9-1-1 Season 8 is about to kick back into high gear for Eddie Diaz and friends, and with 118 episodes of the hit ABC series in the books and Ryan Guzman’s milestone 100th episode approaching, the actor feels incredibly thankful.
“That’s amazing. I didn’t even know that!” Guzman said, his smile beaming when Decider brought up his 100th episode over Zoom. “I say this all the time. I’m living in gratitude. I wake up almost on a daily now and just thank God. I’m just like, ‘Whatever I did to get this, thank you. And let’s keep it going.'”
After Eddie’s son, Christopher (Gavin McHugh), moved to El Paso to live with his grandparents in the Season 7 finale, the firefighter spent the first half of Season 8 desperately trying to repair the estranged relationship from afar. Before the series went on its midseason hiatus, however, Eddie realized that in order to make things right with Chris, he had to move to Texas.
Despite the toll that Eddie’s departure took on the 118, his pals understood and supported his difficult decision to leave Los Angeles. Episode 8×12 finally showed the beloved father and son reunite, and though the close connection warmed Eddie’s heart, he visibly struggled to adjust to the life that Chris built in El Paso with his parents. After learning he was unable to work as a firefighter, Eddie traded in his truck and became an Uber driver to make ends meet — two major developments that play a role in his ongoing search for self.
“I believe that he’s been searching to find his identity and find himself. And in doing so — in asking that question — life will give you all of the obstacles to destroy what you’re used to. And that’s what we’ve seen in the last seven years,” Guzman told Decider in Part 1 of our interview. “We had to destroy who Eddie thought he was. He was this all-American individual with a Silver Star. He was seen as this war hero who could handle high-pressure situations with calmness and didn’t really emote too much. He kept everything close to the sleeve. And over these last seven years, we went the complete opposite route.”
Now that Eddie’s back home in Texas, Guzman said he’ll be able to access crucial parts of himself that were unavailable in Los Angeles. “He’s been able to really go back to his foundation and restructure himself. Now, the parts that we weren’t able to get to are now available to us, because now we’re in El Paso. We’re back into the family dynamic. And that’s where all this usually stems from — the mother and father relationship,” the actor explained. “So now he’s getting the opportunity to reinvent himself in front of his family and showcase that he’s not just the little boy that needs taking care of. He’s not the all-American hero to impress his father. He’s his own man. And that comes through so many adversities.”
Guzman promised that Eddie will also be “heavily involved” in Episode 13, “Invisible,” and confirmed that both 8×12 and 8×13 will be “two key episodes signifying something incredible.” Per ABC’s official 8×13 episode description, “Eddie confronts his parents and takes a big step in his relationship with his son.” But beyond his bond with Christopher, Eddie has found family back in Los Angeles, who certainly haven’t forgotten about him.
Bobby (Peter Krause) spent part of 8×11 accidentally calling returning 118 member Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody) “Eddie,” he gave the El Paso fire captain a glowing recommendation on Eddie’s behalf, and he stressed that he’d always have a job should he ever decide to move back to California. And then, of course, there’s Buck…
The eventful 8×11 saw Buck reunite with his ex boyfriend, Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.), who revealed he was ready to give their relationship another shot since “the competition” was out of the way. When Buck pressed him to explain the comment, Tommy revealed he felt somewhat threatened by Buck and Eddie’s close friendship, which didn’t sit well with Buck.
“I think that Tommy’s a little insecure. He’s got something in front of him that he doesn’t know how to take full advantage of, so now he has to compare himself to Eddie,” Guzman told Decider, admitting that he does understand the root of Tommy’s emotions. “When you have such a bond like Eddie and Buck do, I think it’s going to be naturally infuriating to a significant other because it’s like, ‘Well, why don’t we have that bond?’ But I think emotions and feelings can not [always be] a full representation of what the actual relationship is.”
Guzman loves the fact that 9-1-1 allows men to be so vulnerable with one another. And though he hasn’t always had strong male friendships in his own life, now that he’s found them, he truly understands the importance. “I love the fact that Buck and Eddie share their emotions together and share a lot of their life, like I do with a lot of my guy friends. My brothers,” Guzman said. “That helps out so much with mental health. I’m just speaking from my own experience. Having a fellowship of men that I can lean on and talk to about my emotions or my issues, rather than just sucking it up and trying to figure it out on my own, has evolved me as a person. So I love that we’re able to showcase that with Eddie.”
Following the crucial conversation between Buck and Tommy, Buck went back to stress-baking and sought his sister Maddie’s (Jennifer Love Hewitt) guidance. When she asked if he was in love with Eddie, stressing, “It wouldn’t be so crazy,” Buck replied, “I’m not. As much as everyone seems to want me to be hopelessly pining for my straight best friend, it just isn’t like that.” So is that the end of the conversation?
“As far as what Buck is going through and what Tim [Minear] is writing, I don’t know if it’s insinuating that he might have feelings for Eddie, or not, or that he just deeply cares about him. It’s kind of open to interpretation,” Guzman explained. “But I think it does play into a lot of people’s curiosities. And I think we all — especially Oliver and I — are curious, what is their story? What is going on there? Is this something that does need to be addressed? Is this something that he needs to admit to himself or follow through? Or is this something that’s nothing, and everybody else is making a bigger deal than it actually is? So that’s TBD. The only person who really knows those answers is Tim.”
“I think we all — especially Oliver and I — are curious what is their story? What is going on there?…The only person who really knows those answers is Tim.”
Ryan Guzman, 9-1-1
On top of Eddie strengthening his relationship with Chris and a potential conversation with Buck, what else is in store for Guzman’s character this season? “Eddie will be on that same path of solidifying his identity. We got to see a version through the priest and getting his free will and his love of himself back — and dancing like Tom Cruise, which was enlightening, because it allowed for the audience and for even Eddie himself to see that he doesn’t have to take everything so serious. He doesn’t have to be the caretaker. He can just let loose sometimes,” the 9-1-1 star explained.
The rest of Eddie’s Season 8 journey “is going to be furthering that and allowing for him to evolve as a human being and step into his fatherhood a little bit better,” he continued. At the same time, this is 9-1-1 we’re talking about. So Guzman also warned, “We can’t just have a story that’s all happy-go-lucky and everything’s perfect, because that’s just not how life is. Things are going to happen in Eddie’s life that completely destroy his foundation all over again. And we will see how he recoups from that. Is he going to go backwards? Or is he going to learn from his past and continue to evolve? There’s going to be some massive things that happen in Eddie’s life soon.”
In Part 1 of our interview, Guzman stressed that Eddie is “not going to sacrifice his relationship with his son” to return to Los Angeles, “so without his blessing, there’s nothing happening that’s going to bring him back — slight of a crazy event.”
Could that crazy event be tied to the “ambitious” two-parter expected to unfold over 8×14 and 8×15, or fears of Bobby’s death? Stay tuned, and know that whatever classic 9-1-1 chaos unfolds, Guzman counts himself lucky to have stayed with this character and this cast for 100 episodes.
“I’ll keep on trying my absolute best to be better than the next day, because I’m truly enjoying this whole experience. It’s just offered so much,” Guzman said. “[100 episodes] is amazing. And now I’m going to celebrate a little.”
New episodes of 9-1-1 premiere Thursdays on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.