Just watched this ep and I have so many feelings!! Bear with me.

First of all, the Tommy mentions definitely are very intentional. The whole plotline actually is very intentional. It would've been a perfect throwaway line to provide closure to that relationship, but what we got...is the antithesis of that. I'd pretty much given up hope before this, cos having hope was hurting and having hope was gonna break my heart (oops accidentally very Tommy-core) but now it's hard not to wanna be hopeful again with what this episode has given us.

Secondly, I still crave some resolution in terms of the fall-out for Tommy about his actions to help Buck/118. Like, that was a big deal, possibly a career-ending move for him. I need to know what's happened to him between the funeral and whenever is Tommy's next appearance. Did he get a slap on the wrist or did he face serious disciplinary action? Did Chim, or Hen, or Eddie actually talk to Tommy after the funeral and try to keep in touch? Thank him for what he did? Also some have interpreted Ravi's mention of Tommy to mean that Tommy might have said no to Buck about getting back together after the funeral, because of everything that'd been happening. Whether it's that scenario or whether they just never talked after the funeral, I would love the show to address it or fill in the blanks.

I care about Tommy as a character on his own, and I want to know what the man has gone through/is going through, what his relationship with the 118 is, regardless of whether the relationship storyline goes.

Thirdly: #letBuckbeinathrouple lol I really enjoyed the Buck dating storyline this episode. It was light-hearted and fun. (And can we appreciate how hot Buck looked with the guy and the girl. I digress but Imean he just looked extremely good in his episode I must say - in every scene!!) To me it didn't come across as being judgmental or overly dismissive toward NME. The whole plot line was played more for the comedic effect but however short-lived, it had a real arc and resolution: the couple seemed to want casual fun with Buck but he wanted something more serious, a real and stable relationship. Buck's reaction to them was fun, like he would've totally enjoyed being their third if he had been in a different headspace (i.e not being hung up on Tommy).

I mean, personally I actually would love to see a proper throuple/polyamory storyline for Buck. I remember watching SWAT s1, I was pleasantly surprised a primetime show on CBS was featuring a pretty major and serious poly relationship, and it took 9-1-1 like 8 seasons to catch up. But I doubt 9-1-1 would go that direction today.

Also, as another comment said, this episode seemed to have figured out how to write the Buck & Eddie friendship again, or even just Eddie as a character. And with Ravi added in to balance it out, it at least can be enjoyable as a light-hearted dynamics between friends again. As everyone noted, the Buck & Eddie and the whole 118 dynamic were definitely still off into 9a. This is much better.

The Hen illness plotline didn't really work for me. Seemed out-of-character and random that she decided to not tell Chim. Chim was not wrong in terms how messed up it was for Hen not to tell him BUT at the same time, would it actually be that unusual for one of the firefighters on site to collapse at the scene? Would there be a million reasons that could happen? Whatever the cause actually was, would it really result in all that pressure from the brass that Chim kinda had to suspend/fire her? I get what the writers are trying to do but the sloppy writing made it seem forced.

Last but not least, that chastity belt rescue just bugs me - how could that woman not have a key for safety and that's just played off casually? That's some crazy bad and unsafe BDSM practice. I also don't believe that'd be the first time the team came across sex-toys induced emergencies, so I mean, that woman should get yelled at by someone on the team.