Do you believe in jinxes?

There were many believers in the 118 house, with Chimney, Hen, and Buck leaning into the idea they were cursed after a new guy came into the house and spoke one terrible cursed word.

But Eddie wasn’t so quick to believe that it was anything more than another day. Though, throughout 9-1-1 Season 4 Episode 6, even he had to notice that things were going disastrously off the rails. And there was no slowing down.

There have been some heavy hours so far this season, but this installment was a much lighter affair. We got clowns, men tapped to billboards, a fireworks show, and the entire team shoved into the back of an ambulance.

And each event was just as ridiculous as you’re imagining.

Eddie’s personal life served as the background storyline for the series of strange events, as he ran into Christopher’s old teacher, Ana, and felt a pull to the former teacher. There was a tiny spark back when Ana was first introduced in 9-1-1 Season 3, but nothing ever came of their conversations beyond a few long stares.

So, it does feel a little odd that she and Eddie run into each other by chance on downtown Los Angeles's streets and are smitten, but hey, I guess stranger things have happened on this show.

Eddie has spent a lot of time grieving Shannon’s death, and that’s grief and pain that is never going to go away. He’s never going to be over Shannon, and he’s never going to stop missing her and loving her.

But he is allowed happiness in this life.

Bobby: They're so focused on what they don't have, that they miss the chance to have something else, something real. Sometimes, you gotta move on.
Eddie: And we're back to Ana Flores. Really thought you of all people would understand.
Bobby: That's why I'm saying it to you. Because I know what it's like to be stuck inside the worst moment of your life. To be afraid to hope. To try again.

Permalink: That's why I'm saying it to you. Because I know what it's like to be stuck inside the worst...

Time will tell if Ana is the one for Eddie. They have a decent vibe, but it doesn’t exactly scream romance at this point. However, that could be because Eddie still isn’t allowing himself to give in to altogether moving on from Shannon entirely.

Breakfast is a good start, but it’s still just a start.

This season has been light on an Eddie plot point thus far, with everyone else having something outside of the firehouse driving their stories forward.

Buck has the family secret, the fallout, and now the rebuilding of his life and his relationship with Maddie. At the same time, Maddie and Chimney have the Buckley family drama and are also about to be first-time parents.

Hen is juggling a full-time job, marriage, and motherhood, along with medical school. And Bobby always has something going on between his actual family and his found family at the 118.

Plus, Athena, Michael, and May all have their own individual narratives and their central family storyline with Bobby and Harry.

But Eddie has just kind of been there, like background music. He’s involved in the plot, but he isn’t the plot. Maybe that will change with Ana’s reappearance, but a dating subplot doesn’t exactly sound like an intriguing season-long story.

Seeing as how Christopher already knows Ms. Flores, it will be interesting to see how he reacts to his father not only dating again but dating someone he knows well. That’s bound to be an important conversation the two will need to have in the future.

As a person, Eddie is even-keeled, and he’s very pragmatic. He knows what he knows, and he’s confident in what he knows. That’s why he refused to give in to the jinx shenanigans because to him, that’s not realistic. A crazy day is just a crazy day, and it doesn’t matter what word you happen to say.

The day really was one for the books, not just with the number of calls but the fact that they also came into contact with a fake firefighter, parading around the city impersonating a member of a defunct house.

Seemingly, Brian was a good person; it’s not like he was running around trying to sabotage calls or hurt people on purpose. But he was not a trained firefighter, and he could have caused serious harm to himself or someone else.

It’s a fascinating story, and it would have been cool to dig a little deeper into what pushed Brian in this direction. He didn’t make it through the training, but was the pandemic the thing that really made him want to get out and help more?

He idolized the firefighters and their bravery, and it seemed like he just wanted to get a taste of that in any way that he could. And it’s how Eddie was finally able to break through to him.

Wanting to feel useful is a pretty universal feeling, but sometimes it gets to a point where it’s unhealthy and dangerous. Putting yourself in harm’s way to feel like you’re doing something could potentially be extremely harmful. But Brian didn’t seem to see anything beyond that immediate rush of feeling important.

It was a rough day for the 118, but they soldiered through and made it look easy like they always do. Brian had a lot wrong, but he did get one thing right.

They truly are everyday heroes.

Loose Ends

Bobby giving out advice is always such a calming experience. He never disappoints with his words of wisdom, and he tells Eddie the truth and doesn’t sugarcoat things. Bobby would know better than anyone what it means to lose it all but still come out on the other side.

Bobby, Chimney, and Hen attempting to help a bunch of clowns with their high-pitched voices may be the funniest scene the show has had since they all ate those laced brownies at the toddler pageant.