9-1-1 fans have seen the Fox show go to some dark and traumatic places over six seasons but on Monday, it delved into the incel ideology with May Grant (Corinne Massiah) meeting her love interest's college roommate Erik and discovering a shocking manifesto.
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Incel is an abbrieviation for involuntary celibate and are heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success, and what unfolded on screen was some of the show's best and "most intense" work, as May calls her mom, Sergeant Athena Grant (Angela Bassett), following the discovery and ends up talking to Erik through a hostage situation.
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The storyline isn't played for laughs, something that was intentional, with discussions between Corinne, director Marita Grabiak and the showrunners to ensure it "wasn't tacky and insensitive".
"We wanted to make sure that we did this the right way," says Corinne. "The conversations were pretty much about, 'Make this as real as possible, make it authentic.' We didn't want to milk it where it was disrespectful because this is real stuff that has happened and it is a very sensitive topic."
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She continued: "But we also wanted to show that when May saw something, she said something, which is something that viewers should take very seriously.
"If you see something that could potentially end very badly and cause mass destruction, please say something."
Athena and May work together in episode eight
The episode is a turning point for May, who took a year off from college to work in the 9-1-1 Dispatch Center before enrolling at USC. Viewers saw Athena tell husband Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) that she was concerned that May was struggling to find her place at college following her different lived experiences to peers, and Corinne added that this episode really proves how much trust there is between mother and daughter.
"Another thing that is so special about this episode is May and Athena are colleagues and not mother and daughter during this call, and so you can see how Athena really trusts May to handle Erik, where usually a lot of mothers would be like, 'No, no, you just stay away and let the professionals handle it,'" Corinne said.
At the end of the episode, May and her friend Darius begin a romantic relationship, and Corinne revealed how "refreshing" it was to see May "interact with someone her age and as a love interest", with the hope that the show writers "keep doing that," whether through college friends or a continued look at the blossoming romance with Darius (Dante Brown).
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Corrine would love more scenes with Buck
As for how or when this incident will change May's trajectory Corrine admits that she is just as in the dark as fans as they are shooting episodes so close to air date - but one thing she is keen to see more of are scenes with Evan 'Buck' Buckley (Oliver Stark).
Season five saw May and Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman) have their first major scenes together in four years when the Dispatch Center went up in flames, and when asked what other characters she'd love to film with, Buck is top of her list.
"Oh my gosh, Oliver who plays Buck," laughed Corrine, adding: "I love them all - Kenny (Choi) who plays Chim, Aisha (Hinds) who plays Hen - I would love to have more scenes with them all."
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