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becausebuckley · 2 months ago

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the longer speculation is, the better🙏💕✍️

alright, since you all asked so nicely <3 i’m posting this with the warning that i don’t do screenwriting, so who knows how pacing works in episodic format, and i definitely don’t have any sort of medical knowledge or fire knowledge or whatever lol. what i do have is sleep deprivation and a fever! it’s been A Day.

9x01

So, the season opener, 9x01. We start out not with one of our favourite characters, but someone mysterious. This person wakes up in the morning and goes through her morning routine while something upbeat plays in the background. We see her getting dressed, heading to work etc, but we never see who, exactly, she is. She makes breakfast, but doesn’t eat it. Her workplace looks like a lab of some sort. She greets the security guard, then a colleague, who warns her that the microwave keeps sparking and she shouldn’t use it. The mystery scientist says something about the fire suppression system going down two weeks ago only being the starting point and they bemoan budget cuts together. Her voice sounds vaguely familiar, but we still don't know who we're following. As she enters her own lab, we see her two assistants squabbling over a lunch-related issue. They jump apart once they see our mystery scientist walk in. One of them says that they're all ready and that today is the big day. The mystery scientist agrees, says she’s been too nervous to eat, and examines a vial of some sort of medicine that's waiting for her. As she leans away, her face becomes visible on a reflective surface.

Moira stares right into the camera, smiling.

Cut to the 911 intro.

We pick up again at the Diaz (and Buckley) residence. Buck wakes up on the couch, groaning as he pops his back. He shuffles to the kitchen and begins making breakfast. It's clear that he's been living here for a while, fully settled in. The furniture is a mix of his and Eddie's stuff. Christopher and Eddie come in and the three of them have breakfast together. They have a short conversation that establishes the following: Buck is looking for a new place, but hasn't found anything fitting in part due to Eddie's criticism of them, he's been crashing on the Diaz couch even though Eddie keeps telling him to take the bed for a night (it's unclear if he means they should swap sleeping places or if they should share the bed), and Christopher thinks that Buck should stay and make him breakfast every morning. Buck says something about breakfast dishes being where his and Bobby's cooking lessons started (as a fun little callback, he's made the same dish that he made Maddie way back in season 2 - i think it was an omelette?). Cue melancholy expressions. Someone checks the time. They rush off to school/work. Buck and Eddie nearly trip over each other when they grab their work stuff: Buck says he promises he'll be out of their hair soon, and Eddie says there's no rush. He longingly looks after Buck as Buck and Christopher walk towards the car.

Cut to Maddie and Chimney's place. Chimney is balancing getting ready and taking care of the baby. Maddie is doing Jee-Yun's hair while Jee eats breakfast. They're all a bit in a frenzy and the house looks chaotic. They discuss that Maddie's maternity leave is ending soon and how it's more difficult to manage two kids than they expected. Chimney mentions that, now that he's captain of the 118, he's spending more time at work than he was before, and that the paperwork is horrible. Maddie asks if he regrets taking the position. Chimney says he doesn't, that he's glad he's proven to himself and the team that he can do it, but that he wonders if he made the right choice.

Then a quick scene with the Wilsons, just enough for Hen and Karen to announce to the kids that they’re going on their first family vacation in a few weeks. They’ll be going to some sort of all-inclusive family resort and they’re all excited. (this isn’t so much related to this opening arc as it is something that I think would be fun in a future episode, something fun and light for this family after everything they’ve been through these past few seasons. I imagine the kids trying to optimise the all you can eat buffet spread while Hen and Karen deal with assorted mysteries a la FOMO, and then they’ll get a nice big thing later on in the season to kind of spread everything out nicely)

We have the team go on one quick call to establish the dynamics now that Chimney is captain. Something medical, probably, or just someone being stuck somewhere. In any case, it’ll be silly and end well. On the scene, Buck jumps out of the engine, groaning as he lands. Ravi reminds him that he’s happy to help Buck find a new place so he no longer has to sleep on the couch. Eddie cuts him off and tells him to focus on the job, clearly not wanting Buck to move. The call will show us that Chimney is a much better captain than he was last time around. Hen takes the lead on the medical stuff, helped mostly by Eddie and Ravi, with Buck a little more in the background. This would then set up a paramedic arc for either Ravi or Eddie, I’m not sure which of the two.

We cut back to our mystery lab and one of the two assistants we saw earlier. Let’s call the assistants Stevie and Barbara, to make things easier (not significant names, just based on the books I have next to me rn). They’re working, but Stevie and Barbara keep arguing, with Stevie not taking any of Barbara’s suggestions seriously. Moira gets fed up and sends them out of the lab. They go to the break room and continue to fight. Barbara storms out. Stevie heads for the fridge and, in an act of revenge, takes Barbara’s lunch. He eats a few bites, then puts it in the microwave. While the food heats up, Stevie suddenly feels unwell and races to the bathroom. The last thing we see is the microwave, sparking.

Athena is on shift, driving, and taking a hands-free call from May at the same time. May is on a post-graduation vacation with friends, but is worried about her mother, who still hasn’t sold the house. Athena admits that something holds her back every time, even though she can’t stand to live there and spends as much time out of the house as possible. She assures May that there’s no need to worry. May says she’ll be home soon and clearly doesn’t really believe her. Athena gets a call to assist at a fire several blocks from her to help keep the peace. She says goodbye to May and heads to the scene. This both reminds us of Athena’s grief and opens up possibilities for May to rejoin dispatch or something along those lines.

The 118 arrive at the scene before Athena does. Chimney takes the lead and asks the crowd gathered in front of the smoking building what’s going on. They explain that there’s a fire, it started in the communal kitchen, their suppression system doesn’t work, and the fire escape collapsed when they evacuated, so quite a few of them are banged up. When Chimney orders the team to go inside, he’s blocked by the security personnel, who tell him they’re under instructions not to let any First Responders in. One of them looks uncertain and tries to let them help, but she’s overruled by the others.

Athena pulls up. Chimney explains the situation to her. While they try to talk reason into the security guards – way more than a simple lab would require, as Hen and Ravi discuss – several fancy black cars show up. The FBI takes over the scene and tells Chimney that they can extinguish the fire, but only from outside the building. The firefighters try to fight them on this, pointing out that there might be survivors inside and the fire is deep within the building, but the FBI won’t budge. They notice the 118 on their helmets and request a different station to help them. Chimney passes this on to Josh. Cut to Josh, who also has an FBI agent standing next to him at Dispatch, who agrees to send others.

While Chimney instructs Hen to take the lead on triaging the crowd outside, Athena decides to investigate. She pretends to drive away, then sneaks around the building. She finds another entrance to the building. The smoke is thicker back here, and the guard at this door is passed out. She radios Buck to bring Eddie, a med kit, and tells him she needs to borrow his gear. Buck and Eddie tell Ravi to cover for them and slip away. Eddie takes care of the unconscious guard while Buck helps Athena put on his mask and breathing equipment. She tells them that the FBI only told the firefighters not to go inside, not her. Besides, nobody tells her what to do. Athena enters the building.

Hen and Ravi are dealing with Barbara, who has a pretty nasty leg wound and internal bleeding, but who seems more focused on cursing out her colleague, who she’s sure is responsible. She explains that Stevie has been on her case since she started at the lab a few months ago. He’d been there for years, but she was brought in for the start of a new project, and Stevie doesn’t like that she technically outranks him. He’s been misplacing her supplies and eating her food to bully her. This morning, she added a homemade, extra-fast, extra-strong laxative to her lunch, hoping to teach him a lesson, and when she left the break room, she saw him heading for the fridge. Hen asks if Stevie made it out and Barbara says she doesn’t know and doesn’t care. Ravi goes to look for Stevie.

Meanwhile, Chimney meets the 133, who are pulling up, and tells them what’s going on. Their captain looks equally confused, but agrees to set up his men on the outside and at least try to stop the fire from spreading further. Once they get to work, the FBI dismisses Chimney, and when Chimney tells them that they have no right to block firefighters from doing their job like this, he’s told it’s a matter of national security. Chimney wonders out loud what kind of lab this is.

Athena makes her way through the building. There are alarms blaring, the hallways are filled with smoke, but the fire isn’t spreading too rapidly. She hears someone calling from the bathroom and finds Stevie, who refuses to leave the bathroom as the laxatives have truly taken effect. He immediately tells Athena that Barbara must’ve made them and that fast-acting mixtures like this are her specialty. He also says that they’re working on a big experiment and that his boss must be in here still, because she’d never abandon him (he actually says him and not me, so he’s referring to a mystery new person). Athena tells him that she’ll get him help, but Buck and Eddie are already behind her, which doesn’t seem to surprise her at all. She leaves Stevie in their care and continues to look for his boss.

Meanwhile, Ravi finds Chimney and Hen, looking troubled. He tells Chimney that he can’t find Stevie, but that he’s been told there’s another person missing, and her name is Moira. This rings a bell for both of them, but they agree that it can’t be her, because Moira is supposed to be in prison. Barbara pipes up and tells them that Moira was going to be in prison, but never ended up going there because her experiment took a turn. As long as the experiment survives, so does Moira. She says it’s all confidential, but Chimney pushes her and commands her to tell him what the experiment is. She says it’s not a what, it’s a who, and passes out, very dramatically timed.

Athena, following Stevie’s directions, finds Moira’s lab, though she doesn’t know that that is what it is yet. She sees Moira in there, but with her back turned and therefore doesn’t recognise her. The door is sealed shut, so Athena follows the windows alongside the lab and tries to find another entrance or catch Moira’s attention. Moira is aware of the fire, of course, and of Athena’s banging on the windows, but the smoke hasn’t reached into the lab, so she keeps going. She says something to herself about needing more time as she prepares a shot. Athena turns around a corner and is faced with a different section of the lab through a window. There are curtains here, so she can’t see as much, but through a small sliver, she makes out a bed, and she sees an arm. Moira’s experiment is a person.

Moira enters this part of the lab. It causes the curtains to shift. Athena can see more and recognises her husband, lying on that bed. He’s unconscious and pale. The camera zooms in on him. We see his chest rise.

Cue end credits.

9x02

We open with a flashback. Starting back at the end of the Contagion arc, when Bobby’s body is carried out, except we follow the body this time. I don’t really know medical stuff, but essentially, it’s established that Bobby is in critical condition, but not dead, and so they’re monitoring him For Science. Over the next few months, Bobby remains in a coma while Moira, Barbara, and Stevie work on finding him a cure so they can wake him up. The flashback montage ends with the same scene that the last episode opened on, Moira entering the lab on the day of the microwave explosion, except this time, it’s from Stevie and Barbara’s perspective and we get a little more information on what they’re doing.

Intro tune.

Hen and Chimney are trying to save Barbara. Once again, I don’t do medical stuff, but let’s assume that they somehow make sure that she won’t die, but she is still unconscious and needs to get to a hospital as soon as possible. They’re reluctant to leave, though, so Chimney asks Josh for another ambulance, which Josh reluctantly agrees to send. Meanwhile, one of the FBI people approaches Ravi and asks where the rest of their team is, and Ravi very badly lies and tells the FBI person that they went to get coffee. This is clearly not believed, but the FBI agent can’t do much about it yet, and Ravi runs off to triage more people.

Athena is slamming on the window of the lab. Moira finally stops ignoring her and whirls around, yelling something about needing more time. Athena can barely hear her. As Moira moves to inject Bobby with something, Athena kind of loses it.

Buck and Eddie are still with Stevie and try to stabilise his condition while also getting more information out of him. He’s reacting really badly to Barbara’s food experiment and needs proper medical care soon. When they go to carry him out, they find a new guard, weapon and all, at the back entrance. It’s the same one who looked uncertain earlier. The guard doesn’t see them, but they’re basically trapped.

While Barbara is loaded into an ambulance, Chimney, Hen, and Ravi discuss what they think is going on here. When Ravi begins to suggest that it could be Bobby, Chimney cuts him off and tells him not to go there. Hen places a hand on his arm and says that they have to investigate anyway. Through the radio, they learn about Buck and Eddie’s situation. They decide to go to the back and try to distract the new guard.

Smoke finally begins to enter Moira’s lab. She’s doing medical stuff and monitoring Bobby. She says the results are promising and he should wake up soon, but she needs more time. Athena keeps threatening her, still banging on the window. She clearly doesn’t trust Moira.

Ravi walks up to the guard at the back entrance. He tries to engage her in conversation, but it doesn’t work. He eventually decides to fake faint. Somehow, this works, and Hen and Chimney manage to sneak inside.

The fire, meanwhile, is very much not under control. There are three different firehouses working on it now, but they’re still not allowed entry into the building. The three captains discuss their best course of action with Josh. They’re all worried about the structural integrity of the building.

Moira is starting to feel dizzy. It’s a combination of smoke inhalation, heat, and the fact that she hasn’t eaten in days. Athena manages to convince her to open the door. She rushes in, pushes past Moira, and towards Bobby. He’s still unconscious, but colour is returning to his cheeks, and the oxygen mask is keeping him safe from the smoke. Athena, crying, radioes Chimney on a private line and instructs him to come here.

Hen and Eddie stay with Stevie while Chimney and Buck head for Athena. They use some of the fire extinguishers they find in the building to clear a path – neither of them has a full set of gear at the moment. Buck probably took off his helmet, as he does. They still don’t know what they’re walking into exactly. They don’t dare hope that it is what they think it is. They comment that the building is looking unstable.

Athena holds Bobby’s hand. She feels him stir, but he doesn’t open his eyes or seem aware of anything yet. In the background, Moira is fully collapsed on the floor, barely conscious. Buck and Chimney walk in and see Bobby in the bed. Buck drops the fire extinguisher he’s holding. Athena spurs them into action. Chimney goes to take Bobby’s vitals while Buck checks over Moira.

While all of this is going on, Ravi is still distracting the guard. They’re currently flirting. Ravi is doing badly, but the guard seems into it. Ravi sees Hen and Eddie appear behind the guard’s back, Stevie between them. Ravi pretends to faint again. This time, the guard isn’t fooled, and her act drops as she raises her gun at Ravi.

Moira comes to and tells Buck that she was just trying to keep the experiment going so she could get her Nobel prize and stay out of prison. Buck tells her that that’s selfish and that they’ve all been grieving Bobby. Before Moira can reply to this, her attention is caught by the flames licking around the door to her lab. Buck extinguishes them, but they realise they’re well and truly caught. Chimney and Athena turn to face them, too.

Suddenly, a weak voice says something about having bad timing. The camera pans to Bobby, awake, smiling.

A crack appears in the wall behind him.

End credits.

9x03

The episode opens with Bobby, Athena, Chimney, Buck, and Moira in the lab. They decide they have to move. Moira can walk with a little help, but Bobby probably won’t be able to, and Chimney doesn’t really want to move him without understanding his condition more. Moira explains that she’s been keeping Bobby in a stable condition for months and that the injection she gave him earlier is basically a supercharged version of the cure Chimney received, so he’ll make a full recovery, but being in a coma for months is still going to be hard to bounce back from. He tries to sit up, but is too weak to do so. They’ll need help, but when they radio the rest of the 118, they don’t get an answer.

The guard still holds Ravi at gunpoint. Hen and Eddie have ducked back into the corridor, still unnoticed, Stevie slumped against the wall next to them. Eddie tries to convince Hen that he can take the guard down, but Hen tells him not to risk it, and that they can’t control if Ravi will get hurt or not. Before they can decide on anything, they hear Chimney’s request for help. Chimney tells them that their suspicions were right. Hen and Eddie exchange a look and tear up. Eddie jumps up and makes to run outside, but he smacks right into Ravi and the guard, coming around the corner.

Ravi explains that he told the guard about their theory and that Chimney’s message convinced her to lower her weapon and help them out. She hadn’t known anything about what happens at the lap, but she’s been wondering, and this crosses all sorts of limits for her. She reveals that this was supposed to be a temporary job before she applies to the police academy, so she has no company loyalty whatsoever. When Chimney calls for them again, Hen answers and says that they’re on their way. Chimney says they’ll need to grab some gear first, because the fire is closing in on them, and they can’t get out like this, but they also have to hurry, because this building won’t hold itself up for much longer.

Bobby tries to tell the others to go and leave him. Athena says she absolutely won’t be doing that and the others agree. Besides, Buck jokes, the fire is too close now anyway. They just have to wait for the rest of their team.

Accompanied by a guard, Hen, Eddie, and Ravi make their way over to the other firefighters relatively easily. Hen hands Stevie over to another paramedic while Ravi grabs a hose, aided by the guard, and Eddie approaches the captains of the other firehouses. He explains the situation, fully ignoring the FBI agents next to them (or tossing a zingy oneliner at them or something idk). They decide to break with their original orders and rescue the trapped firefighters as soon as possible.

Inside, the flames are getting closer. They’ve moved to a corner of the room, Bobby leaning heavily on the others, as the corner they were in looked so unstable. Things look pretty dicey, but then, the smoke and flames are replaced by a massive gush of water. Hen, Eddie, and Ravi appear through the doorway, carrying a stretcher. There’s no time for a reunion, so they help Bobby onto the stretcher and make their way out. They evacuate the building just before it crumbles. Tears and smiles all around.

The next day, Harry and a newly-returned May reunite with Bobby (and Athena) in the hospital. The hospital room is covered in cards and balloons and other gifts. It’s revealed that Bobby is there for monitoring for a while, but that he’ll be cleared to go home in a few days, though he has a long recovery ahead of him. Athena and Bobby are no longer planning on selling the house. Athena makes a throwaway comment about nobody being able to experiment on Bobby or anyone getting in trouble or whatever, just to tie up those loose ends. Bobby’s physical and mental recovery, as well as more fleshed-out conversations with everyone, will play out over the next few episodes, but for now, everything is okay.

Several days later, at the Grant-Nash house, the firefam is preparing for Bobby’s return home. Buck is in the kitchen, helping Harry finish cooking a dish. When Harry carries it out into the living room, Eddie comes into the kitchen. He tells Buck that they need to talk about something and confesses that he doesn’t want Buck to move out. Buck is shocked by this, but also really happy, and agrees to stay. They’re called into the living room. Athena helps Bobby into the house and everyone yells surprise.

A voiceover begins. Bobby gives a sentimental speech about coming home and being alive and love and all sorts of good stuff. It plays out over the final montage of the episode. Picture the tsunami arc end speech, basically. Maybe there’s a Hozier song too, idk.

We see some scenes of the party and the firefam all together. Later that night, madney put their kids to bed and watch from the doorway, holding each other. Henren curl up on the couch and plan their vacation. Bobby and Athena lie in bed, Athena’s head resting over Bobby’s heart. Bobby lifts her hand and kisses it.

Eddie heads to his bedroom at night. Before he walks through the door, he turns around and looks at Buck. Buck gives him a soft smile and follows. He pulls the door shut behind them.

End credits roll.

The next few episodes get Buddie together officially, have Bobby decide if he wants to retire or go back to work or whatever, have Chimney decide if he wants to stay Captain, have Henren’s fun arc and set up a serious arc for them. Ravi does something, probably, I don’t know. Stuff happens. I’m too tired to think about it. Lucy Donato appears at some point. Couch theory is real.

#michelle’s 911 thoughts #watch me make my longest tumblr post ever and immediately dip to sleep for twelve hours #i’m curious what yall want to see in season 9 though!!#on any and all fronts #hiatus has begun which means it’s speculation season <3 #and regardless of how i feel about 8b this is the first hiatus between seasons that i’m here for #since i wasn’t caught up yet last time #and i’m excited for it!#anyway #911 abc #911 season 9 #911 speculation #911 spoilers #just in case :)#i frankly don’t remember if there are major spoilers here lmao

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