Spoiler alert: This story contains spoilers for Thursday’s “Confessions” episode of ABC’s “9-1-1.”
After this week’s episode of “9-1-1,” Buck (Oliver Stark) and Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) are no longer sitting in the tree. The hour begins with the young couple celebrating their recent death anniversary, and discovering that Tommy was once engaged to his former big love, Abby (Connie Britton), who left L.A. (and “9-1-1”). After Buck found out, the two parted ways. )years ago.
However, Buck’s reaction to that revelation did not end the relationship; Buck resolved his concerns about Tommy’s previous relationships with women and Buck’s first relationship with a man, and ultimately asked Tommy to live with him. I asked for it. In fact, it was Tommy’s choice. Buck may think he’s ready for that step, but Tommy will likely want Buck to date other men or women later on, and Tommy isn’t someone he ends up dating in the long term. That’s why I decided to break up with Buck.
After that heartbreaking development, Buck heads to the home of Eddie (Ryan Guzman), his best friend and Station 118 teammate, who has just recovered from a recent bout of depression. To drown your sorrows.
In the interview below, varietyStark details Buck’s latest “9-1-1” storyline and where things go from here.
Why hasn’t Buck watched ‘Glee’ and has he watched it? you Have you seen “Glee”? Ryan Murphy is listening, so choose your words carefully.
Listen, I’ve been spending some time thinking about this. I’ve seen the episodes, but I haven’t watched them from start to finish. Don’t look at me like that. I’ve watched the episode. Buck is the same age as me, so he was probably in his late teens or early 20s and traveling all over the world. At that point he was in Peru as a bartender and they weren’t streaming Fox. He was trying to find himself at that time. And if he had watched Glee, he might have realized he was bisexual sooner. Watch “Glee” and find out something about yourself.
When you saw that part of the script, did you have a laugh and talk with the writers about the fact that you were going to explore this in Ryan Murphy’s work?
In reality, this doesn’t happen very often, but for that scene in particular, Tim called me beforehand and said, “I really want to make this point, so I’d like Josh to make it. ” was what I was told. And he explained it to me in almost the same words that Josh uses. And I think I said to him: He was like, “Absolutely!” And I actually think that was a very smart move. This is a very deep and meaningful message, but using “Glee” with this less serious tactic to get that message across actually makes it more acceptable and more It is meant to be understood in a broad sense.
In this episode, the writers bring up Abby, a character who hasn’t appeared on “9-1-1” for a long time, in a very unexpected way. It is revealed that she is the ex-fiancé of Buck’s current boyfriend, Tommy. What was your reaction to that storyline and how did you move past it in this episode, and what does Buck and Tommy appreciating their past sexuality mean for their future?
As he mentions in the episode, Abby was a turning point in Buck’s life. So it can be quite disconcerting to find out that your new partner was once engaged in this all-important relationship, although each day in his consciousness he is making great strides forward from that experience. I think so. Even a little bit. And initially, we actually saw a few more scenes of Buck dealing with this new information. One of them was a big conversation with Pete Krause and Bobby where Buck was just like trying to figure it all out. It was this wonderful coincidence that in Season 1, Abby mentioned a fiancé named Tommy. I didn’t think they knew at the time that the character Tommy would be introduced many seasons later, but it felt like a waste of an opportunity otherwise. We made that link and joined up to feel a little bit more cosmic. I think the opportunity came naturally and it would have been foolish not to take advantage of it and give Buck the opportunity to spiral, which he often does.
After that spiral, Buck makes peace with Tommy’s past and his own past, and even asks Tommy to move out, which leads to a very upsetting end to the episode. What do you think about Tommy’s decision to break up with Buck, citing that he’s the first man Buck has dated since coming out as bisexual, so he won’t be the last, and Tommy doesn’t want to keep it up? Did you think that if Tommy felt this way, what would this relationship ultimately be like?
Actually, it’s funny when you put it that way. Okay, so what were you doing in this relationship? I feel like it’s a little unfair to Buck. But don’t get me wrong, I can understand why some people want to protect themselves. Obviously, he’s afraid of getting hurt. Then I think maybe the way to solve it is to lead with your intention. So in this particular scenario, Buck is left on the chopping block and left behind at the end of the episode. And I was very intrigued to see how that scene would play out. Because we knew probably two episodes before this one that they were going to break up, but we didn’t know how. And I think that’s kind of fitting in the sense that Tommy is trying to protect himself, and I think that’s completely fair. And I think the line that Tim wrote, “I’m your first, I won’t be your last,” is really meaningful and beautiful. And he will always be Buck’s first, and because of that, he will always be a meaningful figure in Buck’s life. And now Buck has to take some steps on his own and truly find out who he is and who he wants to be with.
Buck shows up at Eddie’s house after the breakup, but he doesn’t know everything Eddie has worked out for himself in this episode. When he arrives, Eddie is acting out a “Risky Business”-style scene, but he quickly notices that something is wrong with Buck, and the two sit in silence and drink before the episode ends. . What did Buck feel then, and why did he go to Eddie?
Eddie opens that door and there he is with his collar off and his pants on and Buck looks him up and down and takes it in and it’s like anything. You are dealing with yours and I am dealing with mine. We don’t even need to talk about them now. Let’s just be together and be there for each other. I think it’s something that shows who you are as people and that you don’t have to say everything and that you can both deal with things in your life in completely different ways in the moment. For Eddie, it’s a real moment of joy and release, but for Buck, he’s clearly pretty depressed. But while dealing with things in such separate ways, they can still be there for each other. That’s why I think it shows the strength of their bond.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
