Los Angeles’ most photogenic first responders return to duty following the drama’s midseason break with a tense two-parter that finds 9-1-1 dispatcher Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) caught in a madman’s crosshairs. And like most 9-1-1 cases, it’s rooted in reality.
“There was a serial killer who was calling 9-1-1 after he killed people, crying on the phone, ‘I feel so guilty,’ and ‘Oh, I did it again and I can’t stop myself!’” previews showrunner Tim Minear, referencing the 1980 case of Minnesota’s Weepy-Voiced Killer. “The whole thing is [based on] that true-crime story. A guy calls Maddie and she realizes he hasn’t just killed someone. He’s about to [again, because] he has abducted someone.”
Things take an unsettling turn as Maddie is drawn deeper into the investigation, raising concerns for firefighter husband Howard “Chimney” Han (Kenneth Choi). “He’s very worried about her, but he also trusts that she knows what she’s doing,” says Minear.
The story really kicks into high gear by the end of the first hour, when it becomes clear that Maddie too has gone missing. “There’s some twists and turns in there that I hope you won’t see coming,” Minear warns. “And it’s not going to be readily apparent that she’s been taken.”
Disney / Chris Willard
At the same time, the 118 is facing their own possible loss. November’s fall finale revealed that Eddie (Ryan Guzman) was looking at houses in Texas in order to be closer to his son, who is now living with Eddie’s parents down south. Like Buck (Oliver Stark), his platonic best bud and most definitely not romantic interest, we were shook by this twist.
“He’s dead serious about moving and that actually will pick up that thread when we come back in the midseason premiere,” teases Minear. Could Eddie have ended up in Austin had 9-1-1: Lone Star not been canceled? “I had talked about somehow connecting those stories, but it just was not meant to be…1740778867 he’d show up there and there’d be like a tumbleweed and it’s like, ‘What happened?!’ Sorry, you got here after the show!”
In addition to what Minear describes as “a whole Buck-Eddie story about Eddie moving,” he says we can also expect the show to return with “a couple of great 9-1-1 emergency calls that aren’t really connected to the Maddie story at all,” including one that brings a new best friend — in fact, man’s best friend — into Buck’s life.
“I’m not saying Buck’s getting a dog,” laughs Minear. “I’m just saying there’s a dog involved.”
We always though the station house could use a pet.
9-1-1, Midseason Premiere, Thursday, March 6, 8/7c, ABC
