[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 8 “Wannabes.”]
Wait, is the 118 about to say goodbye to one of its own?!
9-1-1 ends its fall finale—with the return not until March!—with Eddie (Ryan Guzman) revealing to Buck (Oliver Stark) his plan to move to Texas to be with his son. Christopher (Gavin McHugh) is now living with his grandparents after catching his father with the doppelganger of his dead mother. We’ll have to wait to see if Eddie’s actually moving to Texas (so far he’s just looking at houses), and when TV Insider turned to showrunner Tim Minear for answers about that, he wouldn’t say—March can’t come soon enough for answers!—but he did tease what’s ahead.
Eddie possibly moving back to Texas—when did you realize this arc for him was leading to that?
Tim Minear: I’ve known it since the beginning of the season.
Why did you want to take him on that path?
I think what he sees is that Christopher is thriving in Texas and even when you see this Zoom call in this episode, he seems so much older. He just seems like, wow, he’s really turning into a person. And I think Eddie responds to that and sees that the gap is in fact getting deeper between them. Just as Brad [Calllum Blue] warns him later in the episode, don’t let that gap grow wider and he sees his kid’s thriving. So it just feels like Eddie needs to be the one to take a step. Eddie needs to be the one to give up something, to walk away from something in order to really focus on repairing that relationship with Chris.
Disney / Ray Mickshaw
Buck was outwardly supportive, but it’s clear that he’s not 100 percent on board with Eddie moving. How is he really feeling about that and how might he be doing with his best friend debating moving to Texas?
I think Buck feels completely torn. He wants to support Eddie. He understands how important that relationship with Christopher is. I mean, his relationship with Christopher is important, too, so he wants to be as supportive of that as possible and it will drive him completely insane.
Is everyone going to be getting baked goods?
He’s not going to open a Mrs. Fields or something, but I think that he will find maybe something else to try to keep him from completely spinning out of control. He will be pouring all of his abandonment issues and anxiety into something else.
This also comes as Buck is still struggling with the breakup, so how is he going to be doing there going forward?
Well, I think that this is going to overshadow it in some ways, but it’s all part of a piece, right? Poor Buck has got his abandonment issues going way, way back, and I think by the end of Episode 9, those abandonment issues are going to deepen further.
You started exploring the future for Athena (Angela Bassett) when it comes to her job and she’s now decided to train officers. Why is now the right time for that? And are we going to hear the word retirement coming up again for her? I think it’s too early.
It’s way too early. I mean, I think it’s too early. No, I just think Athena is open to sharing her wisdom with the next generations and so we may see somebody else in her cruiser with her at some point. It’s not guaranteed, but it could happen.
Disney / Christopher Willard
Bobby (Peter Krause) and Athena really need a new house. Why is it taking so long?
[Laughs] Well, they decided to build it.
Are we going to see that new house when the show returns?
You’ll see it pretty soon.
Talk about ending the episode with that Hotshots scene with the 118.
I just love ending it there. I love going out on an up note, just going out on a moment of peace for everybody that they get to be together and laughing and having fun. We go out from the first eight with that chapter of the Hotshots side of the season with a punctuation closing the book on that and Mara’s back at home and Buck’s a little worked up and Eddie’s future is uncertain, but for the moment anyway, everybody’s kind of back where they’re supposed to be for the most part. And it just reminds me a little bit of how we ended Season 2, with that finale where everybody had their little happy endings and there was always a question of whether Buck would be able to return. That’s kind of where we’re going out here, but I wanted to have everybody back together at least for a moment until when we come back and then I could just throw a giant hand grenade into everything.
Will we see Brad again?
We might. It’s not on my agenda upfront here.
How much of a time jump will there be when the show picks up? Are you doing almost real time?
No, actually when we come back it’s going to feel like the next episode as opposed to—yeah, I’m not doing a three-month jump. I’m not saying there won’t be a time jump in the back 10 [episodes], but it’s not going to be when we come back.
Speaking of that, could we see Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chimney’s (Kenneth Choi) baby be born this season?
Oh, I think there’s a very good possibility of that.
What’s coming up next there as they’re navigating this pregnancy because of what they’ve talked about with the last one?
That conversation that they had at the end of Episode 6, we’ll be revisiting some of those themes when we come back in Episode 9.
Is there any joy coming for Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Karen (Tracie Thoms) after what you put them through this season already?
I feel like there has to be.
RelatedPeter Krause Talks Huggable Bobby, His and Athena’s House, and More on ‘9-1-1’
What can you tease and why did you want to put them through the back-to-back of it with their kids?
That just sort of ended up happening, to be honest. I think it’s not the thing you would expect. It’s like, okay, Hen got to have her trauma, now it’s on to the next person. But yeah, that’s just how it ended up shaking out. I really love that moment at the end of Halloween where Karen says, thank God you were at work. It just brings it all back around to the mission statement of the first responders on the show.
What else can you preview about the March return?
I’m really excited about a couple of stories that we’ll be coming back into. One of them is Buck. And then I think there’s kind of a thriller that’s going to start in Episode 9 and Episode 10 I’m really excited about because it’s just a flat-out thriller.
In what way? What can you tease about that?
Nothing. [Laughs]
Is Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody) coming back?
We may see Ravi again this season. I would love to see him again this season actually.
What’s coming up for Bobby and Athena as a couple?
Well, definitely their house is not a small thing and I think it’s also time for them to have a little joy, wouldn’t you say?
Yes, definitely. What does Buck’s dating life look like going forward? Is that going to kind of take a backseat with everything else going on in his life?
It will at first, yeah.
Could we be getting any double dates? Triple dates? Maddie and Chimney, Bobby and Athena, Hen and Karen…
I hadn’t considered it, but now I am that you mentioned it…
Can you tease anything about the ending disaster of the season?
Not yet. Not yet. I’m still working it out.
Do you know if you’re looking at a multi-episode thing or a one-episode?
I’m probably going to do multi-episode, you know me.
9-1-1, Returns, Thursday, March 6, 8/7c, ABC
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