9-1-1 season 9 episode 5 recap: Is Bobby’s ghost really around?

It's a Halloween special for 118 in 9-1-1 season 9 episode 5, Día de los Muertos, but it's not just a celebration for the team. There's an influx of emergency cases they have to tend to as the team's grieving process after Bobby Nash's death continues to linger.

9-1-1 season 9 episode 5 sees Buck trying to recreate Bobby's snickerdoodle recipe. He can't get it right. But as a series of unexplained events start happening and a secret ingredient magically turns up one night, he thinks it's Bobby's ghost.

While no one seems to believe him, Buck finds a way to find out the truth, and he does. It's not Bobby's ghost haunting his house, but the previous tenant. However, the incident still reminds him of Bobby and gives him a new direction in life. Meanwhile, as the team is still reeling from Bobby's death, another loss hits Eddie.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for 9-1-1 season 9 episode 5. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Why does Buck think Bobby's ghost is haunting his house in 9-1-1 season 9 episode 5?

Buck thinks Bobby's ghost is present (Image via @The911onABC/X)

While the episode doesn't clarify where Evan "Buck" Buckley has been staying for the last six months, he finally gets his apartment in 9-1-1 season 9 episode 5. And while he still has a lot to do, like unpacking all his boxes, he's getting busy trying to recreate Bobby's snickerdoodles. The problem is he can't seem to make it right and can't find the written-down recipe because, again, he's still not unpacked.

That night, he's woken up by a noise in the kitchen and finds foot tracks and a jar of cream of tartar near his and Bobby's picture on the kitchen counter. Then it hits him—the cream of tartar is the missing ingredient, and he feels like it's Bobby's ghost sending him a message or help. Sure enough, the next batch of snickerdoodles he makes impressed the 118.

He believes Bobby's ghost is haunting his house enough that he plays with an Ouija board to talk to Bobby. But it turns out that it's not Bobby in Buck's house, but the previous tenant. He hid in the attic after getting evicted, but after discovering that the man is a recovering alcoholic, Buck decides to drop the charges and help the man instead. Seeing the sobriety chip makes him think of Bobby Nash.

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9-1-1 season 9 episode 5: Eddie faces another loss

Eddie loses his abuela (Image via @The911onABC/X)

Eddie's emotional arc takes center stage in 9-1-1 season 9 episode 5, especially as he starts to return to his faith. But just as he starts to have an interesting reckoning with his faith, a series of events tries to shatter the progress he has made.

After the exorcism case, with parents from a small religious community locking up their teenage girl, thinking that she's possessed by a demon, he starts losing faith again. It's compounded with another tragic loss, one much closer to him. His abuela dies. But it doesn't appear to be a setback for Eddie this time.

While the loss is huge, it looks like Eddie will survive the grief without losing his faith after what Christopher says. While they set Bobby, Shannon, and his abuela's pictures in the ofrenda, he tells Eddie that they should do it every year. Eddie is taken aback, thinking that it will make Christopher too sad, but he says that it won't because the departed are always in their hearts, which Eddie understands.

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Other highlights in 9-1-1 season 9 episode 5

Athena responds to an emergency (Image via @The911onABC/X)

A series of Halloween-related emergencies and personal storylines about Bobby's death are the highlights in 9-1-1 season 9 episode 5. There's a car accident that kicks off the episode, involving a headless driver and a man carrying a scarecrow, with the latter locking himself in a coffin and jumping into a grave after the accident, where he contracted a syndrome where he thinks he's dead.

The team has to pretend that they are trying to revive him so he believes that he came back to life. Athena also gets into the middle of an emergency during Halloween with a runaway giant inflatable pumpkin, and 118 responds to an exorcism of a girl who just has tetanus.

Harry has also made up his mind about becoming a firefighter, but as he explained to Athena after an argument, after she sees him wearing Bobby's gear as a costume, his decision isn't because he wants to be like Bobby. It's not Bobby but Athena who had inspired him to become a first responder.

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Catch 9-1-1 season 9 episode 5, along with the show's previous episodes, on ABC and Hulu.

Edited by Kinette Sumadia