9-1-1 ended its eighth season with a stretch of episodes beginning to adapt to the new normal: a future without the 118’s heart and captain, Bobby Nash (Peter Krause), following his heartbreaking death. And when stars Oliver Stark (Buck) and Aisha Hinds (Hen) stopped by TV Insider’s office ahead of the Season 8 finale, we had to ask them about their hopes for Season 9. Stark’s answer takes into account that devastating loss. (Watch the full video interview above.)
“For me, the main thing is that the kind of gravitas of losing Bobby is used as a catalyst to mature Buck. I think the growth has been there over the seasons, but I think this is a real opportunity to take him into his next iteration, whatever that ends up being,” he shared. “But I think a more grounded worldly Buck can come out of this. I don’t know what that will look like, but I think character-wise, I think that’s the next step.”
Hinds also looked forward, and for her, it was about coming off the finale, which saw the 118 rally together to save victims of a building collapse, including finding a trapped Athena (Angela Bassett) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) — who mended the tension between them since Bobby died after giving him the only anti-viral — and rescuing Buck and Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody). It also saw Chimney really step up like a captain should, Eddie (Ryan Guzman) move back to Los Angeles, and Hen and Karen (Tracie Thoms) finally adopt Mara.
“I’m so excited,” Hinds told us, looking ahead to the new season in the fall. “I really am. I think that this season was such a full season, and it’s interesting that our last episode is called ‘Seismic Shifts.’ There were some seismic shifts throughout the season, so I’m just looking forward to what now blooms after those seismic shifts and Hen and her family just living normally. That’s definitely not the fabric of 9-1-1. So we’ll just see what happens and I’m open and available to it all.”
And hey, maybe that will also include a new relationship for Buck. While 9-1-1 boasts solid couples like Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chimney and Hen and Karen and did just lose its foundation in Bobby and Athena’s, Buck and Eddie’s love lives have been messy, to put it mildly. (The show even addressed the possibility of “Buddie” in Season 8, with Buck’s ex, Tommy, played by Lou Ferrigno Jr., calling him out on potential feelings for his best friend. Buck denied having any.)
“I would actually love to see Buck grounded in a relationship and experiencing it in the fullest way, someone who would probably extract that best side of him like an Abby [Connie Britton], but with the freedom that he now has to be the fullest version of himself with a Tommy,” said Hinds.
What are you hoping to see in Season 9? Let us know in the comments section below.
9-1-1, Season 9, Fall 2025, Thursdays, 8/7c, ABC