In this exclusive preview of 9-1-1, Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Maddie confronts her past trauma in an emergency.
She may be a happy new bride after last week’s episode, but 9-1-1’s Maddie will have to confront her traumatic previous marriage in this week’s episode of the ABC drama.
Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Maddie spent years moving on after her violent first husband stalked and kidnapped her, but all that trauma comes flooding back in a tense 9-1-1 call that opens season 7, episode 7 — and Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive preview of the scene.
The call begins with a woman asking, “Hello, is this the Sunset Regency Hotel?” At first, Maddie believes the caller has dialed the wrong 9-1-1 number, but quickly realizes the woman is in danger. Using coded language, Maddie tries to get the information she needs to help — with fellow dispatcher Josh (Bryan Safi) offering to take over the call when he realizes it might be agitating her. The clip ends with Maddie realizing there’s also a baby in the car.
Maddie’s first husband, Doug (Hewitt’s real-life husband, Brian Hallisay), apparently continues to haunt the dispatcher — though it’s her new husband, Chimney (Kenneth Choi), who’s actually haunted by her ex in last week’s bizarre episode, which saw Chim delirious after contracting viral encephalitis.
Yes, that’s Jennifer Love Hewitt singing ‘Islands in the Stream’ at her 9-1-1 wedding. “It’s amazing every time they bring him back,” Choi told EW after episode 6. “First of all, Brian is a great guy and he’s a great actor. I love shooting scenes with him. There’s never been lights and flowers and roses and balloons and stuffed animals when Doug shows up. So there’s a physical conflict with viral encephalitis, but he’s going through a mental-emotional roller coaster, constantly seeing this product of his imagination manifesting in the character who stabbed him, who once beat up the woman he loved and was about to marry.”
Regardless of what happens after the 9-1-1 call in episode 7, Hewitt has promised that the 10-episode season will end on May 30 with Chimney and Maddie happily at home.
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“I was talking to someone on set just yesterday, and I was like, ‘This is the first time Maddie and Chimney don’t have unfinished business. We’re just in a good place. She’s happy at work. She’s happy as a mom. We’re finally married, and we’re in a good place,'” Hewitt said last week. “I think it’s just been some stability and it’s been nice for a while. And that’s great to say, because we’ve been through so much. I mean, I really enjoyed all the crazy things we’ve been through — so I hope we get to have some crazy things again. But I think for the future, and for the end of the season, it’s just as good as it was for season 8.
