The big 911/911: Nashville crossover was a success, and there was a major reason why Evan Buckley and Eddie Diaz were selected to go to Nashville for the Firefighter Games. Plus, what happened on 911 that led them to Nashville in the first place?
911 started off by having Buck and his sister, Maddie Han, finding out surprising news about their parents. They were getting a divorce after decades of marriage. Maddie took the news pretty hard, while Buck tried to appear fine with it.
Buck and Maddie are thrown for a loop on 911
Before he found out the reason for his parents’ visit, Buck got a big gift basket at his home welcoming him to Nashville. He wondered how he got selected for the Firefighter Games until Chimney said a captain or higher had to nominate you a year in advance. However, it wasn’t Chimney who suggested Buck as a candidate; it was Bobby.
Apparently Bobby also had faith in Eddie, who got a basket as well. At first, he was annoyed about it, thinking Buck signed them up, until Chimney confirmed otherwise. Even though at the time Eddie was still in Texas, it seemed as though their late captain knew he would come back home.
Buck said as much to Maddie when she came over to check on him, while also making sure they both got plenty of vodka to go with their drinks. Even though they both knew growing up they couldn’t really rely on their parents, they at least knew they had each other’s backs. But in a sweet gesture and reminder, Buck told her she had the family she married into now.
Maddie’s feelings about her parents were difficult, and a call she took later hit her hard. A woman found a note in her husband’s desk, and because he was not answering his phone, she assumed the worst. Luckily, the husband was just out enjoying the lake, and the note she found was something he wrote decades ago to remind his future self of how far he had come. He was now a happier man after meeting his wife.
Buck was busy preparing for Nashville when he got a visit from his dad that also brought up a lot of emotions for him. He found out his parents had been in the state when Bobby died, and his dad wanted to apologize for not coming.
Also in the episode, Harry had to deal with the fact that May was now dating Ravi after walking in on the latter naked in her house. He wasn’t happy about what happened and made some snide remarks about it and also avoided Ravi at work. However, he eventually realized he was overreacting and apologized, jokingly telling Ravi he needed to transfer houses now if he was dating her.
However, he should remember that his literal captain is married to Buck’s sister, and Buck has never made a fuss over it. Plus, if Ravi leaves, we ride at dawn.
Nashville is full of competition, energy drinks, and a nod to Bobby Nash
Once Buck and Eddie got to Nashville, Buck’s competitive streak was upped to as high as it could go, and Eddie had to convince him it was okay to go out for the night. While we were a bit thrown off by Eddie convincing him to go out by mentioning bachelorettes (what about bachelors?), it got Buck out of the hotel.
However, their night ended up with rescuing a guy who fell off a balcony and meeting the firefighters of the 113. Meeting Chris O’Donnell’s Captain Don Hart and his son, Ryan (Michael Provost), only made them much more competitive. Well, Buck in this case, who was solely there to compete and not make friends.
On their part, Don and his crew were prepared to get to know their competitors so they could find their weaknesses. Unfortunately, one of the Boston firefighters actually ended up injuring him unwillingly, meaning Don couldn’t play anymore. His son, Blue, took over instead, although we wonder if that was in the rules since technically Blue only just started working as a firefighter. But despite all of this, they moved ahead.
The games were fun to watch, from the guys pulling a firetruck while attached to a harness to them being part of a relay race. Buck pretty much spent the entire time chirping at them, especially when he found out Don and both his sons, Blue and Ryan, worked for him. We’re pretty sure Buck was so high on energy drinks he forgot he works with his brother-in-law and his sister also works at dispatch.
Just when a fight broke out between Buck, Eddie, Ryan, and Blue, a man walked in covered in blood. He was injured from an accident while racing his friend, whose car ended up on top of a dumpster. The four of them immediately went to find him, having to use what they could find in the dumpster to help the victim, especially since fuel was leaking out of the car. Luckily, they were able to get him out and jump to safety before the car exploded.
At the end of the final competition, in the relay case, one of the firefighters hurt his hamstring and was unable to make it to the finish line. In a show of solidarity, Ryan and Buck helped the Wisconsin firefighter, Carl, make it to the end. This led both LA and Nashville to tie up the games, making them both winners.
The end of the episode also revealed that Don once met Bobby, and he made a touching speech about how he could see the kindness and professionalism he had in both Buck and Eddie. Buck was deeply affected by the speech and later thanked Don. There were some great bonding moments as everyone enjoyed the end of their night, including Buck, who was implied to have spent the evening with Dixie (LeAnn Rimes).
Admittedly, some of the calls in both of the episodes were a little slow to warm to, even though the main arcs were either funny, sad, or amusing to watch. However, it was fun to see Buck and Eddie in a new environment and how they got to experience the faith their deceased captain had in them even from beyond the grave.
The promo for the next episode of 911, however, appears to be putting Buck in danger, in which case, bring it on! Hopefully he will be rescued, especially since we know 911 is coming back for season 10!
911 and 911: Nashville air Thursdays on ABC at 8/7c and 9/8c respectfully. Both are available to stream on Hulu.