RECAP: 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 4 — “No Place Like Home”

“Home” means a lot of things in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 4. Front and center is the Wilson family, who’s fighting the courts and Councilwoman Ortiz to bring Mara back home to them. For Eddie (Ryan Guzman), home is currently a place that doesn’t include Christopher. For Athena (Angela Bassett) and Bobby (Peter Krause), home means rebuilding. And for the 118, home means sticking together. “No Place Like Home” takes us back to the regularly scheduled themed-rescues, which makes this episode one of the best of the season.

After saving Capatin Gerrard’s (Brian Thompson) life, Buck’s (Oliver Stark) living the tee-time life (is that how you talk golf?) Gerrard’s happy to be alive and that’s all thanks to Buck, so Buck now gets to join Gerrard on his top-golf trips and listen to him moan about the 118’s lack of discipline. Buck also gets recruited to help Gerrard fire someone, which Buck is rightfully not on board with.

There’s a lot of set-up that happens in this scene, particularly the budget cuts the L.A. fire department suddenly needs to do. Considering this is the first scene of the episode that sets up the conclusion to the Gerrard story, Buck’s role in the rest of the episode ends up feeling cut back. This wasn’t the first time someone asked him for dirt on his colleagues.

During the lawsuit era in Season 3, Buck followed through on giving up that dirt. Obviously, he doesn’t do that here, but the golfing scene seemed like it was setting up a bigger role for Buck that didn’t quite play all the way through. He complains to Bobby about Gerrard which ultimately leads to the episode’s conclusion, but considering all the Buck and Gerrard angst of the first two episodes, the supposed conclusion to that is underwhelming.

Supposedly, because is that the end of Gerrard? He helps save the day, but only for his own self-interests. He gets Bobby’s job because he just wants someone to get coffee for him. But was his return worth it in the end? While this episode wins in many places, the conclusion to Gerrard as captain of the 118 feels too simple. But hey, Bobby’s finally back at the 118, so I’ll take it.

Speaking of Bobby, his other housing situation could be going better. The houses they’ve toured so far are not speaking to Athena. But when Athena brings up rebuilding the same house in the same spot with Michael’s blueprints, it seems like a nice idea in theory. But for Bobby, he wants to build a home for both of them. It’s a great sentiment, especially when talking about how fluid the definition of home can be.

What people consider “home” can change; Bobby is proof of that. It’s lovely to see Athena and Bobby get on board with really starting anew, but Athena’s desire for the familiarity of her old house is understandable. But they fell in love in that house; they can stay in love in a new one.

Eddie’s arc in this episode involves reconciling a father and son who are not on speaking terms with each other. A high school cheerleader named Weston twists his whole body around after being knocked into a bench by football players. Chimney (Kenneth Choi), Hen, and Eddie make a great team during this call, with Eddie performing a risky medical procedure in the back of the ambulance. Getting back to calls like these feels so good.

But Eddie’s concerned about Weston’s dad not wanting to be there for his son. He stops by the auto shop where Weston’s dad works and sits down with him for a talk. Eddie’s been struggling with not having Chris around, but this scene was a great indicator of Eddie coming to terms with and acknowledging that Chris’ departure was his fault. And no matter what your kid’s choices are, you have to love them through it.

This was a great episode for Eddie, and I love how you can track his story through a lot of scenes even by just a facial expression. Eddie clocks Weston’s first comment about his dad, but it’s subtle, before it’s time to move on to the emergency in front of them. Then, Eddie briefly goes to Bobby about it. Then, he shows up at the auto shop, making it feel like one complete arc.

A thousand kudos to Aisha Hinds and Tracie Thoms for this episode. Hen and Karen have been through hell. Councilwoman Ortiz interfered with Mara’s adoption, putting her grief above and beyond the life of a little girl. Hen’s pleas to Ortiz should have been enough to sway Ortiz, but when you come for Mara, you’re out of line. Grief is difficult, and it’s hard. Ortiz has a right to her grief. But Mara has nothing to do with that. Hinds and Thoms absolutely killed the courtroom scenes, and Hen being front and center at the end when Ortiz is ousted is sweet, sweet vindication.

This storyline, while not receiving a lot screentime so far this season, has been around even before Mara entered the scene in Season 7. Hen and Karen have been trying to expand their family for many seasons. They’ve seen so many foster kids come through their home that they wanted to officially adopt again.

And even though they originally wanted to adopt an infant, when that fell through and Mara came into their lives, another beautiful family dynamic was given to them. To see that ripped away from them at the end of Season 7 was heartbreaking. But to see them reunited in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 4, surrounded by the rest of the people they call home, was magnificent.

9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 4 as a single episode has all the great makings of a 9-1-1 episode. In terms of handling some of the overarching plot threads, some things feel rushed and underwhelming. But any episode with a good through line like “home” that carries through each emergency is a fantastic episode of 9-1-1 in my book.

9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 4 is streaming now on Hulu, with new episodes premiering every Thursday on ABC.