It's sad but it's true, Buck’s way too good at goodbyes.

This week Han, Cil, and Rachel enter the emotional rollercoaster of Season 3 Episode 16 of 9-1-1, “The One That Got Away.” Buck is grappling with what he thinks is the Ghost of Christmases Yet to Come, while Hen decides to take the survival rate of her patients into her own hands — literally!

The catalyst for Hen’s journey into becoming a doctor begins here when the hospital loses one of her patients because they don’t follow her medical advice. We discuss how this doesn’t sit right with her because it brings back the still very fresh memories of the ambulance accident and activates her medical vigilante shit. Our girl just wants to save as many people and make as big of a difference as she can!

Meanwhile, Buck is doing that thing where he projects onto an old man and ends up ushering them into the next plane of non-existence (death). We break down how his friendship with Red, a retired firefighter a little too similar to himself, brings up all his Abby-bandonment issues and fear of being alone. His first grand gesture to help Red was a schwing and a miss but the second really knocked it out of the park with a swelling emotional sendoff and ode to Red’s life of service with the LAFD.

Eddie does his best to reassure Buck that nothing would ever change how close they and the 118 are, but everyone else accidentally ends up feeding into Buck’s worries. We explore how most of Buck’s fears of abandonment by the 118 do end up happening in the future, although most of them are temporary. Our Slow Burn section delves into how Buck is never lonely when he’s with Eddie, because Eddie is the “one who got away” who always comes back.

Episode Title inspired by “Way Too Good At Goodbyes” by Sam Smith

📔 Articles Quoted

📰 9-1-1‘s Oliver Stark Weighs In on Buck’s Secret Struggle, How ‘Closure’ With Abby Might Be Part of the Solution, TV Line

📰 ‘9-1-1’: Oliver Stark Says ‘Closure’ Coming for Buck and Abby, Finale Will Be a Literal Train Wreck, The Wrap

📰 ‘9-1-1’s Oliver Stark Says Buck Is Feeling ‘Stuck’ & Needs ‘Closure’ With Abby, TV Insider

📰 9-1-1's Oliver Stark Teases Train Derailment in Season 3 Finale: 'It's Going to Be Bigger Than Anything We've Done', TV Guide

🎨 Fanworks Mentioned

🎬 This Is the Song That Never Ends — DeanCas “Africa” Supercut, by sisabet on Archive of Our Own

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Music by DIV!NITY 

Chapters 

(00:00:00 ) Intro

(00:00:52 ) Welcome to Dispatch

(00:03:57 ) General Thoughts

(00:09:26 ) Jaws of Life - Deep Dive

(00:15:25 ) Production & Behind the Scenes

(00:23:06 ) Needle Drop - “Hold the Line” Music Analysis

(00:36:54 ) Red String Corner 

(00:47:55 ) Flashover - Episode Themes

(01:00:37 ) Athena - Who’s Cookin’? - Character Analysis

(01:05:55 ) Hen

(01:22:21 ) Buck

(01:31:52 ) Buck Meets Red

(01:42:56 ) Playing Pool with the 118

(01:48:08 ) Buck Helps Red Reunite with the One Who Got Away

(01:57:54 ) Buck’s Talk with Maddie About Being Left Behind

(02:04:48 ) Red’s Sendoff Tribute

(02:13:23 ) Buck Isn’t Making It About Him

(02:27:03 ) Eddie

(02:34:47 ) Slow Burn - Bi Buck & Buddie Watch

(02:41:10 ) Buck Should’ve Taken Eddie’s Offer

(02:51:29 ) Eddie is the One Who Comes Back

(03:03:38 ) Take a Buddie with You & Outro