‘9-1-1’ is going big with its Season 7 premiere set to span multiple episodes across the serialized disaster drama.
Nothing is more exciting than a multi-episode season premiere emergency and with the mother of all emergencies 9-1-1 teases for Season 7, it is bound to be fun. The cast and creatives behind the show spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the upcoming season, including the emergency, the Bathena honeymoon, the Madney wedding, the Buckley-Diaz family dating lives, the Henren family, guest appearances, and the big 100th episode. Along with several new images, they teased a lot about the personal arcs in the upcoming season but were careful to make clear that emergencies are part of the 9-1-1 fabric, and they won’t take the backseat.
The sinking ship is one of the most exciting things about the series premiere, and it was confirmed that it will play out over a three-episode arc. This season’s emergency pays homage to the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, whose plot teases a sinking ship that leaves few survivors. It morphs into Titanic as lovers Bobby and Athena fight to stay alive. To pull this off, Angela Bassett recalls spending hours in a warm bath, something she appreciated because, in the past, it wasn’t always that nice. “The water was a nice, warm 93 degrees — but the weather outside wasn’t, so you wanted to stay in the tank,” Bassett said of filming the scenes. “Just imagine a nice 14-hour bath.”
9-1-1 always goes hard, and they were planning on shooting the emergency on an actual ship, but the owners didn’t get the vision. ”But cruise ship companies were like, ‘Well, does anything bad happen on the ship?’ And it’s like, ‘Have you seen the show? It’s not going to go real smooth,’” said showrunner Tim Minear. Apart from the ship emergency, some issues will bubble up for Athena and Bobby, issues they hadn’t confronted, and with nowhere to go on this ship, they must be addressed.
‘9-1-1’ Season 7 Won’t Abandon Other Characters
With Basset and Peter Krause on a different stage filming their scenes, the cast was separated for several episodes and their reunion was a happy one. The separation will also be visible on the screen because the 118 has to keep working in Captain Nash’s absence and Hen takes over. The show won’t abandon the other characters as there will be an insight into their personal lives. For starters, Hen and Karen are still looking to expand their family. Elsewhere, Buck and Eddie pursue their romantic interests, but the most exciting thing is that Christopher has reached the age where he is now interested in dating.
Previously released Season 7 premiere images showed Buck talking to Christopher, but there wasn’t any context until now. Eddie feels ill-equipped to handle the dating conversation with his son, so he brings in the big guns in the name of Buck. “It really is a moment of desperation for Eddie where he is like, ‘Oh my God, this is a new avenue that I’m not prepared for…. Who knows women? Oh, Buck does,’” said Ryan Guzman. “It’s been such a beautiful thing to explore Buck’s relationship with Christopher because we’ve seen him grow up,” added Oliver Stark.
“When [Christopher] joined the show, he was a kid, and now he’s not. He’s a teenager, and there are things that he’s going to be thinking about and feeling that are brand new to him. Buck is in a good position to be there for him in a way that maybe his own father can’t because he’s had a lot of relationship experience — some successful, some very unsuccessful.”
The Madney wedding will happen, Jennifer Love Hewitt promises. “You will hear little bits about it, but honestly the emergencies are massive and exciting from the start — so being first responders keeps them busier than wedding planning,” she explained. “But we know the audience is waiting for these two to get hitched, and they won’t have to wait long.” There will be some bachelor-party shenanigans but Minear is not planning a massive wedding. After doing one for TK and Carlos in 9-1-1: Lone Star, he seeks to explore a different kind.
Speaking of 9-1-1: Lone Star, Minear had nothing but lovely things to say about Fox and their new home on ABC, but a crossover this season is a no-go. Despite both networks being owned by Disney, there would be a lot of hoops to jump through and the season has a lot to handle in a short 10 episodes. Crafting a compelling crossover event would leave fans unsatisfied.
The 100th episode will air this season and the cast was excited, holding a small celebration at the realization. “. . .we realized ‘Oh, this is the 100th episode!’” recalled Kenneth Choi. “So all day we were super grateful and super thankful as to how far we’ve come. And I think it’s a testament to the fans of the show. They’ve kept us on the top of the chart.”
