Heavy spoilers ahead for the Season 3 premiere of 9-1-1 on Fox, and light spoilers ahead for Episode 2.
9-1-1 revealed that a huge tsunami is coming to Los Angeles back when the Season 3 trailer released, and fans have only been able to speculate about what happens when it hits. Surprisingly, the tsunami didn't hit until the final moments of the Season 3 premiere, which was called "Kids Today," and two unexpected characters were at the edge of the Santa Monica Pier when the tsunami was seconds away from hitting the coast: Buck and Christopher.
Buck wasn't at work with the LAFD due to the fact that Bobby wanted to stick him behind a desk after Buck nearly died from training-induced blood clots in his efforts to be restored to duty as a firefighter, leading Buck to just go ahead and quit the LAFD altogether. Christopher was with him because Eddie dropped him off as part of an effort to get Buck out of his post-quitting funk, which involved binge-watching food TV shows. Buck decided to take Christopher for a day of ill-timed fun at the Santa Monica Pier.
The tsunami hadn't yet hit by the final seconds of the Season 3 premiere, but there was no way Buck and Christopher (or any of the others on the Santa Monica Pier) would be able to escape before the wave smacked the coast. Their lives are in very real danger, and it's difficult to imagine that they won't be at the very least separated in the torrent.
Fortunately, some early photos have released for the second episode of Season 3, fittingly called "Sink Or Swim," and they reveal the fates of both Buck and Christopher in the tsunami aftermath. Let's start with Buck:
Well, Buck survived the initial hit of the tsunami, although there's some blood on his face to suggest that he didn't emerge unscathed. Unnervingly, Christopher is nowhere in sight, and Buck seems to be desperately reaching out. Of course, he could also be swimming, but I'd put money on this photo showing Buck reaching out to try and grab Christopher.
It would be a lucky twist -- or touch of TV magic, of course -- if they weren't ripped far apart in the wave, but Buck has both the skills and the motivation to find Eddie's son. Unfortunately, Christopher presumably wouldn't be able to survive in a post-tsunami torrent by himself for very long; if Buck does have his eyes on an off-screen Christopher in this image, hopefully he'll be able to get to him soon enough to save him and avoid permanent trauma!
A second pic from the episode reveals that Buck will reunite with Christopher, who seems to be all in one piece:
Christopher's arms are around Buck in this image, so it's probably safe to say that Christopher is both alive and conscious. In fact, thanks to the strap around the back of his head, he didn't even lose his glasses! I can't say the same would be true for me if I was wearing my glasses when hit with a tsunami.
Buck and Christopher will survive and be reunited; how soon will they be rescued by the first responders of Los Angeles? The LAFD will be on the scene, and Ronda Rousey's casting suggests that all hands will be on deck, as her character is a firefighter who hasn't yet appeared on the show.
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Basically, "Sink Or Swim" should be a must-see episode of 9-1-1. You can catch it on Fox on Monday, September 30 at 8 p.m. ET to see precisely what happens to Buck, Christopher, and the rest of the people who had the misfortune to be on the Santa Monica Pier when the tsunami struck.
