Lou Ferrigno Jr.’s time on 9-1-1 has come to an end, as the final conversation between Buck and Tommy in Season 8, Episode 6 ‘Confessions’ ends with a breakup neither of them really saw coming. For Ferrigno Jr. it wasn’t exactly the way he envisioned the end of his time on the show—nor the Buck and Tommy relationship, but in a conversation with Fangirlish about the episode he called his experience on 9-1-1 “a real pleasure,” and had time to go a bit deeper into why Tommy reacted the way he reacted, as well as share what is next for him.
“Just don’t hate me,” Ferrigno Jr. asked as we got into the subject of the breakup. But in truth, what we see from Tommy in this hour is a man trying to protect his heart. The question is, of course, what is he protecting it from?
“With the way things were going, and the connection that they had, I was under the impression that it was working, and they were connected,” he shared. But he added that Tommy, at least in the backstory he’s built for the character, “is quite a damaged individual.”
“He’s had a long, hard road of solitude, and in the past, his heart has been broken to a point that has really rattled him to the core,” which explains why his first instinct when Buck pushes forward is to put some distance between them. But Tommy doesn’t just put distance, he’s very unequivocal about it, telling Buck “I know how this ends.”
MORE: Here’s our review of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 3! Here’s our review of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 4. And here’s our review of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 5.
Ferrigno Jr. admits he had issues with this ending, but trying to get into the mindset of Tommy, he tells us, “If preserving his emotional health and saving himself is the only means to survive, then you can’t shame him for it.” He went on to add, “I honestly don’t believe that the relationship matured well enough that they should have made any type of long-term decision.”
He also added that the scene was “written beautifully,” and that he hopes that fans could take from it that Tommy “is just doing what he knows to survive.”
“I just would have hoped that it would have lasted a little bit more,” he also told us, adding that in the hour we also have Buck “looking at those girls, and that sucks for Tommy, and it sucks for any person that’s looking at their partner looking at someone else.” The scene in question happens at the beginning of the episode, as the two are in the restaurant. Whether Buck is truly looking at the girls or not is left to the viewers’ interpretation, as Tommy himself brushes it off in the scene and Buck looks more uncomfortable than interested.
Ferrigno Jr. added that “a lot of that stuff is just out of Tommy’s control, and I think that maybe Tommy blames himself, or maybe he thinks he mystified Buck to the point where Buck is compromising on his own character, and I don’t think that Tommy wants to be responsible for doing that, because I think based on how he was with Abby and what happened there, he just doesn’t want to do this again.”
This isn’t a direct line to the breakup scene, but it leads there. And for Ferrigno Jr., he admits he knew the two were done for good when he realized his character would call Buck “Buck.”
MORE: Here’s our review of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 1! And here’s our review of 9-1-1 Season 8, Episode 2.
“Yeah, that was hard, saying that, because I knew exactly what that meant. As far as he was concerned, he was Buck, but then there was something that was really kind of the gateway to just a more intimate situation, everybody knows him as Buck, but he’s now a step further and they’re connecting, and he doesn’t know the guy that was Buck. How did Buck get his name? He was probably doing something to get Buck, but Tommy didn’t know that side of him.”
Instead, Ferrigno Jr. told us that Tommy “only knows the man in front of him, Evan. And I knew it was going to come [the moment he called him Buck] because he’s always saying Evan all the time. I’m looking at a character that I’m playing, and he’s just like Evan, Evan, Evan, and in that line, I was just like… I knew this was going to happen.”
“And he doesn’t have to say that. He still can say Evan. But that is essentially signaling that this is all I know how to do, and it’s too much.”
What comes next for Buck? Could the show have been using Tommy as a roadblock to a possible Buck and Eddie relationship? Ferrigno Jr. laughed at the question and then said “I won’t tell you, unfortunately,” only to then correct himself. “If I knew. Then I’d have to kill you. You’d have to disappear, that’s for sure.”
MORE: How are we doing on the list of things we wanted for 9-1-1 Season 8? Check it out here!
The actor might not know—or be able to share—the answer to that question, but he did share what he’s doing next. “I’ll be doing S.W.A.T., so I’m back on S.W.A.T., which is a nice reprieve. Two of the biggest shows filmed in Los Angeles, I’m just going from one to the other end and, I get to now be Rocker. Very different. The six-year-old boy that just wants to run into walls and shoot things, who’s grown up.”
Ferrigno Jr. has some things lined up beyond S.W.A.T., enough that he told us that if he ever got the call to play Tommy again, “I would absolutely love to come back, but I do need to continue on my journey here. I have a number of things now that are going on that may or may not happen, and I hope that there’s no conflict if it were to be the case.”
However, Ferrigno Jr. had nothing but good things as he reflected on his time on the show, “I’ve never had the type of experience artistically, professionally, as I’ve had with 9-1-1. I love this set. I love this show. I love the higher-ups. I love the crew. It has been so fun.”
Now, he’s onto the next thing.
9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
I’m miserable 😭
I was very excited that Lou came back for seasons 7 and 8 and was hoping for a long term relationship for Buck. Was also hoping to see Sal too as they were resurrecting season 2 characters. I wish Lou continued luck on his acting journey. And maybe a cameo before the end of the series!!!
This was stupid writing to have built them up so well and linked Tommy with the rest of the 118 and then to break them up when they as a couple made so much sense. Thank you Lou for all you brought to the role. The breakup sucks. I want the writing team to undo it.
I am so disappointed by this ending. The way Tommy called him Buck was just pain. I feel like the writers have made a big mistep with this because what’s the hook to keep people interested in Buck’s storyline, particularly if he reverts to Buck 1.0? Tommy was the chance to see Buck finding his life in a long-term committed relationship and they fumbled that and nothing has changed for Buck beyond that he now knows he likes men; he’s still looking for that partnership and he had it but the writers just got rid of a huge opportunity for him.
Seriously, a very bad decision was made.