Now that's the 9-1-1 we've all come to know and love.

9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 16 had everything that makes the show so wonderful. From the special effects to the family feels and the overwhelming feeling of resiliency that encapsulates everything about this series.

This was by far the best hour of the season.

A fire at the dispatch center means it's all hands on deck. And both the 118 and 133 are quickly on the scene to aid in any way they can.

Things quickly get personal when Bobby realizes that May's still inside the building as the fire rages on. And boy, is she trapped.

May and Claudette have bumped heads from the beginning, and while it looked like perhaps they'd found some common ground, that all seemed to evaporate here, as Claudette was as savage as ever.

Claudette was written like a caricature of a villain, in the sense that she wasn't an evil, terrible person that was up to no good, but she was a foil to May at nearly every turn. Seeing her arc in its entirety now, it's clear her purpose was to teach May and help her on her journey to figuring out her next step in life.

On the one hand, she has the call center, and it's a job she's very good at. But on the other hand, she has college and the unknown. Leaving the comforts of her job allows her to learn, expand her horizons, and potentially follow her heart toward something else.

And while the call center was never a permanent choice, it's still not an easy decision for her to make.

May standing up to Claudette was just months and months of frustrations bubbling over, but being trapped in that room with Claudette was such a massive moment for May both before and during the fire.

Claudette made many good points about the toll the job takes on you. From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, the work can be rewarding and emotionally taxing. And while the fire rages around them, May is smack in the middle of learning that lesson.

As she tries to help Claudette threw this devastating moment, as at one point they're essentially just waiting to burn, May is learning so much about herself. She's such a strong woman, and she has a knack for giving just the right amount of push in those moments when hope seems so far out of reach.

Bobby Nash was never going to leave that building without May, and it was incredibly nerve-wracking but also such a full-circle moment for Bobby. He'd lost his family before, and he wouldn't lose another child.

This will undoubtedly have ramifications down the line for Bobby, as the reemergence of many complicated emotions is sure to arise, but for now, let's just bathe in the beauty that was Bobby laying down his life for May. And the 118 running into a crippling building to pry a roof off their captain with their bare hands.

We haven't seen the original 118 working together in so long, and it was honestly beautiful to see them working in tandem to save someone who means so much to them. That firehouse is a family through and through, and Bobby is a father figure to them all.

You could see it all their faces how relieved they were to find him and verify that he was whole and still with them.

It's a beautifully shot hour, but perhaps one of the top shots of the entire series (yes, the entire series) is the image of the core four team members holding up their captain. Hen and Buck flanking him on one side, and Eddie and Chimney on the other. The five of them forever supporting and uplifting one another as only family can. 

Lucy was there as well, but you can't tell me it wasn't a deliberate choice to exclude her from that frame. She may work at the 118 right now, but she is not the 118.

And that's a point Taylor kind of makes when she confronts the other woman later that evening after witnessing an odd moment between Buck and Lucy.

Here's the thing about Buck and Lucy. They kissed during 9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 11, and since then, we have seen absolutely zero forward progress between the two. Not platonically, and certainly not romantically.

Though I guess that moment between Buck and Lucy existed to show us there's "something" between them. And it fails spectacularly.

Is the viewing audience supposed to believe Buck and Lucy like each other? Because we don't. Aside from that moment where Buck helped a veteran firefighter deal with saving someone, Lucy seems like she's bothered by Buck (and everything) half the time.

There is just nothing there for us to latch onto, so Taylor's little speech felt like a clear setup for an eventual Buck and Taylor breakup (for real this time.) Buck can't talk his way out of this one, and he shouldn't want to. There was a reason he wasn't upfront with Taylor about everything, and Taylor should hold him accountable.

As for Lucy, no offense, but her time at the 118 should end. There's a place for her in another firehouse where she can feel special and whatever else she wants. Now that Eddie is on his way back, there just aren't enough seats in that firetruck, and somebodies got to go.

Eddie: Josh, you're a dispatcher, not a firefighter. Today you're a guest in this house.
Josh: He's been waiting months to say that.

• Permalink: He's been waiting months to say that.

Eddie was in all his glory during this hour, and he got that sign he was looking for as he busted through glass and worked side by side with his partner.

Each hour we've seen Eddie get a little healthier, and while I hoped that each step forward was also leading him to the 118, you can never be sure.

But we pretty much get our answer here, and perhaps we may still have to wait a little longer to see him back in the loft sharing a meal and a laugh with his family, but we know that's where he's headed.

While firefighting is Eddie's calling, the same isn't true for Albert.

Albert, unfortunately, succumbed to the fate of many a 9-1-1 character, who couldn't quite find their rhythm within the show. It becomes challenging to be organically incorporated into the storylines if you don't work at the firehouse, call center, or police station.

And Albert has struggled to do much beyond being Chimney's brother. But when given the time to just be with Chimney, we get some of the best scenes.

Because while these two may have gotten off to a rocky start, their relationship has grown beautifully. It was so touching to see Chimeny so emotional as he implored his brother to do something for himself.

Albert is doing nobody any good working at a job he can't give his whole heart to. And he just needed that push from one of the people he admires and loves most to let him know it was okay to not be okay with his profession. He tried, and it wasn't for him, and that's okay.

While I fear this means even less of Albert moving forward, hopefully, he'll be a much happier Albert when he does pop up in the future.

With so much going on, the episode ends on a cliffhanger as we get something you may or may not have seen coming.

Evil Jonah is very much a thing! And I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, it's a wild twist. Jonah hasn't gotten much screentime, and beyond wanting desperately for Hen to like him, he hasn't given off terrible human vibes. So it's a little jarring to suddenly be faced with this idea that he's a monster. But on the flip side, what a fresh and inventive storyline.

The idea that Jonah is potentially causing victims to crash so he can jump in and save the day is such psychotic behavior. And while we did get a glimpse during the spider rescue on 9-1-1 Season 5 Episode 13 that something may be off with Jonah, this is taking things to a whole new level.

With only two more installments to wrap this season up, we're definitely getting a showdown with the sheisty paramedic!

Loose Ends

• Josh making a love connection while his place of employment burns to the ground is a wonderful example of fate and how it just sneaks up on you!

• Claudette was many things, but she didn't deserve to die, especially not be Jonah's hand. At least she and May got to have some nice moments before she passed. And I imagine May will be taking a lot of her final words to heart.

• There's something about the way Buck was a few feet from Taylor and Lucy meeting for the first time, and he looked in their direction for .76879 seconds before turning back to talk to Eddie that makes me think things.

Two episodes left, people!

We are barrelling toward the end of another season, and before we get there, I'd love to know what you thought about this hour and what you'd like to see before things wrap up!

Drop a line down below and watch 9-1-1 online right now so you can join the conversation!

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