‘9-1-1’s Jennifer Love Hewitt Teases Season 8, Episode 11 And Beyond: “This Is A Season Of Getting To Know All The Characters Even Deeper”

To say that 9-1-1‘s two-part midseason return was unkind to Maddie Buckley might be the understatement of Season 8. The dispatcher navigated a series of emotionally traumatizing 911 calls, got kidnapped by a serial killer (Abigail Spencer), and had her throat slashed in a fight for her life that will leave both physical and mental scars. Despite all of her character’s pain, however, actor Jennifer Love Hewitt is having the time of her life.

“I have to say, this has been one of my favorite seasons of the series,” the 9-1-1 star told Decider via Zoom. “I really like it, because you always get to be in the emergency situations, but it feels like more than ever, everyone in the series is personally experiencing something that feels big, and emotional, and interesting.”

Though Maddie made it out of her latest battle alive, Hewitt assured Decider that “it won’t be a super smooth transition” for her character as she recovers from the events of Episode 8×10, “Voices.”

“Taking her voice is the ultimate ‘F you’ for somebody like Maddie. And so I think she will struggle to get back her confidence and trust that the call center now isn’t an unsafe place for her,” Hewitt explained. “Tim [Minear, 9-1-1 showrunner] is beautiful about allowing me to do all these big stories, but also allowing me and Maddie to heal from them. So I think the audience can feel good about the fact that it isn’t just all sunshine and roses the next episode for Maddie. You will see her fight to survive again on the other side. And she ultimately will, because she’s Maddie.”

Per ABC’s official synopsis, here’s what 9-1-1 has in store when Season 8, Episode 11, “Holy Mother of God,” airs on March 20: “The 118 responds to a call at a mega-church, where Bobby runs into his estranged mother. Meanwhile, Buck is looking to expand his social circle now that Eddie has left.”

While Bobby (Peter Krause) and Athena (Angela Bassett) navigate a tense relationship with his mother (Lesley Ann Warren) and brother Charlie (Sean O’Bryan), Minear told Decider that Buck (Oliver Stark) will find temporary distractions from the overwhelming emotions he has about Eddie’s (Ryan Guzman) move to Texas.

“He loves to bake. And moving houses is going to distract him a little bit. And it’s possible he runs into other people…” Minear told Decider. While fans are speculating that Buck could run into an ex (or more) in the coming episodes, we know for sure that he’ll be reuniting with Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody), who likely returns to the 118 in Eddie’s absence. Stark also confirmed that Buck has a significant conversation with Maddie coming up, which Hewitt suggests will see the siblings further explore Buck’s identity like they did in deeper episode 7×04 and 7×05 discussions.

“I love the Buck and Maddie relationship. I think it’s really special and important for both of them. And what I like about it is that sometimes it feels like Buck is talking to his sister, and sometimes it feels like he’s talking to his mom. I think Maddie teeters in both of those things for him. She feels like maybe she’s raised him a bit,” Hewitt explained. “I love that their conversations are always, at the core, respectful, loving, and supportive. They’re really just there for each other. And I think for Maddie, Buck is perfect exactly as he is in all of the facets of him finding himself. I think Buck is such a brilliant character, because he isn’t settled in who he is. He is always finding himself in all different facets. It’s really beautiful to watch that, especially for so many young people out there. I’m in my mid 40s and I’m still finding myself. So it’s very human.”

In Hewitt’s mind, the fact that Buck is still exploring his identity at this stage in his life (and eight seasons into the series) is why people love his character so much. “Besides Oliver being tremendous, I think they can relate to that constant search of, ‘Who am I? And what does this all mean?’” she said. “So we do get to have some more fun conversations. And it’s always great for me when I get to work with him, but it always feels good for Maddie and Buck to be together and be supportive of each other in that way. It feels like the conversations are always easy, and they really get down to it.”

In addition to major Bobby and Buck storylines, Episode 8×11 also holds a special place in the hearts of cast and crew members because 9-1-1 star Aisha Hinds directed the installment.

“Seeing Aisha be able to be even better, smarter, more beautiful, more perfect, more powerful, and just all the mores that you can possibly have in literally a perfect human was tremendous,” Hewitt shared. “She is one of my favorite people I’ve ever met in my whole life. I root for her every day. I root for her when she’s laying on her couch. So to see her get to do this, and know how badly she wanted to do it, and to watch her so gracefully execute it was great. I can’t wait to see it.”

Despite Hewitt’s love for Hinds, the two are (lovingly) feuding at the moment. “I’m very mad at her right now, because I told her two days ago I want to throw a party and we need to celebrate this. And she was like, ‘No, I think I just want to watch it quietly,’” Hewitt said. “So she’s not letting me throw her a party, but I am going to throw a party in my mind. I was really, really proud of her. She crushes it, but she crushes everything, so I was not surprised.”

For those curious, if the opportunity presented itself, Hewitt — who’s directed several episodes of Ghost Whisperer and The Client List, along with her 2024 film The Holiday Junkie — would absolutely be open to directing her own episode of the ABC series. “Oh my gosh, I would love to direct an episode of 9-1-1. I’m here for it any time,” she said. “That would be great.”

As Minear told Decider, there’s lots more to look forward to in Season 8’s remaining episodes, including another “ambitious” movie-inspired two-parter that will likely unfold over 8×14 and 8×15. Without spoiling anything to come, Hewitt assures fans that they’re about to learn a lot more about their favorite 9-1-1 characters.

“I feel like this is a season of getting to know all the characters even deeper. I really love it. And it’s fun to do that for the audience — to be like, ‘Oh, you think you know them? You don’t know there’s this side, or this experience, or this conversation you’re going to see,’” Hewitt explained. “You get more of that this season. That’s all I can really say without giving anything away. You get more of that, you get deeper with people, and you get to know more about them. And, obviously, [it helps you] care about them even more than you already do, which is awesome.”