This article contains spoilers for 9-1-1 season 8, episode 11, “Holy Mother of God.”9-1-1 star and director Aisha Hinds gets candid about Buck’s conversation with Maddie about Eddie, questioning what it really means. Hinds, who plays Henrietta Wilson, made her directorial debut with 9-1-1 season 8, episode 11, “Holy Mother of God.” It’s an episode that features some wild emergencies, in addition to a tense reunion between Bobby (Peter Krause) and his estranged mother, but it’s a conversation between Buck (Oliver Stark) and Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) that might be the most revealing.
In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Rachel Foertsch, Hinds was asked about the conversation that revolved around Eddie (Ryan Guzman). In particular, the actor and director responded to whether the scene opens the door for a Buck and Eddie romance, and explained what she was looking for from both Hewitt and Stark in their performances. Hinds acknowledges the possibility that there may be more to Buck’s journey. However, as she says in the quote below, the goal of the scene was to directly address the question that fans have been asking about the fan-favorite pairing known as “Buddie”:
Does it open the door or does it close the door? I feel like the words on the page speak directly to, I think, a conversation that has been happening amongst fans. And so I think that Jennifer kind of asked the questions that a lot of the fans have always been implying or saying: “Are you in love with Eddie?”
And so she asked the question, and Buck pointedly answers, no, that he’s his best friend. And so the idea is that in talking to our showrunner is that, “Listen, we’re going to address this. We’re going to speak directly to this situation and to this question and to this conversation, and the fans can do with that as they will.”
But I think, ultimately, we do want to just be mindful to take care of Buck’s heart and his love life that he’s kind of been navigating and exploring since season 1 of the show. So it will be great to see where it goes from here and what they will do in terms of honoring Buck’s exploration and his journey as he looks for love. Or maybe he’ll take his sister’s advice and just spend some time alone.
What The Maddie Conversation Could Mean For Buck & Eddie
It’s Hard To Miss Those Reaction Shots
With this episode, more than any other, it is difficult to misinterpret what 9-1-1 is trying to communicate with its renewed focus on Buck and Eddie. It’s obvious when Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr), Buck’s ex, shows up just long enough to scoff at the idea that Eddie is straight. Maddie, for at least the second time in the series, is very obviously biting her tongue. She even says, at one point, regarding the idea that Buck might be in love with Eddie: “It wouldn’t be so crazy.”
“Holy Mother of God” was written by Taylor Wong and Darek Cioch.
Buck does say, in response, that he isn’t hopelessly pining for his straight best friend. However, in the earlier heated argument with Tommy, he doesn’t quite bring himself to the point of denying his feelings for Eddie. In all of its run, starting on Fox to now, 9-1-1 has never directly addressed Buck’s relationship with Eddie to this degree. It definitely hasn’t introduced the possibility that Eddie may be in denial about his own feelings to this degree. There’s a lot to take from the relatively sudden shift in focus.
Our Take On What’s Next For Buck & Eddie
The Text Does Speak For Itself
There’s a lot going on in “Holy Mother of God,” including an excellent performance from Oscar nominee Lesley Ann Warren as Bobby’s mom. At the same time, as what’s now been a trend in the second half of 9-1-1 season 8, there’s a lot going on with Buddie. The cast and crew, including showrunner and co-creator Tim Minear, may not want to spoil what’s ahead. But from tearful goodbyes to knowing looks from those who know them best, there’s good reason to believe Buddie may be going canon.
9-1-1 season 8 airs Thursdays at 8 PM ET on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
9-1-1
8/10
- Release Date
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January 3, 2018
- Showrunner
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Tim Minear
- Directors
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Bradley Buecker, David Grossman, Brenna Malloy, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Jann Turner, Jennifer Lynch, Marita Grabiak, Sarah Boyd, John J. Gray, Barbara Brown, Robert M. Williams Jr., Kristen Reidel, Marcus Stokes, Tasha Smith, Millicent Shelton, Juan Carlos Coto, John Gray, Greg Sirota, Alonso Alvarez, James Wong, Kevin Hooks, Varda Bar-Kar, Shauna Duggins, Sharat Raju
- Writers
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Tim Minear, Andrew Meyers, Brad Falchuk, David Fury, Ryan Murphy, Christopher Monfette, Nadia Abass-Madden, Nicole Barraza Keim, Erica L. Anderson, Matthew Hodgson, Stacey R. Rose, Taylor Wong, Tonya Kong, Adam Penn
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Angela Bassett
Athena Grant
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Peter Krause
Robert ‘Bobby’ Nash
