Ten months after 9-1-1 fans watched Eddie (Ryan Guzman) say goodbye to his son Christopher (Gavin McHugh) in the Season 7 finale, the Diaz boys had an emotional reunion in El Paso, where Eddie relocated in hopes of repairing their damaged relationship.
9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 12, “Disconnected,” showed the former 118 firefighter struggling to adapt to the life Chris and his parents created in his absence. After moving into a fixer-upper, getting rejected from a job at the local fire station, and seeking work as an Uber driver to make ends meet, Eddie decided to lie to Chris (again) for fear of letting him down. Rather than stepping back and giving Chris his space again when his lie was found out, Eddie took accountability and faced the consequences of his actions, which earned him some serious respect in Chris’ book.
While rekindling his connection to Chris helped fill a huge void in Eddie’s life, Guzman assures fans that his character still isn’t fully secure in who he is or what direction he’s headed. “I believe that he’s been searching to find his identity and find himself. And in doing so — in asking that question — life will give you all of the obstacles to destroy what you’re used to. And that’s what we’ve seen in the last seven years,” Guzman told Decider over Zoom. “We had to destroy who Eddie thought he was. He was this all-American individual with a Silver Star. He was seen as this war hero who could handle high-pressure situations with calmness and didn’t really emote too much. He kept everything close to the sleeve. And over these last seven years, we went the complete opposite route.”
As Eddie continues to navigate his new Season 8 reality, Guzman says, “The parts that we weren’t able to get to are now available to us, because we’re in El Paso.” So in honor of Eddie and Christopher’s big reunion, Guzman spoke with Decider about Eddie in El Paso, his relationship with his parents, working with Paula Marshall and George DelHoyo, and a potential 118 return.
Fans have been eagerly awaiting Eddie and Christopher’s reunion for months! Seeing them back together again was so heartwarming. You’re a father in real life and you’ve played Gavin’s dad for years. So was that time apart hard for you?
Yeah. I had the opportunity to be enveloped by my own children within that time frame and fall in love with them even more, if that was a such a thing. So I think that actually helped with the portrayal of coming back into Christopher’s life. And it was just a wholesome event. It was meaningful. And the tears didn’t need to happen from Eddie, because it was such a happy moment for him. Honestly, as I’m hugging Gavin in the scene, I’m thinking about my own kids. So, art imitates life. It was a great opportunity. And Gavin’s a teenager now!
I know, he’s so grown up! And I love that he’s getting more mature storylines. We see Eddie trying to find his place in this established life Chris has created with his grandparents. In Season 5, Eddie had that overdue confrontation and reconciliation with his dad. But it feels like there’s still a lot of tension between him and his mom. Why do you think he hasn’t spoken up to her more throughout this whole Chris situation?
This is just my understanding of the father/son, mother/son dynamic. But we inherently want to protect our mothers. So we listen to our mothers. We do what’s best for our mothers — even if we don’t like it. And even if they overstep their boundaries, it’s kind of innate. And I think that’s what’s playing out right now. He’s trying to establish himself as the father, but also trying to establish himself as the man who can take care of a child. And I think his mother is falling into old habits. Especially since now they’ve kind of curated a different type of relationship. Eddie’s struggling to find his own voice and speak out and take ownership of his own fatherhood. So it’s an obstacle I feel like many can relate to.
Characters aside, you’ve gotten to work with Paula Marshall and George DelHoyo sporadically over the years. Do you enjoy getting to reunite with them and share these intimate family scenes every so often?
I call them dad and mom. [Laughs] It just kind of falls in line. They’re awesome individuals. Paula actually just helped me out recently. We both discovered that we have this little issue with reading. Apparently our mind starts to wander, and it’s hard for us, so we have to read the same thing over a billion different times. And she came over and gave me this blue filter that calms your mind down and allows you to read. So it’s like she’s actually helping me as a mother. And then me and George have a great time shooting the shit. [Laughs] We just have a good time talking about random things, about TV, just like father and son. And as individuals — both feeling blessed to be a part of this thing. I think Episode 812 is great. I haven’t seen it myself. But Tessa Blake was the director. She’s a fantastic director, and an incredible person to work with. I wish I could work with her all the time. And I think that’s partly why we got such a good product. I think tonight’s episode is a fun episode, but it does a lot. So I’m excited for people to see.
We’ve seen this manifest in different ways throughout the series — recently in Season 7 with the priest and Eddie’s mustache — but it feels like he’s on a journey of self-discovery. In this episode, we see him struggle with identity without the firefighter job and the truck. Do you feel like Eddie is afraid that his true self won’t be accepted? And that’s why we keep seeing this theme of him lying to people?
Yeah, I believe that he’s been searching to find his identity and find himself. And in doing so — in asking that question — life will give you all of the obstacles to destroy what you’re used to. And that’s what we’ve seen in the last seven years. We had to destroy who Eddie thought he was. He was this all-American individual with a Silver Star. He was seen as this war hero who could handle high-pressure situations with calmness and didn’t really emote too much. He kept everything close to the sleeve. And over these last seven years, we went the complete opposite route.
We saw him lose himself, and destroy his house, and then open up to Bobby and the 118, and showcase his emotions. There’s been an evolution of self through destruction. So he’s been able to really go back to his foundation and restructure himself. Now, the parts that we weren’t able to get to are now available to us, because now we’re in El Paso. We’re back into the family dynamic. And that’s where all this usually stems from — the mother and father relationship. So now he’s getting the opportunity to reinvent himself in front of his family and showcase that he’s not just the little boy that needs taking care of. He’s not the all-American hero to impress his father. He’s his own man. And that comes through so many adversities.
Tim Minear and Bobby Nash have said the door is open for Eddie to return to his old job in LA whenever he wants. Do you think it would be a challenge to get Chris to leave his grandparents and his new life behind?
Yeah. Um —
Oh no. [Laughs]
I don’t want to give away too much, but I know that Eddie misses the 118 and he would love to go back. He’s not going to sacrifice his relationship with his son ever. So without his blessing, there’s nothing happening that’s going to bring him back — outside of a crazy event.
And those never happened on this show.
[Laughs] Right. The craziness — you never know with Tim! Right now, it’s all about the family. It’s all about Christopher. And it’s all about just making it work. It seems like the 118 has been doing great. Ravi is doing amazing things on the 118, and it’s really nice to see that and see the whole team coexisting so well in Eddie’s absence. But we definitely have some answers for you coming up.
