RECAP: ‘9-1-1’ Season 9 Episode 7 — “Secrets”

9-1-1 finally does something interesting with Chimney’s (Kenneth Choi) captaincy — he fires Hen (Aisha Hinds). He’s been trying to live up to the specter of Bobby, feeling inferior to everything Bobby brought to the role. It hasn’t left him much time to really dig into the differing dynamics within the team he’s likely been feeling. And in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7, titled “Secrets,” his duties as captain run headlong into his friendship with Hen, forcing a tough decision.

None of the mains have been fired from the 118 before (besides Buck in the pilot episode, but that’s many lives ago). So to see 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7 tackle this complicated friend/boss dynamic makes for some great tension, especially for Hen and Chimney. The two have been friends for years. They’ve gone through literally everything together (and on a show like 9-1-1, “everything” has a very wide definition).

Hen’s health secret doesn’t take long to reveal itself. She’s spent the past three months going to that fancy medical spa, taking every treatment there, but nothing works. In the very opening moments, Hen diagnoses the person next to her, who’s also receiving treatment, which serves as a nice foil to how much Hen is avoiding finding real answers about herself.

The confrontation between Hen and Chimney at the hospital is beautifully executed in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7.

Karen (Tracie Thoms) notices charges to their credit card to this spa. Not sure why Hen thought she was going to get away with that, but here we are. Karen encourages Hen to tell Chimney, even though Hen doesn’t want to go on leave. Athena tells her the same, even though she understands the desire to keep working.

But Hen goes on one too many rescues before her symptoms really affect her work—a trembling hand forces her to make Eddie (Ryan Guzman) deliver a surprise baby. A massive building fire triggers more symptoms as she searches for survivors in the ever-increasing smoke haze. She saves the last person, but it’s too much for her, and she promptly collapses in front of the others.

The confrontation between Hen and Chimney at the hospital is beautifully executed in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7. It’s one of the more tragic moments between the two friends. Hen apologizes for not coming clean and explains that she didn’t want to face the reality of what is wrong with her. Which Chimney understands, but his frustration that Hen doesn’t realize the extent of her mistake is clear.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7 sees Buck jump back into the dating pool.

While she managed to save the person from the fire, she still put that person and her fellow firefighters at risk. And because she collapsed on the scene, the entire department is aware of her situation. Chimney’s forced to fire Hen, but not without accusing her of not trusting Chimney, and saying that she wouldn’t have pulled this if Bobby was still captain. It’s a tough situation, but one that spells good drama down the line. 

Buck (Oliver Stark) finally jumps back into the dating pool in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7, even though he’s supposed to be Eddie’s wingman. Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody), Buck, and Eddie hit the nightclub, but it’s Buck who walks away with two numbers. One from a woman named Jade and the other from a guy named Zane. What follows is a hookup montage intercut between the two carefree, meaningless one-night stands.

This is a notable moment for Buck’s character. After coming out as bisexual in Season 7, he was exclusively dating Tommy, which didn’t leave much room to see how the show would handle Buck in different queer spaces. When the two broke up, the topic of Buck’s bisexuality hadn’t exactly come up again. So it’s nice to see the casualness around Buck’s flirtation with another man this episode.

The montage involving Buck and his one-night stands feels a bit outdated.

However, this montage bit of sleeping with a man and a woman feels a bit outdated. It’s screaming, “Hey, Buck is bi, in case you forgot!” very obviously. Making the two people he sleeps with a married couple also makes the situation a little side-eye worthy. I guess at least he’s not still confused about “which pond to jump back into.” How he got there, we’ll probably never know. 

But it’s nice to see Buck having some fun again in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7. Even if the moment is filled with weird double standards, i.e., Buck full-on making out with the woman, interspersed with his interactions with the guy, where the physical contact is very lacking. Even the kiss is off-camera. For a moment, it’s trying to remind the audience of Buck’s sexuality after dating a guy for the last two seasons; it deserved more care.

What these interactions accomplish in 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7 is to showcase Buck as someone who wants something more than one-night stands and an offer to be a couple’s third. So it’s interesting to hear Tommy’s name again in this context. When he turns the married couple down, he tells them he’s still learning to be a half.

Buck’s trip down hookup lane turned into a really insightful storyline for him.

“A half,” obviously referencing the romantic qualifier “my other half,” suggests Buck really is looking to settle down and find his person. While he hasn’t been Buck 1.0 in a long time, this feels like the first time he’s really stated what he’s searching for. It’s a nice change of pace, honestly.

How Tommy fits into that, if he even does, remains to be seen. Ravi cheekily correcting Buck that Buck is only single because it’s Tommy’s choice suggests that Buck would be with him if he could. To Eddie and Ravi, he also adds that the last time he felt something real was with Tommy. I actually don’t even know what to do with that revelation. Let’s just let it exist for now.

Regardless of what the future holds there, this trip down hookup lane actually turned into a really insightful Buck storyline. It would have been nice if more careful thought had gone into the further exploration of Buck’s bisexual identity.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7 is a decent return for the show. The rescues offer a variety of comedic and emotional moments. The surprise baby one had an unexpected, touching ending, with a nice tie-in to Buck’s dating story. The tension between Hen and Chimney holds the most promise, and this episode couldn’t have set it up better.

9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 7 is streaming now on Disney+ and Hulu, with new episodes every Thursday on ABC, and is available on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.

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