Co-creator Tim Minear breaks down season 8, episode 4, including the connection between Councilwoman Ortiz and Captain Gerrard.
9-1-1 co-creator Tim Minear, we have to ask you a question… Entertainment Weekly spoke with the co-creator and showrunner of the first responder drama a few hours before season 8, episode 4 premiered on ABC. And in addition to having him break down the dramatic fall of Councilwoman Ortiz (Verónica Falcón), Captain Gerrard’s (Brian Thompson) new job at the Hotshots, and Bobby (Peter Krause) and Mara (Askyler Bell) returning to their own homes at 118 and with Hen (Aisha Hinds) and Karen (Tracie Thoms), we also asked Minear about Eddie’s (Ryan Guzman) new beard. (Also about how he copes with his son living with his grandparents in Texas… but mostly about the mustache.) After the “bee-nado” and Athena’s plane crash, Minear said he was eager to have some “resolution” to the many storylines set up at the end of season 7—but not so eager that he was willing to end the Airport ’75 homage early. The plane crash story was originally intended to be a one-episode disaster, but Minear quickly realized there was too much story to tell.
“The first time I did it was with the earthquake [in season 2]. It was one episode, and the editor cut together the ending montage with the David Bowie song, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is really cool. I think I should do it as two episodes. ’ ” I just started writing new stuff and put it into production until we had two episodes,” Minear revealed, saying he found himself in a similar situation this season when he finished his 90-page script.
Extending Athena’s flight was an easy decision, but choosing to split his script in half was harder. He ended up landing (pun intended) when the pilot had a heart attack. “I just thought it seemed like a good place to be,” Minear said. “And I’m glad it worked out.”
Overcoming the disaster that started the season “has always been a puzzle” for Minear, so the co-creator is grateful that he and his team had so much set up by the end of last season. “I was able to jump right in, it wasn’t a complete weightlifting thing to go in and try to set up a new play or something,” he explained. “It was like, ‘Oh, actually, I can go in and resolve it, get Bobby back to the fire station, deal with Gerrard to some extent, get Mara back to Hen-Karen’s house.’ But in its own way, it was also challenging because it was like, ‘Do you want these things to drag on?’ You really don’t, but you also want to make sure that the resolution is somewhat satisfying.”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You were dealing with two conflicts at once with Councilman Ortiz while trying to work with Captain Gerard. Was that always the plan?
TIM MINEAR: We always knew that they were related in some way, and one of them would help resolve the other. But the body camera element came pretty late. I wanted Hen to inject Ortiz somehow at this city council meeting, but I wanted to have a visual representation of what the injection was. But the body cam is also a great way for Eddie to connect with [injured fan] Weston’s dad. Hopefully when people first watch the episode, they’ll feel like, “Okay, so the body cam element was added for this emotional moment with Eddie.” But it’s really there to sting old Ortiz and get her to pack up.
And Gerrard is also there, taking over for Bobby advising the Hotshots. Are we done with the 9-1-1 riff?
That’s funny. Aisha Hines just texted me. She said, “The show within the show is fun,” which might tell you that the show isn’t over yet. We’re going to see more of the Hotshots and Brad Torrance, the International TV Star.
Related: 9-1-1: Lone Star’s Benito Martinez Read Your Gabriel Conspiracy Theory — and Agrees Back to Eddie, he doesn’t seem to be handling being away from his son, Christopher.
Eddie’s just kind of floating around with his identity a little bit. His identity is tied to being a father. He’s also a soldier and a firefighter, but really everything, whether it’s his job or his relationships, is really tied to Christopher. And the fact that Christopher is absent from Eddie’s life right now has Eddie falling into a little bit of a… He’s not on solid ground right now.
So where do we go from here with 118 when things are kind of back to normal?
Well, what I like to do is tell stories that shed light on their characters, the strength of their relationships, and their heroes. Bobby dealt with his trauma last season, so it’s a little bit of a softer Bobby. And it gave Peter the opportunity to do more comedy, which he really enjoyed [doing]. And then, through the
