ok so post episode reflection time. i wanted to like the episode but it just wasn't as memorable as other finales, which is weird for me because it was meant to be the 'last' before the move to ABC happened. this episode felt bungled, let me go into why.

1.) okay so this sounds weird to complain about but that bridge collapse sucked. nobody was in true peril, there never felt like there was stakes honestly other than brief scenes with hen and chim. i wanted there to be a serious injury, i cannot lie. i'm tired of the 118 being fine after these things and just bouncing back like nothing happened. it's too episodic, if that's the word. things aren't lasting

2.) speaking of no stakes, bobby was heavily implied to be hurt. he was not. all we hear is that he hurt his shoulder and needs scans. chim was completely harmlessly impaled pretty much, just walk it off. that whole thing was traumatic in many ways and bobby and chim should not have been so scot-free in an episode that required high stakes

3.) chimney had gloves on and wasn't wearing The Ring of Power. -1000 points from Gryffindor for that one babes sorry

4.) i'm not super against buck/natalia as a couple but it felt weirdly rushed because she came in literally last minute for the birth then started dating buck. maybe it's just because i wanted her to show up at lucy's doorstep because i'm a garbage eating goblin with no self control

5.) the eddie/marisol thing. i really really really wanted to hold out hope that she would defy the trope of 'firefighter gets the girl after saving the day'. i genuinely thought she'd be involved in this 'mass casualty accident' that was over in like ten minutes. seriously wtf was this bridge collapse??? where is the drama, i can't see it???

6.) what in the world was that meditation scene? why did we time skip so far ahead that the flashbacks seem like flash forwards??? what is going on with this pacing it's like being dragged behind a truck with a drunk driver at the wheel

7.) the fucking speed they tore through every plot line this episode was unreal. the bridge collapse served us a nothing sandwich in ten minutes flat, the 118 checked in and checked out of the hospital before i could blink. the relationships were slammed in in such short fast scenes they felt forced and sudden. they did the time warp and blew through weeks of development and the birth of a baby that honestly happened so fast idk how much time went by between that and the cute little bwidge cowapse. seriously the pacing sucked, really girl give us nothing

8.) the episode was pretty much only saved by the cast. i cannot describe how disappointed i felt about this finale. despite amazing work from the actors, things flew by too fast, the tone was all wrong from a directorial and production standpoint, relationships felt mishandled. like i'm sorry, henren are going to have another baby in the house and we get... a hug? a time skip and a h u g??? buck has this super moving scene getting to see the life he gave to his friends to nurture and is able to let go and does the time warp into a new relationship, eddie is pressured by chris to call marisol, who didn't even appear until the last 2 minutes (??????????) now they're going on. a date??? bobby is totally fine after being pinned in a metal bin by an suv and an ambulance and a bunch of concrete because apparently bobby has fucking adamantium bones and has +100 resistance to crush damage. like literally i'm not even a little nervous when bobby gets pancaked because he's literally that cartoon character that pops up from being flattened like 'i'm ok!' *insert clown silly noises* where is the writing, sis? where?????

9.) where was the wedding? we get a rooftop meditation flashback/flash forward thing with weird thoughts from all the characters but not the fucking madney wedding???? i wanted to see chim barely survive that bridge collapse and have the viewers thinking he was going to perish before seeing him at the parish in a boyle style butt cast or something marrying maddie because literally being strapped to a flaming gurney wouldn't stop him. instead chim is magically fine and there isn't a wedding. i'm going to eat glass

10.) lucy: i have a sprained ankle *gets in a helicopter and flies out of the series* WOULD YOU LET THE FEMALE FIREFIGHTERS STICK AROUND AND DO THEIR JOBS PLEASE??

god it was just so unsatisfying. imagine if the tsunami episodes plot was over in 10 minutes with no stakes at all. like really?? idk what it is but the stakes in this season have literally never been lower. the earlier seasons had me INVOLVED in the emergencies. things have gotten so goofy lately. most emergencies are comedic and unserious, the writing isn't taking the characters as seriously as their actors, it feels like one of those happy AU fanfics that I just struggle through reading because you know it's going to be saccharine and there's nothing that's going to happen that's gripping which you would expect in a drama series.