Last week, 911 ended with quite a cliffhanger as we learned that Detective Amber Braeburn was the true killer on the other end of the line that she answered earlier in the call. As the episode closed, Amber hit Maddie from the back of her head and revealed herself as the true killer as she took Maddie hostage.
As episode 9 begins, Buck and Chimney arrive back at the house after Eddie’s goodbye dinner and quickly realize something is not right. Maddie seems to be nowhere in the house and Buck finds her wedding ring on the sink just as Jee-Yun comes out asking where mommy is which is when they realize something is up.
Buck and Chimney call in reinforcements in Hen and Eddie, as the group begins to worry that something might have happened with the biggest concern on everyone’s mind being that Maddie once again fled without telling anyone. Hen eventually calls in Athena and they head to the station where Chimeny gives a statement just as Amber arrives.
After questioning Athena about whether she’d talked with Maddie recently, Amber begins questioning Chimney and he makes the mistake of telling Amber, Athena, and Bobby that Maddie is pregnant again. He then tells Amber about Maddie’s mental health struggles after Jee-Yun was born and how things got so bad Maddie tried to drown herself. Seeing an in, Amber asked about where Maddie tried to drown herself so she could send units to the beach, when we the audience can clearly see she’s hatching a plan to stage Maddie’s death as a suicide.
Amber makes it clear her plan is to kill Maddie
After taking her hostage, Amber questions Maddie about who she might have talked to. She tells Maddie that she jumped at the chance to work the case in hopes of being able to convince Maddie the call was a prank but then she came in with all that evidence. She asks Maddie who she told about her suspicions and Maddie assures her she didn’t have the chance to speak with anyone which was when Athena called her and Amber left Maddie alone.
While alone, Maddie notices a loose screw and starts using it to try to cut her tie and she succeeds, the only problem is that she’s chained to the floor still. She tries to find a way out of the chain which is when Amber returns and Maddie must stop.
Upon returning, Maddie tries to point out to Amber that people will come for her which is when Amber reveals that Chimney had told her about Maddie’s previous suicide attempt. Amber makes it clear she’s going to make it look like a suicide and goes to kill Maddie, who thinks fast as she asks for the chance to say goodbye to Jee-Yun, which Amber realizes could be a good thing as a suicide note would help sell the story.
Maddie gets the chance to write the letter, but that only buys her so much time. After taking the letter, Amber ties Maddie’s arms and begins reading the letter Maddie wrote for Jee-Yun. Maddie begins begging for her life as Amber has an internal argument with herself. Seeing Amber’s other persona emerge, Maddie begins to talk with him trying to reason and the persona introduces himself as Peter. Peter tells Maddie he’s sorry he has to do this as Amber makes him, Maddie points out that he doesn’t have to do this and he needs to fight Amber.
Apologizing for lying on the call, Maddie begs for another chance and it seems to work in burying her a little more time as Peter leaves her. When we next see Amber she’s back in charge and visiting Gina, the girl who Maddie helped to save in the previous episode, telling Gina that she’s going to take her to her mom – which we know is a lie and that leaving with Amber puts Gina in serious trouble.
Athena once again proves she’s the best cop in the 911 franchise
Early in the episode, Athena realizes something isn’t adding up and begins to wonder if the killer had an accomplice, so she launches her own investigation.
Athena then does some sleuthing and begins by meeting with the M.E. to review the autopsy of the man Amber tried to frame. The M.E. reveals that the man was drugged and couldn’t have pulled the trigger, hinting someone is still out there.
From there, Athena goes to see Gina, who recalls never seeing the attacker, but while talking with Athena, she does mention there being a woman there. Gina mentions that at first, she thought the woman was a victim but then she heard them arguing and realized the woman was working with the person.
Athena eventually finds out that Amber was a kidnap victim and begins to realize that Amber was behind things after reviewing an old 911 call at the dispatch center. Athena asks for Amber’s address which is when Josh reveals that Chimney called for it minutes before Athena came looking. This is because Jee-Yun revealed to Denny that someone was in the house with Maddie, and he’s trying to get in touch with Amber thinking she’s on his side.
Maddie doesn’t die, but it was a close call
While Amber is away, Maddie manages to free herself from the chain but finds she’s locked in the basement so she begins looking for a tool which is when she finds newspaper clippings about Amber’s attack as a child and realizes the persona is likely a result of the attack. Just then, Maddie hears the alarm and goes back into position so Amber doesn’t realize she’s freed herself.
To Maddie’s surprise, Amber arrives with Gina in hand. Amber says she’s giving her a second chance and tells Maddie to talk her out of things, which is when Maddie mentions she understands why she’s become who she is. Maddie tells Amber she won once and needs to fight again. Amber apologizes and goes to slit Gina’s through just as Chimeny arrives at the house forcing Amber to simply knock Gina out instead.
When Amber tells Maddie she needs to get rid of Chimney, Maddie lunges at her, and the two fight before we see Amber slit Maddie’s throat in a truly shocking moment. Maddie’s fate is left up in the air as Amber heads upstairs to greet Chimney.
As they’re talking, Chiminey gets a call from Athena who explains their suspicions about Amber and tells him to get out of the house as she’s on the way. The act doesn’t fool Amber who pulls a gun on him realizing that Athena has figured it out.
Just when it looks like Amber is going to kill, Maddie comes up behind her and hits her with a hammer as she then collapses. Chimney races to try to save Maddie, his back turned as we see Amber sneaking up on him with a gun to his head. Before she can pull the trigger, Amber is shot and killed by Athena who arrives just in the knick of time.
Maddie is then raced to the hospital and undergoes surgery, but the good news is that she’s going to be okay as is their baby!