9-1-1 season 8 episode 17 recap: After the darkest ‘it’s so over’ comes the biggest ‘we’re so back’

9-1-1 season 8 has been a rollercoaster. After a short string of deeply upsetting storylines and extremely high stakes, episode 17, “Don’t Drink The Water” has returned to following the general day-to-days of the first responders and, friends, we are so, so back.

Forget everything I said last week: I am never doubting this show again. 

Following Bobby’s (Peter Krause) emotional funeral, things are feeling off with the 118. The episode goes in hard, with a dream-like flashback to the gang enjoying family dinner at the firehouse, Bobby at the head of the table, plenty of food, jokes and memories to go around, before cutting to today’s Buck (Oliver Stark) alone at the table in complete silence. It’s gonna be like that, is it? 

From there, we follow an episodic emergency thread in which a small-scale earthquake releases methane into Los Angeles’ water supply – thus causing the city’s water to become extremely flammable – as the 118 deals with the crisis. The episode marks the return to these kinds of fun and thrilling emergencies, which we welcome back with open arms. But its real strength lies in the even more welcome return to solid character dynamics, and boy, does it offer some treats as far as that’s concerned. This is the first time in a while when a 9-1-1 episode has felt like a true ensemble show. 

We’re offered some rare pairings this episode when it comes to interpersonal relationships, with perhaps the most intriguing being a rift between Athena (Angela Bassett) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi). There were always going to be some uncomfortable feelings there, what with Athena being Bobby’s widow and Chim being the guy who only survived because Bobby didn’t. 

But what’s intriguing about the whole thing is how deep the show explores the tension between them, and how open-ended it’s left come the end credits. As Athena herself says, whenever she looks at Chim she feels angry, and whenever he looks at her he feels guilty. And then we have Hen (Aisha Hinds) stuck in the middle of it all as a very close friend to both of them. Despite Athena’s insistence that they need to keep their distance, she and Chim really need to sort something out between them, and judging by the preview of next week’s episode – in which they are trapped together in ruins of a burning building – they might get the opportunity to do just that. 

Another rare pairing treat is Athena and Karen (Tracie Thoms), who actually plays a large role in the relationship dynamics throughout the episode. Honestly, it’s lovely to get this much Karen this season, with her appearing in a whopping five episodes in a row and getting more involved in the main stories rather than being mostly confined to the Wilson household as per previous seasons. Any day featuring Tracie Thoms is a day well spent, but her presence also feels like the show is pulling the focus back to family alongside the underlying grief. 

The rare pairings also evolve into an ultra-rare trio: never before have we seen Hen, Karen and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) in a room together outside of all-team gatherings, but the day has finally come. This is a huge development for Karen/Eddie bestie-ism fans. The three of them get into it with the domestic chats while sharing a pot of coffee around the Wilsons’ kitchen table. Eddie’s worried about Buck’s grief-spiralling and figuring out how to tell him he’s been offered a job at the El Paso Fire Department, Hen’s pondering whether she wants to take the captain’s role at the 118 and trying to convince Eddie to come back to LA for good, and Karen’s there for the lols. There’s a lot up in the air at the moment across the board, but we’re going to have to wait until next week’s finale for the payout. 

Speaking of things being up in the air, “Don’t Drink The Water” also offered some major developments in the Buddie department. We’re fresh off the back of the Great Eddie Diaz Drought of 2025 and the rain is finally falling and nourishing the earth. I’m delighted to report that, after this week’s episode, we’re back to “Sob Stories” levels on the Buddie Richter Scale, and the devastation left in its wake is so, so sweet. 

Buck was obviously going to have some feelings about Eddie being offered a firefighter job in El Paso, considering that they’re super co-dependant and he’s also still mourning the fact that his surrogate father just died. But hearing the news from Ravi who heard it from Chim who heard it from Hen just pushed the knife in deeper. So, when he brings it up to Eddie while passive aggressively unloading groceries, he goes about it the wrong way. Eddie is pissed, Buck is pissed, and the resulting conversation kickstarts Buddie Divorce Era 3.0. 

Whenever Buck and Eddie are feeling sad and lonely, Buck makes everything about himself and Eddie starts throwing out-of-pocket comments around like it’s nobody’s business. It’s just what they do. It’s practically foreplay at this point. But this argument feels bigger than their petty squabbling in “Sob Stories”. Everything they say is laced with grief, and deflected by an invisible barrier that neither of them know how to cross. 

We also finally hear about Eddie’s experience of Bobby’s death and even get a quick but devastating glimpse of him taking the phone call in the middle of the night in El Paso, which bodes well for this storytelling. It opens the door to more flashbacks, and more opportunities to see what Eddie, who has been criminally underused recently, has been up to while he’s been off-screen this season. 

The scene ends with both of them even more pissed off and in need of some space, with Eddie, teary and livid, storming out and leaving Buck alone in the kitchen. The whole thing is electric and gut-wrenching, and some of the purest, most addictive Buddie cocaine we’ve ever scored. The cherry on top is Buck waking up the next day to find the sofa where Eddie had been crashing empty, bar a neatly-folded pile of sheets and a note: ‘Went to the airport.’ 

However, it gets even Buddier still. As with “Sob Stories”, they don’t kiss but they do make up. But the way they make up feels like snorting ten lines of Buddie cocaine and washing it down with a glass of sweet, delicious, fan-fic-worthy fluff. 

Still feeling shaken from the argument, Buck comes home to find – surprise! – Eddie waiting for him in his living room. ‘I thought you went to Texas?’ he says. 

‘When did I say that?’ says Eddie. 

‘In your note,’ says Buck. Okay, still pissed off.

‘In my note it said I was going to the airport,’ says Eddie. ‘The airport and Texas are not the same. They don’t even have the same amount of letters in it.’ Eddie, what are you doing? Are you flirting right now? 

‘Why else would you go to the airport,’ says Buck. He thinks they’re still in a fight… 

‘I heard some dick was being mean to you,’ says Eddie. ‘I thought you could use some cheering up.’ And then he reveals… Christopher (Gavin McHugh). 

This Buddiequake has actually broken the scale. The scale no longer exists. Eddie flew his son all the way from Texas because he thought it would cheer Buck up. But it gets even better: Eddie also recruited his Tia Pepa (Terri Hoyos), who makes her first appearance since season 6, to make them all a home-cooked meal. This is not normal friend behaviour. This is family. The Buddie wedding is so close you can practically taste it. 

In “Sob Stories”, Buck gave up his loft and subletted Eddie’s house so Eddie wouldn’t have to worry about it. In “Don’t Drink The Water”, Eddie surprised Buck with his son and his aunt because Buck was missing family dinners. What can you call these if not big romantic gestures?

Buddie has always been serious, it’s getting more serious by the week. If Buck and Eddie never get together, this is going to feel like the biggest queerbait of all time. But if they do, and I truly believe they will, this will a queer slow-burn love story for the ages. The show is cooking with all the right ingredients – it has been for years – and I think we’re going to be eating well come season 9. 

9-1-1 season 8 is currently airing on Thursdays on ABC in the US and on Fridays on Disney+ in the UK.