Hen and Karen Wilson have seen many struggles over the course of eight seasons of 9-1-1.
They fought tooth and nail in Episode 4 of Season 8 of 9-1-1, as the couple fought to bring their daughter Mara home after the corrupt Councilman Ortiz did everything he could to separate them.
As always, the couple was resilient, and they stuck together as they always have, and in the end, Mara finally came home to them.
The talented, lovely, and refreshing Aisha Hinds and Tracie Thoms, who play Hen and Karen Wilson, respectively, were kind enough to take the time to chat about that emotional moment.
It was a pleasure to chat with two women who form one of the greatest relationships on television. Their banter and love for the show and the characters shined through in this conversation, exploring the journey to get Mara home and what they want to see from the characters in the future.
I want to start with a question for both of you. Throughout the series, Hen and Karen have gone through a lot of different things in their lives and they always come out stronger through it.
How important was it for both of them to show their dynamic in this relationship and this beautiful family, really the OG 911 relationship?
Aisha: It was a privilege and a blessing to be able to do that, right? First of all, to have this unit represented on television and to see them be able to lean on each other and overcome any obstacle that came their way, just by leaning on each other.
That said so much to us and to the audience about our strength and what we can do as a united front, as two beautiful queer black women, as parents, as professionals in the field that we’re in. I love that. I love everything it puts out into the world and the messages it sends.
Tracie: No, listen. It’s just a gift. I’m just happy to be here. I think she touched on that quite a bit. We have an amazing opportunity to tell a story that’s so unique and I don’t think I’ve seen on any other show.
The audience really, really resonates with the story and they care so much about our family. It’s a blessing to me.
Aisha, we’ve seen Maddie and Chimney step in to help raise Mara during this time. Hen comes to Bobby in this episode to talk. 118 shows up to see Hen and Karen in court. Tell me about 118 and that family and how important it is to Hen and her family.
Aisha: We’ve had an amazing privilege to be able to do this show for so long, given the context of the industry and the world. We’ve been able to continue to make this show. The audience continues to tune in and connect with us. That informs the work that we do and gives back to them.
With that, just the number of couples that you mentioned: 118, Maddie and Chim, Cap. Community is at the center of it all. We can lean on each other when we need to, which is a great ingredient to wrap up and bring to these characters and their journeys.
I’m so grateful to see how that Hail Mary came about when we thought we were going to lose Mara, and we were at the edge of our own heads in the ideas that we could come up with and the efforts that we could make to save the family. the family.
Chim and Maddie find a way to still keep her in the family. Like the family that we created offscreen; being able to make this show for as many years as we did onscreen.
That’s what you’re seeing. When one person falls, the other person steps in, picks up the ball, and keeps rolling.
