‘9-1-1’ Star Jennifer Love Hewitt Calls Serial Killer Abduction the ‘Worst Thing That’s Ever Happened to Maddie’
Note: This story contains spoilers from “9-1-1” Season 8, Episode 9.
Maddie, Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character on “9-1-1,” has been through some very trying times, including when her abusive former husband Doug (played by real-life hubby Brian Hallisay) almost killed her. But being abducted by a serial killer makes all that trauma seem like a “lunch date,” says the actress.
Hewitt spoke to TheWrap before the first of the two-part episode aired on Thursday night, and explained how much fun it is for her to play Maddie when she’s in distress.
“It’s awesome. Most people don’t get handed things like this at their normal TV job, and [showrunner] Tim [Minear] always gives us the best stuff. I’m just so deeply grateful,” she told TheWrap. “These episodes are the most Maddie,” she added, “because this is what she was put on the planet to do, unfortunately, to survive over and over again and fight like hell.”
Here’s more of our conversation with Hewitt:
TheWrap: Where does this rank on the scale of the most awful things that ever happened to Maddie?
Jennifer Love Hewitt: Oh, the most awful, like number one. Doug seems like a lunch date compared to what happens to me. I literally didn’t think that anything could ever top that. And even Brian, when he read it, he was like, “Oh, what we did was nothing.”
This is by far the worst thing that’s ever happened to Maddie, and it’s the biggest fight of her life.
There’s extra peril for her because she’s pregnant, which very few people know at this point.
Right. It’s not a public thing yet at the call center. But it is definitely another reason to fight so hard.
When you got this script, what did you think?
I was, like, “Oh, wow, how am I going to do this?” I was nervous and excited about the challenge. We want her to be happy and we want her to find calm and goodness in her life. But the truth is, these episodes are the most Maddie, because this is how she came to be. When we met her, that was in peril, she was on the run. She was living a very dark life and was a fighter and survivor at that point.
For me, these episodes are really fun, even though I know that the audience wants her to be happy. It’s when I feel like Maddie is the most Maddie, because this is what she was put on the planet to do, unfortunately, to survive over and over again and fight like hell. And she’s good at it.
Definitely. The show is always putting the characters through the wringer. Is Maddie kicking herself for getting too involved in this particular case, which started with a “9-1-1” call from the killer asking her to stop him from killing a girl he had abducted?
Yeah, it was a normal call that turned very dark very quickly, that somehow ended up under her skin in a very severe way. Anyone that’s held captive against their will is a trigger for her obviously, given her domestic abuse background and the stuff that she went through with Doug.
So when it switches into that territory, it becomes different. It’s not just a dispatcher handling a call, it’s a victim, it’s a survivor, it’s a trigger point.
Later in the episode, when the killer calls back, Maddie thinks she’s talked him into taking his own life and she’s wondering if she did the right thing or if she went too far.
Right. When he brings up her own child, and then her knowing that she has another one on the way, then the mama bear thing also gets triggered. And it’s a little bit like, “Well, now I have to save everyone.” Because if this continues to go on, there’ll be more victims.
Sometimes her humanity finds itself in the job, maybe more than it’s supposed to. She stops being a dispatcher, and she starts being a woman and a survivor and a fighter, and it doesn’t serve her well at all.
What was your reaction to the reveal at the end of the episode, when we learn that the real abductor is very much alive and is actually the Missing Persons detective played by Abigail Spencer?
I loved it. She’s tremendous in these episodes. I had worked with her on “Ghost Whisperer,” like 100 years ago, so it was really fun to see her. We had a really great time shooting these episodes. As crazy as that sounds, it was bananas. I was chained to a pole for 10 days. I kept making the joke to the crew, “If you guys leave me here and break for lunch, I will never forgive you.”
But we were a safe place to land for each other. Because we had that trust and friendship, I feel like we were both able to push our limits in ways that maybe we wouldn’t have been able to had been someone else. I’m very grateful that it was her. She really gives a beautiful performance.
Will Maddie have to take some time off work to recover after this?
We’ll see. I feel like the things that are happening for the main characters this season are as traumatic and dramatic as the emergencies that we’re dealing with. Sometimes it feels like [the rescues] are actually more the [focus] and we’re like the stuff that attaches to your heart or gives you a little bit of a break from the craziness and the emergencies.
This season feels like every character is really going through it in all these different ways. Everyone is transforming. Tim is a genius. He really knows how to say to the audience, “Don’t get comfortable.” This season feels very much about these people and who they are and how they’re growing and [what] they’re being put through. Lots more of that coming.
“9-1-1” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
The post ‘9-1-1’ Star Jennifer Love Hewitt Calls Serial Killer Abduction the ‘Worst Thing That’s Ever Happened to Maddie’ appeared first on TheWrap.
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9-1-1 Recap: No Tears Left to Cry
We are so back. After months off the air — during which time the country kind of collapsed and 9-1-1: Lone Star reached its disappointing conclusion, both equally important — 9-1-1 has finally returned to us, and it feels like it was worth the wait. “Sob Stories” is the best the show has been since, well, early November. Though not as over the top as some of the series’ finest hours, the more contained story offers a pretty exceptional showcase for the Buckley siblings. Maybe 9-1-1 is righting the ship and bringing us back to emotionally resonant character-driven plots that balance out the bee-nados. Maybe I just really missed the 118. Either way, I’m happy to be here.
We open with a 911 call (try not to act shocked) as a sobbing voice tells Maddie he needs help. “I just want this to end,” the voice pleads, and Maddie flags possible self-harm before the man reveals that he has someone else with him, a girl named Jayna, who is screaming through a gag in the background. It’s not a suicide; it’s a kidnapping — and Athena is en route to the address they’ve traced. “I thought I could save her, but they don’t want to be saved,” the voice wails, and the whole thing is deeply creepy. (Made all the more so by the fact that the voice itself is obviously being distorted, even though no one acknowledges this.) Maddie does her best to connect with the caller, telling him he’s not a monster and that she understands him, but she makes the mistake of insisting that she won’t let the police find him if he lets Jayna go. When Athena arrives at the scene, it’s an empty lot, and the caller knows he’s been lied to. “You were wrong, Maddie; I am a monster,” he says before hanging up.
It’s one of the more intense cold opens that 9-1-1 has delivered, and Jennifer Love Hewitt does a great job playing Maddie’s tearful desperation. (More on her later — this is really JLH’s episode!) After the harrowing kidnapper call, we thankfully move on to something chiller: an animal shelter on fire. Okay, yes, also very stressful, but I’m going to put your mind at ease right now and tell you that all of the dogs make it out safely. It’s touch-and-go for a minute, though, when one of the cutest pups makes a run for it into the flames. Thankfully, Buck risks his life to rescue the little guy, once again defying Bobby’s order to get out of there as the ceiling collapses and finally emerges with the dog in his arms. Bobby doesn’t even seem that pressed — the dog is, after all, a very good boy. Sadly, the relief of the moment is undercut by Buck’s realization that his new best friend is being carted off to a kill shelter, where he’ll be euthanized unless he’s adopted. If only there were someone, anyone to take him in.
Speaking of dogs, Athena is taking Maddie to meet with Missing Persons detective Amber Braeburn, whom she describes as a “real bloodhound.” (Please just work with me on that transition.) Braeburn doesn’t think the crying 911 call was a hoax, and she praises Maddie for connecting with the kidnapper, even though Maddie’s still beating herself up for breaking his trust. They listen to a very similar call from ten years prior that was connected to the discovery of a murdered girl, and Maddie has done some sleuthing of her own, finding another call fitting the pattern in Portland and identifying Jayna as a runaway from Bakersfield. (Go off, Reddit sleuth!) Based on the limited clues available, it’s a little surprising that Braeburn is immediately fixated on a suspect, a sex offender named Richard Bullock who lives at a transient hotel popular with runaways. Unfortunately for Braeburn, she’s been so aggro about catching this guy that he filed a complaint, and she can no longer approach him without hard evidence or it’s considered harassment. “Well, I’ve never been above a little harassment,” says Athena, who is supposed to be one of the good cops.
Meanwhile, Eddie appears to be making good on his threat of leaving Los Angeles and moving to El Paso to be closer to Christopher. Since he signed a year-long lease at his current place, he needs to find a subletter before relocating — and he’ll have to do it fast, because he’s already put a down payment on his Texas home. (Like Buck, I’m a little caught off guard by how quickly things are moving!) Buck agrees to help Eddie by joining him as he meets potential renters, which goes about as poorly as you’d expect. It’s not clear to me if Buck is intentionally sabotaging Eddie by pointing out all the things that might make someone not want to rent his place — it’s in the flight path, there was a meth lab down the street — or if this is a more subconscious desire to keep his bestie from leaving. Eddie clearly sees it as a problem, though, and he tells a wounded Buck to go. Unfortunately for Buck, he sticks around just long enough to eavesdrop on Eddie meeting with two more possible subletters, who ask if Eddie is moving to Texas for work. “Los Angeles was actually the job opportunity, but no ties here,” he tells them. “Everything that matters is in Texas.” Buck is devastated, and frankly, so am I.
To cheer himself up, Buck adopts the dog he rescued (duh) and names him Blaze. Bobby isn’t thrilled about having a dog in the firehouse — he’s not even a Dalmatian! — but Buck promises he won’t bring him in every day. It’s just while they’re getting to know each other. “I don’t want him to think I’m an abandoner,” Buck says while glaring at Eddie. Eddie notes that Buck’s apartment doesn’t allow for dogs, and Buck says he’ll move if he has to, making a loud and pointed reference to Eddie’s own relocation plans. Yes, despite the fact that Eddie asked him to not let anyone know about his departure just yet, Buck has gone ahead and ripped that Band-Aid off for him. This sort of backfires, as the rest of the 118 is very supportive, with Bobby telling Eddie he’s making the right choice and that he’s a good father. Guess it’s just Buck and Blaze against the world, then!
Elsewhere, Athena is trying to find Richard Bullock, the primary (well, only) suspect in the sobbing 911 call kidnapping. He’s no longer at the motel, but his ex, Isabelle, shares some useful information — namely, that she caught him hitting on underage girls before she kicked him out and that he “full-on sobs like a little bitch” on the phone. Sounds like our guy! As much as Isabelle doesn’t want to cooperate with pigs (hey, she said it), she seems convinced that this is an urgent situation once Athena shows her a photo of Jayna. Shortly thereafter, Athena, Braeburn, and a SWAT team arrive at Bullock’s alleged hideout. Once again, he’s cleared out, but he’s left behind some evidence: blood and Jayna’s ID. Looks like Braeburn’s instincts were right … or perhaps there’s something else going on here.
Whatever the case may be, Jayna is still out there, and so is her kidnapper. Maddie gets another call from that same crying, distorted voice — he knows they talked to Isabelle (which is bad), but he also says he’s kept Jayna alive longer than he usually does because he’s trying not to kill her (that’s good). The call is traced, and units are 12 minutes out of the location, but given how the first call went, no one is confident that it’s even a real address. The situation is dire, especially when the caller starts talking about how long it takes someone to die after their throat is slit. He asks Maddie if she could imagine that happening to Jee-Yun. (At this point, you might wonder how Bullock knows Maddie’s daughter’s name. I certainly did!) Believing he’s moments away from killing Jayna, Maddie tries a different tactic: She urges the caller to end his pain and save the girl by using the gun in his hand to “slay the monster.” “No more tears,” says Maddie. “Just peace.” It’s a disturbing scene, and JLH’s reaction of horror and disgust when Maddie hears the gunshot is visceral.
Athena arrives on the scene and finds Bullock dead with a gunshot wound to the head. She also finds Jayna cowering in a closet but safe. Billie Eilish’s “when the party’s over” plays, and it’s suitably haunting. I am haunted! I was worried that they were going to brush past Maddie talking someone into suicide because doing so saved Jayna’s life, but she is appropriately wrecked when she meets with Athena and Braeburn to debrief. “I know he wasn’t a good guy, but the despair in his voice — it was raw, it was so real,” she says. I have to give 9-1-1 credit for really going there with this story line and to JLH, whose work here is so strong that it made me even more excited for the I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel coming out this summer.
Back at the 118, Maddie’s brother is still sulking about Eddie. He finally reveals that he heard what Eddie said about not having any ties in L.A., but concludes, “I don’t need you either, ’cause I’ve got Blaze.” Of course, right at that moment, Blaze’s family shows up — his real name is Bingo, and he’s been missing since he got spooked by some fireworks. Buck says good-bye (I teared up) and realizes something important about family. When he shows up at Eddie’s place that evening, it’s to apologize. He’s also there — along with Bobby, Hen, and Chimney — to take Eddie out for a going-away meal. But most importantly, Buck will show his full support for Eddie’s move by becoming his subletter, which honestly felt a little inevitable. Buck shares that he was happy when Blaze/Bingo was reunited with his family, because he realized that was where he belonged, just as Eddie belongs with Christopher.
Whatever peace Buck feels is going to be pretty short-lived, however, as Maddie finds herself knocked to the ground by an unknown assailant while doing the dishes. The kidnapper removes their mask, and — surprise, it’s Detective Braeburn. This seemed pretty obvious to me; why would you hire Abigail Spencer and not give her something juicy to do? I’d also guess Braeburn was the one making the creepy crying phone calls because there has to be a reason that voice sounded so distorted and that she shot and killed Bullock. I look forward to finding out why she set this whole thing up and what she means when she says, “You’re gonna be so mad at me” before chloroforming Maddie. (Aside from the obvious.) Mostly, though, I’m excited to watch JLH continue to shine.
• I said I wasn’t going to get worked up about Ryan Guzman leaving the show unless we got confirmation, and … it does seem like he’s leaving, doesn’t it? At this point, I don’t really see how he stays, especially since he makes a point of saying how much Christopher is thriving in El Paso.
• I’ve heard your complaints about Buddie mentions in the recaps. Here is what I’ll say: The show knows exactly what it’s doing with many of these scenes, and ignoring the subtext — whether it’s there as a wink to fans, or as an actual hint of what’s to come — seems silly to me. Do you think the writers don’t know how it sounds when Buck tells Eddie, “I didn’t mean to out you in front of Cap and everyone else”?
• That fake voice was so clearly fake! It was faker than Buck’s alias of Freddy Fakeman. I know Maddie was under a lot of stress, but how did no one else point out that it sounded exactly like someone (perhaps even a woman!) speaking through a voice changer?
• Today I learned that Dalmatians were historically kept in firehouses to keep the horses calm. Thank you, 9-1-1, for remaining the most educational show on television.
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‘9-1-1’: Oliver Stark Teases ‘Emotional’ Buck & Eddie Goodbye and Saving Maddie (VIDEO)
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 9 “Sob Stories.”]
Poor Buck (Oliver Stark). His best friend Eddie (Ryan Guzman) is moving to Texas. His sister Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) has been kidnapped by a serial killer. Even the dog he bonded with after saving it from a fire at an animal shelter has left him (for his family, who’d been looking for him).
“That just sounds like a usual week for Buck on 9-1-1,” Stark points out in TV Insider’s video interview above, about the midseason premiere. “He’s got some things to work through, that’s for sure. It’s a character that’s faced a lot of abandonment in the past, and this is for sure, as we see during 809, going to stir some of that back up for him. So it’s a bit of PTSD on the abandonment front, but things fall into place the way they’re meant to and he’s just going to have to roll with the punches and work it out as he goes and not as we see him do some of in 809, try and stand in anybody else’s way.”
He’s referring to Buck’s attempts to “help” Eddie find someone to sublet his house when he moves to Texas to be near his son. Buck instead chased around candidates, then spilled to the others at the 118 about Eddie’s plans — after he’d asked him not to. Things are tense between the two men for a bit, but then Buck reveals that he’s going to sublet Eddie’s house and has already given his notice on his loft. “That loft space does not exist anymore,” Stark confirms.
Looking ahead to Buck and Eddie’s goodbye when the latter leaves for Texas, “We’ve seen at the end of 809, Buck has kind of patched things up with Eddie and taken a big step in the direction of apologizing for his previous sabotage. But yeah, there’s still a goodbye to come between them and it’s going to be finding that line between emotional and sad, but also you have to go and do this thing and I understand that and I’m happy for you,” previews Stark. “He says at the end of 809, ‘You’re going to where you belong,’ and that’s not geographically where you belong, but it’s with Christopher.”
Meanwhile, there is the thriller storyline of Maddie, who was the one to answer the call from a serial killer crying and wanting to be stopped. She even thought that she stopped him by talking him into turning his gun on himself to save his latest victim … only to be kidnapped in the final moments by the real serial killer, the missing persons detective played by Abigail Spencer! And we can’t forget Maddie’s pregnant!
We’ve seen how Buck has handled Maddie being taken in the past — in the series’ most traumatic episode so far, “Fight or Flight,” by her abusive ex-husband Doug (Brian Hallisay) — but Stark says that this time will be slightly different.
“There’s a slightly more rational response this time and not as maybe gung-ho as we’ve seen from him in the past. And he’s going to try and weigh up a few more options before jumping to worst case scenario,” he says. Furthermore, he teases, “Jee is key to discovering Maddie’s disappearance.”
Watch the full video interview above with Stark for much more.
9-1-1, Thursdays, 8/7c, ABC
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