Coming off of last week’s phenomenal episode, and with the promise of an episode centered on my favorite character this week, my expectations were sky-high high for 9-1-1’s latest episode. Sadly, though, Season 9, Episode 5, “Día de los Muertos” just feels like a repeat of the same themes that the show has been covering since Bobby Nash’s (Peter Krause) death. And look, I get it – I would never want 9-1-1 to forget about Bobby. That being said, though, there were so many interesting developments blooming in the characters’ personal lives last season before Contagion, and now, all of their non-emergency storylines are about grieving the loss of Bobby. “Día de los Muertos” combines a Halloween episode and a Día de Muertos episode into one, for an episode that feels tonally off throughout. Eddie (Ryan Guzman) has been long overdue for a follow-up to his “Confessions” storyline last season, so that he can continue on the path towards prioritizing his own happiness. Instead, though, he starts to have an interesting reckoning with his faith this episode, only for his Abuela, Isabel (Ana Mercedes), to die at the end. It’s an ultimately forgettable episode overall, and it feels like a missed opportunity for a rare Eddie-focused episode.
In ‘9-1-1′ Season 9, Episode 5, Everyone’s Storylines Are Yet Again About Bobby’s Death

Eddie’s storyline this episode is initially about the reveal that he’s been secretly reconnecting with his Catholic faith, in part due to Bobby. At the same time, the show gives focus to two Bobby-centric subplots. Buck (Oliver Stark) has just moved into his new house after seven months, although it is not revealed where he was living during this period of time, and he and Eddie have still not had a proper on-screen conversation about their respective living situations. Buck tries to perfect Bobby’s snickerdoodle recipe, and when the secret ingredient appears on his counter, he becomes convinced that Bobby is communicating with him from the dead. Meanwhile, Harry (Elijah M. Cooper) has gotten Athena (Angela Bassett) to come around to the idea of him becoming a firefighter, but he has moved back in with her in order to convince her. He stays in a room with Bobby’s old things in the closet, which is all well and good, until he has the baffling idea to dress in Bobby’s firefighting turnouts for Halloween without clearing it with Athena first. She is initially very angry, but the two talk things out, and he tells her that she’s really the one who pushed him to become a first responder. It’s a nice conversation, but it feels off-topic from the matter at hand, taking a storyline about grief over Bobby and resolving it in an unrelated way. Buck soon learns that Bobby has not actually been helping him bake from the dead, but that instead, his house’s former tenant has been breaking in and staying there. Buck initially reacts harshly and out of character, but when he sees that the man has an AA chip, he drops all charges against him and shows him kindness. I liked seeing 9-1-1 honor Bobby through Buck supporting someone else with alcoholism, but this entire storyline feels repetitive in how Buck addresses his grief. While that is certainly realistic, it’s also frustrating, because nearly all of 9-1-1’s storylines since Bobby died have either been focused on emergencies or on the characters’ grief.
‘9-1-1′ Season 9, Episode 5 Doesn’t Give Enough Focus to Eddie

Ryan Guzman and Terri Hoyos together in 9-1-1Image via ABC

Aside from its repetitive storytelling, my main issue with “Día de los Muertos” is that the episode introduces several plotlines, only to drop them in favor of very different directions. Eddie’s storyline this episode is initially very compelling, as he reconnects with his faith while trying to separate his current relationship with religion from how he was raised. After attending a more progressive church service with Isabel, Eddie tells her that he has never felt the presence of God in the way that he was supposed to, and she assures him that love is enough to be connected with his religion, saying, “You were looking in the wrong place.” This line is so perfect for Eddie’s character arc, and could have easily been the lead-in to a storyline that finally explores his sexuality. Instead, though, 9-1-1 follows this up by killing off his Abuela. The 118 tends to several spooky calls this episode, including that of a man who believes he’s dead but isn’t, and a really disturbing call where a small religious community has been locking up a teenage girl and giving her an exorcism while believing she’s possessed. Eddie loses his faith again after this, but then Isabel suddenly dies and visits Christopher (Gavin McHugh) beforehand. Eddie and Pepa (Terri Hoyos) pray together, but instead of a touching moment, this just feels like a lazy plot device to give Eddie more grief instead of letting him reconnect with his faith through joy. Eddie then sets out pictures of Bobby, Shannon (Devin Kelley), and Isabel on the offrenda to remember them with Christopher (even though it’s typically tradition to wait a year after a person’s death before adding them). This episode ultimately just has me disappointed that 9-1-1 seems to have had its characters’ personal lives on hold since Bobby’s death, and I’m champing at the bit to see more of these personal storylines (if not in next week’s episode, then when the show returns from its mid-season hiatus). I do wish the show hadn’t killed off Eddie’s abuela, though. New episodes of 9-1-1 air Thursdays at 8:00 P.M. EST on ABC.

Release Date

January 3, 2018

Showrunner

Tim Minear

Directors

Bradley Buecker, David Grossman, Brenna Malloy, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Jann Turner, Jennifer Lynch, Marita Grabiak, Sarah Boyd, John J. Gray, Barbara Brown, Robert M. Williams Jr., Kristen Reidel, Marcus Stokes, Tasha Smith, Millicent Shelton, Juan Carlos Coto, John Gray, Greg Sirota, Alonso Alvarez, James Wong, Kevin Hooks, Varda Bar-Kar, Shauna Duggins, Sharat Raju

Writers

Tim Minear, Andrew Meyers, Brad Falchuk, David Fury, Ryan Murphy, Christopher Monfette, Nadia Abass-Madden, Nicole Barraza Keim, Erica L. Anderson, Matthew Hodgson, Stacey R. Rose, Taylor Wong, Tonya Kong, Adam Penn

Pros & Cons

Eddie’s storyline about reconnecting with his faith had a really promising start.
Buck’s act of forgiveness towards his house’s former tenant was the perfect way to honor Bobby.

Every personal storyline this episode felt like a repetition of the focus on everyone’s grief over Bobby’s death.
Abuela’s death was unnecessary, and it felt like the show was trying and failing to draw an emotional response from viewers with another character death.
‘9-1-1’ didn’t do enough with Eddie’s storyline this episode before it got derailed.