User Reviews

"Fun" filler is still filler, and in what feels like a whole season of filler episodes (none of which are fulfilling the PURPOSE of "filler" episodes: main character centric and pushing their arcs along), we're at mid-season with nothing much to show for it. Outside of Hen's med school arc closing and whatever is going on with Buck which is for some unknown reason dragging out into 6b, nothing much else has happened. Eddie has had a few individual moments, Athena had one episode that was never mentioned again or had any repercussions or affect on anything, and I guess Madney getting back to normal is a thing, but 98% of that happened off screen with zero on-screen mentions between them or to others about how things were going, about therapy, or anything really, and I don't think not showing OR telling us the story counts as it being an arc.

There was some good stuff in the episode though as always, it's all pretty surface level stuff without the depth we know the show, characters, and actors to be capable of. First on the list of good things is Uncle Buck! We have been begging for Buck and Jee scenes since she was born and it was great to finally get something (though it's hard to believe at 2 years in Buck hasn't watched her for a full afternoon before now, or has zero idea how she normally behaves, or that he has couch cushions and no couch), and the scenes with Buck helping set up her new "room", the montage, and the Buckley-Han family scene at the end were sweet. Next, Buck and Hen always have fun banter and it's nice to see more of their relationship, and Hen inspiring those girls was nice to see. Bobby being utterly offended with the couple on the firetruck was quite hilarious, and that shot of the "Buckley Diaz" turnouts was a delight. Hen and Athena talks are always good, and it was nice to check in with May for a bit especially her scenes with Athena. Corinne really shone this episode, but even so, her story really had no barring on the season/episode plot as a whole (nothing really does, which is why this season feels so "filler" and disjointed because there's not a clear path for where the season or characters are going, it feels like the writers are sitting around going "this might as well happen"). Finally, the way Chris and his crush was handled, especially the gender neutral approach was, as always with Eddie and Chris scenes, a highlight of the episode.

Which brings us to the not so good.

The glaring elephant in this episode is the continued separation of Buck and Eddie's arcs. In season 2 Eddie took Buck with him and Chris to see Santa and talk one-on-one after only knowing him a few months, Buck was concerned about Chris going away to camp in season 3, but he's not even involved for this milestone? It's super clear Carla was brought back for the first time in a year JUST so they didn't have to use Buck, even though him watching Jee, and then seeing Chris growing up would have been the perfect opportunity to bring up the sperm donor thing in a one-on-one with Eddie. Instead, we get Buck with Hen and Denny which, while sweet, was also odd because the only other time we've seen them together is Christmas WITH Eddie and Chris. You're telling me Buck didn't invite Eddie and Chris to the ren fair? Hen didn't invite her wife, or her BFF Chim and ask him to bring Maddie and Jee along? The "girl power" talk was cute too but felt disjointed with the theme of the rest of the episode/Buck's part of the episode and again, felt far more like trying to fill time until the episode was over. And it's SO frustrating because we have been asking the show to EXPAND the firefam dynamics for so long, but now they've just REPLACED the dynamics we love with some fluff and twaddle scenes between characters who, BECAUSE they haven't interacted much, just feel odd and misplaced instead of feeling like they are adding anything of depth to the show, moving arcs along, or revealing anything about the characters that we wouldn't get in the normal pairings.

This show used to have such tight storytelling in the first few seasons! A LOT could happen in an episode but it all had a clear narrative purpose and every episode pushed multiple arcs along. Even "filler" episodes didn't FEEL like filler. Episodes like Oceans 9-1-1 (picked because Andrew Myers wrote both that episode and this one) gave us important character developments like showing Michael and Bobby's friendship, Hen being stressed, where things were with Maddie, Buck, and Chim (and a glimpse of his 2nd welcome back party, RIP to the 3rd we were robbed of in s5 to make room for the Lucy show) and most importantly, showing us how Eddie and Shannon continued to be on vastly different pages leading up to her asking for a divorce, and setting up for Bobby's absence and arc into the last few episodes of the season. What did this episode set up for the mid-season finale? Buck watching Jee was the perfect set up to actually DO something with the sperm donor arc and how Buck might be second guessing the idea of being "donor not dad" and yet it wasn't even mentioned at all this episode!

So many times in the past few seasons the show has had a set up to do a great arc (never shutting up about Eddie seeing the firefam in danger while working at dispatch NOT being part of his breakdown arc), or actually had a scene with such juicy potential for character arcs (also never shutting up about 6x05 Chim abduction/Buck bicycle scene) that the show just...never does anything with. Scenes happen, sometimes BIG things that we're waiting for resolution on because the show always used to come back to things, but now they're used for one-off dramatics and never brought up again. (For example, Bobby, an addict, getting shot and probably needing painkillers, Bobby having a celling falling on his previously injured back, Bobby dodging a falling ladder truck while on a rope rescue...when was the last time Bobby had a meaty arc that wasn't just a moment in an episode never to be heard about again?)

Clocking in at around 11 minutes, the bee sting emergency had about as much time as the "big" season opener, too much time was wasted on the multiple boss-killing fantasies, the sex fantasy was entirely unnecessary, and being juxtaposed with the truck talk about a child's first crush swung the mood weirdly, as did May's arc in the middle of a lighter episode, without anything to tie things together and smooth the transitions out. We didn't see Madney house-hunting which could have fit in a montage within the Uncle Buck one, but we haven't had any Maddie/Chim scenes without Jee outside of I think the one scene in the bathtub in 6x05? Which is a shame because Madney's relationship story was one of the better told stories in the show in 2-4 and now we get all their resolution and supposed development off screen and are lucky if it's even mentioned in the show and not just interviews. (I'm allowed some grace on that because JLH may be on "light duty" as a new mom, but it doesn't excuse Chim having nothing else going on, especially since him and Eddie talking about the mothers of their children is RIGHT THERE.)

This...sure was an episode of a show! Things happened, people spoke, sirens blared, and yet nothing much at all happened, there's no clear arcs for most if not all of the main characters and nothing feels like it's leading towards anything in the mid-season finale. Even season 5, disaster that it was, gave us that much. When is Tim coming back? I'm bored, I want my show back, and the characters and their stories deserve better than whatever this mess is that Kristen is delivering.

Still no Ravi.

I would like to know what has happened on the show this season, because next episode is the midseason finale and Chimney has been there as a comic relief, everything that has supposedly happened on his relationship has happened off screen, Bobby has been there (I guess), Eddie hasn't had much going on (just a couple of scenes with Chris), Maddie is literally just being a mum, Athena had one episode about the past and then she has disappeared.

At this point the only thing that can save the show is Kristen being gone with the four writers that are now credited for all the episodes and clearly don't know anything about the storylines as the most experienced ones (and yes, I'm talking about Nadia, Stacey, Nicole Barraza and Taylor Wong).

The way they have split Eddie and Buck is so noticeable now, and it's not just as a shippers pov (I don't ship them), it's just that they used to be friends and have scenes together and now Buck's suddenly having scenes with Denny just so they can justify their decisions. But what can you expect from someone who has brought back an actress that has said horrible homophobic things against the LGTB+ community for scenes that could have totally worked without her there (and yes, I'm talking about Cocoa Brown).

The only good thing about this episodes was May'a arc and Eddie dealing with Chris' first crush. I just hope they don't make May become a police officer, because we have enough copaganda with Athena and I really don't need them using another black one to make the police look like the good guys.

We have come to a point that even the ones who used to be good writers don't even know what to write anymore. Because if I haven't talked about the emergencies it's because they were so boring there is nothing to talk about.

So the emergencies are blah. The characters causing the emergencies are mostly comic relief. Okay - Incel was disgusting but even at the end he was beyond creepy and changed to weeping - not a very real possibility.

These writers are pathetic. Kristen's Girl Club. All the good ones are gone. They went somewhere that they can actually write - not record Kristen's toxic dreams for these characters. They are at the mid season finale and Bucks become the comic relief last week and this week he shows he doesn't have a clue about kids. Let Jee run amok like that and she'll be doing the same thing at 20. Not realistic at all. Eddie's concern with Chris was cute and at least he didn't panic. Surprised.

May being allowed to speak to the criminal in a hostage situation?? Yeah that's realistic. What idiot writes this stuff? Doesn't matter cause Kristin approves anything to get through the 42 minutes. I feel sorry for the decent actors who have to repeat this crud. At least they're getting paid a decent salary. Kristen should return to her subpar fan fiction career so the rest of us can stop suffering. Wake up Fox! You're paying for this tripe.

At this point I don't know what's happening at the writing team because I'm not really feeling it this episode. Andrew who usually put good episodes is doing bad this season, I don't know why.

Good:

* Buck's montage taking care of Jee is cute actually. We haven't seen Buck being an uncle so.this is a decent treat. I think the show is exploring Buck's relationships with kids and their parents so it's nice to see.

* May's subplot, despite it revolving around a "nice guy," is where we see Corinne and Angela shine. This subplot is actually the best part of the episode for me, because it's been a while since we've seen quick-witted May and combining it with Sergeant Grant works well even though May being involved in a hostage situation like that as a civilian is a less likely scenario. Rest In Peace for lesbian May believers (she can still be bisexual) but that's beside the point.

* Eddie and Christopher about the dance and it's nice to see how the topic of "first crush" is handled. The gender is never specified (no default heteronormativity), Eddie doesn't really pursue the matter on Christopher further and give him breathing room to explore, and the talk about Eddie being told about managing expectations but Christopher is at the age where he reaches a milestone for adulthood is yet another important message. It may look like a disability inspirational porn for some people, but it's still heartwarming to see. Also, Eddie's bright smile when he looks at Christopher looking at his friends? You can't not melt and swoon at that.

Bad:

* The emergency, my goodness. 11 minutes for that bee sting emergency, we've spent too much time with the employee who fantasizes about murdering his boss, and then the fantasy of having sex on the fire engine. We used to have some emergencies that ties back to the first responders at work. We have some with Maddie and last episode with Eddie (the execution was a bit lackluster), but this time? Not much. The inclusion of Buck and Hen at the aftermath of the bee sting may be cute and fun, but it's a bit forced. The fire engine sex switching back and forth with the firefam talking creates a bad mood change, especially when a brunt of that talk is Christopher possibly having his first crushes, which is weird. May's subplot, as far as it's entertaining to watch, doesn't have a good bearing over the series plot aside from update on May's college life (which we may not have big plot related to it anytime soon because Corinne herself is still in college). They are setting new lows.

* Buck and Eddie's distance is getting more obvious than before. Fine, Buck shows some concern about Christopher dating, but it feels like they're deliberately separated by their own subplots on purpose. The inclusion of Denny in that bee sting emergency aftermath feels too forced and like a cheap attempt at emulating Buck-Eddie-Christopher at the equine therapy back in season 5, both of which have a different gravity of importance but they try to write them as if they're equal. Buck could also have more involvement instead of Carla about the school dance since he's been involved in a lot of the Diaz lives past seasons. Better yet, how about involving Maddie? Eddie and Maddie haven't had scenes of their own, and this is one of the chances for them to interact. Some people suspect that Kristen doesn't want Buck and Eddie's interaction to be misinterpreted, but not giving them scenes together is a wrong move that shows she doesn't know how to write. Don't get me wrong, Tim is also at fault for leaving the show in someone clearly not capable, but the fact that Kristen is the one making decisions remains. Buck and Eddie are best friends, and best friends hang out outside of work too. Don't give us tell-don't-show as a proof they're still friends just because you want to explore new dynamics. Hell, even your explorations of the new dynamics are not really good. Buck and Hen's appearance are not consistent in terms of quality (I'm still holding that masturbation joke in front of the writers' faces), while Chimney and Eddie are more like comic reliefs and I don't like the implication of that.

* What the hell is happening with Maddie and Chimney? Buck takes care of Jee-Yun because they're apartment hunting but their presence on the episode are kind of there. We do have them watching movies together with Jee, but at the expense of their subplot not resolved satisfyingly, again.

We're nearing the midseason finale, but so far nothing of importance is happening for the characters. The pacing is horrible, a good chunk of characters have no meaningful plot of their own (Bobby and Chimney), some of them have plot but for one or a few episodes and then nothing (Athena, Hen, and Maddie), some have good but largely disjointed subplots (Eddie), while someone has been given a season-long arc but it's not well-written for various reasons (Buck). Four writings staffs have no meaning when the quality stays around the same level of bad.