We’re out of the mustache, bees, and vibes stage of promo for 9-1-1 Season 8 now, thankfully. The first still for the new season, released by showrunner Tim Minear, was basically all mustache. The second was just plain concerning. The third, released exclusively to TVLine started getting into the meat of the season, with Gerrard and Buck. And now, EW is bringing us more of the same with two exclusive stills, along with some info from the mouth of Minear himself.
First, There Was a Mustache
And okay, look, let’s start with the mustache. 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 for more than a few seconds in live-action, but considering that we now know it’s not going to last, I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I will, however, admit that when the first picture was released, we were all kind of 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.
Then, There Was Worried Eddie an Hen
But they’re done with that now. They’ve given us bee-nado posters and teasers. Plus worried Hen and Eddie, and it doesn’t look like this has anything to do with bees anymore.
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.
Plus, Actual Gerrard Plot
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.
It’s EW who brings the goods, though, in an interview with Minear, where he teases that the bees are just the beginning (lol), with another big emergency coming, one inspired by a different 70’s disaster movie, and that showcases someone from Athena’s past. “I will say that it’s somebody you’ve met, and it’s going to help her resolve, in a deeper way, a very important event in her past,” Minear told EW.
And More Gerrard
Meanwhile, Bobby is not having fun on Hotshots, which isn’t all that surprising. “Bobby’s just completely over it. He’s not lured in by Hollywood or any of that stuff. He just finds the whole thing incredibly trivial and ridiculous,” Minear said. But it’s not like he’s got anywhere to come back to. He did quit. The less that is said about that sequence of events, the better.
As for Gerrard, well, Buck seems to be the one struggling the most with the new Captain. “I think it’s harder for Buck than the rest,” Minear told EW. “Eddie was in the military, and both Hen and Chimney already served under this guy — they’ve been vaccinated, in a way. They know how to not let him get to them. Bobby is the only captain Buck has ever served under. Bobby really is his surrogate dad, so it’s just a lot harder for Buck.”
Buck at least has Tommy to lean on, though Minear did randomly bring up Eddie in his answer about whether the two were still together, which is a totally normal thing to do, nothing weird here, nope. “We’d definitely call them a couple. Obviously they’re comfortable hanging out with Eddie, but when you couple with somebody, it takes up some of your time, so that also leaves Eddie a little bit out in the cold. Well, not out in the cold, but Buck doesn’t have as much free time as he did before, let’s put it that way.” We’re sure Eddie is going to process that in a totally normal way.
There’s the Bee Suits Too!
Eddie will, of course, also be dealing with the loss of Christopher and how to keep the line of communication with his son open, especially when Christopher is still mad at him. In that regard, Minear teased “So when we come into this season, Eddie is still mourning that loss and trying to figure out what to do about it, how to win his son back. In order to do that, he’s got to take a look at himself. He’s always been serving the country, raising his special needs kid, being a firefighter, doing all the things that define him. And, except for his job, everything was stripped away from him last year. Now it’s time for him to figure out who the hell he is.”
Plus, Minear also teased that the Buckley Hans and the Hen and Karen would be more of an extended family and that would be great for them …until it’s not. Not at all worrisome, no. Councilwoman Ortiz, we already hate you. Aisha Hinds expanded on this to TV Insider, who also gave us a picture of Hen in that bee suit, saying “Hen and Karen being lucky enough to have their friends Chimney and Maddie step up for them and for Mara was clutch. It afforded Hen and Karen the opportunity to still see Mara, care for her and love on her, instead of her being sent back to the group home. As mentioned, the plan seemed sound and sensible but it proved detrimental.”
We’re already mad.
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 are pictures of that too!
TVLine also has an exclusive link at the chaos of this episode, which you can check out here.
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.
