So I'm watching 9-1-1. The wonderful, silly, light-hearted gay firefighter show. So silly. So light-hearted.
I just watched Season 6, Episode 10: In A Flash.
HOLY FREAKING GOD. WHY MUST THEY DO THIS TO ME.
THERE'S SO MUCH TO SAY
IT WAS SO FREAKING GOOD OMG
I'M GOING MAD SO I'M GOING TO RANT ABOUT ALL THE COOL THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE FINAL SCENE.
First things first, you should know that my favourite character is one Mr Evan Buck Buckley. So naturally this is the most invested I've been in an episode since Survivors.
I love the decision to make Buck take Chimney's place so much. The idea that Buck wasn't originally going to be there, but ended up in harm's way in another's place just makes so much sense. Plus, I'm really excited to see what this means for Chimney and any potential survivor's guilt he might face because of it.
I love how it had such a short build up directly before the incident, but still felt like it had been perfectly foreshadowed. It reminded me a little of Suspicion, but that could easily be because I love that episode so much. The space between Buck getting on the ladder and actually getting struck is quite short, but also gives you just enough warning that something is Very Wrong. It focuses on the banter between Buck and Chim, it gives shots of the sky and then the final indicator - Buck himself tells you that things are going south quickly.
Then there's the actual strike. It's so beautiful. It's over and done so quickly, which makes everything much more realistic. There's nothing that anyone could have done, no way for anyone to predict it or prevent it. It just comes all of a sudden, striking quickly then disappearing but leaving behind so much damage. I love that you see it from below, as if you're actually on the ground watching it happen. It's so shocking and you think "Oh my god - did that actually just happen!?" because it was over in the blink of an eye.
A really amazing cinematic moment is the mirroring. Two falls, both falling a similar distance. Buck and Eddie. Best friends. Two sides of the same coin. Two people that would absolutely fall apart without the other. Again, I am reminded of the ending of Suspicion, where Eddie gets shot and falls to the ground then Buck is shot at and saved by being thrown to the floor. Except this time the roles are reversed. Eddie is the one who is fine after the fall and Buck is the one whose life is in danger. Eddie is the one screaming his name and Buck is the one who cannot answer.
This might be my favourite bit of the entire scene: the hanging. Lightning cannot be seen for more than a second, but its aftereffects are so much longer. He's just hanging there. It was almost reminiscent of Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spiderman 2 (sorry if you haven't seen it, but it is a very old movie and a common pop culture reference), although the spinal curve was obviously less unnatural. It was so sickening and impactful, him not moving at all but his body still swaying slightly. It's a little bit gruesome, not because there's anything graphic shown, but because of the implications and where the mind goes.
Eddie's screaming there was freaking guttural. I have to give a massive amount of applause to Ryan Guzman because the acting there was phenomenal. You couldn't see his expression clearly because of the angles and lighting, but the emotion was still perfectly conveyed. I also have to mention Aisha Hinds, because even though most of the focus was on Eddie, her line and the tone in which she delivered it really set the scene and the panic that everyone was feeling. I also loved the different reactions - Eddie ran straight to Buck's side (or as close as he could get), which would tell anyone, even a first time viewer, that he is Buck's closest friend; Hen keeps the people moving, clears the scene and lets everyone work and removes all the potential obstacles she can; Chimney goes straight to work and lets Buck down, being the calm one because he knows that Eddie can't be and that he needs someone else to take on some responsibility; and finally Bobby, completely professional, calling ahead, doing his job first and organising everything possible but also showing how afraid he is and the care he has when he holds Buck as he reaches the ground, saying "Come here kid, I've got you". It's all beautifully written and acted, such an emotionally charged scene.
Another thing that I'm going crazy about is Eddie trying to physically pull Buck up with his bare hands. When he reaches the top of the ladder, he tries to pull Buck up by the rope himself, before telling Chimney to lower it. It's impossible, it's irrational and it's desperate. It wasn't something that anyone thinking logically would even bother to try. Eddie tends to be a clear headed character during emergencies, with Buck generally being the more reckless of the two. But this situation is so horrible panic-inducing that he forgets logic and acts completely on instinct - to get Buck close to him, to help him, to keep him safe. Their relationship is one of my favourite elements of the show, they have so much chemistry and I have been waiting for them to get together since the moment they laid eyes on each other (I'm being genuine here, I shipped it the second the jealousy hit).
And Oh. My. Goodness. Buck is actually dead. His heart literally stopped beating. I know he's not going to stay that way, but for now, as of the end of this episode, Buck is dead. He's in the back of the vehicle, surrounded by firefighters, with a stopped heart. It's madness. I cannot imagine how people watching it live must have felt, to have to wait an entire week before finding out what happened. Luckily for me, I will be watching the conclusion as soon as I post this, but it's such an evil, insane decision to make - and it's perfect.
The final, final thing I want to talk about is the very last image. The helmet. They decided to reveal that Buck's heart had stopped, drive away and then leave you with nothing but his fallen helmet, lying in the rain, with a flash of lightning illuminating the scene. Cinematically alone, it's an incredible shot. But speaking purely about its emotional impact on the viewer, it's such a powerful decision. It really drives the stake deeper into the heart. The person who directed and planned that shot is an evil genius and should be recognised as such.
This ended up being much longer than I intended, but I want to add on my final thoughts, even though I doubt anyone will read them.
I absolutely loved this. The episode before the ending had been good, but nothing special and I didn't exactly love the attempted redemption of the Han and Buckley parents (I despise them both for what they did to my beloved characters). But the ending sequence immediately shot it from a 7/10 episode to a 9/10. I enjoyed it so much, both as a fan of the show and as a fan of cinematography in general. I also mentioned before that Buck is my favourite character. Whenever Buck is in pain - whether physical, mental or emotional - it always has the greatest impact on me. So of course, the scenes where he is in pain are my favourites! That might be why I love Survivors so much, because it goes really in depth into his self worth issues and self sacrificial tendencies. So I will be needing many more episodes with scenes like this, please and thank you. Happening to literally any character.
Crowley is torturing Crowley? The shape shifter ah yes. Ah yes Samuel made a deal with Crowley right? "Remember when we used to bank demons?" 💀💀💀. Meg is back. Soulless Sam is fun, no emotions to get it the way. Cas is back and Sam lied to him to get his attention. 'Will you boy?' 💀. Samuel needs to understand his grand kids do as they please. Crowley is gonna bring Mary back for Samuel. Cass is watching adult videos, Angels are funny cus their so smart but also sheltered. Sam taking back the knife and stabbing a demon. Cass doesn't want to get Sam's soul back cus his soul could be damaged beyond repair. Hellhound are back, who needs the extra demon anyway? Meg can't leave her body. Mag is kissed Cass to get his blade, Cass learned from his movie watching. Samuel is a snitch. Mary really haunts this narrative. Sam smiling with blood in his teeth. Meg laughing cus Dean is being him. "Mop headed lumberjack" 💀. Cass to the rescue with Crowley's bones in a bag. Awww Dean called them Cass's friends. Sam doesn't want his soul back.
And there he is: the voice of God! "Survive, because no one is going to come for you." Number one lesson. You taught me that.
Is that really all I've taught you?
The Girl Who Waited (s6 e10)
countdown to season 11: 24?
