After a short break, the 118 is back! Following the events of the last episode, Hen is still struggling to cope with what happened after the ambulance accident, while an old friend reaches out to Maddie in a cry for help. The 118 also respond to a call that may change the life of one of their own.
Keep reading to find out what happened on the newest episode of 9-1-1, “Fallout.”
Hen is talking to a therapist, Frank, telling him every time she closes her eyes, she sees Evelyn’s face, reliving that moment. The previous night was like she crashed into her in slow motion, her injuries happening while the car crumbled around her. Eddie is also talking to Frank, trying to contain some anger that is continually building up inside him. Eddie tells him he has these good moments, like saving someone from dying or Christopher doing something awesome. It’s moments where he should be happy, proud or both. He knows it. He just doesn’t feel it. Frank tells him there’s no one right way to deal with trauma. All the first responders he counsels process it differently, yet they all ask the same questions and press the same buttons. Maddie is now talking to Frank, telling him that she used to find therapy helpful. After Doug died, she did it all: talk, group therapy, and cognitive processing. She spent six months just talking about her feelings.
Frank says nothing helped her because she’s still sitting in the chair. Jumping between them all, Eddie tells Frank that he would rather be at home with his kid, enjoying the one good thing he has left. Frank wants to know why he keeps coming back. Maddie tells Frank she was ordered by her boss; Hen says she knows she needs help to process everything; Eddie tells Frank he doesn’t want his kid to be like him. Christopher is always this happy and open kid, ready to share every thought in his head. But he was in pain and felt like he had to hide that from Eddie and pretend he was okay. He doesn’t want that for him. Maddie tells Frank that she violated Department policy, violated a woman’s trust, and she’s sorry. Eddie says he almost killed a guy with his bare hands, while Hen says she killed a young girl in the prime of her life. Maddie says she survived, and Doug didn’t.
Hen is back at the station, trying to process everything with the investigation, looking through the papers. Bobby tells her it wasn’t her fault. System logs show that she pushed the button for the traffic light. Her light was green when she entered the intersection. Evelyn’s light never changed. It was the circuit board on the streetlamp; one of the relays was fried. Hen did everything right. Hen tells Bobby that the girl is still dead. Bobby tells Hen it’s not because of her. Hen says she’s the one that drove into her. He can show her a million pieces of paper that say it’s not her fault, but it’s still going to feel like it is. Bobby tells her it was an accident, she’s been cleared by the Department, and she can return to duty whenever she is ready. Hen says she doesn’t know when she can come back. She is going away for a few days with Karen; she’s going to need some time. Bobby tells her to take as much time as she needs; they’ll be there when she’s ready.
Maddie is back at the call center and receives a call from Tara on her cell phone. Tara is frantic and sobbing, telling Maddie she doesn’t know what to do. She asks Maddie if she can come over and that Maddie is right. Tara tells Maddie she really needs her help. Maddie assures her she’s on her way. Maddie gets to Tara’s house, and when Tara opens the door, her face is badly beaten and is shaking. Tara tells Maddie she and Vincent fought, and he came after her. Tara reveals a gun, saying he was so mad. She didn’t have a choice. Tara tells Maddie she thought she had killed him, but he’s still alive. Vincent is on the floor, bleeding to death. Maddie pulls out her phone to call 911, but Tara takes it away from her, saying she can’t; that’s why she called her. Tara tells Maddie he can’t die; she can’t think straight. Maddie takes a knife and alcohol, telling Tara she’s saving him. Tara tells Maddie it was self-defense, and Maddie says she will tell herself that a million times, but it never gets better. Maddie killed her husband and wished she didn’t. She killed someone she used to love and will never be completely free of that. Maddie gets Vincent conscious and has Tara call 911.
Buck is at the hospital with Maddie, who isn’t talking much. Buck tells her she saved a guy’s life, one who seriously did not deserve it. Maddie tells him nobody deserves to die. The police officer, Williams, tells Maddie she can go home. He tells her that detectives talked to Vincent before he went into surgery and said he shot himself by accident. Buck says he doesn’t get it; why would Vincent lie for Tara? Tara finds Maddie, telling her she’s so glad she’s still there; she wanted to thank her. Maddie asks Tara what’s going on. Tara admits Vincent could forgive her if she could forgive him, and they could make things work. She tells Maddie it could be different now; they can be different, he promised. Tara leaves, and Buck asks Maddie if she wants to stick around in case Tara needs her, and Maddie says no, she can’t help her anymore.
Buck is hanging out at Eddie and Christopher’s place. Buck tells Eddie what happened with Maddie, Tara, and Vincent. Saying that the situation is rough on Maddie, she thought she could save Tara from Vincent, but now she realizes that you can’t save someone from themselves, not if they don’t want it.
“Especially if you aren’t around to see they need saving.”
Buck apologizes to Eddie for not being there. They needed him, and he had his head so far up his own issues with that stupid lawsuit. Eddie tells him they’re way past that, but Buck says he’s not. He should’ve been there. Maybe he could’ve talked some sense into Eddie. Buck tells Eddie not to buy that truck, and Eddie tells him he would’ve talked him into buying something more expensive. Eddie says things got a little out of hand for both of them and to not beat himself up about it. Buck asks him why; because he’d rather do it? Buck tells Eddie if he’s not honest with Frank, at least be honest with him. Eddie wants to know who said he wasn’t honest with Frank, and Buck says that Frank said the two of them weren’t clicking. Eddie says maybe he’s just not a therapy kind of guy. Christopher watches Eddie and Buck play video games, Eddie telling Buck this is his kind of therapy.
Hen and Karen meet with a life coach, Stacy, whom Hen saved. Karen asks her if she saw anything during her near-death experience, and Stacy says nothing supernatural, but she has seen things. Six years ago, she saw her daughter walk down the aisle; four years ago, she saw her first grandchild and last year, her second. She’s seen the world, visited everyone who mattered to her, and told everyone how much she loves them. Stacy tells them every day. She wakes up grateful for her second chance. She’s grateful to God, but most of all, she’s grateful to Hen. Stacy thanks Hen for saving her life.
Two guys are driving an industrial recycling truck. They stop to get gas, and one of them, Ernest, checks the cargo in the back. He notices a bin that has a “Radioactive” label. As the guys drive away in the truck, they come across a tunnel with construction workers. Ernest doesn’t notice them at first, but when he does, he tries to swerve out of the way, crashing in the tunnel; another truck crashes into them, creating a fire.
A bystander calls 911, telling dispatchers that two trucks just collided in the tunnel, are on fire, and are filling up with smoke. The caller is helping the drivers when he notices a combustible sign on the burning truck. Josh tells everyone to initiate traffic rerouting to the area around the tunnel. They’re not taking any chances until they know exactly what’s burning in there. The caller tells Maddie the fire is white.
The 118 get inside the tunnel. Bobby tells Chim he’s got the guy on the ground while Eddie and Buck check the driver. Bobby requests a liquid nitrogen truck to be dispatched to the scene to help contain the magnesium fire. Chim starts compressions on Ankush. Meanwhile, Buck and Eddie are trying to get Ernest out of the truck. Ernest tells them they have to get out of there since the magnesium is burning. He tells Bobby there’s also Cobalt-60 in the back of the truck, radioactive waste. Bobby tells Eddie and Buck that hazmat and nitrogen will be there any minute, and he needs them out there when they land. Bobby will stay with Ernest and get him out of there. Once outside the tunnel, Chim tells Buck and Eddie that hazmat and nitrogen have been delayed, and too many cars are trying to evacuate downtown. Buck tells Bobby that he and Eddie are returning to him, but Bobby says the cobalt has ignited; they’re at gamma radiation levels. Bobby is trying to pry the doors off the truck to get Ernest out while also trying to contain the fire. Hazmat and nitrogen finally get to the scene going into the tunnel and containing the fire.
They manage to get Ernest out, and Chim tells him that Ankush is stable and headed to the hospital. Bobby is getting cleaned off at a chemical tent, hoping he’s not infected. At the hospital, the doctor tells Bobby and Athena that Bobby’s heart function looks good, and the other tests show mostly good news; no enlargement of the thyroid, chest X-rays are clear, and his lungs don’t appear to have suffered any ill effects from the exposure. The doctor says the urine test showed trace amounts of cobalt, not high, just elevated. He’s concerned, but he’s also cautious by nature. Bobby says they won’t worry until there’s something to worry about. He tells Athena he had to slow down that fire, and the only way he could was to get in the path of the smoke; he had no choice.
The episode ends with Maddie returning to therapy to talk about how she really feels about killing Doug, and Hen returns to Station 118, officially.
Next week’s fall finale is going to be a Christmas episode, so it will be interesting to see what happens. 9-1-1 airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on FOX.
