Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 7 Episode 9.
The big picture
- Season 7 of
9-1-1
features a strange and unrealistic storyline with Eddie's new love interest, Kim. - Eddie, once a stable character, emotionally cheats on Marisol with Kim, who looks identical to his dead wife, Shannon.
- The improbable plot seems overly melodramatic and hurts the credibility of Eddie's character and story.
9-1-1 he is definitely known for his over the top moments. Each season highlights a crazy, large-scale disaster, like an earthquake or tsunami. Season 7 alone features an overturned cruise ship, an escape from a drug cartel, and a massive fire that ravages Bobby's house. But between all the outrageous emergencies, the show usually sticks to more authentic storylines with its characters and their relationships. That is, down to the writers of the ABC drama decided to throw in a brand new love interest who is simply bewildered.
Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman) is generally one of the most balanced characters on the show. He is a veteran who is an amazing single father to his son, Christopher (who has cerebral palsy). Eddie struggled with his mental health after returning from the service, but tried to make things work with his wife, Shannon (Devin Kelley). Shannon ends up moving away for two years, and Eddie does his best to raise Christopher on his own.
In Season 2 Episode 7, Shannon returns and wants to be back in Christopher's life. Eddie and Shannon reconcile, but not without a lot of complicated feelings on both sides. Several episodes later, Eddie tries to propose, but Shannon shuts him downsaying that she still has a lot to process to be the best mother she can be to Christopher, and that she's not interested in being a woman again. She surprises Eddie by filing for divorce. In episode 17 of this same season, Shannon is fatally injured in a road accident. She ends up dying on the way to the hospital, and Eddie does his best to move on. In the following seasons he dates several people and struggles with post-traumatic stress, but as of season 7, he seems to finally be happy with his new girlfriend, Marisol (Eddy Win). But, of course, it's when 9-1-1 decided to do the strange things.
9-1-1
Explore the high-pressure experiences of first responders who are thrust into the most terrifying, shocking and heart-stopping situations.
- Publication date
- January 3, 2018
- Main genre
- drama
- seasons
- 7
- Net
- ABC
Who is Kim in '9-1-1' Season 7?
This season, in episode 7, Eddie is walking through a store when he sees a woman in the window who looks exactly like Shannon. In fact, she is played by the same actor who played Shannon, with a creepy twist that's straight out of your average soap opera. Eddie flirts with her and she tells him her name is Kim. Eddie then has a strange dream about sleeping with her after meeting her. Eddie is still dating Marisol a lot, but decides to take Kim on several dates behind Marisol's back. Despite this, it is not immediately clear what Eddie is trying to get out of this relationship with Kim (apart from continuing to stare at her when they go out together).
In episode 9, Kim brings brownies to the firehouse for Eddie, but Buck (Oliver Stark) sees her and can't get over how much Kim looks like Shannon. She confronts Eddie about what he's doing with her, and Eddie is forced to admit to Kim that she actually looks identical to his dead wife, and that's the reason for their connection. Kim understandably freaks out and leaves. But, if this whole story isn't weird enough, the 9-1-1 the writers decided to take things a step further. Later that night, Kim shows up at Eddie's house with her hair dyed to match Shannon's and then convinces Eddie to tell her everything he never had the chance to tell Shannon. They both cry and then hug, only Marisol and Christopher walk in at that exact moment. Totally confused, Christopher just asks, “Mom?” But Christopher is not the only person who is dumbfounded by this whole situation; the audience is also left wondering what the hell is going on?
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Because not every episode can have Buck rescuing Christopher from a tsunami.
Eddie's story might be a step too far for '9-1-1'
There are many reasons why this storyline for Eddie makes no sense. First of all, there aren't many weird duplicates walking around Los Angeles. The odds of Eddie spotting someone who looks exactly like his dead wife are too incredible to be a serious plot point for the show. It's cheesy that the same actor also plays Kim and Shannon; it almost seems like the writers think the audience is too stupid not to see how stupid it all is. Also, while Eddie has had his fair share of struggles, he's always been pretty level-headed and is a religious person who cares a lot about being a good human. So, Eddie cheating (if only emotionally) on Marisol seems out of character. The scene where Kim pretends to be Shannon is probably an emotional moment where Eddie finally gets to discover his soul. Instead, it feels awkward and incredibly absurd: Why is Kim okay with Eddie using her as an emotional crutch and standing in for his dead wife?
The most egregious part of this story (besides its clear shark-jumping ridiculousness) is the fact that Eddie's actions could seriously affect Christopher. The writers have spent a lot of time building their father-son relationship and showing how Eddie is such a dedicated father. It's illogical that he would throw away their connection (and potentially Christopher's well-being) to pursue a woman who looks like his dead wife. There is no clear motivation to ruin his relationship with Marisol or to damage Christopher's mental health. apart from that the 9-1-1 the writers wanted to be a little weird with their storytelling.
The series has toyed with the idea that Eddie and Christopher haven't fully recovered from Shannon's death. However, this plot with Kim feels out of left field, and really, Eddie should have been single. It's possible that the show wanted to show that Shannon was Eddie's soulmate, and that's why he can't seem to hold on to a girlfriend or have a healthy relationship with one, but their past scenes and dynamics do not support this, as the two were not a good match. Or maybe the writers wanted to portray the fact that Eddie needs to process more of his feelings about her death so he can officially move on. However, it seems that there could be other avenues in which Eddie could have explored his emotions instead of relying on a soap opera method that is steeped in melodrama. There's only one more episode left in Season 7, though here's hoping the next season completely strays from all soap opera tropes: no evil twins and people with amnesia, please.
New episodes of 9-1-1 airs on ABC on Thursday nights and are available to stream the next day on Hulu.
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