ABC’s 9-1-1 follows the personal and work lives of the firefighters who work under Captain Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) at Firehouse 118, as well as their LAPD counterparts, like Sergeant Athena Grant-Nash (Angela Bassett) and the people who work at 9-1-1 dispatch. As a longtime lover of procedurals, even with all of their pro-police problems, 9-1-1 has become one of my favorite shows. I particularly love that Peter Krause has taken to referring to the show as “a comic book come to life about first responders,” which is really the only way to refer to a show with epic events like a tsunami that takes out the Santa Monica Pier, a sinking cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean, and a passenger aircraft needing to make an emergency landing on the freeway.
Beyond the show’s bizarre disasters, one of the things 9-1-1 is really good at is building strong relationships between its characters. At the top of the list, for most people, is the relationship between Bobby and Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark), who have found an interesting father-son dynamic they both needed. For me, though, there is another relationship that I find so compelling that I wish more people talked about it, and that’s the relationship between Bobby and Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman). Sometimes, I think fans are so busy looking at the Bobby and Buck dynamic that they’ve missed the Bobby and Eddie dynamic entirely.
Bobby Nash Helps Eddie Through His Grief
When Eddie Diaz first arrived at the 118 in Season 2, Episode 1, “Under Pressure,” it was because Bobby had gone out of his way to recruit him. Bobby makes a comment to Buck in the episode that it’s because he comes with a background as an army medic, but I think it’s more than that. I think Bobby saw part of himself in Eddie, though he couldn’t quite place why and wanted to give him a safe place to land. After two tours in the Army and becoming a single father, that was exactly what Eddie needed.
In Season 2, Episode 4, “Stuck,” the Bobby and Eddie dynamic is already hard at work. After Eddie’s Abuela falls and has to be taken to the hospital, Eddie needs somewhere to take his son, Christopher (Gavin McHugh), for the day. It’s not even a question for the captain — Christopher can stay at the 118. Bobby and Buck both show Eddie that he has a family at the 118, which is a huge deal for him. Later, when Eddie’s Tía Pepa is picking up Christopher, Eddie wraps Bobby in a huge hug, and his gratitude is written all over his face. It’s the first time in a long time where someone who isn’t his Abuela or his Tía has shown up for Eddie, and while Buck led the charge, Bobby threw the doors wide open.
When Eddie’s wife, Shannon, who had been estranged until about halfway through Season 2, dies unexpectedly in Season 2, Episode 17, “Careful What You Wish For,” Bobby is on suspension for having lied to the LAFD about his role in the fire that killed his family in Minnesota, but that doesn’t stop him from showing up at the hospital. He’s the first person Eddie embraces, and it’s an incredibly emotional moment for both men. Eddie has to go on to tell his son about what happened to his mother, and Bobby goes home to Athena, who he’s about to marry, and finds comfort with her. Though Season 2 ends somewhat happily in Season 2, Episode 18, “This Life We Choose” — Bobby returns from his suspension, Eddie completes his probationary year, and Bobby and Athena elope — the loss of Shannon lingers.
Both Bobby and Eddie Avoid Anger Through Self-Destruction
What audiences begin to see in Season 3 is that Eddie’s response to Shannon’s death is to become somewhat self-destructive. While Eddie and Bobby’s self-destructive streaks don’t look exactly the same, Eddie’s foray into illegal fighting runs directly parallel to Bobby’s deep dive into his alcoholism after the deaths of his wife and children. What is particularly interesting about this for me is how both men lean into their anger. Bobby is angry with himself for having been too drunk and high to remember to turn off his space heater, instead leaving it running next to a sleeping bag and some spilled alcohol, which ignited the fire that killed his family. Though the Saint Paul Fire Department ultimately found him not responsible, given the host of other issues with the building, Bobby sat in that anger for a long time.
“You’re gonna stand there, with a hundred-something bodies on you and tell me I’m not fit for duty? Go to hell, Bobby.”
Eddie, on the other hand, was angry with Shannon. While it’s not unusual for grief to manifest as anger with the person who has died, Eddie’s anger was heavily layered with his and Shannon’s unresolved issues. Not only was he upset that she had died, which was out of her control, but he was also still dealing with his anger from Shannon leaving him and Chris behind for several years and from Shannon asking him for a divorce during their final dinner before her unexpected death. When Buck sues the LAFD and Bobby in Season 3, Episode 5, “Rage,” after they tell him he can’t return to duty after his injury just yet, Eddie’s anger spirals out of control, and in Season 3, Episode 8, “Malfunction,” Eddie nearly kills a man in a fight. He also calls 9-1-1 and is present — though hidden — when the other firehouse arrives, which leads to Bobby finding out about Eddie’s new extracurricular activity. Just like he has for others in the past, Bobby encourages Eddie to go to therapy to start working out some of his anger issues. It works at first, but Eddie’s trauma isn’t over.
By Season 5 of 9-1-1, Eddie Diaz is in Disarray
By the time the fifth season of 9-1-1 premieres, Eddie has nearly died thrice — first in Season 3, Episode 17, “Eddie Begins,” when an old well collapses on him, and he nearly drowns trying to get out; then in Season 4, Episode 14, “Survivors,” after being shot by a sniper out to get firefighters; and finally in Season 5, Episode 6, “Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1,” when he and Buck are held hostage by an escaped prisoner — so it’s no shock to the audience, or Bobby, that Eddie is struggling. When Christopher reveals that he’s concerned about his father dying in Season 5, Episode 10, “Wrapped in Red,” Eddie decides to transfer out of the 118. Bobby supports him, like he always supports the people he loves, though he does try to caution him against making a rash decision because once he transfers out, Bobby can’t guarantee there will be a spot available for him if and when he wants to come back.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens. Eddie becomes the LAFD liaison at the 9-1-1 dispatch center in Season 5, Episode 11, “Outside Looking In,” and struggles to find his footing there. After a conversation with Christopher, Eddie stops by Bobby and Athena’s house to try and get transferred back to the 118, but it’s too late. Bobby has filled Eddie’s position, and even if he hadn’t, he doesn’t think Eddie is ready to be back in the field. Bobby can see what Eddie cannot, which is that Eddie has been carrying around an exhausting amount of grief and trauma, and he’s only skimmed the surface of getting rid of it. Bobby would know, as he’s done the same thing, and he’s just as stubborn about accepting help as Eddie is. Eddie lashes out at Bobby, throwing the fire that killed his family in his face — “You’re gonna stand there, with a hundred-something bodies on you and tell me I’m not fit for duty? Go to hell, Bobby.” — and storms out.
Things only get worse for Eddie, who learns in Season 5, Episode 13, “Fear-o-Phobia,” that the remaining members of the convoy he saved while in the Army — which earned him a Silver Star — have all died, sending him into a dark spiral. There are layers to what he’s dealing with, including a fear that the work they do doesn’t matter, but where Bobby comes in is when Eddie wonders why he’s still around when everyone else is gone. He’s lost his convoy and his wife, but he’s managed to survive multiple near-death experiences, and he wants to know why. Bobby tells Eddie what he had to learn the hard way — it’s all just dumb luck.
Bobby and Eddie’s Stories Are Too Similar to Ignore
From losing their wives to burying their grief beneath self-destructive tendencies to not believing that they are worthy of the good things happening to them, Bobby Nash and Eddie Diaz are incredibly similar. Their Catholic upbringing and the way each of their fathers showed them how to avoid their feelings means that both men can be tough nuts to crack, but when they open up and let others in, the results are astounding. Audiences get to see Bobby help Eddie navigate the loss of his wife and figure out how to handle his grief in a healthy way, and they also get to see Eddie help Bobby. In Season 5, Episode 18, “Starting Over,” Bobby is consumed by the idea that he is responsible for the actions of a paramedic with a god complex simply because some of his behavior took place while he was at the 118, and no one can get Bobby to understand that the only person responsible is the paramedic. At least, not until Eddie.
When Eddie learns from May, Bobby’s stepdaughter, that Bobby has seemed distracted, like something is very wrong, he shows up at the Grant-Nash home. When he can’t convince Bobby that he isn’t in any way responsible for the paramedic’s actions, he tells him that if he’s going to take responsibility for the bad stuff, he also has to take responsibility for saving both Eddie’s life and his son’s. The statement comes almost as a shock to Bobby, and the surprise is written on his face — something Peter Krause is exceptionally good at — as he thanks Eddie for dropping by. What’s most important about this moment is that, once Eddie leaves, Bobby heads back into the kitchen and pulls a bottle of whiskey out of a grocery bag. After looking at it for a moment, he pours it down the drain, his conversation with Eddie having changed his mind. While I wish the show had dealt further with Bobby nearly breaking his sobriety in Season 6, the moment itself is impossible to forget. It shows just how much Eddie and Bobby understand each other. Eddie was the only one who knew how to reach Bobby when he was heading for self-destruction, and it’s powerful to see Eddie provide support for Bobby in his time of need.
Many of the relationships on 9-1-1 have nuance, from Bobby and Buck’s relationship to the relationship between Howard “Chimney” Han (Kenneth Choi) and Henrietta “Hen” Wilson (Aisha Hinds), but there’s something notable about the Bobby and Eddie relationship for me. The characters show up for each other in a way that they don’t for other characters on the show, and it allows for growth that they can’t find with anyone else. Their relationship reminds me of the relationship between Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) and Leo McGarry (John Spencer), especially in The West Wing Season 2, Episode 10, “Noël.” Josh is struggling with PTSD and is worried that he’ll lose his job at the White House, but Leo assures him that he won’t — after all, Leo has been down in the same hole that Josh is in, so he knows how to climb his way out. Bobby and Eddie have a similar dynamic, with Bobby pulling Eddie out of a hole of grief and anger, and what I am most looking forward to in the second half of 9-1-1’s 8th season is seeing how Bobby and Eddie support each other next.
