‘9-1-1’: A Couple Reunites, Plus Buck’s ‘COVID Crush’ Is Revealed (RECAP)

Be on the Front Line

For exclusive news and updates, subscribe to our 9-1-1 Newsletter:

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 4, Episode 2 of 9-1-1, “Alone Together.”]

A couple members of the 118 take some important steps forward in the January 25 episode of 9-1-1.

Due to the pandemic, the nature of his job, and his (perhaps over-the-top) fears, father-to-be and firefighter/pandemic Chimney (Kenneth Choi) has been quarantining away from pregnant girlfriend, 9-1-1 dispatcher Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt). He’s been crashing with her brother, fellow firefighter Buck (Oliver Stark), while Chimney’s half-brother Albert (John Harlan Kim) is with Maddie. But what if the world never goes back to normal, Buck asks as he and Chimney search for survivors after a mudslide.

“Then I’ll be a crappy dad over video conferencing,” Chimney claims, but he changes his mind after helping a woman deliver a baby while in a submerged house.

And so when Maddie returns home from her shift at work, she finds him waiting for her and he sees in person how pregnant she is. “I’m home,” he says. “If you still want me here.”

She does, but “nothing’s changed,” she reminds him. “The world’s still the same.”

Related

'9-1-1' & 'Lone Star' Crossover: When It's Happening & Who's Helping the 126

Chimney has come to the conclusion that “what needs to change is me,” he explains. “You make me so happy, you and this baby, maybe a little too happy because I’ve been so worried that something terrible is going to happen.” He got scared, he admits, but she feels the same way, so it’s time for them to be scared together.

With Chimney moving back in, Albert heads over to crash with the other soon-to-be uncle, and it’s during one of the family video chats that Buck ducks out when his phone buzzes. “Stop being so secretive about your new lady friend,” Maddie demands as he runs upstairs. “I want to meet her.”

So who is the new woman in Buck’s life? It’s not what his friends and family think. He’s been talking to a therapist, Dr. Copeland (Isabella Hoffman), remotely. He’s “doing good,” he tells her and admits he’s “been thinking a lot about what you said in our last session and how I hide my true feelings from others. I’m starting to think you might be right.” That’s where they’ll begin.

(FOX)

This seems to be “the next phase of Buck” executive producer Tim Minear told TV Insider in May 2020 would be part of Season 4. Could this lead to new love in Buck’s life? Chances look good.

9-1-1, Mondays, 8/7c, Fox