You’re An Absolute Angel Eddie Diaz, Because I Would Have Flipped Out After 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 13’s Christopher Twist

9-1-1 is starting to resolve a storyline that’s been around since season 7, but Eddie is forgoing a blowout fight to prioritize his son. Ever since Ryan Guzman joined 9-1-1 season 2 as Eddie Diaz, his character has fundamentally been rooted in fatherhood. During his first big emergency with LAFD station 118— an earthquake that threatened the busiest building in LA— Eddie’s sole concern was Christopher (Gavin McHugh), a trend that would continue throughout 9-1-1’s most intense disasters. While other characters found solace in their spouses and partners, Eddie’s happy ending after a tragedy was always reuniting with his son.

Although Eddie and Christopher’s relationship has produced some of 9-1-1’s most heartwarming moments, their plot in season 8 has been devastating. After Christopher moved in with his grandparents, Ramon (George DelHoyo) and Helena Diaz (Paula Marshall), in the 9-1-1 season 7 finale, Eddie made the tough decision to abandon his life on the West Coast and move back to Texas. 9-1-1 has included glimpses of Eddie’s old life in El Paso through flashbacks (“Eddie Begins”) and loaded conversations (“Hero Complex”), but the procedural has never delved into the full depth of Eddie’s upbringing. Unfortunately, his parents clearly haven’t changed.

Eddie’s Parents Have Actively Sabotaged His Relationship In The Most Frustrating Way

Sometimes Passive-Aggressive Behavior Is The Most Painful

Though Eddie’s parents’ villainy in 9-1-1 has been there since they were introduced, Helena and Ramon have treated their son with wanton disrespect since he moved to Texas. Helena openly looks down on Eddie’s job as an Uber driver, undermines him by bringing takeout when he makes dinner, and allows her true feelings to slip through the cracks of her condescension. With Helena, every line has a barbed edge, but it’s hidden behind enough plausible deniability to only leave flesh wounds. In contrast, Eddie’s father hid his part in Christopher and Eddie apart until 9-1-1 season 8, episode 13.

Initially, Ramon pretends to be on Eddie’s side, sympathizing with him in private when Helena’s derision goes too far. As soon as the chess tournament storyline is introduced, however, it’s clear Ramon is “motivating” Christopher with his own lofty expectations. Eddie appears at the tournament, only for the worker at the sign-in desk to point out Ramon as Christopher’s father. After the pressure proves too much for Christopher, who vomits onto the chessboard, Ramon and Helena are more concerned about forfeiting the competition than Christopher’s health. In private, Christopher confides in his father the ugly truth: “I hate chess.”

Despite Their Demeanor, Eddie Draws Boundaries But Remains Respectful & Loving

Eddie Refuses To Stoop To Their Level

Christopher’s confession serves as an epiphany for his father— Eddie thought Christopher was better off with his grandparents, but the chess tournament helped him realize Helena and Ramon aren’t good parents (nor have they ever been, as Eddie’s backstory proves). Eddie makes the executive decision for Christopher to move back in with him in 9-1-1 season 8, episode 13, to the chagrin of his mother but the relief of his son. Though 9-1-1 typically redeems bad parents unnecessarily, the procedural takes a new route with this confrontation: Eddie forgives Helena at her worst, even as she continues to berate him.

If this conversation had been at any other time in the series, Eddie might have fallen into a screaming match with his mother. Eddie joined 9-1-1 with a chip on his shoulder but without healthy coping mechanisms, evidenced by his illegal street fighting and emotional affair with his dead wife’s doppelgänger. Yet, it seems as though Eddie has gained invaluable perspective, as he steadfastly refuses to take Helena’s bait, opting to kill her with kindness instead. Kissing his mother on the forehead and saying he loves her, however, wasn’t a strategy; Eddie simply remembered his son matters most.

9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 13 Re-Affirms That Christopher Should Be With Eddie

Otherwise, The Future Holds Nothing But Generational Trauma

Eddie’s restraint with his mother is a sign that he has changed and is ready to reunite with Christopher. Some credit may go to the continual, shockingly astute advice gleaned from Buck (Oliver Stark), but Eddie has truly grown from the heartbreaking experience of living without his son. Although his guilt has consumed him for months and prolonged their mutual suffering, Eddie has realized that he has to be proactive rather than leave the ball perpetually in Christopher’s court. From the harrowing moment Christopher asked “You’ll be my dad again?”, it’s clear they’ll be better for it.

Now that the two are finally communicating— with Eddie’s speech to Christopher in 9-1-1 season 8, episode 13 breaking down the wall between them— the father-son duo are on a clear road to reconciliation. There’s no telling what Helena and Ramon will do to stop their bonding and inevitable return to LA, but the floodgates have already opened for Eddie and Christopher’s relationship to finally mend. I wouldn’t have had the patience to take Helena’s judgment with a smile on my face, but that just further goes to show Eddie is out of the woods in 9-1-1 season 8.

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