‘9-1-1’ Recap: Season 6, Episode 4 “Animal Instincts”
This week on 9-1-1, Buck gets a unique proposal from an old friend after declaring his year of saying yes to possibilities, Eddie has to deal with Christopher lying, and the 118 and Maddie see some wild calls. Let’s jump in!
Daddy Buck?
Buck meets up with an old roommate and his wife after a vague phone call and is caught off guard when the couple asks him to be their sperm donor. He’s hesitant but is also on a “year of possibilities” kick wherein he will say yes to the opportunities that come his way. After the lunch, the roommate visits him at home to again explain why they want Buck. He knows Buck’s character and knows he has a good heart, something that is more important to them than just picking physical features or an aptitude for sports or smarts. It’s a huge decision, and not one Buck takes lightly, but after a drunken conversation with Hen and thinking it over, he ultimately decides to be their sperm donor.
Hen Goes After Her Dreams
After Bobby’s return, thanks to a call from Karen, Hen is ordered to take some time off. She ends up back at the firehouse just for “some noise” pretty quickly and is again ordered home by Bobby. She doesn’t enjoy the silence and calm around her and is more than thankful when Buck arrives unannounced to talk through his roommate’s sperm donor request. The duo breaks out the vodka and take shots as they talk through it. Hen breaks it down for him and says it comes down to if he can know that he’s a father and walk away from the child. After fielding a hilarious call from Bobby on the dosage for a tiny patient, Buck tells her the mental math skills are impressive and that she’d have made a great doctor.
After sobering up, Hen knows what she wants and approaches her instructor to ask for a second chance. She tells her that while she bombed the test, she has years of field experience and knows without a doubt she can be an incredible doctor. The instructor agrees to take her on a practical exam alongside her with real patients to evaluate whether Hen will be allowed back into the program without repeating the previous year.
The Diaz Boys
Eddie is more than a little surprised to get a call from Chris’ school informing him that Chris has been skipping Science Club in favor of hanging out with his friends at the park alone. He grounds Chris for lying and forces him to the club, where Chris refuses to participate. Eddie picks him up early and gets the silent treatment all the way home. He talks this over with the 118 and his father, who all remind him that Chris is at the age where he is starting to want some independence from his father. Eddie needs to trust him to help Chris know he can trust himself, which leads to a heated but heart-warming conversation between them. Though he is grounded, Eddie wakes up to Chris playing games with his friends online. Chris calls him a bully and tells him he doesn’t need Eddie protecting him all the time. Eddie tells him he’s not sure he knows how to stop protecting, and together they work out a way to let Chris have some space. Eddie asks that there be no more lying between them but understands Chris wants to have time with his friends alone at the park. They agree, but that won’t start until Chris’ new additional week of grounding is finished.
Calls of the Week
Hoover is Saved!
With Bobby returned to the 118, the crew gear up for an overdose call in the aftermath of a frat party. The crowd is panicked, including the main female who takes them to the patient … the patient who has four legs and a fur coat. The tiny dog named Hoover accidentally ingested a pill, and his little heart rate is weak. With no one sure of the correct dosage for the medicine that can help, Bobby calls Hen, who is day drinking with Buck. Hen does some mental math (rather impressive, considering they are over half a bottle into straight vodka shots) and saves little Hoover.
Bobby scoops up the little dog and informs the college kids that Hoover will be visiting a vet and then taken into protective custody, aka he’ll be living with Bobby and Athena. Athena learns about this when she returns home, and though she’s not thrilled, she doesn’t give an outright no. Perhaps the 118 will have their own four-legged mascot now!
Chimney Goes for a Ride
The 118 arrives on the scene of a crash involving two vehicles and a bicyclist. The cyclist suffered a broken leg and informs the crew that the driver hit him then swerved into the other vehicle. Chimney finds the driver unconscious and smelling like a liquor store but jumps to action when he finds a pulse. Unable to open the door, he’s in the passenger seat when the driver suddenly wakes, sees the flashing police lights, and takes off driving again with Chimney inside. Ever the hero, Buck jumps on the injured biker’s cycle and races after the car while two other cop cars also join. Listening to the radio traffic, Buck is able to head off the car and stops in the middle of the road. At night. In front of a drunk driver. The man barely sees Buck and slams the brakes in time, but it works, and Chimney is thankfully unharmed.
Maddie’s Emotional Call
Maddie takes the brunt of emotions this week when she gets a frantic 9-1-1 call from a little girl asking for help from her abusive father. The father has found her and her mother and is attempting to break into the room. The little girl can’t remember where the address is, and thankfully, Noah (the new recruit) has the idea to look for recent noise reports from callers. This helps them find the correct address but not before Maddie has to heartbreakingly explain to the girl that when her father finds her, the safest option is for her to go with him. The girl agrees, but when she sees her mother bloody on the floor, she fights. She’s able to get free and run out the door right into the waiting rescue.
After the call, Maddie finds the girl and her mother at the hospital. She brings an immigration lawyer with her who will help the mother, an undocumented immigrant, to get her green card and get her away from her abuser. While it was an emotional call for Maddie, the happy ending was worth it.
9-1-1 airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on FOX. Check out our other 9-1-1 coverage here.