S05.E18: Starting Over

[jewel21]

Quote

Another day in the life of the 118, as its members race to rescue a cliffside wellness retreat guru after his followers turn on him. Then, they respond to an emergency call at an upscale hair salon. Meanwhile, Maddie contemplates returning to work, Eddie and May make decisions on their future, as do Buck and Taylor, and the 118 gathers for a surprise wedding.

Airdate: 05/16/2022

Season finale!

[Redrum]

So.... Eddy and May are getting married? :D

[Maverick]

 I'm guessing the past few weeks have been Eddie's exit story and this is the culmination of it where he decides to move back to Texas.  And if Maddie is thinking about going back to work (how has she been living since getting back?) then I'm guessing May decides to go to college. 

[gonzosgirrl]

That was a nice season finale that could easily have worked as a series finale if they were not renewed. How convenient that the new 9-1-1 call center will be ready 'some time in September' 😁 Oh and, yeah, it was nice knowing you Taylor. Bye now.

Edited May 17, 2022 by gonzosgirrl

[Maverick]

 A lot of it felt like things they had to check off because it's the season finale.  Maddie back at work.   May decides to go to college.  Taylor and Buck break up.  Eddie back at work.  

 Jonah, who as Eddie rightly pointed out only work at the house for a few weeks as a temp and skated by in a half dozen other cities--couple with Bobby not knowing about Buck kissing Lucy is enough to drive him to drink?  

 Maybe back away from the meta a little, writers.  The call center will be ready in September.   Albert has an aptitude as a librarian or archeologist?  Yeah, we see you.  

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by Maverick

[Irlandesa]

One thing I've always appreciated about this show is that it doesn't end the season with cliffhangers.  It's not that I don't enjoy a good cliffhanger but on a show like this, it'd likely be a stupid life and death situation.  So meh. 

I guess Arielle is going to likely be upped to a regular next season.

I still think the "how could she" surrounding Taylor is silly; although I can appreciate Buck realizing he's not interested in sticking with her through thick and thin as the driving force behind deciding it's best if they split ways. 

Are we supposed to think the accident guy got his memory back?

[Snazzy Daisy]

 

[Jillybean]

59 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

That was a nice season finale that could easily have worked as a series finale if they were not renewed. How convenient that the new 9-1-1 call center will be ready 'some time in September' 😁 Oh and, yeah, it was nice knowing you Taylor. Bye now.

Agreed. The renewal will come any day, I'm sure, but they left the gang in good places just in case.

[stonehaven]

I liked this finale. Although the maggots in the hair grossed me out. It was sad the guy lost his memory but sweet the wife will not give up on him.

Other than that, I love this show. Glad it's been renewed and can't wait for Fall...

[Irlandesa]

23 minutes ago, Jillybean said:

Agreed. The renewal will come any day, I'm sure, but they left the gang in good places just in case.

It was renewed today.

[BooksRule]

2 hours ago, Maverick said:

Albert has an aptitude as a librarian or archeologist?

I can't speak for archeologists, but as a librarian I have to say 'No, Albert. Just no'. (and I like Albert)

[Irlandesa]

32 minutes ago, BooksRule said:

I can't speak for archeologists, but as a librarian I have to say 'No, Albert. Just no'. (and I like Albert)

Ha.  And it cracked me up that trial attorney was also an option.  It's not that there aren't librarians who could also be trial attorneys or trial attorneys who couldn't be librarians but in terms of personalities, there's not much overlap there.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Are we supposed to think the accident guy got his memory back?

It sort of seemed that way?  
I’m not sure it wasn’t a Choose Your Own Adventure/Memory ending plot point.

Can someone explain what caused the accident?

Edited May 17, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Mediocre Gatsby]

48 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Can someone explain what caused the accident?

The husband pulled out of his driveway looking to the right, and got hit by a big truck from the left. 

What was with the ending scene of all the firefighters answering a call, and Eddie's lone slide down the pole? It did seem kind of like a "goodbye" shot. Or at the very least an "I was not on set with the others" shot. 

Poor Taylor. No place to live because Buck invited her to give up her place for him. It did seem like that story line was played out. 

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by Mediocre Gatsby

[possibilities]

Those vocational aptitude tests have always seemed totally crackpot to me. Cosmetology, archeology, law, libraries... what do they have in common? It's wild. But when I took those assessments, I always got ridiculous results, too. So I thought it was funny that ALbert's results were also a bit strange.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Mediocre Gatsby said:

What was with the ending scene of all the firefighters answering a call, and Eddie's lone slide down the pole? It did seem kind of like a "goodbye" shot. Or at the very least an "I was not on set with the others" shot. 

I think it indicated that he was back with the 118. He was walking out with them at the end.

Shallow thought:  Buck looked terrific in the light blue at the wedding.

[Diana Berry]

On 5/15/2022 at 4:03 PM, Maverick said:

 I'm guessing the past few weeks have been Eddie's exit story and this is the culmination of it where he decides to move back to Texas.  And if Maddie is thinking about going back to work (how has she been living since getting back?) then I'm guessing May decides to go to college. 

I’m lost did I miss something?  I didn’t get the vibe that Eddie’s leaving pls advise?  I would very much miss the pretty.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Diana Berry

[Lady Calypso]

This was a surprisingly nice season finale. It really could have worked as a series finale, if it needed to (luckily, it didn't need to). How nice to see Karen and Hen renew their vows. I liked Karen explaining to Hen why she was initially upset at Hen's mom wanting to get married at their home, and also how quickly she was able to put that aside to plan the wedding. It was a nice, nuanced reason and I really didn't expect that plot to unravel how it did. 

So, May is going to college. Good for her, I think she did great with the call center stuff but this will be good for her. And Maddie's back to work, which is nice. JLH has been away most of the season, so it's nice to have her back. And Maddie/Chimney could be on the way to reconciliation.

Buck breaks up with Taylor, which is a long time coming. But she didn't make wrong points about who Buck got in a relationship with (she's the same person she was when they met) and I'm surprised she didn't call him out on his cheating with Lucy. Hell, the show even made that into a joke with the team and Bobby finding out.

Speaking of Bobby, such a great plot for him but it sucks he was mostly isolated in his pain. Thank goodness for Eddie coming to check on him and telling him he wasn't responsible for Jonah. He just saved Bobby from years of sobriety. 

And Eddie's back with the 118.

Nice case with the amnesiac couple. Sad, but I didn't necessarily cry.

[iMonrey]

Quote

One thing I've always appreciated about this show is that it doesn't end the season with cliffhangers. 

Doesn't it though? I was expecting one.

I thought this was a rather strange season finale. There was an awful lot of time spent on the amnesia guy and his wife, without any of the regular cast. It almost felt like another show. And then all the fuss about Hen's mom not coming to their wedding. DIdn't that happen before the show even started? Hen's mom only joined the show last season, if I'm remembering right. 

I know, in real life, May should definitely go to college, but show-wise, I much prefer her over Maddy. 

Quote

 What was with the ending scene of all the firefighters answering a call, and Eddie's lone slide down the pole? It did seem kind of like a "goodbye" shot. Or at the very least an "I was not on set with the others" shot. 

I thought it looked like the latter. We did not see him in the group shot walking towards the truck. He was at the wedding, however. Unless that was more camera trickery. 

[mojito]

11 hours ago, Mediocre Gatsby said:

What was with the ending scene of all the firefighters answering a call, and Eddie's lone slide down the pole? It did seem kind of like a "goodbye" shot. Or at the very least an "I was not on set with the others" shot. 

I think it was just a "surprise" reveal that Eddie was back on the team.

24 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I thought this was a rather strange season finale.

Me, too. All those scenes of the amnesia couple's life. Hen's mother getting married. They just seemed like fillers. The final scene looked like a season or series finale, though. I don't really understand the purpose of the Eddie arc. And how quickly he heeled to share his wisdom with Bobby.

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Hell, the show even made that into a joke with the team and Bobby finding out.

I was glad to see that, considering all the comments I've read of people thinking Buck "cheated" on his girlfriend. 🙄

[DearEvette]

I love that Hen and Karen had little Nia as their flower girl for their wedding.  Awww.

I like it when 911 goes a little deeper into the lives of their rescuees like they did with the car accident couple. Reminds me of the other car accident couple they did this with, the older gay couple where one of them got crushed buy their car and we got t see the timeline of their love story too.

I did get a little laigh at the very first rescue, but come on people, you go to some shady guru type and listen to him intone woo-woo word salad while sitting in a glamping tent up in the hills and don't assume you got some hallucinogens in the tea?  It is a given, I'd think.

I am ok with Buck breaking up with Taylor and for his reasons for it.  Yes, she is a reporter and of course she's want to run the story on Jonah.  I mean, when Taylor first showed up in season 2 she was coded very much to be ambitious and leveraging her own accident to get in front of the camera and away from just reporting traffic. And she would have run the story about Bobby getting drugged on acid laced brownies and standing loopily on a roof without any sort of remorse or concern about what harm that could have done the 118 in general and Bobby in particular.

I don't think it was so much the story, imo, but that she made an explicit promise not to run with it.  If she had even just said "I can't promise that Buck' then he'd have one less leg to stand on.  But she not only promised she wouldn't run it, she'd already told someone about it and started investigating it before there was any evidence on Jonah and before he kidnapped Hen and Chim.  I think is it less that specific story per se and the fact that he doesn't feel he could trust her word any longer.  And you can't have a relationship if you just don't trust the person you are with. And like I said, Taylor had already shown who she was, Buck just forgot it.

[PrincessTT]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Doesn't it though? I was expecting one.

 

They’ve never had a season ending cliffhanger on 911 - they tend to do the cliffhanger the episode before the finale, and then they wrap everything up in the finale.

[scruff]

This   episode  wants   the   viewers    to   actually   believe   that   Chim   is    entertaining   the   Idea   as to    getting  back   with  Maddie ?      After  Everything   that   she   did  to   him and Put  him Through ?  To where  she was Never   even   sorry    for   what she  did   and put  him through   and  Practically   Blamed  Him for it  all    ?   

Well   Chim   would  basically    then  be a   Disgrace  to   the  Entire  Male   Gender    if   that    happens/happened .   

[Snazzy Daisy]

4 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

And Maddie's back to work, which is nice. JLH has been away most of the season, so it's nice to have her back. And Maddie/Chimney could be on the way to reconciliation.

I seriously hope that JLH won't get pregnant again before S6 starts shooting.

I don't want KC to be sidelined again for half of a season, for no apparent reason.

 

And hopefully we can get more of Ravi (NOT Lucy) for S6.

[ribboninthesky1]

I wish the Bobby intervention would have been with May or Athena rather than Eddie. Even Buck. It didn't feel right with Eddie, especially since they've barely spoken this season.    

I'm so glad Taylor wasn't weepy over Buck, and they parted on good terms.    

58 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I don't think it was so much the story, imo, but that she made an explicit promise not to run with it.  If she had even just said "I can't promise that Buck' then he'd have one less leg to stand on.  But she not only promised she wouldn't run it, she'd already told someone about it and started investigating it before there was any evidence on Jonah and before he kidnapped Hen and Chim.  I think is it less that specific story per se and the fact that he doesn't feel he could trust her word any longer.  And you can't have a relationship if you just don't trust the person you are with. And like I said, Taylor had already shown who she was, Buck just forgot it.

She promised not to run it after Buck caught her on the phone and her laptop investigating.  Buck's issue seemed to be that she was gonna run the story prematurely, put Jonah on notice, and potentially put others at risk.  To me, once Jonah was arrested, that was no longer a factor.     

But this mostly felt like a manufactured reason to end things between them, when it should have been episodes ago.  Hopefully, Taylor can find somewhere to live quickly!  Besides, trust issues went both ways in that relationship in my view, so I wasn't sympathetic to Buck at all in this context.    

16 hours ago, Maverick said:

Albert has an aptitude as a librarian or archeologist?  Yeah, we see you. 

 Ha! The Librarians was quite entertaining. Too bad Albert wasn't raised in Australia.  

[gonzosgirrl]

24 minutes ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

She promised not to run it after Buck caught her on the phone and her laptop investigating.  Buck's issue seemed to be that she was gonna run the story prematurely, put Jonah on notice, and potentially put others at risk.  To me, once Jonah was arrested, that was no longer a factor.   

We did get some exposition on it though, where Buck was called into the principal's office, and Bobby talked about how the department would have liked to frame the story themselves. If not for Taylor being on scene at Hen and Chim's rescue with the story ready to roll, it would have seemed like just another call to any outside observers.  They were doomed as a couple anyway - like mama always said, when someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time.

I thought they had Eddie 'save' Bobby in order to reconcile them after some pretty harsh words/tough love a few episodes ago. This way they head into Season 6 as one big, happy family again. 

[jabRI]

35 minutes ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

She promised not to run it after Buck caught her on the phone and her laptop investigating.  Buck's issue seemed to be that she was gonna run the story prematurely, put Jonah on notice, and potentially put others at risk.  To me, once Jonah was arrested, that was no longer a factor.     

Exactly, she's a reporter.  Once arrested, all bets are off.

[tennisgurl]

That was a nice finale, glad that everyone left what has been a pretty gloomy season on a positive note. Hen and Karen getting to do their wedding over again with Hen's mom was really sweet, especially seeing cute little Nia as flower girl, and I liked the reason Karen gave for not being thrilled about Hen's mom getting married in their backyard, that made sense to me. Glad that May is going to college, that will be really good for her, and that Buck and Taylor finally broke up, parting on good terms. Beyond who was right or wrong about Taylor reporting on this case, they just were not a good match, they weren't compatible. We also have Maddie returning to the call center (just as May is leaving) and a hint that she and Chim might get back together, Bobby and Athena taking a much needed vacation, and Eddie deciding to come back to work, more or less getting us back to the status quo, which is quite welcome. Hopefully next season will bring us just a bit less drama. 

Oh yeah show, I see you and those meta jokes. Be ready in September? Albert has the aptitude to be a librarian? I see what you did there. 

I would have preferred the talk with Bobby to be between him and May, but I get why they went with Eddie. Bobby was the one who came to Eddie at the start of his story this season to convince him to take care of himself and not to blame himself for things outside of his control, so I can appreciate them going full circle and having Eddie do the same for Bobby before Eddie finally got back to what he's good at. and he got there right in the nick of time, Bobby was about five seconds from a relapse. 

We actually got three rescue calls, pretty good for this season where we often go weeks without a call. The one with the couple was bittersweet, but I really liked seeing parts of their story and they left it ambiguous as to whether or not the husband gets his memory back. the one with the hair was so gross I had to look away, nope to that! 

Edited May 17, 2022 by tennisgurl

[iMonrey]

Quote

I wish the Bobby intervention would have been with May or Athena rather than Eddie. Even Buck. It didn't feel right with Eddie, especially since they've barely spoken this season.  

I was scratching my head when Eddie said Bobby saved his life. When, exactly? Did he mean just by benching him for his PTSD or some other incident I'm forgetting?

Quote

and he got there right in the nick of time, Bobby was about five seconds from a relapse.

Which I thought was a bit extreme. I don't know why this particular incident would send Bobby over the edge, I don't even think he's technically responsible for Jonah being at the station. The EMTs are a different department, I think someone else would have assigned him there. The whole thing seemed like a thin contrivance just to give Bobby some heavy material in the finale.

Edited May 17, 2022 by iMonrey

[Crashcourse]

Best thing about this episode for me was the guru running for his life with Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride playing. 

[Redrum]

The EMTs are a different department on Lunesta, where they aren't even firefighters. On the original recipe show, everyone is a firefighter first. So Jonah was Bobby's employee.

[possibilities]

I didn't understand the maggot story. Don't maggots only burrow into rotting flesh? How did they get into her head, if she didn't have any kind of actual wound? Also, even if you got hair from a corpse, wouldn't you have the common sense to wash it first, before using it on a client????

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, Redrum said:

The EMTs are a different department on Lunesta, where they aren't even firefighters. On the original recipe show, everyone is a firefighter first. So Jonah was Bobby's employee.

And remember, Bobby felt responsible for the deaths of however many people died in his apartment building fire - he was keeping count of how many people he rescued and when he got to whatever that number was, he was going to end his life. He's not on that path anymore but I'm sure he still carries the weight of those deaths on his shoulders, so I can see how he'd feel responsible for the people Jonah killed. He's not, but I can see how his mind would make that connection. And he's always taken his role as captain really seriously.

[Nessa]

7 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Oh yeah show, I see you and those meta jokes. Be ready in September? Albert has the aptitude to be a librarian? I see what you did there. 

Apart from the show possibly returning in September, I don't get the librarian thing? Apart from the result obviously.  Am I missing something?

[Nialla]

5 minutes ago, Nessa said:

Apart from the show possibly returning in September, I don't get the librarian thing? Apart from the result obviously.  Am I missing something?

It's referring to the actor previously starring in "The Librarians" series.

[Snazzy Daisy]

6 minutes ago, Nessa said:

Apart from the show possibly returning in September, I don't get the librarian thing? Apart from the result obviously.  Am I missing something?

FYI. 

[Nessa]

4 minutes ago, Nialla said:

It's referring to the actor previously starring in "The Librarians" series.

OK that makes sense..........................but never heard of it! LOL

[JH Lipton]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:06 PM, Irlandesa said:

Are we supposed to think the accident guy got his memory back?

I didn't think so.  I took the montage as showing his wife filling him in on the important moments of their life.

[ribboninthesky1]

20 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I was scratching my head when Eddie said Bobby saved his life. When, exactly? Did he mean just by benching him for his PTSD or some other incident I'm forgetting?

I've tuned out most of Eddie's arc, so I assumed it was something I missed.  Maybe he indeed meant benching him during his denial phase of PTSD.  

22 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

We did get some exposition on it though, where Buck was called into the principal's office, and Bobby talked about how the department would have liked to frame the story themselves. If not for Taylor being on scene at Hen and Chim's rescue with the story ready to roll, it would have seemed like just another call to any outside observers.  

I totally get why the department wanted to control the narrative.  They wanted to save face.  I thought it was interesting that Bobby held no animus towards Taylor, as he seemed to recognize she was doing her job.  

19 hours ago, possibilities said:

I didn't understand the maggot story. Don't maggots only burrow into rotting flesh? How did they get into her head, if she didn't have any kind of actual wound? Also, even if you got hair from a corpse, wouldn't you have the common sense to wash it first, before using it on a client????

Why are you trying to apply logic???? Seriously, I was confused about that too, but just went with it.  

[izabella]

21 minutes ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

I totally get why the department wanted to control the narrative.  They wanted to save face.  I thought it was interesting that Bobby held no animus towards Taylor, as he seemed to recognize she was doing her job.  

Exactly this.  This would be a HUGE story regardless of whether they "got a heads up" about the story or not.  And Taylor would have only had a few minutes of "exclusive" coverage anyway, if any at all,  The place would be swarming with media immediately.  The only reason for a "heads up" to the department before the story broke was to try to cover it up or get their PR people to write the "we knew nothing, not our fault" phrasing faster. 

[ninjakid]

20 hours ago, possibilities said:

I didn't understand the maggot story. Don't maggots only burrow into rotting flesh? How did they get into her head, if she didn't have any kind of actual wound? Also, even if you got hair from a corpse, wouldn't you have the common sense to wash it first, before using it on a client????

They are really, really bad at entomology. Remember the season 4 episode where the woman had face fly larva in her eyes? Face flies don't lay eggs in eyes. They also like decomposing matter. They're called face flies because the adults eat eye mucous. 

[Empress1]

Angela Bassett is so gorgeous. She looked so beautiful at the wedding, all collarbones and sculpted shoulders.

I haven’t heard “Closer to Fine” in years but I still know all the words.

[Snazzy Daisy]

9-1-1 cutie pies…❤️

 

 

Edited May 19, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[anna0852]

That is the cutest thing ever!

[kwnyc]

Bobby needs to work his steps! And WHO is his sponsor? (I know this is ridiculous, but he's portrayed as a guy who is serious about his recovery.) And I REALLY don't buy Eddie being a sort of Handsome Yoda with all the answers after a couple months of therapy. If he can just shut up and slide down fire poles next season, I'm okay with that.

Hen & Karen 4eva. And Nia. And Denny. 

Of COURSE Bobby is going to take Athena on a cruise. It's an old people thing where they eat a lot and see some shows and dance.

I hope Taylor shows up every now & then. She and Buck are good as friends.

[Crashcourse]

5 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

Of COURSE Bobby is going to take Athena on a cruise. It's an old people thing where they eat a lot and see some shows and dance.

And OF COURSE there will be some kind of emergency where Bobby and/or Athena will come to the rescue. 🙄

(Also, cruises aren't just for old people; I went on my only cruise in my 30s and I saw people who looked my age, some even younger.) 

[BluBarbi98]

27 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

 Of COURSE Bobby is going to take Athena on a cruise. It's an old people thing where they eat a lot and see some shows and dance.

I hope Taylor shows up every now & then. She and Buck are good as friends.

No just them! I LOVE cruises but am not old, although friends say I have an old spirit. LOL. 

I agree Buck & Taylor are better as friends. 

[shapeshifter]

37 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

And I REALLY don't buy Eddie being a sort of Handsome Yoda with all the answers after a couple months of therapy. If he can just shut up and slide down fire poles next season, I'm okay with that

IDK. Handsome Yoda Eddie who slides down the fire pole and then turns to whoever’s there and speaks a riddle or bit of ancient wisdom is fine by me.😉

[Empress1]

19 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

And OF COURSE there will be some kind of emergency where Bobby and/or Athena will come to the rescue. 🙄

(Also, cruises aren't just for old people; I went on my only cruise in my 30s and I saw people who looked my age, some even younger.) 

I went on my first/only cruise when I was 20. My brother was 16. (I don’t like cruises, as it turns out.)

[WinJet0819]

The downside with Taylor and Buck ending is that we all know what is going to happen next season. They're going to push a relationship between him and Lucy, which in turn will drag their relationship drama throughout episodes. And 911 was so good at NOT needing this, as they showcased the characters in both their professional and personal lives As others have said, this whole break-up seemed to be manufactured drama to get Taylor out of the way. She runs a story, AFTER Noah is arrested, and that's all Buck needs to end things? And this after he kisses Lucy, and instead of coming right out and telling Taylor, he has her move in with him, basically trapping her. That is much worse. And then he says he wants to make this work. Didn't seem like it.

The only hope is that Arielle Kebbel choses to leave the show, but I don't think that will happen.