile, back at the 118, Eddie shows Bobby a photo of Marisol wearing her nun’s habit. Bobby says that Marisol doesn’t look like any of the nuns he had back when he was in Minnesota. Bobby tells Eddie he understands why he’s unnerved by the knowledge that Marisol used to be a nun. He says that the imagery from their faith is very powerful. Eddie says he’s not sure if he can say that it is their faith. He tells Bobby he doesn’t know what he believes in anymore. Bobby reminds him that a lapsed Catholic is still a Catholic. He wonders if Eddie’s reaction is just him having second thoughts about Marisol moving in with him. He says that Eddie hasn’t talked about Marisol in a way that would make Bobby think he was considering cohabitating with her. Eddie tells Bobby that he really likes Marisol. Bobby tells Eddie he remembers the last time he said something similar. It was about Ana and he tells Eddie that shortly thereafter he started having panic attacks. Eddie asks Bobby if he thinks he’s a commitment-phobe. Bobby says he doesn’t think that’s the case considering Eddie has no problem committing to other things like the military, being a firefighter, his son, and Shannon. Eddie tells Bobby that the Church is a lot of the reason why he and Shannon got married. When she got pregnant, they both felt pressured into getting married. Eddie says that he’s never regretted marrying Shannon. Even when things got really bad, there was a part of him that loved being married to her. Bobby tells Eddie that only he knows how he feels about Marisol. Eddie asks Bobby what he would do if he were in his position. Bobby says as a practicing, confession-going Catholic he would go to confession because he wouldn’t want to piss off Marisol’s ex … the Lord.

“I was supposed to take care of her. She was finally supposed to be safe with me.” – Cynthia, to Hen Wilson

In our next scene, the 118 respond to an emergency involving a structure fire and a firefighter named Brunson who has been bitten by the homeowner’s dog. While Chimney sees to Brunson (played by Anthony Starke), the homeowner Cynthia (played by Sandra Thigpen) explains that the dog is a rescue who was once used for fighting. She is more upset about the dog being trapped inside her home which is currently on fire than she is her home. Brunson says he’s sorry he couldn’t get the dog out of the house and Cynthia apologizes for her dog biting him. Hen, being an avid animal lover, goes to check on the dog after she’s carried out of the house by another fireman. She detects movement and begins administering compressions to the dog. Okay, so maybe I’m late to the party but I didn’t know CPR worked on dogs. The dog regains consciousness and Cynthia is so happy. Brunson says to Hen that she doesn’t give up and Chimney tells him that giving up is not in her vocabulary.

“Everybody’s given up on her. I don’t want to be another name in a long list of people who have failed her.” – Hen Wilson, to Athena Grant

Hen goes to see Athena who has done some digging into Mara’s background. They learn that Mara’s parents were high school sweethearts who have criminal records going all the way back to when they were teenagers. They were both into drugs which ultimately led to their demise. They both died on the same night due to an opioid overdose. They’d been dead several hours by the time paramedics arrived. Hen asks Athena how the paramedics found them. Athena tells her someone called 911.

Hen and Karen head over to the 911 dispatch center to see Maddie. I love how we keep getting more scenes between these Maddie and Hen. I would argue that we’ve seen Hen and Maddie together more in just this season alone than the other seasons combined. Maddie plays the 911 call from the night Mara’s parents overdosed. At first no one responds to the dispatcher but eventually Mara starts talking. Mara tells him that her parents went to sleep and now they will not wake up. It was absolutely heartbreaking listening to Mara tell the dispatcher that she couldn’t feel her parents breathing. She tells him that sometimes her parents take pills that make them sleepy but they always wakeup. She wonders why they aren’t waking up this time. She begs for them to wake up. When the recording ends, Hen realizes aloud that Mara wasn’t just watching her and Karen sleep. She was worried they weren’t going to wake up. Karen says she was trying to protect them. I mean that still doesn’t make what she did to Denny okay but at least we have an explanation as to why she’s acting out and not speaking to anyone.

Eddie heads over to Buck’s to avoid going home to his own place. Buck tells him he’s going to have to go home at some point. Eddie asks if he has to. Buck reminds him that’s where he and his son lives. Eddie says that Christopher is away for the next couple of days. Speaking of Christopher, I was hoping that with him being a main part of the cast now that we’d see him more this season. Maybe he’ll factor in towards the latter half of the season. Anywho, Eddie is worried that if he goes home, Marisol will want to have sex with him. Buck tells him he’ll get through it. Eddie is worried about God watching them knock boots and Buck asks him if God was watching before Eddie learned about Marisol being a nun. Eddie says that he’s going to have to break up with her. Buck asks him if that is what he wants. Eddie says no and reminds Buck that he just asked Marisol to move in with him. He tells Buck that he and Tommy have the right idea staying single and hanging out with the boys. Oh, Eddie. You don’t know the half of it.

“This doesn’t change a thing between us. Okay?” – Eddie Diaz, to Evan Buckley

Buck finally comes clean and tells Eddie he was on a date with Tommy. Eddie is shocked that Tommy’s gay which is funny to me because one would think his first thought would be, wow, Buck, you’re bisexual? Buck figured that Tommy’s sexuality would’ve come up at some point while they were hanging out. Eddie says Tommy hasn’t said anything to him, not that it would matter. Buck says that Tommy doesn’t volunteer his sexuality, but he doesn’t hide it. Buck asks Eddie if it’s weird that he and Tommy were on a date and Eddie says absolutely not. Eddie tells Buck that nothing will change between the two of them and Buck is visibly relieved by hearing this. Buck tells him that Tommy dumped him but then remembers that he can’t be dumped if they were never together. Buck tells him that Tommy doesn’t think he’s ready to be in a relationship with a guy. Eddie asks him what he thinks. Buck says he can’t stop thinking about Tommy. Eddie tells Buck he needs to call Tommy. Eddie reminds him that Tommy doesn’t know he’s an idiot but once he does get to know him, he’ll love Buck – like they all do. But what if he says no, Buck asks. Then he’s an idiot, Eddie says. Eddie tells him not to walk away from something before he even knows what it is. Buck echoes what Eddie said earlier in the episode and tells him that’s good advice. Eddie agrees and tells Buck he needs to talk to Marisol. He gets up and heads to the door. Before he leaves, he tells Buck to come here, and the two besties hug it out. This scene was so precious. I love the chemistry between these two. I’m still not 100% sold on them being anything other than friends but I can see why others would see a scene like this and ship these two romantically. Before Eddie leaves, he reminds Buck to call Tommy. If only you could be as good of a boyfriend as you are a friend, Eddie. You would be as close to perfect as a person could get.

“Because no man has ever looked at me the same after they found out.” – Marisol, to Eddie Diaz

Eddie finally makes it back to his house right about the same time Marisol gets there. He apologizes for not coming home sooner. He asks her if she’s had anything to eat and she tells him she ate with her brother. This made me laugh because I’ve seen people on Reddit and Tumblr joke about how Marisol has more chemistry with her brother than she does with Eddie. Anywho, Marisol tells Eddie they should talk and he agrees. She tells him she have told him sooner about being a nun. He asks her why she didn’t, and she tells him that whenever she tells a guy about her past, one of two things happen. Either they get freaked out or turned on. Eddie suggests there may be a third option – the kind of guy who just needs a minute. Marisol tells him if he’s not ready for them to cohabitate, she understands. Eddie tells her he doesn’t think he’s ready for them to leave together … yet. He tells her something about him. He confesses that he has the tendency to move too fast in his relationships. He goes with his gut and lets his head catch up later. Marisol asks if that usually works out for him and he tells her no. However, this time he would really like it if it did. Eddie asks Marisol if they can start over, and she says yes. This time he wants them to take time getting to know each other. They kiss and Marisol says she can’t wait to move out. Eddie says he can’t wait either.

“Night, night.” – Mara, to Karen Wilson

At the Wilson residence, Karen goes into Mara’s room to talk to her. She says she can’t imagine how hard it is for her being in a new house with strangers. Karen says she would be scared all the time which is how she knows Mara is a very brave girl. Karen tells Mara she doesn’t have to be brave all the time. She tells her she is safe there with her, Hen, and Denny – even if she doesn’t feel like she is. She gives Mara a monitor so she can see that Karen and Hen are there and know that she is safe. She tells Mara goodnight and tells her goodnight. Hen and Karen are delighted to hear this.

“I don’t know what I’m ready for, but I am ready for something. And I think maybe that something could be with you.” – Evan Buckley, to Tommy Kinard

The next day, Buck meet up with Tommy. They exchange hellos and Buck thanks Tommy for agreeing to meet him. He tells Tommy he got him a coffee. He didn’t know how he took his coffee, so he just guessed. Tommy takes a sip and says, not like that. I love how honest Tommy is. It’s what I find so endearing about him. They both laugh and Buck says there’s a lot of things they don’t know about each other. Tommy says practically everything. Buck wants to change that but first he apologizes for how he behaved on their date. Tommy assures him he has nothing to apologize for, but Buck says he does. Tommy tells him no again and explains that he didn’t cut their date short because Buck behaved badly. He cut it short because he didn’t want to pressure Buck. Buck admits that how he acted is not one of his proudest moments. Buck brings up how Tommy said he wasn’t ready. He tells Tommy that he doesn’t know what he’s ready for but he is ready for something. He believes that maybe that something could be with Tommy. Tommy says that Buck already knows he’s interested. Buck invites him to come to Maddie’s wedding. Tommy laughs but quickly realizes that Buck is serious. Buck tells him that he wants him to be his date. When Tommy said Evan, I swooned. Buck tells him that he already knows half the people that will be at the wedding and says that Maddie is eager to meet him. I love how Tommy is always checking to make sure Buck is okay with everything they are doing. He asks Buck if he’s sure and Buck says he is. He tells Tommy he’ll need someone to dance with. Tommy says okay. They hold hands and Buck looks so happy I could just scream. “What was it, pastel and puke?” – Maddie Buckley, to Evan Buckley and Eddie Diaz

In our final scene, we flash-forward to Maddie and Chimney’s wedding. We see Athena looking absolutely radiant seated next to Bobby. We see Maddie in her wedding dress freaking out over Chimney, Buck, and Eddie being a half an hour late. Maddie’s dad (played by Gregory Harrison) is trying to call Buck but keeps getting his voicemail. Hen arrives in looking absolutely stunning in a black tux. She tells Maddie that Buck’s car just pulled up. Maddie is relieved and asks if Chimney is with them. Hen tells her she isn’t sure. She didn’t see. Buck and Eddie arrive looking like something the proverbial cat drug in. I love their pastel blazer. Eddie’s in a pink suit with no shirt on for some reason. Not that I’m complaining. Buck has on all white with a green blazer. Maddie asks them why they’re dressed like that. Buck says they were at a themed party. Eddie says the puke on his jacket isn’t his. Maddie tells them to get changed and asks them about Chimney. Buck tells her it’s complicated.

Wow, what another incredible episode. I like how the theme of not knowing someone carried out throughout the episode. This season continues to deliver on the character development front. Some have complained that there’s not enough emergencies this season, but I don’t care. I’ve always preferred the drama of the characters over the actual emergencies. I think the show does a good job of balancing those two things. Hell, it’s only been five episodes and we’ve dealt with a drunk driver, an airplane crashing into a house, a cruise ship capsizing and a guy going ape shit on himself. That’s plenty of emergency for me.

Speaking of balance, I think the show is doing a good job of balancing our main characters’ storyline. The first three episodes dealt with Athena and Buck. The last two episodes have been about Buck, Hen, and Eddie. I feel like the next episodes will deal with Maddie and Chimney. Speaking of Buck, I am very pleased with the direction his character is going. I was watching an episode from season one and it’s remarkable how far he’s come since then. The same goes with Hen. In season one, I wasn’t sure if her relationship with Karen was going to go the distance but here we are seven years later and they’re still together, better than ever, and fostering kids in addition to raising Denny. Then we have Eddie. I am so happy Bobby called him out on his bullshit. I’ve watched people online make excuses for Eddie’s behavior while pointing the finger at Shannon. I’ve never understood how people could be so angry at Shannon for leaving Christopher but turn a blind eye to the fact that Eddie has openly admitted to signing up for another tour of duty because he wasn’t ready to deal with being a husband and a father. Having Marisol move out is a good decision although I wish he never asked her to move in to begin with. It creates more baggage for her. Hopefully, Eddie will take additional steps to figure out why he sucks at relationships. It's so funny to me because I see so many folks online who swear up and down that Eddie and Buck are going to be together by the end of this season. Yet, none of them have ever taken the time to consider that if Eddie is bad with Shannon, Ana, and now with Marisol, why would things be any different with Buck? Also, I do not want Eddie to interfere with Buck’s bisexual awakening. In fact, outside of them being just two friends supporting each other, I would like to see them embark on their separate journeys alone and maybe rely on others for advice.

Well, unfortunately it looks like we will not be getting a new episode until May 2nd. I checked my calendar and May 2nd isn’t as far away as I thought. Having 9-1-1 on a brief hiatus will allow me some time to revisit some older episodes and rewatch the five episodes from this season. The thing about 9-1-1, much like Golden Girls and Schitt’s Creek, it will never get old to me. So, maybe I’ll start at the very beginning (again) so I can better appreciate how far our beloved characters have come. Until next time …

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legolasghosty · 2 years

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Can I request 18. I know autumn camping trips are totally aesthetic but it’s cold as shit in this tent, can we snuggle? for either Boggie or Flarrie? Your choice.

- @michelangelinden

You say or, I say and. Same thing, right? /j Anyways, this one got a bit long, but oh well. This AU just turned into a whole thing in my head, so.... Idk, maybe there will be more of it in the future? Hope you like it! Love you!!!!

The Great Wilson Family Camping Adventure felt like it was doomed even before it began.

Carrie's dad had been going on and on about this plan for months, how he was going to take his kids out into the woods so they could all get to know each other and become closer as a family, away from all the regular pressure of work and school. Yup, kids, plural.

Ever since Trevor had discovered that his old ex-girlfriend had a son, his son, life in the Wilson household had been a rollercoaster. Carrie was pretty sure she’d never forget coming into the kitchen and discovering her dad on a video call with some woman she’d never seen before. Okay, the video call thing wasn’t that uncommon, though he usually did that sort of stuff in the den. What was unusual about it was the set of her dad’s jaw, the hand clenched around a glass so hard that Carrie was afraid it would shatter, and the even tone he only used when he was nearing a breaking point and didn’t want to show it.

It had taken some time for the whole story to come out, but eventually Carrie had pieced together that her dad had dated this girl back before meeting Carrie’s mom, and that they’d broken up because she was going out with someone else behind his back. The woman had moved away from the area, neither her nor Trevor realizing she was pregnant.

The next part of the story was blurry at best, since the only one who was both willing and able to talk about it had been six or seven at the time. But as near as Carrie could figure out, there had been some… issues in the life of Dierdra Shaw leading to many things, including a CPS investigation and her son, Bobby, going to live with his grandparents in Los Angeles.

And so, by some weird, cruel twist of fate, one of Julie’s bandmates turned out to be Carrie’s biological half-brother.

Carrie didn’t have any issues with Bobby, per se, but… it wasn’t like they had much in common. He liked alt-rock and lived in the same pair of vans 24/7. She preferred pop and power ballads and would change shoes at least twice a day, thanks to dance classes and various events. And her dad, their dad, was making all of them go camping together. For ‘family bonding’ or something.

But at ‘family dinner’ a few nights before they left, her dad had asked Bobby if there was anything he wanted to bring to make it more comfortable or fun. It was a reasonable question, but instead of bringing up food or a space heater like Trevor was probably expecting, Bobby had hesitantly asked if it would be okay for him to bring Reggie, his bandmate and boyfriend.

That night, after Bobby had confirmed all the plans for the trip and gone home, Carrie had asked her dad if Flynn could join them as well, since Reggie was coming. Her dad had made excuses about how Reggie was just coming since Bobby didn’t know either of them that well, but Carrie had refused to budge. Whether her dad acknowledged it or not, this was an awkward situation for her too.

“Okay, I think that’s our site.”

Her dad’s overly cheery tone pulled Carrie out of her thoughts. She looked up from her phone just as he parked the SUV. Her dad and Reggie had both tried to get people talking at the start of the three-hour trek, but with Carrie and Bobby stuck in the middle together, things hadn’t exactly gotten chatty. It had quickly turned into an ‘everyone has their headphones on and is ignoring each other’ type of drive, apart from Reggie and Trevor in the front seat. Carrie really hoped Bobby couldn’t tell that she spent most of the time texting with her girlfriend, who was literally sitting right behind her.

Look, it was just awkward, okay? She and Bobby had always been chill, but they weren’t friends, not really. To her, he was Julie’s bandmate and Reggie’s boyfriend. He probably thought of her as Julie’s friend or Flynn’s girlfriend or something. But her brother? No, that was just too weird.

But she also cared about her dad. She hadn’t seen him this anxiously excited in years. So she could do this. And she had Flynn to keep her sane while they all did something Carrie was 99% sure her dad hadn’t done since he was little.

“Ah, smell that fresh mountain air,” Trevor declared enthusiastically as he climbed out of the car.

Bobby still had one earbud in, but at Reggie’s encouraging nod, he said, “Yeah, it’s nice.”

Carrie was pretty sure her dad’s smile was going to blind someone if he kept it up. She slid out of the car and walked quickly around to the trunk. “The tent is going to be big enough for all five of us, right?” she asked.

“Sure it will be,” Trevor responded, opening the trunk and pulling out a big, blue cooler that Carrie knew he must have borrowed from Julie’s dad. “Bobby, you wanna help me get it set up?” he asked, pulling the tent (also most likely belonging to the Molinas) out of the back.

Bobby shifted uncomfortably but shrugged. “Sure,” he said quietly.

Reggie followed the two men over to the middle of the campsite, where there was a large flat area for the tent. Carrie started pulling bags of food out of the trunk while they dealt with the tent.

“How you holding up,” Flynn asked quietly, taking a bag from her.

“I’m fine I guess,” Carrie answered, leaning on her girlfriend’s shoulder.

Flynn raised their eyebrows, making it clear that they knew it was a lie, but she didn’t push it. Instead, she helped Carrie unpack the van, setting all the food on the wooden picnic table, which looked about two minutes from collapsing, and piling the sleeping bags in the backseat until the tent was ready for them.

Then, because her dad, Bobby, and Reggie were still struggling with the tent, Carrie carefully started on dinner. Thank goodness her dad had brought the little propane stove, since she had no idea how to cook over a fire. Flynn managed to get it turned on and they got some water boiling without too many issues. Carrie poured in what should be enough pasta for everyone to cook, standing guard so it didn’t boil over. Flynn moved behind her and wrapped their arms around her waist.

“You having a good time back there?” Carrie snarked as Flynn rested their chin on her shoulder.

“I’m watching my hot girlfriend make me dinner, I’m having a great time,” Flynn retorted.

“Flattery won’t get you food any sooner,” Carrie sassed, ignoring the flush in her cheeks at both the compliment and her partner’s proximity. “You’re still gonna have to wait till this finishes.”

“Awww, not even a little taste?” Flynn asked innocently, batting her eyelashes. “Someone has to make sure it’s not poisoned.”

“Wow, you think I’d poison you?” Carrie responded, tone dripping with mocking sweetness. “Please, I could think of a million better ways to kill you if that’s what I wanted, sweetie.”

“Oh yeah, like what?” Flynn challenged, leaning in closer so Carrie felt the words against her cheek.

“Who’s poisoning dinner?” Trevor asked, coming up to them with a confused expression.

Carrie rolled her eyes. “No one, dad, it was a joke,” she informed him as she checked the pasta. It seemed to be done, so she carefully lifted it off the stove.

“Here, let me help,” Bobby said, grabbing the strainer and holding it out for her.

Carrie was surprised by the gesture but carefully poured the pasta into the offered container. Once she mixed it with the sauce, they all settled down around the table to eat. Carrie was glad when Flynn immediately settled against her side, letting Carrie lean on her without it being so obvious to the rest of the group.

“So, Bobby, what’s your favorite thing to do out here in the woods?” Carrie’s dad asked, grinning widely.

“Uh, I mean, I’ve never been here,” Bobby responded uncertainly. “Lola didn’t like driving this far, so we usually stayed closer to the city.”

The table fell into an awkward silence for a minute. Carrie could feel the tension building with every passing second, but she had no idea how to break it without making things worse. She wasn’t even sure she wanted it broken. Because this was how it was now, all the time. At school events and barbeque parties at the Molinas’ and the ‘family dinners’ that her dad had never even tried to make happen before he realized he had another kid. It was mean, but a part of Carrie wished all that tension would just snap like a rubber band, hurling everyones’ lives back to how they were before.

“Well you can’t have a good camping trip without s’mores,” Reggie commented finally.

“Yes!” Trevor exclaimed, locking onto the topic. “I haven’t made them in years, but I have marshmallows and everything so we can give it a shot after dinner.”

“Did you get Reeses?” Flynn asked. “Peanut butter s’mores are God’s gift to humanity.”

The conversation continued between the three of them, both Carrie and Bobby staying quiet. Carrie was endlessly grateful to her partner for being willing to come on this dumpster fire of a camping trip.

She glanced over at Bobby, trying to gauge his mood. He was staring at the table, not quite angrily, but… something. Carrie couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was intense, like poking your head into another room only to realize that a horror movie was playing inside. Scary, but not angry. Just… intense and unexpected. She was surprised to realize that she didn’t want to run away from it.

“Okay, Bobby, you want to help me build a fire?” her dad asked, pushing up to his feet.

Carrie tried to ignore the little sting that came from Bobby being the only one on the receiving end of the invite. She was getting used to that.

“Sure,” Bobby responded quietly, sticking his dirty bowl in the dish bin and heading over to the firepit.

The two men crouched by the rusty metal enclosure, Bobby reaching inside to carefully lay down some sticks. Reggie watched them for a minute, his face a mix of love and concern, then turned to Flynn and Carrie.

“You guys mind helping me with the dishes?” he asked, grabbing a bucket. “It’s a lot faster with more than one set of hands.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Flynn agreed.

Carrie quietly followed the pair over to the bathrooms, where Reggie filled up his bucket with warm water from the spigot outside.

“Hey, you doing okay?” Reggie asked Carrie as they walked back.

She looked up at him, startled by the question. “Shouldn’t you be asking your boyfriend that?” she responded, fighting to keep the instinctive snap out of her voice.

“I have been,” Reggie answered. “And this whole thing is really hard for him. I can’t imagine it’s any easier for you. So are you doing okay?”

Carrie felt Flynn’s hand slip into hers as she considered how to answer. It wasn’t like she and Reggie were close at all, the only one of the guys she felt she really was close with was Alex, and maybe Willie. But they’d spent some time watching lousy Hallmark movies together after everyone else fell asleep at movie night. She’d bought him pizza for lunch. He’d given her a ride a few times. They weren’t quite friends, but…

“Not really,” she admitted. “It’s nothing against Bobby, it’s just this whole thing is… a lot.”

“That makes sense,” Flynn said, squeezing her hand.

They reached the campsite then and Reggie grabbed the dish soap and sponge to start doing the dishes. Flynn picked up a towel to dry them once he was done. Left without a task, Carrie sat back down at the picnic table, watching her dad and Bobby build their fire.

Just then, Bobby glanced back at her, that unreadable expression still on his face. “Hey Carrie, could you bring me the lighter?” he called.

Carrie raised an eyebrow and was about to point out that there was clearly a book of matches sticking out of his back pocket, but suddenly some part of his expression made sense. He wasn’t asking for a lighter, he was asking for a lifeline. Until Reggie had mentioned it a few minutes ago, Carrie hadn’t thought much about how this would feel from Bobby’s side of things. But suddenly finding out that some famous music star was your biological father, being pulled into a family you had no concept of, it couldn’t be easy. Especially with all of said biological father’s attention on you whenever you were in the same room.

“Yeah, just a sec,” she responded, glancing around the table for a minute before spotting the little green lighter. She grabbed it and joined Bobby and her dad by the firepit. She handed over the lighter, then placed herself between Bobby and her dad as she gave the little twig tent a skeptical look. “Is that actually gonna work?” she questioned.

Bobby shot her a grateful look at making some space between him and their dad, but didn’t comment. “Watch and learn,” he chuckled instead, setting a piece of crumpled paper inside and setting it on fire.

Slowly but surely, the sticks started to catch. Bobby carefully fed larger branches and eventually logs into the dancing flames, looking more at peace here than Carrie had ever seen him outside of band practice and the occasional group movie night. She settled on a log bench beside the fire, watching the sparks fly up into the darkening sky. Flynn joined her a few minutes later, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Carrie rested her head gratefully on her girlfriend’s shoulder.

Her dad went back to the car to find a proper camp chair, complaining about his back, and Carrie could see some of the tension start to leave Bobby’s body as the distance between them grew. Reggie dropped onto another log right behind Bobby, and he leaned back against his legs, shooting a smile up at his boyfriend and receiving a quick peck on the lips. Carrie smiled as she watched them. Regardless of her relationship to Bobby, she was glad to see the two of them so happy together. That little spark of joy at seeing another happy queer couple didn’t go away just because one of them was suddenly your half-brother.

When her dad returned, he started telling stories. Carrie suspected it was an attempt to avoid the awkward silence. But she’d heard most of them before, so she let herself tune him out in favor of breathing in the clean air of the woods and the fruity scent of Flynn’s body wash. Their sweater was soft against her skin, her fingers tracing patterns on Carrie’s shoulder. If her dad wasn’t literally five feet away, Carrie would probably have leaned up and kissed her. Not that her dad was homophobic, but… kissing in front of your dad just felt wrong.

Bobby seemed to have fallen into a similar zoned-out state, poking the fire every so often with a long stick and leaning back to rest his head against Reggie’s knees. One of the bassist’s hands wove slowly through Bobby’s dark hair as the night fell. A few stars appeared in the sky, scattered with the rising sparks from the fire. Trevor finally fell silent, just watching the fire. Carrie was glad. She got wanting to bond with the son you never knew you had, but he’d been laying it on way too heavy, clearly making everyone uncomfortable.

If there was one thing Carrie had learned in the past few years, it was that you couldn’t force relationships to happen. She’d tried it a million times, with Nick, with Julie, with Flynn. She’d tried to make things fit what she wanted without doing the hard work to reach that real place of trust, and it had caused pain for everyone. She’d made her peace with all of them now, counting Nick and Julie as her best friends and stealing kisses with Flynn after shows, but it had taken a long time. Family wasn’t built in a day.

After a while, Bobby softly informed them all that the fire was low enough for roasting marshmallows. Reggie jumped up almost immediately, almost making Bobby fall with how fast he ran to grab the s’more supplies from the table. Carrie’s dad seemed almost as excited, handing out roasting sticks and moving his chair so he could try and make his without having to sit on the ground.

Reggie quickly readied his stick and started toasting his marshmallow, giggling about something with Bobby as he slowly turned the stick. Bobby just smiled and sat down beside him with his own sugary treat.

“Yeah I have no idea how to do this,” Carrie hissed to her girlfriend, watching the boys in confusion.

Flynn laughed, then pulled her to her feet. “I got you, babe,” they promised. “Ray taught me all the tricks.”

Carrie rolled her eyes affectionately and let Flynn stick a marshmallow onto the end of her stick. They settled beside the fire as Flynn showed her how to find the hot spots and keep rotating her rod so the sugar didn’t burn. At one point, she glanced up and caught Bobby’s eye over the hot coals. He smiled. It was a bit awkward, but well… having a civil conversation with Julie was awkward for a while too. She smiled back.

Later, after they’d probably all had too much sugar and Bobby had put out the fire, they brushed their teeth in the dirty, communal bathroom and changed into pajamas. Carrie was glad she’d brought some thicker, fluffy pants to sleep in, because she was starting to shiver by the time they got back to the tent. Reggie had clearly not had the same thought, as he was wearing thin, red flannel pants and curling into Bobby’s side almost immediately when they left the bathrooms.

Her dad flipped on the little space heater in the tent, then crawled into his own sleeping bag.

“Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t do anything you wouldn’t want me seeing,” he muttered sleepily as he slumped down onto his pillow.

Carrie fought the urge to burst out laughing. When she glanced over at the others in the dim light of Reggie’s flashlight, she could see similar expressions of amusement on their faces, though Bobby looked a bit red as well.

“He does realize we’re literally all sex-averse or something, right?” Flynn whispered.

“I haven’t even tried having that conversation with him yet,” Carrie responded wryly. “Can you imagine telling your dad that he didn’t really have to go through the extreme awkwardness of giving you The Talk because you never wanted to do that anyways?”

Everyone laughed and settled into their sleeping bags, Carrie the closest to the entrance with Flynn beside her and Bobby and Reggie near the back. The space heater was in the middle of the space, but it wasn’t really warming it up very quickly. Carrie could hear Reggie shivering after a few minutes, and then a whispered voice.

“Hey, I know camping trips are supposed to be an aesthetic or something, but it’s freezing,” Reggie hissed, probably to Bobby. “Can we please cuddle?”

Carrie heard a low chuckle from Bobby, and then the swishing sounds of the two moving closer together. She couldn’t quite make out their hushed words, but she smiled anyways. Yeah, this was the most awkward (and only) camping trip she’d ever been on, but she was glad they were here.

Well, okay, she wasn’t hugely fond of here here, she could live without the smell of woodsmoke in her hair and the pine needles that kept appearing in literally everything, but it was nice to be out with her dad and Flynn and Reggie and her brother. Stepbrother? Half brother? They could figure that one out later. But for the first time since she’d walked in on her dad giving his laptop a death glare, she felt like they might actually be something, not just blood, but maybe something akin to family.

“You doing okay?” Flynn hummed in the darkness.

“Yeah, I am,” Carrie answered honestly.

“Good, because I’m freezing,” Flynn stated. “Aesthetics are overrated, I want cuddles.”

“You stole that from Reggie,” Carrie accused, giggling.

“You got a problem with it?” Flynn snarked back.

“No,” Carrie chuckled, shifting over and partially unzipping her sleeping bag to wrap her arms around her girlfriend.

“Good,” Flynn said, curling closer and nuzzling into the crook of Carrie’s neck. “Cause I need some of that hot Wilson body heat right now.”

Carrie smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of her partner’s head. “Goodnight, love you.”

“Night, love you too.”

#legolas tag #legolas ask #legolas filled prompt #jatp #julie and the phantoms #jatp fanfic #flarrie #boggie #carrie and bobby are siblings #kinda #but they didn't know it #and now everything is a mess #but it ends up okay!#camping fic #Sudden Siblings AU #Potential name for if I make this a /thing/?#I don't know

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