Exclusive: 9-1-1 boss details spring premiere emergency, shares thoughts on fan theories
9-1-1 fans have long been able to guess an upcoming storyline thanks to their passion for the show, knowledge of the characters and ability to find small details in behind-the-scenes pictures shared on social media.
Their latest theory? That Firefighter Evan 'Buck' Buckley (Oliver Stark) will be seriously injured in the spring premiere and end up in a coma. "That is a very interesting fan theory," said executive producer Kristen Reidel who shared that she doesn't keep an eye on online theories.
WATCH: 9-1-1 season six episode nine promo
What Kristen would confirm, however, was that the spring premiere will see the 118 caught up in a lightning storm.
"Lightning hits out of the blue all over the whole of the city and we have strange emergencies. Then, yes, one of the 118 will be caught up in that," she teased.
Kristen could "neither confirm nor deny" that it was Buck who was "caught up" in the disaster but added: "Here's the thing I would say about Buck's journey this season. There are highs and lows, but there are definitely highs.
"The goal that we have set for Buck this season is to come to a place where he can say, 'I know who I am and I'm good with that.'"
9-1-1 writers had a specific goal for Buck this season
There has also been fan criticism that best friends Buck and Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman) have had fewer than normal scenes together in this first half of the season, and it's something that Kristen insists is "not intentional".
"Part of it is just wanting to give everybody a chance to have scenes with everybody. It was just about wanting to not always fall into the rhythm of Buck scenes with Eddie. You know, Buck and Hen (Aisha Hinds) can be hilarious together, so it's fun to mix it up a little bit now and then," she said.
Kristen had previously told HELLO! earlier in 2022 that she was keen to mix up the pairings in season six, and that she was "really happy" with how the first half panned out.
Season six mixed up the pairings more than previous seasons
"We got to do a lot of different things, totally different things. Everything from that Florida episode to HenRen Begins and then just like crazy fun stuff, and so that's sort of the plan for the back half as well," she said.
"I think we're going to do some stuff we've never done before in the show, which is exciting, a type of episode that we've never done before," Kristen added - but would not be drawn on another circulating fan theory that the show will air an alternate universe episode, which would follow Buck in a world where his older brother Daniel did not die of leukaemia and Buck grew up in a home with loving and present parents.
We won't see Bobby and Athena breaking out into song and dance anytime soon
What she would confirm, however, is that it is "not a musical episode".
"I will say, every time that we're short and we can't figure out what it is I do make a joke about making a musical one day because with songs you need less story because they take up a lot of space!" she laughed.
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