Warning! The following contains spoilers for the 9-1-1 Season 6 episode "In A Flash." Read at your own risk!
9-1-1 is always good for a shocking twist or two, though it's not often that the twist involves a literal shock. Fans are no doubt concerned about the well-being of Buck following him being struck by lightning. The 118 confirmed his heart had stopped beating as they shipped him off to the hospital, so things weren't looking good. The preview for next week confirmed that Buck will appear in the next episode, but it's going to be a strange episode for those who tune in.
Next week, 9-1-1 is doing the classic coma episode with "In Another Life." Take a look at the synopsis below, which points out just how dire the situation is for Buck:
As Buck's life hangs in the balance, he dreams of a world where he never became a firefighter, for better and worse.
Buck is going to be in a coma in the episode, and as mentioned above, imagining a life in which he never became a firefighter. I can only speculate what that would look like, but based on the day-to-day danger that Buck and his coworkers deal with, I could guess his coma dream life might be a little safer.
Then again, this is a coma dream where anything can happen, so maybe we'll see Buck become a secret agent in this 9-1-1 episode or find a stable relationship for once. Jokes about Buck's rough run with love aside, the trailer indicates that this will be a scary episode for everyone in the crew outside of the dream as he fights for his life:
Chim is seen calling for help in the hospital room when Buck stops breathing, and I can understand if the 9-1-1 character is more than a little concerned about about Maddie's brother. Had Buck not insisted on going up the fire ladder, it would've been Chim in the hospital bed in a medically-induced coma fighting for his life. No doubt he's grateful, but also probably has some guilt about allowing Buck to go up the ladder in his place.
I'm not sure I believe that 9-1-1 is going to kill off Buck, but I do question how this experience will impact his story for the rest of the season. Even if he's awake and conscious by the end of the next episode, I can't imagine Buck will be immediately cleared to return to active duty. I don't think Bobby would allow for that either and would encourage Buck to take some time before getting back at it as he has with others. Buck coming back from an injury has been complicated in the past!
I also wonder if, assuming Buck survives, this will impact his thoughts about being a sperm donor and the baby he helped create. Perhaps he'll ask if he can be a part of the child's life or decide that he wants to try and have a child of his own. He might even come out of it realizing that his job is far too harrowing for him to be comfortable with fatherhood. Anything can happen with a coma episode, so the sky's the limit for speculation at this point. I'm excited to see what's on the way.
9-1-1 is back and on Fox on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. It's one of many shows returning to television as part of the 2023 TV Schedule, so be sure to take a look at what is arriving in the coming weeks.
