‘9-1-1’ 5×06 Review: “Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1”

**Spoilers Ahead**

After taking a week off, the 118 is back with their sixth episode of the season. There have been some heartfelt, interesting, and just downright odd choices that have been made this season. As we get closer to 9-1-1‘s season midpoint, let’s take a look at where all of our favourite first responders find themselves at this moment.

The storyline this week revolved around a prison riot and an inmate escape putting members of the 118 in danger.
9-1-1 joined the list of  shows about first responders and medical professionals have prisoners dress up as prison guards to escape a prison. It worked, and Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) were put right in the middle of the chaos, because of course.

Right from the beginning, the prison riot was essentially due to fail, and it was really great to see Eddie (Ryan Guzman) confront death row inmate Mitchell Trent (Mark Pellegrino) about just how terrible his plan is. Basically, he wants to die so that he can donate his heart to his son who’s sick. In the immortal words of  the great Tony Stark, “Not a great plan”. Eddie was at his best having none of Mitchell’s shenanigans, and we got to see a calm, cool, collected former soldier under fire of a different kind. 

Angela Bassett. ‘9-1-1’. Credit: Fox TV

It was great to see Hen (Aisha Hinds) get a chance to show off her incredible medical prowess. Although it hasn’t been brought up yet this season, it was confirmed that she’s in her second year of medical school and from the skills she showed off in this episode, she is absolutely nailing it. Gregg Daniel made an appearance in this episode as prison physician Dr. Cochran. There were some genuinely tender moments between these two, and it was so great to hear someone refer to Hen as Dr. Wilson, which has such a nice ring to it. Fans all know that Dr. Henrietta Wilson is going to make an incredible general surgeon. Let’s be honest though, what fans really need and deserve is to watch Dr. Wilson in a Grey’s Anatomy-style spinoff series. 

Buck and Eddie’s relationship was once again on full display in this episode, and Buck absolutely losing his mind thinking Eddie was in danger was such an on-beat character moment. These two have been through so many traumatic moments, and although it’s been great to see their relationship develop, it’s disappointing that the characters aren’t given a chance to debrief as much as some of the other characters. This show has taken pains to ensure characters are given the opportunity to process traumatic events of the job, and hopefully these two will get their chance soon enough.

Buck and Athena (Angela Bassett) got a couple of sweet moments, and fans were given a reminder of the depth of mutual respect these two have, and how much they really have each other’s back. They’ve come such a long way from the beginning of their professional relationship. Buck and Taylor (Megan West) still haven’t gotten a lot of screen time, but again, nice moments. Hopefully a decision will be made in the not-too-distant future about whether this relationship is going to be a permanent fixture of the show, or be given a tragic ending like so many of Buck’s previous relationships. 

Oliver Stark. ‘9-1-1’. Credit: Fox TV

Bobby (Peter Krause) was in his element showing what an incredible leader he is by the way he showed up for Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody). Ravi won’t succeed without support, and no one knows this more than Bobby. Leadership in the context of such an intensive, demanding job is more than just supporting your employees on shift. Bobby demonstrated in this episode that you need to show up for your people, and sometimes what that looks like is just being there, not talking, not reviewing traumatic events when you’re not ready, just being a calm, steadying presence. No one in this show does this better than Bobby. 

Christopher (Gavin McHugh) continues to steal absolutely every scene he’s in, and this episode was no exception. The moment between him and his father that rounded out the episode just reminds us of what a fantastic father Eddie is, and how lucky these two are to always have each other. It was such a sweet ending, and we can never get enough of the Christopher and Eddie show. 

9-1-1 airs Mondays 8/7c on Fox.

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