This week’s episode of 9-1-1 finally saw the conclusion to Wendall’s heartbreaking death, and the mystery behind it as Buck settled back into the real world while also doing some questioning.
Keep reading to find out everything that happened in “Recovery.”
Bobby’s Journey
We start with a flashback to 2018, or, to be more exact, season 1, episode 4, following the plane crash when Buck and Hen find Bobby in his apartment. After the incident, Bobby went to an AA meeting, where Wendall tries to talk to him. He asks if he has someone to talk to, offering to help Bobby find his way back.
It’s December 2018, and Bobby has told Wendall about proposing to Athena. Wendall thinks it’s impulsive since he’s only been seeing her for less than a year. Bobby expresses his love and adoration for Athena, saying that now that he’s found her, maybe he’s found a piece of himself again. At the very least, Wendall wants Bobby to promise to slow down, and it’ll be a long engagement (though we all know how that turned out).
Digging Deeper
Bobby thinks back to when he found Wendall in the field and the rehab owners, and he’s still going over the case. He tells Athena that reports came back on Wendall, and it said he overdosed. So the cops are closing the investigation into Winding Path. However, Bobby’s been thinking about the girl Athena and May met, Tamara. He thinks he should talk to her since May’s been making progress. Unfortunately, Athena says that after May brought up Wendall, Tamara shut May down and cut off all conversation. Bobby figures Tamara could talk to him.
Bobby meets with Tamara at the flower shop she works at in the hopes of getting her to open up about Wendall. Tamara admits he didn’t die in the field. She let him in, just like Bobby, but she pulled him down with her. They met before Winding Path, and Wendall only checked himself in to help her. He knew something was wrong with the place and was trying to prove it. Tamara tells Bobby to drop it.
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Bobby and Athena go over what they know, and Athena suggests it was an undercover sting. She brings up a report of a camera purchased the week Wendall died. It’s worth looking into. Bobby lets Athena know how much he appreciates her despite Wendall not being her sponsor, and Athena tells him they’re family. And he’s not the only one who misses him.
While Athena hasn’t had any luck tracking down where the camera came from, she suggests that since Wendall didn’t have any evidence of a camera on him, it was a camera that was placed at Winding Path.
Up in Flames
Bobby gets a call from Tamara, who sounds high. She talks about Wendall and how she doesn’t have any friends. Bobby offers to get her, and Tamara starts slurring her words, telling Bobby it’s too late for that and she’s sorry about Wendall. She passes out.
Bobby gets to Winding Path, trying to find Tamara. Trey and Carrie tell him that Tamara isn’t there, and Bobby punches Trey and then sets off to find Tamara. He finds her on the ground in a room with a needle beside her. Bobby tries to get Tamara out, who says that Wendall died in that room after promising to take them down, but they got to him first. Bobby tries to find the camera, but the smoke alarm goes off, and the place is in flames.
Bobby gets Tamara out, but then Carrie and Trey point him out to the cops, framing him for the fire. Trey says that Bobby’s truck reeks of gasoline, and Carrie brings up Bobby’s family to add more fire.
The Truth
Bobby’s interrogated, as it does not look to be in his favor. Athena is brought in to help corroborate Bobby’s story, and she and Detective Phelps talk to Tamara, who admits everything. She met Wendall at an AA meeting and told him about Winding Path and her suspicions. Wendall was determined to stop Carrie and Trey, so he checked himself in. Tamara smuggled the camera in by way of flowers, telling him where to put the camera. Carrie was on to them, however, and she catches the two in the office.
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Wendall tells Carrie it was his fault, and he heard Winding Path was the place he could go to to take the edge off. Carrie gives him a needle, talking him into taking it in the office instead of his room. He injects himself, and Carrie confronts Tamara in the hallway. When they go back into the office, Wendall’s dead, and Carrie blames Tamara. The couple drags him out into the field, pours gasoline on him, and lights him on fire.
Tamara tells Athena and Phelps that Carrie lies about everything. At home, Bobby tells Athena that Wendall would have done it regardless because that’s who he is. He wanted to help.
Bobby and Athena watch as Carrie and Trey are taken to the police station. While being interrogated, they basically throw each other under the bus, blaming the other for what happened and what they really did. Carrie used Tamara as bait to lure Bobby to the facility, and it was Trey’s idea to burn the place down. It’s discovered that this isn’t the first time the two operated a dirty rehab, and it was previously under different names.
Aftermath
Bobby meets Tamara at the flower shop, who is doing a lot better, even more so with an actual job. Tamara’s grateful for Bobby and Wendall for helping her. Knowing it was supposed to be Wendall’s 10th anniversary of sobriety, Bobby speaks at the AA meeting, honoring and celebrating Wendall and talking about how he saved his life and how there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. He knows Wendall is still with him. He tells the group that if anyone feels the burning desire to use to know that they are there to help.
Athena tells Bobby that Wendall would be proud of him, and before leaving, Bobby speaks to a guy sitting at the back, right where he would sit when Wendall first met him.
Taking It Easy
Buck is back on the mend after his newest near-death experience, and he tries to convince Maddie, who is restocking his fridge, that he’s fine. She reminds her brother that he actually died (but it was only for three minutes). Turning the tables, Buck expresses his worry for Maddie with her job, the new house, Jee. She shouldn’t be running over to his place all the time. He promises he can take care of himself. Maddie gets ready to leave, and Buck mentions how appreciative he is of her.
Another visitor shows up to Buck’s, and this time, it’s Hen checking up on him. Smelling Maddie’s pot roast, Hen stays for lunch. Afterward, Buck wonders if he passed Dr. Wilson’s exam, and she diagnoses him with ungratefulness with a slap on the head. Buck admits that his cardiologist has just been ordering more tests and scans, and he’s been waiting for her to say whether he’s okay or not okay. He feels fine, but he also felt fine before he got struck by lightning.
Connor is Buck’s next visitor, checking in on him (with brownies). Buck keeps the conversation on Cameron and the baby, and then Connor brings it back to him. Josh knocks on the door this time with Sudoko, worried that he got his time wrong. Maddie later assures Josh that he didn’t ruin anything since Buck was on to her way before he got there. As Chimney tells Maddie that it seems Buck is taking his recovery seriously, Maddie gets a text from a friend saying that Buck was out by the time they showed up, but he did leave a note.
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Processing
Buck visits Eddie and immediately makes himself comfortable on the couch. Just as Eddie brings out a couple of beers, Buck’s fast asleep. When he finally wakes up, he finds Eddie in the kitchen, who admits he drank both beers. Buck asks Eddie what he remembers about being shot, and Eddie admits he thought this was it until he woke up in the hospital. Eddie wonders if he’s allowed to ask Buck how he’s doing, and Buck confesses he doesn’t know. Eddie says he’s going to feel a lot of different things since he died. He found the best way to process is to allow yourself to feel it.
Buck meets with Dr. Salazar, who brings good news with his tests: he can return to normal activities, including resuming full-time employment as early as next week. While Buck is relieved, he still can’t shake the feeling of his experience, so he asks the doctor about it and the patients she’s seen. It’s different for everyone. She says water finds its own level, and people do, too. Even if it’s in a different country.
Buck tells Maddie to stop trying to fix him, and Maddie admits she felt alone when she was sick because she didn’t want to be a burden. She doesn’t want Buck to hide. Buck says he has a checklist that he runs in his head when he wakes up to make sure he’s still alive. He’s just processing everything.
9-1-1 is taking a brief break, but it will be back on Monday, April 10 at 8 p.m. EST on FOX! In the meantime, check out the rest of our 9-1-1 coverage here, including episodic recaps and more!
