911 – Don’t Drink the Water

Spoilers ahead!

Wow!

Just wow!

9-1-1 is just unpredictable quality-wise. After last week’s episode left a sour taste in my mouth, I was prepared to see tonight’s episode continue the trainwreck. This didn’t happen, I’m happy to say. Don’t Drink the Water is so good that I almost believe this show can find a new way again. I’m still mad about Bobby, though — I still don’t like their recent poor choices, not only in the way he died but also how his funeral (and his sendoff) were a secondary thing in the episode supposed to deal with the aftermath of it all. Anyway, I still hope he’s returning — the thing about his body being held for weeks, the way a last-minute twist in the finale about Bobby being alive could set up new storylines for the next season without undoing all the changes proposed here… I digress. But if I think there’s still hope for 9-1-1, Don’t Drink the Water is the one to blame.

There’s so much happening here, and everything’s interesting, and everyone is involved. And when I say everyone, it is literally everyone — the ensemble is finally showing up for the ensemble show. We see Hen and Karen talking to Eddie, which is great — I’ve waited for an interaction between them for years, a scene that’s been long overdue, not only between Hen and Eddie, but also between Karen and Eddie, so seeing the three of them together having a conversation was so special.

“Don’t Drink the Water” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Tracie Thoms as Karen, Angela Bassett as Athena. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.

Speaking of Karen, she also has a solo scene with Athena — and it’s a great one, as it showcases how this story has been about a found family from the beginning, now that Athena is resentful of Chimney and can barely stay in the same room as him. It’s a great conflict, because Athena and Chim are Hen’s best friends, and with them at odds, Hen is in this awful place — thus Karen’s intervention. I love Karen, and I love Tracie Thoms — it was great to see her in such interesting scenes with Aisha, Ryan, and Angela.

Buck and Eddie are also dealing with their grief in their own ways — while Buck is trying to be there for everyone, he also tries to find comfort in religion, maybe looking for a sign from Bobby. Meanwhile, Eddie feels guilty because he was not there for Bobby’s last emergency — we see a quick flashback from when Eddie took the call about Bobby’s death, and it’s heartbreaking. Amid their pains, there’s something else between Buck and Eddie, and it’s a job offer Eddie received from the Texas firehouse. Eddie hides this news from Buck, but Buck discovers it anyway, and they fight in the middle of their kitchen in a breathtaking scene.

This leads to a beautiful reconciliation later, with Eddie bringing Christopher and Aunt Pepa to lift Buck’s spirit. Watching Chris and Buck’s reunion was one of the things I was most excited to see this season, and it was just lovely to have them finally reunited, especially with Pepa by their side, having a nice heart-to-heart with Buck later.

“Don’t Drink the Water” – 9-1-1. Pictured: Ryan Guzman as Eddie. Photo: Christopher Willard/ABC © 2025 Disney. All rights reserved.

Finally, Hen thinks about the possibility of becoming the new Captain of the 118 (and that’s something she discusses with both Athena and Chim), Chimney and Maddie are getting ready to have their second child, and Athena, Harry, and May discuss some things about the house Athena’s finishing. Have I mentioned this episode also has some emergencies, and it also has Athena returning to work on a silly case that quickly becomes something much darker?

I’m amazed — there are great episodes in these more recent seasons, but this episode reminds a lot of the great good times during seasons 2 and 3, when they could write episodes that had everything, multiple characters from the main cast being greatly developed at the same time, crazy emergencies, whimsy, comedy, drama… This is almost like a return to form, and putting this right after whatever 816 was is mind-blowing. It feels like a different show. Kudos to writers Molly Green and James Leffler, they did great! Important plus: this episode features only a few moments of Bobby onscreen, but everything here is about him. Gone, but not forgotten; this time, we get to see the multiple ways grief can manifest for different people, and it’s actually great.

Anyway, this episode also deals with an earthquake that makes water become fire (to put it real simple), and everything ends with an explosion in the building Athena had just left after dealing with her case of the week, setting up a big emergency for the finale. I will keep my thoughts to my post-finale review, but I’ll leave some of my initial theories regarding how everything can go.

I think they’re teasing two captain possibilities at the moment, Hen, who’s been explicitly considered (but she doesn’t want it), and maybe Buck, because of how he’s the one who received the mission to take care of the others from Bobby. Yet, I think Chimney is a strong possibility too, perhaps the strongest, especially with how this episode sets the conflict between Athena and him. They could make amends, and maybe Athena could give him her blessing. I could see it happening.

I still haven’t given up on Bobby being alive, I’m waiting until the last scene of the finale, just to be sure. I wouldn’t be like this for any other show, but after all these years we all know that this firefighter show could definitely stage a fake death for some episodes, then set up some sort of Bobby Lives Again for the next season opening. I might be wrong, and depending on how everything goes in the finale, I’m still unsure about coming back for season 9, but I can’t lie, tonight gave me hope that everything will be okay despite whatever happened a few weeks ago.