‘9-1-1’: Eddie Makes Major Decision About Christopher, Plus 118 Lets Down Hen
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 13 “Invisible.”]
Eddie (Ryan Guzman) finally says what he should have the moment his son Christopher (Gavin McHugh) decided to move in with his grandparents in Texas in the latest 9-1-1 episode.
Just as Eddie’s excited to surprise Chris with basketball tickets, his parents tell him about his chess tournament for the same weekend. (Chris doesn’t seem so enthused.) What’s worse: Only one parent is allowed per contestant … and Eddie’s father, Ramon (George DelHoyo), is attending. Poor Eddie! Then when he tries to offer to take his father’s place, his mother, Helena (Paula Marshall), remarks that the weekend is a busy time for his work as an Uber driver. Then she guilts him into rescinding his offer.
But during one of their FaceTime calls, Buck (Oliver Stark) suggests he just go anyway. Eddie argues he doesn’t want to “damage” his son, but Buck points out, “You’re his dad. He doesn’t have a mom. If you don’t damage him, who will? It’s your job.” He also reminds Eddie that he can not only take an Uber but “take [him]self. Don’t you want to go?” He does. “No one can stop you. Dad up,” Buck says, and Chimney (Kenneth Choi), listening in, agrees.
At the chess tournament, Eddie learns that Ramon is thought to be Chris’ father. But when Chris throws up, Eddie rushes over and brushes off his father’s help. He cleans him up, and Chris admits that he hates chess. He’s only playing because his grandfather loves it. He asks if Eddie can ask them if he can stop, and Eddie tells him he doesn’t have to play. His grandparents just want him to be happy, like Eddie does. Eddie has also FINALLY decided that he’s not going to ask Chris to move in with him but instead tell him: “You’re moving back in with me, whether you like it or not, because you’re my kid.” Chris then asks, “You’ll be my dad again?” And Eddie, hugging him, assures him, “I’ve always been your dad. I’m going to start acting like it.” (This is what Eddie should have said when Chris first decided to move from LA to Texas. Yes, Eddie shouldn’t have been with the doppelgänger of his late wife, but he’s the adult. Chris is the kid.)
With that, Eddie goes and packs a bag for Chris (leaving his father to take the bus home from the tournament). Helena tries to argue that he’s disrupting his life, but Eddie stands up to her and reminds her, “I’m not disrupting his life, mom, I am his life. Because I’m his father, not dad, and you, you’re not his mother, you’re his grandmother.” He informs her that Chris hates chess, and when she protests that he’s good at it, he reminds her she said the same thing about him and ballroom dancing when he was 14; he stopped loving it when it became about the trophies. With that, he drives off with Chris.
Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, everyone except for Athena (Angela Bassett) and Eddie (thanks to Facebook) forgets Hen’s (Aisha Hinds) birthday. Bobby (Peter Krause) even says it’s Hen day — meaning HEN, for their new high efficiency nozzles — at one point, and the disappointment on her face … painful!
And so when the 118 repeatedly rescues a man, Archie, who feels invisible (he gets trapped under his bed while his fiancée and his cousin have sex on it, then is caught in a wheel when a truck driver begins to pull out of a parking lot), her advice for him gets a bit specific. He’s not invisible, she assures him, but rather, he’s making himself disappear and that’s his fault. It’s okay to take up space in the world. Instead of making himself smaller, he should make a noise, tell the world he exists … and it’s his birthday. That’s when the others realize what they’ve done and Hen becomes the recipient of balloons (Chimney gets whimsical when he knows he’s done wrong), chocolates (Bobby), and a cake (her kids). Karen (Tracie Thoms) explains that with the kids’ schedules changing, she kept moving things around in the calendar. Hen’s mother (Marsha Warfield) has the best excuse: “I’m old. I don’t need an excuse. Plus, I birthed you. You should be celebrating me.” Hen reminds her of her birthday and Mother’s Day. Hen also knows that it’s embarrassing to have something so silly hurt so much, and she walks off.
Disney / Ray Mickshaw
But then Archie ends up holding a bus of passengers hostage with a knife and accidentally stabbing one who tries to talk him down in the stomach. Upon realizing who’s on the bus, Hen says she needs to go inside to rescue him again. The only words of wisdom that Chimney can offer are, “Don’t get on the bus.” Hen does talk Archie into letting the injured man, then the rest of the hostages go before surrendering himself. But then he reaches into his pocket to give her a birthday gift, and Hen tackles him to the ground when the police begin shooting. Both are safe, and all that for a keychain from the chicken restaurant that fired him at the beginning of the episode (a chicken like a hen, he says).
Later, Bobby has cooked a nice meal for himself, Athena, Hen, and Karen for her birthday. He also blames his wife for not reminding him, while Athena can’t believe her husband forgot to look at a calendar. Buck, meanwhile, is making it up to Hen by doing free yard work for as long as he feels guilty. All in all, Hen decides, it’s her best birthday ever.
What did you think of Eddie’s decision? Let us know in the comments section below.
9-1-1, Thursdays, 8/7c, ABC
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Comments are closed on this story.
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J
Best decision Eddie has made and should have made a long time ago. Now Eddie, you and Chris move back to Los Angeles and the 118.
29
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B
Agree 200%.
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G
No. Not yet. Don't disrupt Chris's life again. Let him finish high school. Become the go-to spot for visitors from LA. It's not that far. Eddie will get a great job at a FD in TX.
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C
Irl that might be the best answer, though I'd question the wisdom of keeping Christopher so close to grandparents that tried to re-write his past and claim they were his parents. At best it would be confusing and could open him up to bullying.
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R
I am so glad eddie stood up to his parents finally....they were acting more like chris' parents than his grandparents ....i think chris wanted to be with his dad badly but he was afraid to say it....i cried like a baby when eddie told chris he was going to live with him again ..now eddie just needs to take chris and move back to LA and reunite with the 118
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G
Nope. Give Chris the stability he needs.
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G
Well... I don't mind if Chris finishes his school year in Texas, but I need Eddie back in LA ASAP. It really feels like he's not part of the team at all right now and it sucks.
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B
I'm just thrilled that Eddie and Christopher are going to be together. And I hope they decide together to go back to the 118.
11
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G
Now i need Eddie to sell his house again (with all the work he put into it he could gain all the lost money back lol) get that damn car and get him and Chris back to LA. He is needed there.
10
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G
Moving again so soon would make Eddie look indecisive and superficial. It would make more sense for some of the 118 people to move to TX.
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G
He finally spoke up to Chris and his parents. They need to be living together again!!
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B
It's about time! Chris just needed a break from his dad.
Not moving in permanently. Chris was so happy when he got in the car with him and they took off. It's nice to see them together again. 😊
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R
I loved last night's episode. So glad Eddie stood up to his parent & "Dad Upped". I love that Eddie is Chris' dad again. I have missed Chris. Also liked everyone forgetting Hen's birthday & her feelings about that. Archie's emergencies were definitely interesting as well.
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O
Eddie needed to make his son, Chris & his parents that HE IS CHRIS' FATHER!
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O
The fact that the "rescue" Hen did on the bus was way over the top. Why would police lay down spike strips for the bus when the bus driver silently hit the alarm. Couldn't the police just set-up a road block. Where the spike strips then have the bus charge through 2 cruisers & truly force the stabbing of the victim. So "Hollywood" & felt lame towards everything!
Just becoming unrealistic on things!
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G
So happy for Eddie & Chris.
Also I thought everyone was joking with Hen, thought they thru her a surprise party but they really did forget 😢
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P
Some friends, mom, wife, and kids Hen has....
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G
Glad he took a stand..he is his father!!
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G
Eddie should move back to LA and 118 with Chris of course.
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G
Are you heading towards buck and eddie being a couple?
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B
Hen is annoying anyway. I was hoping the guy she kept saving would have plunged the knife in for good
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C
Yay for Eddie and Chris, back together again! (Finally!!!) Now get back to LA and the 118th!
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O
'Bout time!
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R
Hey, I got an idea. How about we get away from all the soap opera touchy feely wah wah shit & all the gay crap & get back to the emergency calls like the name of the show suggests. There is usually about 5 minutes or so of 911 stuff then the rest of the show is just a slew of tedious nonsense.
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B
I agree that the show should definitely get back to its 9-1-1 roots...but "gay crap?" Seriously? Such an articulate way of expressing yourserself to make a point. Not to politcalize it, as there's too much of that these days, but I'll bet I could guess correctly for whom you voted in the last election.
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C
That’s what’s happening on all the shows, I noticed that on 911 and it’s the reason I stopped watching it for a while, but Chicago PD is the same way law and order same way. They’re all soap operas now.
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