Last week's episode was such a mess with the thematic messages the show tried to force at the same time being in complete opposition to each other so in that regard, this episode was a vast improvement! And while this episode did feel more in line with the heart of the show, having a second week in a row after a long hiatus with NO emergency calls for the firefam and then going on break for three weeks feels like poor planning, and again feels like the show doesn't remember what it's supposed to be about or what fans tune in to see.
Bobby's storyline-
I love that after quite some time, Bobby is FINALLY getting a storyline centered on him, it's been FAR too long. I DO wish he could have a personal storyline NOT about his addiction, but given that it came up last season with Eddie (though strangely NOT after he again hurt his back at work or after he got shot in s4 and was likely either on or had to refuse pain meds) I was glad it was addressed in some fashion. However, it was incredibly weird that they decided to do flashbacks all the way back to season 1 when Wendell has never once been mentioned in all that time until 6x09, five minutes before his death. This storyline SHOULD have carried far more emotional weight, but by choosing not to have any build up or mention of Wendell before his death and shoving the entire character into flashbacks in one episode, the emotional beats just don't really land. I WANTED to care about Wendell, and I wanted to care about BOBBY caring about Wendell but it was so rushed and felt so much like an afterthought that was thrown into 6x09 to give Bobby something to do that it was hard to connect with the story. Not to mention the weirdness of the timeline and certain story elements. Tamara only knew May as "Jade", but Bobby just calls her "May" talks to Tamara like she knows everything. Also, the episode even shows the flashback of Wendell calling Bobby while high IN THIS EPISODE, but five minutes later turns around and shows Wendell dying immediately! And lets not get into the message about recovery and managing addiction and making it out like EVERY place that does that kind of work is shady and just trying to keep people addicted.
I did really like the Bobby/Tamara stuff though. Bobby is SUCH a dad and will adopt anyone who looks even remotely like they could use a father figure and their moments were really sweet. I also really enjoyed seeing Bobby at a meeting and geared to take up Wendell's mantle of reaching out and being a sponsor, and not out of guilt like in s4 with the woman from the car crash. We also got some good supportive Athena/Bathena this episode which is always nice to see, however again it's weird that 6x11 was SO focused on Bobby and Buck's relationship only to entirely drop it this episode without having Bobby mentioning anything about Buck or Buck being allowed to be concerned or involved in what was going on with Bobby. By wrapping this whole thing up in this episode, it didn't really give anything time to breathe or allow the firefam to be there for their captain like he's there for them.
Buck's storyline-
While it was good to see some light-hearted fun this episode, and seeing some of the firefam with Buck, it doesn't make up for them forcing the firefam out of 6x11 to make it all about "blood family" and giving most of the emotional moment scenes to the Buckley parents instead. Plus it was SO WEIRD that out of everyone visiting Buck we got Connor and not Chim! And it wasn't even about Buck, it was to push this stupid sperm donor arc that no one wants and has been so poorly handled. No one cares about Connor or if he's getting cold feet! HOW did an arc that should have been about BUCK and his character growth turn into something that he's just in the background of, not caring at all about having a child he's not allowed to be involved with, and focused on Connor and Kameron's relationship instead?! They should have just scrapped the whole mess over the break and opened with Buck having been told it's not his after all and been done with it. What a waste of screentime! Especially when we could have gotten some good Buck/Chim content out of it.
The BIG WIN this week was the Buddie storyline with Buck being able to find peace in the place, and with the person (and on the couch), that feels like home. It was so good to get a start of a conversation about the shooting and I hope we can get more when TPTB stop jerking everyone around and finally let the Buddie storyline move forward (hopefully under the direction of a better showrunner. Is JCC available?) This scene was SUCH a good callback to s5 and Eddie telling Buck that Chim knows Maddie in a way Buck doesn't because we clearly see Maddie being so loving and trying so hard to help and Buck loving and appreciating her and what she's doing but it not being what he NEEDS, and him finding that with Eddie, because Eddie knows him in a way Maddie doesn't. The soft lighting, the soft clothes, the soft expressions, the WHOLE scene was perfect and Andrew always does such a good job when he's allowed to write for Buddie.
With all that said, Eddie being SO heavily featured in this storyline made it MORE weird that he wasn't in last week's episode! He and Buck haven't had scenes outside of work aside from 6x0, and the group phone call 6x09, so this had no lead up and while it felt good to see it was confusing and made last week and Eddie's absence make even less sense!
And again, no emergency calls for the first responders show, two weeks in a row after only 1 week with calls after such a long break and heading into yet another break. And with everything for everyone looking pretty wrapped up at the moment, we're left with the question of what could the show even do for these last 6 episodes? What are we building to? The dread of more filler like 6a has never been higher. What happened to having multiple arcs running at the same time for multiple characters? Everything is so self-contained and then immediately forgotten about. Can we please get someone in charge who understands packing and planning and anything about this show and these characters?
STILL no mention of Ravi in 12 episodes even though he's set to return in the next couple episodes, but don't worry, there's time and space to bring Lucy back doing some "bad*ss" rescue and Buck having more focus on her. Joy.
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