“I think we’ve tried to show a story where he’s been able to move past.”
9-1-1 star Oliver Stark has teased tension among the crew during season seven, as well as the return of Lou Ferrigno Jr’s Tommy Kinard.
Speaking to HELLO! following the premiere of the procedural drama’s seventh season, Stark teased Tommy’s return to Station 118. Last seen during season two, Tommy will make his return in episode three of the new season.
The firefighter had worked at the station prior to Stark’s debut as Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley and has since maintained a friendship with Howard ‘Chimney’ Han; however, viewers will remember that Tommy was a bystander to racism in the force during earlier seasons.
Speaking about the character’s return, Stark addressed Tommy’s lack of action when Chimney and his brother Han were experiencing discrimination and revealed that Tommy will have learned from his previous mistakes at the station.
“Tommy has a great relationship with Chimney [now], but obviously there was a lot of tension and some very questionable decisions by Tommy in the ‘Hen Begins’ episodes,” he said.
“I think we’ve tried to show a story where he’s been able to move past that and learn his lessons and realise that maybe he wasn’t the instigator in some of those instances but was just unsure of how to step outside of it.”
Stark also addressed the ongoing tension between Buck, Chimney, Eddie Diaz and Hen Wilson after their handling of an incident with a drunk driver.
Feeling betrayed, Hen gives her colleagues the cold shoulder as she headed out to investigate what happenedduring Athena Grant and Captain Bobby Nash’s terrifying cruise ship ordeal.
Speaking about the ongoing tension, Stark added: “It is one of the first times that there has been this kind of friction, and Hen is a character who all of these characters respect and look up to so it’s not usual for something like this to have happened.
“I don’t think it’s going to be negative for too long, but there’s some tension, and it is certainly going to carry through for a little while and not be brushed over too easily.”
