‘911 on FOX’ 5×05 Recap: “Peer Pressure”

911 came back to show us the various changes at the 118 now that they are down a man with Chimney’s absence. It looks as though timeline-wise it has been a couple of weeks since the events of the previous episode and everyone is having a difficult time.

911 shows us how the partnerships are fairing

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The partnership between Eddie and Hen may not be as difficult as Buck and Ravi, but they are all trying to get used to working with other people. Hen is clearly taking charge while Eddie is just trying to figure out how to work with someone he is not as in sync with. But it did make for some funny moments, especially when Hen teases him about driving safely.

As for Buck and Ravi, it’s noticeable that Buck is on edge throughout the episode. He appears to be taking it out on Ravi. Although, he is mostly mentoring him and trying to make sure he does well on the job. Sure, Ravi does make mistakes here and there, but he does well on one call that leaves Buck impressed with him.

What we saw in Buck’s arc this episode was his feelings of guilt over Chimney leaving. He honestly felt like it was his fault. Plus, he was self projecting the idea that the team was avoiding it because of him. His girlfriend, Taylor, tried to tell him not to take it personally but based on Buck’s expression, he still didn’t believe her.

Calls being avoided

After trying to get a hold of Maddie and Chimney, with the latter altering his voicemail to tell Buck to stop calling, it looks like Buck is holding onto serious guilt. He can’t get ahold of either of them and based on Chimney’s message, he’s been doing this a lot. Granted, Chimney didn’t come off sounding great, however, we’re seeing this through Buck’s eyes, and at the moment, he feels like he is to blame.

But, we do not know how Chimney is feeling right now and it could be that he just needs space. Until he is back and the two of them sit down to talk, we won’t know what his headspace is. Buck’s point of view is skewed due to blaming himself, which we know to be true in the next scene.

911 shows that mental health recovery is always a work in progress

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During dinner with the rest of the 118, he tells the team he plans on transferring. He was mentoring Ravi to take his place since Chimney was gone and Eddie would take his place. Aghast, Eddie wonders who would take his spot, sharing confused looks with Hen. None of them refuse to let Buck entertain the thought of leaving, telling him that they all talked to Chimney and that he will be back. Eddie puts his foot down, telling Buck that he is “stuck with us.”

Buck clearly still has a lot of issues to work through in regards to his self-worth and self-esteem. This episode highlighted how despite having a family around him, he feels replaceable, but they prove to him he isn’t.

By the end of the episode, it seems that although Buck heard what everyone said, he still has some doubts lingering. Until Maddie, Chimney, and Jee-Yun are back, he might still have to fight those inner demons. When he gets a phone call from his sister, he hears what sounds like church bells in the background. He appears to recognize them and suddenly knows where she could be.

May continues to prove herself a capable 911 dispatcher

The episode also found May still struggling with Claudette, who is not making herself very likable for the second time we have seen her. She takes over a 911 call May is working on. She completely ignores the fact that she didn’t give May a chance to figure out where the caller was when he couldn’t speak. Claudette acts as if May needed to ask for help when the former did not need help to begin with.

Then May takes a call from a girl who wants to leave a message to her high school bullies after taking pills. When Claudette tries to take over, May immediately takes charge, telling the girl her own story, giving her time for the paramedics to arrive on the scene. Just when Claudette appears to tell May she has potential, she ends it by telling May she is not at that level yet.

If Claudette is trying to get May to see her potential, she is going about it the wrong way. There’s no reason for her to take over May’s calls before she has a chance to even help the person who needs help. May has shown in the past she was fully capable of taking on a call without assistance and doesn’t need to prove herself to anyone.

May definitely made a boss move in the end and we know she will continue to show just how amazing she is at her job.

Communication is essential for everyone involved

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Harry’s arc was also highlighted in this episode, as he gets in trouble at school for hitting a kid. Instead of calling his parents, the school calls Bobby instead. Harry is still mad at his parents about what happened. He also doesn’t want them to know he was suspended.

When Harry goes over to May’s without telling anyone where he is, their parents do eventually find them. Harry blurts out why he is so upset with his parents. When he tells Athena she only cares about her job, she hits him.

This is where things went too far. It shows that Athena is not as okay as she appears to be. She is not seeing what the events are doing to her family. Michael tries to suggest therapy, but in a way that causes Athena to brush him off. It might be helpful for her to talk to someone as we know she has a habit of keeping things to herself. But in this case, for her family, she needs to work through the feelings she has been trying so hard to keep at bay.

It looks like Harry is also taking Jeffrey’s words to heart about his mom. He is seen reading an article that makes Jeffrey out to be the good guy. But there is a lot of trauma here and no one is communicating as well as they could be.

Final thoughts on the episode

Overall, this episode of 911 did seem to show that there are uncomfortable aspects in every setting that has communication issues at the core. Plus, we got to see Buck in a space with Taylor where it appeared that even though she was trying to be attentive and helpful to him, he couldn’t convey everything he was feeling.

Of course, we don’t know what is going on there since we didn’t get Taylor’s point of view. The episode went from telling him that not everything that is wrong is on him to making breakfast all about him. If there had been an in-between moment for them, it may have come off differently. For now, we’ll have to see how their relationship continues to develop. Will we see if Buck becomes more comfortable sharing these heavy topics with her?

Athena needs to really work on herself and understand that she needs to focus on her family. Helping herself will help Harry in the long run, so their relationship can get back on track.

May, just keep doing what you’re doing girl because you are amazing and you were trained by the best.

Unfortunately, we won’t get to see another episode for two weeks due to The Masked Singer airing an episode on Oct. 25 despite airing on Wednesday. So for now, we’ll just continue to miss Maddie and Chimney terribly until they come back to us.

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