The article, published by Collider, revisits a line from the ABC drama *9-1-1* that the writer argues remains the show's defining moment three years on. Ahead of the series' tenth season premiering this October, the piece reflects on how the show has combined spectacular annual disaster set-pieces with the emotional core of a "found family" saving lives together, and singles out a quote from Buck (Oliver Stark) as capturing this ethos better than any other in the series.

The line comes from the Season 6 episode "In Another Life", in which Buck, in a coma after being struck by lightning, imagines an alternate reality where Maddie and Buck's older brother Daniel never died. In this version of events, Buck grows up feeling loved and secure, never seeks danger to win his parents' attention, and becomes a teacher rather than a firefighter, but the article notes this alternate life comes at a cost, including the survival of colleague Bobby (Peter Krause).