Tis the season for holiday episodes and 9-1-1 brings us another delightfully merry one in this year’s winter finale! Let’s jump in to the biggest moments of the episode.
Christmas Calls
This week opens with a wife calling her husband only to discover he’s at this holiday event with an entirely other family. The two timing cheater gets hit by trolley as he makes a break for it rather than accept he’s been caught by his two wives. It’s peak comedy as they argue while he lays on the ground. The trolley driver won’t get out for fear of the women, the 118 tries their best to ignore the shouts. The next day, Athena gets to break up their continued fight at the hospital. She reminds them they need to put this aside for their kids. They rally and realize they both deserve better than Arthur the cheat. Athena’s final line to Arthur? “Bigamy is still a crime in all 50 states, you might want to ask Santa for a lawyer.”
In another office, Melina tries all day to ask out her work crush, and as the day ends he finally gives her a gift. She gets up the courage to give him the gift she bought, tickets to Philharmonic Orchestra. He doesn’t answer and she tries to back away, falling into the opened elevator doors and landing on top of the elevator. On scene, Bobby is furious at the maintenance man for poor safety measures. But it’s revealed he froze because he hates the Philharmonic and confesses he’s had a crush on Melina. He rides with her to the hospital.
Dispatch deals with a repeat non-emergency caller, an elderly Mrs. Lange who calls every year at the holidays. When May learns of the caller, Athena drops by for a visit to remind her that misusing 9-1-1 is a crime. Mrs. Lange shares that she messed up on her daughter’s wedding day 12 years ago, but Athena reminds her it’s never too late to reach out.
The 118’s final call finds a father backing into a parking spot underneath their upstairs apartment. He takes out a pole, collapsing half the structure on top of his car. The 118 extract him with the jaws of life and Hen checks his vitals as Eddie is faced with watching the man’s wife and son worry if he’ll live. The building is red tagged and everyone living in it is forced to evacuate on Christmas Eve. With the Red Cross en route, the 118 must leave behind dozens of now homeless residents.
A Blue Christmas
It’s anything but a happy holiday in the Diaz home. Eddie decorates the tree while Christopher supervises and quickly becomes more than a little demanding. He’s clearly stressed over getting every detail right and Eddie is unsure why. Carla arrives and as they talk Chris wakes up screaming from a nightmare about Shannon.
At the station when Eddie tells him, Buck reminds Eddie that Chris misses his mom and that’s not Eddie’s fault. It’s obvious Eddie is grappling over his guilt of not doing the holidays right for Chris. Later, a broken gingerbread house is the final straw for Chris who fully breaks down. When Eddie suggests they make a bigger one next year we get to the crux of Christopher’s emotions, “You could be dead next year.” He’s lost one parent and is terrified of losing Eddie.
Eddie begins to struggle with fact his line of work causes Chris so much stress, and Carla reminds him that his job is important and the love of the job is also important.
Gift Giving is Hard
The funniest storyline of the episode goes to Buck and Taylor stressing over their gifts for one another. Buck has never had to give a Christmas gift to a girlfriend before and he talks over ideas with Hen and Bobby while the 118 take in donated gifts. Bobby says he got Athena an engagement ring on their first Christmas (Buck quickly shoots that down). He tells him he might give her a back up generator and we’re very thankful Hen and Bobby are there to tell him that’s a horrible idea. While they collect gifts, Taylor takes Bobby aside and asks him if Buck would like either of the sweaters on her phone. Neither of them know what to get each other.
At the final Christmas party, they exchange gifts. Buck pulls Taylor behind the Christmas tree and she opens her box. He’s given her a gold bracelet with a distress beacon in it, so he can save her any time she might be in danger. Help is just a click away. Taylor decided on a sweater for Buck.
Wrapped in Red
Throughout the episode Bobby and Athena prepped for their big holiday party, but the cancellations slowly trickle in. First May due to work, then Buck and Taylor thanks to Buck missing Maddie, Chimney, and Jee. With fewer and fewer attendees, an idea arrives on Christmas Eve.
The team was clearly heartbroken to leave behind the displaced families after their final call of the night. With far too much food it was perfect for Bobby, Athena, and the 118 to bring Christmas to the families. Christmas morning the 118 and family set up a huge Christmas celebration in front of the motel complete with decorations, food, and gifts.
True to the heartwarming holiday episodes from 9-1-1 this one leaves us with a montage of happy endings for all the calls we met. Mrs. Lange reached out to her daughter who is on her doorstep, grand kids in tow, on Christmas morning. Arthur’s wives celebrate Christmas together with their children around the tree, they all have the same smile. Melina and her coworker go on a Christmas date together.
A Christmas Heartbreak
The final moments of the show do deliver a heartbreaking blow. After Eddie struggles for days over Christopher’s fear and distress, he announces at the Christmas party that he will be leaving the 118. For more on Eddie’s story and his possible departure, check out our deep dive here.
9-1-1 will return in March for the second half of season 5. Until then check out all our coverage of the show and get ready for the January 3 premiere of 9-1-1: Lone Star.
