That was a fun ride for the 118 and company. 

It’s been a pretty heavy season overall, and 9-1-1 Season 4 Episode 12 came at the perfect time to give us a fantastical little hour about a hunt for buried treasure!

And if you thought the 118 was above engaging in something like that, you would be very, very wrong.

Of course, at first, it seems like everyone but Buck is wholly opposed to the idea of scouring the city for five million dollars, but much like those times when the Powerball hits record-setting heights, even the most ardent lottery detractors come out of the woodworks looking for a piece of the pie.

The whole idea of a treasure hunt is something straight out of a novel, and it engulfs the city straightaway. The emergencies and arrests are off the charts, and the 118 find themselves with a close-up view of all the places the treasure isn’t.

Buck always has and always will be the most kid-like of the crew, and he was ready to jump into the hunt from the beginning. And it wasn’t hard to bring Taylor along for the ride.

There has been A LOT of Taylor during this back-half of the season, and it’s pretty apparent they are setting things up for the two of them to get together, but it’s not coming across as natural as they may think it is.

Them staying friends wouldn’t be a bad thing for Buck, especially considering they’ve tried for more in the past, and it hasn’t worked out. They do make a good team, and it’s so rare to see supportive, platonic males and female friendships on television.

But alas, it’s looking like things won’t be staying that way if Buck eventually has his way.

Bringing Eddie in with them was a natural progression, and having Eddie and Chimney team up was a given.

The wildcard was the captain, who never let on to the fact that he was at all thinking about the hunt until Athena caught him.

Imagine if the whole crew had just gotten together from the beginning and put all the clues together. They probably would have figured things out a lot sooner than they did.

But in not talking to one another, they ended up proving the point that wretched Hollis was trying to make, except it’s not something unique to Los Angeles alone.

Athena: I'm feeling some kind of emotions myself right now. And your ridiculous treasure hunt has this city completely off the rails.
Hollis: Isn't it great? Confirms everything I ever thought about this town. Full of selfish, greedy morons.
Athena: Well, those morons are dropping like flies.

• Permalink: Well, those morons are dropping like flies.

The world is full of greed and the idea of wanting to be the last man standing.

The 118 had their pairs within the team, and they didn’t want to branch out and include others because then their piece of the pot would dwindle.

And you can’t exactly blame them because that’s an innate part of being human and a product of the dog-eat-dog mentality of the world these days. But it ends up being a moot point when they all stumble upon the treasure together and find out a one-person show has bested them.

We haven’t gotten to know Ravi too well, but he made his mark during the installment. Not only was he working alone, but he seemingly found the treasure without any insider information AND got it before anyone else.

It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that the money wasn’t going to be there, but it was worth it to then see the whole crew descend upon Hollis’s house, ready to do god knows what.

As soon as it was revealed that Hollis faked his death, you just knew something would end up happening to him.

I didn’t think he would die per se, but there was no way everything was going to get wrapped up in a neat little bow, and he was going to get the perfect ending for his book.

Having the random woman who stole Taylor’s microphone and blasted the hunt on live television be the one standing over him as he died from a heart attack was a twist that was hard to see coming.

The assistant making off with the money was a much easier thing to spot, especially once it became evident that Hollis Harcourt was, in fact, a terrible man.

So, in the end, Hollis did die, his long-suffering assistant became a millionaire, and the 118 plus Athena and Taylor still got to keep their day jobs. And they had some fun along the way.

Well, they mostly did. That super tense moment between Athena and Bobby is one hundred percent going to come back around before this season wraps up.

There has seemed to be a disconnect between the two all season.

And every time it feels like they’re going to talk something out and not gloss over an issue, they don’t. It’s like they need that one big, knock-down, drag-out fight to put all their problems on the table so they can move on.

Athena makes a lot of unilateral decisions, and while it is her life and ultimately her decisions, the fact that she never even thinks to mention to Bobby that retirement was on the table has to make Bobby feel like his opinion doesn’t matter.

Athena never wanting to leave the job affects both of them in the long run.

Bobby seems to be of the mindset that one day he’s going to hang it up and ride off into the sunset, but if that’s never going to be the case for Athena, where does that leave them?

Considering the nature of their jobs, it wouldn’t hurt them to go to some kind of counseling together because there’s a lot these two don’t say to each other.

And due to the nature of the series and how many characters there are, we, unfortunately, don’t get enough time to check in with them.

But hopefully, over these final two episodes, we can see them talk to each other. Bobby needs to express how he feels, and Athena needs to express how she feels, and they both need to listen.

We will not accept anything less than a happy Bathena because these two deserve their happy ending, but they’ve got to put in the work to get there.

Odds and Ends

• The funniest moment of the episode by far was the whole team getting a scene together, and it being them discovering a dead body.

• Eddie being the third wheel to Buck and Taylor’s brainstorming session was a funny scene, and it was nice of the show to remind us that Buck and Eddie are best friends. We haven’t gotten nearly enough of them this season.

We’ve only got two more installments in 9-1-1 Season 4, and it’s safe to say they will be going out with a bang as they usually do.

But before we get there, let us know what you thought about the Los Angeles treasure hunt?

Were you surprised with how things ended?

Drop a thought or two down below, and remember to come back and watch 9-1-1 online before the season wraps up!

Whitney Evans is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lover of all things TV. Follow her on X.