The synopsis for next week’s episode of 9-1-1, “Ghost of a Second Chance,” has been released.
“Maddie and Athena investigate a case surrounding an abducted mother and child as Hen and Karen learn more about Mara’s family history. Meanwhile, Eddie grapples with unresolved feelings for someone from his past.”
Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear, 9-1-1 explores the high-pressure experiences of first responders — including police officers, firefighters, and dispatchers — who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking, and heart-stopping situations.
Series stars include Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Guzman, Corinne Massiah, and Gavin McHugh.
Don’t miss the next episode of 9-1-1 when it airs on ABC on Thursday, May 9 at 8 p.m. ET! New episodes are available the following day on Hulu.
‘9-1-1’ stars talk Maddie and Chimney’s roller-coaster wedding, Buck’s ‘perfect’ gay kiss
Spoiler alert! The following story contains major details about Season 7, Episode 6 of ABC’s “9-1-1,” which aired on Thursday.
LOS ANGELES – In Thursday’s fraught new episode of “9-1-1,” Maddie and Chimney tied the knot in the most aptly perfect way possible: splayed in a hospital bed.
The couple’s nuptials were severely delayed after Chimney (Kenneth Choi), a firefighter paramedic, got amnesia and went missing the day before their wedding. Using police reports, traffic cams and hospital records, dispatcher Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) pieced together that her fiancé contracted viral encephalitis on the job, swelling his brain with potentially fatal consequences.
“In typical ‘9-1-1’ fashion, it’s a roller coaster,” says Hewitt, traipsing across a wire-laden soundstage in a billowing wedding dress. “They can’t just show up at a church and walk down the aisle. That doesn’t happen on our show!”
“9-1-1” has long endeared fans with its outrageous and heart-pounding emergencies, ranging from shark attacks to plane crashes to a sinking cruise ship in the Season 7 premiere, which marked the show’s move from Fox to ABC. But walking across the palm tree-lined Fox studio lot on a balmy March morning, the atmosphere couldn’t be more serene: Seated between takes, extras in hospital gowns are texting, doing crosswords and swapping recommendations on kimchi burritos. (At the risk of being an LA cliché, one scrubs-clad man is buried in a screenwriting handbook, jotting notes.)
The cast is shooting the episode’s final scenes with Maddie and Chimney after he was tracked down woozily wandering the streets alone. Now regaining some of his memory, they decide to swap vows in his hospital room, inviting friends and family to watch as the 118 fire captain Bobby (Peter Krause) officiates the informal ceremony.
“Love could not wait, so we’re all here to celebrate that,” says Angela Bassett, who plays field sergeant Athena, sitting by a hospital bed between takes. “We’re off that big cruise ship for a minute, so whenever we get days like this, I appreciate it!”
‘9-1-1’:Angela Bassett, Jennifer Love Hewitt can’t believe the ‘crazy’ 100th episode
Throughout the emotional episode, Chimney has flashbacks to the ups and downs of his relationship with Maddie, from confrontations with her violent ex-husband to her surprise pregnancy with a baby girl. “It’s a pastiche of his entire arc,” says Tim Minear, the show’s creator. “Like Maddie says at the end, ‘We always find our way back to each other.’ That has been a repeated pattern with them ever since they got together.”
After the bride and groom say “I do,” wedding guests spill out into the hospital halls, chatting as they peck at small plates of white-frosted sheet cake. The prop sweets received somewhat sour reviews: “I’ve had a little bit. It’s fine,” Krause says politely.
“It’s from Ralphs,” Choi adds of the local supermarket chain, cracking a smile as he spots a publicist hovering nearby. “But I’m going to say it’s delicious!”
‘9-1-1’ creator says Buck’s gay kiss didn’t ‘come out of nowhere’
Thursday’s episode also includes another milestone for Maddie’s brother, Buck (Oliver Stark), a once-womanizing firefighter who shared a kiss with pilot Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) in the series’ 100th episode last month. Buck’s co-workers excitedly learn about his new relationship at the hospital, where he passionately smooches Tommy after the wedding.
“It’s one of my favorite scenes,” Choi says. “It’s a reveal for most of the characters that Buck has found a love interest he’s actually interested in. It’s adorable, it’s cute, it’s perfect, and the audience is going to love it.”
Stark likens Buck’s journey to “a hamster wheel”: “He’s been taking one step forward and two steps back, as is quite typical of being in your late 20s and early 30s, trying to find yourself,” the actor explains. “As we’ve moved into this seventh season, he’s found a way to really discover who he wants to be.”
