RECAP: 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5 — “Masks”

Sure, ghosts, monsters, and zombies are the usual frights during Halloween. But 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5, titled “Masks,” written by Taylor Wong and directed by Christine Khalafian, explores a different kind of scare: being alone. Ironically, it’s the funniest episode in a long while, aside from a harrowing scene involving Denny, but the episode’s resolution ties the stories up nicely.

The Han-Wilson family agenda continues in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5 when they do a joint Wizard of Oz costume. Despite how cute this scene starts, it continues some Karen (Tracie Thoms) and Hen (Aisha Hinds) drama glimpsed in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 1. Karen asks Hen if she would take Halloween off to go trick-or-treating with her and the kids, especially since it will be Mara’s first time with them. Hen also falls back on the “I have to work a shift” line, which she did in the premiere episode. But this time, Karen pushes Hen to try to talk to Bobby.

For the past few episodes, we’ve dealt with many external obstacles for Karen and Hen. The ordeal with Ortiz preoccupied their story but led to a beautiful celebration of family. But it’s one thing to fight for your family against outside forces. It’s another to fight for them when you might be the issue. Getting back to interpersonal drama makes these characters even more grounded; watching Hen and Karen communicate about what’s bothering them and meeting each other where they’re at is wonderful to see.

Their conflict is one of those a lot of parents go through, and there’s not necessarily a good guy or a bad guy here. Hen has a job but might lean on it too much without trying to find other solutions. Karen wants to experience all the family time together, including trick-or-treating. The kids are stuck in the middle of this, though they don’t seem to be siding one way or the other. Unfortunately, it all comes to a head when a man crashes his car into a house, pinning Denny, who pushes Mara to safety.

9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5 dives into more of Hen and Karen’s personal drama.

But, like they always do, through teamwork, love, and community, the 118 and Karen save the day over a haunting montage. It was a little too close, but Denny comes out the other side of it okay after Karen gives her blood to save his life while Hen performs CPR. In the hospital scene afterward, Karen and Hen reconcile. Usually, when conflicts are resolved because of a life-or-death situation reminding everyone what matters, it can feel like a cop-out from the original conflict.

However, their acknowledgment of the other’s feelings makes their resolution feel earned. Karen’s “I’m glad you were at work” to save Denny speaks to her understanding of Hen’s job, while Hen’s guilt for not being there when the accident originally happened speaks to her understanding of Karen’s point—she misses some things. While this conflict feels like something Karen and Hen should have gone through before, Mara’s addition to their family emphasizes their role as parents and the importance of being there for their family.

On the other side of the more grounded Hen and Karen story is Buck’s (Oliver Stark) more comedic Halloween romp, where he finds himself the victim of a curse (as Buck calls it) or a “curse” (as Tommy and Eddie call it). To help turn the 118 into the scariest firehouse in LA, Buck shows up with a mummy from a Hollywood prop house down the street from his apartment.

Its too-real quality throws everyone off, but Buck is way too excited to heed the warnings. Thus, we get Buck’s southern drawl and a mummified cadaver (aka Billy Boils as we come to know him) handing out candy to little kids. When Buck pulls its arm off and starts screaming with the rest of the kids, it’s a top-ten Buck moment right there.

The next top-ten Buck moment comes when he slips on pumpkin guts, ala cartoon-style, and dislocates his shoulder. And now, we arrive at Buck’s Trivia Corner. It’s been a while, but Buck makes up for it when he falls down the Billy Boils conspiracy theory rabbit hole. In the hospital, Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) hop on the “curses aren’t real train,” but Buck knows better. He’s connected the dots, drawn the red string across the board, and jotted some dates down. Let’s learn about Billy Boils.

The Billy Boils conspiracy theory rabbit hole is a fun one.

Buck’s Trivia Corner:

• The Hollywood prop house bought Billy Boils’ corpse from a carnival. This carnival got the corpse from a novelty shop. The novelty shop got him from a rodeo.
• The novelty shop burned down in 1993.
• The carnival was wiped out by a hurricane in 1997.
• The rodeo ended after a stampede, date unknown.

In Buck’s mind, everywhere Billy Boils goes, tragedy follows. But to Tommy and Eddie, it’s just a series of coincidences. Buck’s on his own on this one. Considering Buck’s propensity for knowledge and research rabbit holes, it’s not surprising he goes all out with this Billy Boils belief. It’s also in alignment with previous episodes dealing with curses and jinxes. The 118 is full of believers, no matter how much they deny it. And Buck is one of the strongest believers.

The silliness from this part of 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5 almost didn’t mesh well with the Denny aspect, but the episode’s final moment manages to pull it all together nicely. The silly aspects also provide wonderful moments for the character. The friendship between Buck, Eddie, and Tommy continues to be a delight. Eddie and Tommy laughing together about Buck’s circumstances is just another example of how much fun this dynamic is and how refreshing it is that it lacks any serious drama.

For Eddie, this Halloween is just another reminder that Chris isn’t home. Especially when Chris tells Eddie that he’s not even trick-or-treating in El Paso. There’s not much more movement with this here, but the episode’s final moments point to how much Eddie needs his son with him. We’re getting there.

We finally got a lot of Tommy this week. After his brief appearance in the premiere episode, Lou Ferrigno Jr returns for 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5. It’s the most screen time he’s had since 9-1-1 Season 7 Episode 5; it’s worth the wait. Because despite Buck and Tommy’s relationship seemingly going well off-screen, it’s been a minute since we got any substantial scenes with them.

Tommy gets a little more screentime, giving us more of Lou Ferrigno Jr.

But 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5 changes that. While Buck falls deeper into the curse theory as he collects more injuries, Tommy stays by Buck’s side despite not quite buying that Buck is cursed. Tommy deploys his trademark sarcasm in Buck’s loft at the hospital yet imbues it with sincerity. Ferrigno Jr really ups his game this episode, playing the comedic parts to perfection (his freakout upon first seeing Buck’s face was priceless) while also selling the more tender moments between Buck and Tommy (“How’s that?”). These are the moments we’ve been missing onscreen from the Buck/Tommy relationship. To see them now feels like a step in the right direction.

But the more obvious comedic and tender moments are not all that stood out. Another aspect of Ferrigno Jr’s performance as Tommy in 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5 that deserves applause was the subtle facial expressions that spoke to a deeper interior for Tommy.

There’s not much we know about Tommy. He’s a helicopter pilot (and a plane pilot!), he was in the army, he wasn’t a nice person under Captain Gerrard, and his dad was a lot like Gerrard. He likes the movie Love, Actually, monster trucks, and craft beer. He has a tax accountant cousin. He’s repeatedly said that he wishes he was a part of the camaraderie of the 118 again. Tommy references that again in this episode, saying, “It’s a beautiful thing to have a crew at your back.”

In these moments, something shifts on Tommy’s face: a small downturn in his smile and a wistful memory passing behind his eyes. Tommy has a past, one that will soon become clear in two weeks when 9-1-1 returns. Whatever that past is might just set something new for Buck and Tommy in motion.

The final moments from 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5 close us out on a Buck wrap-up narration (we’ve missed those!) after discovering how to lift Billy’s curse. Buck summarizes Billy’s curse and the episode’s main theme — that to live is to experience life with the people around you — while standing at Billy’s grave site, with Tommy beside him. “Because our people are what make life worth living,” Buck says as he looks at his boyfriend. Tommy smiles back, the wistful moments he was experiencing before gone. Thus, the curse is broken. Perhaps Buck and Tommy already have the answer for how they move past future hurdles—each other.

9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 5 had plenty of laughs and horror that almost threatened to cancel each other out. However, Buck’s wrap-up brings the episode to a satisfying close.

9-1-1 airs new episodes every Thursday on ABC and Hulu.

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