The first 9-1-1 Season 8 still released by showrunner Tim Minerar still had more vibes and mustache than anything else. The second was just plain concerning. The third, released exclusively to TVLine? Well, we’re still not getting good vibes here, but at least this time it’s not all mustache-related!
And okay, look. I’ll own up to my mustache misgivings. I’m not a mustache person. I happen to feel the mustache doesn’t work on most people. It’s not a casual look you can pull off! No, it’s one of those things that almost doesn’t work in real life. It’s just …a vibe. Like, it works on Freddie Mercury, but it doesn’t work on just anyone trying to break into the music industry. It works on Ted Lasso but not on Jason Sudeikis. And it really, really didn’t work for me when I first saw it on Ryan Guzman.
But maybe it does kinda work on Eddie Diaz, I don’t know. I’m still kinda waiting to see it in live-action, but I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. But I’ll admit that when the first picture was released, we were all kinda just focused on the mustache.
And truthfully, as I pointed out then, other things were going on in the background. There were way too many trucks for my liking! And we knew a big emergency was coming. But if Eddie Diaz was going to treat the emergency like a runway, and 9-1-1 was going to focus most of its pre-Season 8 promo on the mustache, then we were going to have to follow their lead and play the game.
But they’re done with that now. They’ve given us bee-nado posters and teasers. Plus actual worried Hen and Eddie:
This means we actually have to worry now because this isn’t just Eddie looking pretty in his mustache, this is …what is this? What are they looking at? Who is in danger? The mustache is secondary! The emergency is real.
And we haven’t even gone into the revelations in EW’s Fall preview, which teased that Bobby (Peter Krause) would be “forced to follow through with his retirement and take a job as a technical advisor on an action TV show called Hotshots,” while Councilman Ortiz runs for Mayor, Maddie and Chim try to make sure Hen can stay in Mara’s life, Bobby and Athena look for a new house, Buck struggles with Gerrard and Eddie mourns Chris’s move to Texas and grows a crisis stache. (Okay, I added the last part, but it’s obvious, isn’t it?)
But the third picture, released exclusively to TVLine, finally gets into the real storyline no one really wanted to see for Season 8, but that might actually bring some good storylines: Gerrard vs. the 118. And, as teased before, Buck looks …eh, not pleased with Gerrard. And why is Eddie always in Buck’s vicinity? Asking for a friend.
TVLine also had a quote from showrunner Tim Minear, that confirmed that Eddie’s mustache would not be sticking around (Thank God!), but that it is a “manifestation of something that’s going on within him,” and that the reasons for it will actually be explored “in an episode where he shaves it off.”
As for Buck, Minear confirmed he and Tommy are “still getting to know each other a little better.” At the same time, Chim and Maddie consider whether to expand their family, and Hen and Karen fight to get their foster care license reinstated. Athena meets someone from her past who will force her to “deal with a seminal event in her canonical life.” Probably the less said about Bobby and the fake firefighter show, the better. We just want to experience the ridiculousness without any preconceived notions.
Oh, oh, and did I mention that some of the cast (Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, Bryan Safi, Ryan Guzman, and Tracie Thoms) will be competing in an episode of Celebrity Family Feud, which will air on September 16th? There’s a picture of that too!
So, a lot to process. Way too much! Season 7 of 9-1-1 left too many unanswered questions, and it doesn’t feel like this is giving us answers. And we only have a little under three weeks to go. How are you feeling about 9-1-1 Season 8? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
9-1-1 returns to ABC on Thursday, September 26th at 8/7c.
