9-1-1 boss reveals what changed in the airplane episodes — and when we’ll find out why Eddie has a mustache

Co-creator Tim Minear breaks down season 8, episode 4, including Councilwoman Ortiz and Capt. Gerrard’s connection.

9-1-1 co-creator Tim Minear, we mustache you a question…

Entertainment Weekly spoke to the first responder drama’s co-creator and showrunner hours before season 8, episode 4 hit ABC. And in addition to having him break down the dramatic downfall of Councilwoman Ortiz (Verónica Falcón), Capt. Gerrard’s (Brian Thompson) new gig on Hotshots, and Bobby (Peter Krause) and Mara’s (Askyler Bell) return to the their respective homes at the 118 and with Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Karen (Tracie Thoms), we also asked Minear what’s up with Eddie’s (Ryan Guzman) new facial hair. (And also about how he’s coping with his son living with his grandparents in Texas… but mainly about the mustache.)

After the “bee-nado” and Athena’s plane crash, Minear says he was eager to get some “resolution” to a lot of the storylines set up at the end of season 7 — but not so eager that he was willing to wrap up the Airport ’75 homage early. The plane crash story was originally intended to be a one-episode disaster, but Minear quickly realized there was too much story to tell.

“The first time I did it was with the earthquake [in season 2]. It was one episode, and the editor had cut together the montage for the ending with the David Bowie song, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is really good. I think I should make this into two episodes.’ I just started writing new material and giving it to production until we had two episodes,” reveals Minear, who says he realized he was in the same boat this season when he finished his 90-page script.

Expanding Athena’s plane ride was an easy decision, but choosing where to split his script in two was harder. Eventually, he landed (pun intended) on the pilot having a heart attack. “I just thought that seemed like a good place,” says Minear. “And I’m glad it worked.”

Moving beyond the season-starting disaster is “always a puzzle” for Minear, so the co-creator was grateful he and his team had set up so much at the end of last season. “I could hit the ground running, it wasn’t a complete deadlift of coming in and trying to set up a new drama or something,” he explains. “It was like, ‘Well, actually, I can come in and resolve, get Bobby back into the firehouse, resolve Gerrard to some degree, get Mara back into the Hen-Karen home.’ But it was challenging in its own way because it’s like, ‘Do you want these things to be dragged out?’ You really don’t, but you also want to make sure that the resolution is somewhat satisfying.”

Here’s what he has to say about those resolutions.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You solved two conflicts at once with Councilwoman Ortiz trying to work with Capt. Gerrard. Was that always the plan?

TIM MINEAR: We always knew they were connected in some way, and that one of those things would help resolve the other thing. But the body cam element came quite late. I wanted Hen to sting Ortiz somehow at this city council meeting, but wanted to have a visual representation of what the sting was. But the body cams were also a nice way for Eddie to connect with the father of [injured cheerleader] Weston. Hopefully when people first see the episode, it’ll feel like, “Okay, so that body cam element was added for this emotional moment with Eddie.” But really it’s there to sting old Ortiz and get her packing her bags.

And Gerrard is off too, taking over for Bobby consulting on Hotshots. Are we done seeing that meta riff on 9-1-1?

It’s funny. Aisha Hines just texted me. She’s like, “The show within the show is so much fun,” which might give you a clue that it is in fact not over yet. We will be seeing more of Hotshots and of Brad Torrance, International Television Star.

Circling back to Eddie, he doesn’t seem to be handling being apart from his son, Christopher, well.

Eddie is just floundering a little bit with his identity. His identity has been wrapped up in being a father. He’s also a soldier and a firefighter, but really everything, whether it’s the job or his relationships, have all really been about Christopher. And the fact that Christopher has absented himself from Eddie’s life right now has thrown Eddie into a little bit of a…. He’s not on solid ground right now.

So where do we go from here with the 118 now that things are mostly back to normal?

Well, what I like to do is to tell stories that illuminate their characters, and the strength of their bond, and their heroics. Bobby got to deal with his trauma last season, so it’s a slightly lighter Bobby. And it gives Peter an opportunity to play more of the comedy, which he really loves to [do]. And then through the plane escapade, Athena got to let go of a significant wound that she’d carried with her for decades. So I think for Bobby and Athena, they can breathe a sigh of relief for a moment. One of the next big pieces is really Eddie.

And what about his mustache?

Well, you’re going to see in episode 6 the answer to why the mustache even exists. So I don’t necessarily want to give that away…. It’s not a huge reveal.